hdtv - questions answered
by Greg Gibson

January 2, 2004

NextGenElectronics' resident HDTV expert Greg Gibson answers your questions about HDTV and what you should do about this exciting emerging technology. If you have a question or comment you'd like Mr. Gibson to comment on, please feel free to email him personally by clicking here. All inquiries are subject to publication, however, no personal information will be given away or published.

Jerry K. : I hope you don't mind me asking an additional question. I have just read many of your answers. How severe is the burn in problem? I don't want to watch a distorted wide picture when looking at analog. Do DLP or LCOS or any other kind of set avoid this problem?

Greg Gibson : The burn-in problem in projection TVs is significant. It is significant enough for every manufacturer to write a prominent paragraph in their instruction manual warning about the situation - and it is EXCLUDED from your warantee!

Now, that said, certainly you can watch a small amount of letterbox (side or bottom bars) or leave a picture frozen on the screen for a little while without ill effect. Unfortunately, what is "small" is not definite - it depends on several factors, and so no specific time can be given. Hence - you must be very careful... once you have burned in an image or side/bottom bars - you will likely have to replace your tv.

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Gerald K. : I would like to buy an HDTV set here in the San Francisco area but two things give me pause.

1.Content- Comcast doesn't even carry CBS programs and there are still comparatively few HDTV broadcasts
2. A desire to wait for plug and play which will simplify hooking up the set
3 . A wariness about the quality of the picture when viewing analog.

Let's face it. It will be a long time before all the networks, cable networks and independent stations convert to HDT and it's wonderful quality.I doubt if the 2006 deadline will be met because many people will not buy HDTV sets because of their expense.Obviously then, most of our viewing will be analog. My Comcast picture is quite sharp on my 10 year old 27 inch Sony set. I would like to match that when viewing analog on a new HDTV set.

My main question is: What type of set will be clearest in analog? Plasma, LCD, LCOS or DLP rear projection. I have not been able to find any store that has their sets hooked up to cable so I can compare the quality of them with the regular analog. Have you had any experience with this? There are probably millions of people who would like to know the answer to this question!

Greg Gibson : I assume from your inquiry that you DID go through our key homework points. You have correctly identified that you have limited HD programs available to you! You now have a delima, and need to carefully weigh your factors. In your case, waiting another year might be the smartest thing - prices will be lower, technology more improved, and hopefully your cable company will get a lot more programming on the air for you.

Your second question, however, is a good one - What will the "old" analog broadcasts look like on my new HDTV. Likely answer - pretty crummy!

The issue with HDTV displaying analog isn't one of increased definition - the broadcaster controls the quality of the picture. The issue is that you are comparing a small 27 inch 4x3 picture with a larger (blown up) picture that might be 65 inch 16x9 (expanded)... both blowing up the picture 3 to 4 times, and expanding the picture to "fit" the widescreen format (stretching the picture 25%) results in a perceived degradation of the signal. This occurs because as you blow up the picture you are not creating additional detail - the picture is limited by the broadcaster.

HDTV have builtin technology to smooth out the picture (so you don't see large dots) - but what this does is create a "fuzzy" picture that looks slightly out-of-focus.

For example, I have a 65inch HDTV - when I view NBA League Pass - the quality of the broadcasts from Minnesota Timberwolves is absolutely horrible (unwatchable) because the broadcaster in Minnesota is using video cameras from 1776... change channel to the Dallas Mavericks when HDNet (Mark Cuban's private HD network) is broadcasting and the picture, although not in HD, is very good for an analog broadcast.... change the channel to the FOXHD channel for the LA Lakers and the picture is so good you will cry with joy!

SO the question you pose is not one of LCD, projection, DLP, or Plasma - as all of them will display at the level (limitations) of the broadcast signal. The larger the picture the more the limitations of analog broadcasts are noticable! SO your current 27 inch 4x3 picture would look the same on a 27 inch 4x3 plasma, lcd, projection, dlp...

Therefore, you are correct that waiting might be the best thing for you!

Lastly, you implied a good question in how to communicate the differences in current technology... perhaps the following will help:

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Andrew J. : I currently own a Mitsubishi Big Screen (Analog) TV that is not HDTV ready. I bought the unit before HDTV ready sets came down in price. Anyway I would like to purchase a high definition satellite receiver and connect it to my TV. My TV has component video jacks (they are not the same component symbols (YCrCb) as the ones that you see on the new TVs (YPrPb). My TV has a max of 850 lines of resolution. I know that I will not get 1080 lines but I would be perfectly happy with 850 lines. Will this work? How can I max out at the 850 lines on this TV?

Greg Gibson : What you are asking is "If I use my analog TV as a monitor, through the component video input, will the HD signal through the satellite decoder be displayed in 480p or higher format?"

I can't get a straight answer from my Mitsubishi contacts nor from DirecTV. My gut feeling is that it would not work because of a mismatch in the component signal... but I could be wrong. Unfortunately, I don't want to give you bas advice and have you spend $ and it not work.

Sorry I could not help - but you might be able to get some help from your local DirecTV engineering department - typically, they have a group of engineers within the installation department, and they might have seen this configuration. Second option is to get with the sotre you bought the set from and see what they are willing to do (perhpas they also sell DirecTV and would be willing to give you a "conditional" installation that you could reject if the picture is no go.

Please let us know what happens on your quest... would be interested in Mitsubishi's answer!

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Farhana T. : I've been going back and forth between buying the Sony Wega (FD Trinitron) flat screen TV (model: KV36FS100) and the Toshiba 42" projection TV (model: 42H83) Now, the purpose that the TV we buy needs to serve are the following...

1) We don't want the letterhead style (with the black on top and
bottom) ratio when it comes to watching widescreen dvds.don't know how clear I was on that statement, but u can ask me to clarify if needed
2) We do not plan on getting that HDTV box, if anything, we're
gonna stick to cable TV
3) And my dad is under the impression that in the future, the
general broadcasting in terms of cable is going to be just High
Definition, we won't even need a box, I don't know how much of that
impression is actually happening.
4) We'd like to be able to watch, cable tv, dvds and videos on
this television

In my opinion, the Sony wega will do just fine, and the picture quality
looks really amazing, but then, my dad is trying to convince me to get
the Toshiba 42" projection tv I honestly don't know which is worth getting...if u have any suggestions or if u think I really have no clue as to what I'm talking about, then please let me know!!! lol!

Greg Gibson : Sounds like you are in the same boat as most consumers - trying to make a decision in a changing and complex environment! So let's tackle your questions one by one, and we can try to wrap it up at the end...

First, you don't want letterboxes - sorry, you are going to get letterboxes occasionally no matter what you do. For example, DVDs come in both 4x3 aspect and 16x9 aspect (but they "cut off" a lot of the picture to give you that picture "fit"), and in actual cinema aspect (with the bottom bars) with nothing cut off. Therefore, it is likely that you will want the "cinema" version with nothing cut off - so you will always have some bottom bars even on a 16x9 set (just not as noticable as on a 4x3 set).

Now, the other part of this is interesting - why are you looking at a SONY KV36FS100 if you don't want sidebars or bottom bars? KV36FS100 is a 4x3 aspect analog tv... after 2006, you will need a conversion box to receive the new HD signals (when analog begins to be phased out) and you will get permanent bottom bars on that set every time you watch a HD-downconverted broadcast (which will be all of them after 2006)!

Second, you don't want a HDTV box... sorry, you will likely have something no matter what you do. This is because both cable TV and satellite requires a cable box to decode the signals and feed to your tv. While some TVs tout a bulit in decoder, your cable company may not be compatible with it... so while a built in HD decoder in the tv might do great decoding over-the-air broadcast signals (OTA) you will likely still have a box for the cable or satellite. I would note that some manufacturers are trying to install a "DirecTV ready" decoder into their sets, so the satellite antenna just goes into the tv, but if you also use a cable, you will need a box for the cable.

Your dad is right, eventually all tv will be HDTV (theoretically 2006 - but most broadcasters still don't have the equipment and have been slow to convert - FCC is in charge, but is a worthless, toothless agency). But if you have a cable system now, you know you still have to have the cable box for all the "special programming"... that won't change later under HD... it is very liekly that you will always need some special box for cable or satellite. As a side note, we are going to CES in January and there are "rumors" of some changes that might effect these issues... stay turned for more developments in mid-January.

Now I hope we have "demystified" the "box" (i.e., yes, you probably will still have to have a box for the cable or satellite) and the "sidebars or bottombars" (i.e., yes, since DVDs come in all aspect widths you will never completely avoid having bottom bars, and if you get the SONY 4x3 you will eventually always have bottom bars when the transmissions move to 16x9).

*** Several days later, Farhana T. replied back to Mr. Gibson:

Farhana T. : Yeah, your explanation did help.....so, i ran out and got us the 42" Toshiba HDTV!!! and i have no regrets, its amazing!!!

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Bobby I. : Do you plan to research DLP so we can have answers to some of these questions? DLP seems to be a good compromise as far as price and space are concerned, so it would be wonderful if this technology solved some of the problems.

I have seen the Samsung DLP in the stores and the picture was really wonderful on HD channels. However, I also read in a review that it was the most difficult set that this particular reviewer had ever set up. This was an early model?

Greg Gibson : DLP has only been out in the general market for about 2 years. Hence, there is no experience on how the long-term performance will be, how the maintenance/service record will be, and if there are unexpected performance issues that will crop up. For example, it is only within the last year that concerns about Plasma are rising - the issue of degassing and loss of picture quality after 5 years.

We keep up on all the technology, and are active in soliciting feedback from service and repair personnel to keep abreast of problems in the technology/manufacturers.

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Pedro N. : I have a simple question. Is there a significant or noticeable difference to the eye between a transmission from a set top box using the DVI port versus the Component (Red, Blue, Green) port for Regular or High definition channels? ?

Greg Gibson : DVI and Component input signals, properly hooked up from HDTV converters, should result in identical HDTV 1080i pictures.

Commentary By: Greg Gibson - email