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hdtv - questions answered
by Greg Gibson
August 11, 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.
Jim R. : I recently was searching for
an answer to my question that I have about a new widescreen HDTV set that
my family just recently purchased. After much decision making, we finally
added a second TV to our household and bought a great Hitachi 50"
LCD rear projection TV (50V500). Now I am both new to HDTV big screen
and widescreen altogether. We have yet to hook up our new cable connection,
but have temporarily hooked up a PS2 to the front AV jack in order to
see what the picture looked like. Now we have new widescreen-format DVD's,
but for some reason the TV plays it automatically in 4:2 mode. We can
easily switch this with different "aspect" modes, and changing
it into 16:9 modes, but the 16:9 standard mode still displays smaller
bars at the top and bottom of the screen, though it is still widescreen.
I am just a little worried about this and am not sure why a widescreen
television is not displaying a widescreen DVD in the whole screen. Hopefully
you can give me some expert advice.
Greg Gibson: What you are experiencing
(top and bottom bars during DVD playback) on your 16x9 widescreen is perfectly
normal. This is because most cinema movies are shot in a wider aspect
ratio - Cinemascope is the best example of this - than the 16x9 format.
Hence, even with a 16x9 widescreen, you will get the top and bottom bars...
the good news is that had you purchased a 4x3 screen, the top and bottom
bars would be even larger and the picture smaller!
Now, that said, you have accidently hit on a major consumer complaint...
the "mislabeling" of DVDs. In fact, there has been a lawsuit
(I am trying to find the final resolution) where a consumer sued the DVD
company over their 16x9 "widescreen" version of the movie -
the Company "cropped" the picture and cut off the sides to fit
the 16x9 screen exactly. But the consumer said "This isn't the widescreen
version - you cheated me out of the right and left sides of the movie!"
Frankly, he is right... what we need is a standard naming convention,
by all DVD manufacturers: and be truthful and label the DVDs in BIG LETTERS:
"4x3", "16x9", or "Letterbox" (or "Full
Width") to denote how they are "cropping" the picture on
the DVD. I recently have had trouble reading the DVD box small print to
find the wording "anamorphic" aspect ratio (i.e., letterbox).
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Neil F. : I have tried two different brand
Progressive Scan DVD players in my RCA 61310 HDTV and have gotten the
same (non)-result. When set to progressive, both show a wobbly doubling-type
picture instead of the clear progressive picture I get with the Akai 42
inch HDTV we have in another room. I am guessing that it has something
to do with 480p vs. some other number of lines, but I am not sure. Is
the RCA incompatible with 480p? Is there a setting I am not adjusting
correctly? I thought all "progressive DVD" players worked seamlessly
with all "progressive-ready" HDTVs. Can you give me any thoughts?
Greg Gibson: Neil - Sorry - but your 61310
should do just fine with a progressive scan DVD input (COMPONENT!)...
assume you know how to hookup and how to select TV input to the 480p input
from the DVD. Sorry, but without looking at the wiring and the input select,
no way to tell what is wrong.
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Tom C. : I purchased a samsung flat screen
1080i hdtv wide. Used it for a few months with analogue signal just fine.
Upgraded to digital/hd recently. Movies from Hd channels come in beautifully
- incredible infact but my Hd programming from ESPN or Hd network channels
have considerable side bars. Picture is set for wide. Why do I have sidebars?
I thought hd programming received on an HD ready t.v. would fill the screen
- from side to side at least. Any help would be appreciated.
Greg Gibson: Thanks for the inquiry Tom...
one key thing is whether the HD channel is actually broadcasting HD picture
(16x9) or not... for example, if they are broadcasting an older rerun,
it is likely in 4x3 and would have the sidebars. Key is to confirm a 16x9
broadcast... since you DO get movies fine - it appears your set is properly
configured for the 16x9... check with your cable company and see if there
is anything they can tell you about ESPN-HD and the HD feed for CBS (CBS-HD
has all their prime time in 16x9)... keep in touch after you talk to the
cable company.
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David B. : I've been looking at HDTVs for
a couple of months now, and am full of questions. Since my old CRT set
still works, I'm fine holding off for now... I have basic Comcast cable
service (here in Eugene, Oregon), and expect to get a relatively small
(~26" or 32" diag.) LCD set; I'd prefer it to be HDTV ready
without using a set top box (i.e., with TV cable card slot), but realize
I'll need to upgrade to some sort of HD cable service. The LCD - HDTV
sets I've seen have a resolution of 1280x768 or 1366x768 (e.g., Sony's
KLV-26HG2; Panasonic's TC-26LX20; or Sharp's LC26GA4U). I assume this
means all these sets have only 768 lines, meaning an HD signal of 1080
lines will be "down converted" to these screens' lesser resolution
-- and that with experience I would notice this difference and probably
won't like it. Is that right?
The only exception I see is Samsung's 46" LT-P468W
LCD, with 1080 lines (1920x1080, for about $9K). If I wait (how long?),
can I watch a "pure" (meaning not down-converted) HD signal
on an LCD set smaller than 46" -- or is this a permanent limitation
of pixel sizes in LCD?
Yesterday, a TV salesman mentioned "second generation"
cableCARD slots, to be out "real soon now" and permitting more
stuff than the current generation of cableCARD slots. Can you give some
useful information about these slots, the trade-offs between using them
vs. set-top boxes, and any advantages of waiting for second (or later)
generations? Also: cableCARD slots aren't available on most of the LCD
sets I've seen -- they're just on the plasma sets I don't want. Why is
that? Will "second generation" cableCARD slots have a different
name than the first generation -- so I can avoid getting stuck with an
older version?
Finally, although I initially liked the looks of the Sharp
Aquos LCDs (e.g., the LC26GA4U or newer LC26GD4U), at least the (older)
ones I've seen in stores display a really poor picture with non-HD signals,
especially in contrast to the Sony and Panasonic models (above). Why this
is? Is this still a problem with the newest Sharp model -- or is it just
due to the stores' multi-set hookups, or something else that shouldn't
concern me.
Greg Gibson: First, be aware that there
are problems with LCDs - the refresh rates should be no more than 12ms
(at 60 frames per second the image is refreshed every 16 ms) or you will
get image degradation of fast moving images (very distracting). Second,
as you point out, both plasmas and LCDs have a fixed 720p resolution -
except for the SAMSUNG (as we reported two months ago) which is the first
at 1080p.
Second, you correctly pointed out problems with HDTV
tuners. The built in HD tuners are not cable or satellite compatible for
premium channels without a "card slot" for the cable company
to identify your set and allow for premium channels such as HD. The attraction
with a card slot is that you don't need the cable company's box sitting
alongside your components... something we have been lobbying Congress
and FCC about for 2 years. I am not exactly sure what the guy was refering
to as first/second generation cable slots - most Industry has settled
on cableCARD technology which became effective July 1, 2004.
The BAD thing about cableCARD is that it is one-way - meaning
that you can not get pay-per-view movies, and it is not clear whether
picture-in-picture or view-one-record-another will work in this configuration.
Cable companies are really sinister about keeping you "hooked"
to them... but perhaps oneday soon they will release the HDTV recorder
bundled with the HDTV tuner... so it will be a single settop box.
However, hope is on the horizon, Mitsubishi in April began
to offer the cableCARD (along with LCD and Plasma and DLP - expanding
their product line)... this should pressure other companies to start integrating
the full tuner & card slots.
Our best forecast is that consumers will probably start
seeing "fully integrated HD entertainment centers" in early
2005 in all technologies (LCD, plasma, DLP, LCD projection).
So, as we say - if you can wait an additional 6 to 9 months
- it will be worth the wait.
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Chad W. : I am thinking of buying a new
LCD television, probably the Sony 50 inch Grand Vega or a Samsung DLP
HDTV. Between these two products will one be more reliable than the other?
What about maintenance costs etc? Does the Sony rival the Samsung DLP
in picture quality?
Greg Gibson: Both SONY and SAMSUNG are
fine brands... just get an extended warantee since you are going to pay
a lot no matter what you buy.
OK - DLP is an emerging technology... originally (3 years
ago) Texas-Instruments introduced DLPs. They released a "new chips"
(recall from our articles that the TI DLP chip is an array of tiny mirrors
that reflect light through a rotating color-wheel) called HD2 last year
which improved resolution and light output.
Unfortunately, they have now released the HD2+ (with about
a 20% better light output (brighter and better contrast)... and early
next year will release the HD3 chip (which will increase resolution up
to 1080p and brightness again).
As we noted, the current HD2 DLPs are marginal and we recommend
awaiting the HD2+ sets... the problem with LCD (not their is both an LCD
projection technology and an LCD flat panel technology - so please be
specific when discussing LCD) is in the refresh rates which have only
recently gotten down to the "magic number" of 12 ms (anything
higher will result in blurred images of fast-moving action sequences).
LCD is not as bright or have as high a contrast as DLPs... but the flat
panels at 4 inches deep are slimmer than the typical 16-18 inches deep
DLP.
In terms of pure reliability, the DLP mirror array is good
for an estimated 100,000 hours... whereas the LCD flat pannel is good
for about 40,000 to 60,000 hours. The DLP MUST HAVE AN EXTRA UN-INTURRUPTIBLE
POWER SUPPLY or the lamp will burst if the power suddenly goes out...
the LCD is somewhat fragile. Some DLPs have an issue with the rotating
color wheel causing color imaging problems (another reason to wait until
the HD2+ or HD3 chipset is release with an 8 element versus 6 element
color wheel).
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Alex C. : I know you are the man to talk
to. I'm a recent college grad, just got a job and my first big purchase
is going to be an HDTV. I have been looking at buying a refurbished-by-manufacturer
Toshiba and getting the two-year warranty on top. Ideally, I will spend
less than a grand on it, but am resigned to $1100.
The shipping costs are around $150, as is the extended warranty, so I'm
tacking $300 onto those prices. Does that make buying something at a bestbuy
or price club or something a better deal? I am willing to buy an HD-ready
television and then buy a tuner (in a month or so). I am looking for a
television 40" or above. I really don't know whether Toshiba is my
best option, whether refurb is my best option. Any direction would be
much appreciated.
Greg Gibson: Stay away from refurbished
TVs unless you REALLY KNOW the company... I would NEVER buy something
like that unless I personally knew everything about the company (including
where they lived at home).
Toshiba is ok, but is not current technology... they will
have new products later this year... the refurbished sets you referenced
are last years technology...
If you just graduated and have a new job - save your money
and buy a GOOD SET and a GOOD EXTENDED WARANTY (i.e., 4 or 5 extra years)...
don't run out just to get sometime... SAVE your money and get something
that is going to last you 5 years! Not something you are going to regret
in 6 months.
In any event, you need to read my column BADLY!!!!! Click
here for the HDTV Roadmap.
Write me again after you read it and have done your "homework"
on how you are going to use the HD... you seem to have some "holes"
in your shopping homework to complete first.
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Commentary By: Greg Gibson - email
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