HDTV for the UnGeek
Website design By BotEap.comThe FCC’s standard for HDTV transmission is having a big impact. The amount of information to digest can be intimidating, even for the professional. Old hardware does not become obsolete, but it will require a tuner to convert the new signal if it receives a signal from a VHF/UHF antenna. If you have cable or satellite TV, your service provider will take care of this.
Website design By BotEap.comHowever, this could be a good time to upgrade your hardware. The new standard offers a much better image. In today’s world of digital projectors, LCD, LCOS, Plasma, and DLP are the four different types of televisions that dominate the HDTV market. Each has unique advantages over the other. Plasma and some of the LCD screens can be mounted on the wall, although surveys show that few people mount them on the wall. DLP and LCOS and some of the LCD units are both projection technologies. Overhead projector units are usually the most cost effective. The size of some systems is now less than 12 inches deep.
Website design By BotEap.como Video quality on the best projectors now exceeds that available in a conventional commercial movie theater.
Website design By BotEap.comSYSTEM TYPES:
Website design By BotEap.como Traditional TV: Also called direct view, the images are displayed in a picture tube (cathode ray tube).
LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma TVs can also be direct view. LCD and Plasma TV systems are “flat panel” units.
o Rear Projection TV (RPTV): uses a combination of mirrors and lenses to project the image from behind onto the display screen. This allows the displayed image to be significantly larger, up to 70 inches or more. This technique generally offers the best value (image size vs. cost).
o Frontal Projection Television (FPTV): it is like a cinema. The image is projected forward to an external screen. But just like a movie theater, a very dark room is required because the screen will reflect any light in the room. This technique is typically more expensive than rear projection, but the footprint (the area consumed by the equipment) of the system is smaller.
Website design By BotEap.comTECHNICAL SCREENS:
Website design By BotEap.comCRT (cathode ray tube):
Website design By BotEap.comThe established standard for television screens; good value, image quality. The maximum screen size is smaller with the technique. The technology is still a good option when you want a smaller image and bulk isn’t a concern.
Website design By BotEap.comLiquid Crystal Display (LCD):
Website design By BotEap.comSlim design, but has trouble displaying moving images (sports), images tend to scratch. These projectors typically contain three separate LCD glass panels, one each for the red, green, and blue components of the image being projected. As uncolored light passes through LCD panels, individual image elements (pixels) can open up to let the light through or close down to block it. This produces the image that is projected on the screen.
Website design By BotEap.comHistorically, LCD TVs have had a problem with visible pixelation. This is less apparent on newer computers with higher screen resolutions.
Website design By BotEap.comMost LCD systems use a fluorescent backlight to shine through the LCD screen. This type of backlight will need to be replaced every few years. Some manufacturers are introducing equipment with LED backlighting, with a useful life 10 times longer. Although the initial cost may be higher, the cost of ownership advantage may make this design worth looking at.
Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Better color saturation, richer and more vibrant
o Better sharper image, important for text
o More energy efficient Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Poor black levels and contrast
o Problems displaying moving images (sports)
o LCD panels (mainly in the blue channel) can degrade, causing changes in color balance
o Visible pixelation Website design By BotEap.comLiquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS): Website design By BotEap.comA type of LCD technology, LCOS uses liquid crystal instead of mirrors to project (usually rear projection) an image onto the screen. LCOS is a good value compared to plasma and LCD TVs, but expensive compared to all other rear-projection TV technologies like DLP. This technique uses a chip like a DLP array does (see below), but the chip is coated with liquid crystal, which reflects the image seen on the screen. LCOS based systems allow for a higher screen resolution than an LCD or Plasma display. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Crisp, vivid colors and deep black levels
o Does not change slowly over time like plasma equipment does Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Dead pixels often occur because the technology is partially reflective
o High maintenance cost: LCOS requires frequent bulb changes (6,000-8,000 hours, about 3-4 years with typical use) versus 50,000 or more for most LCD or plasma displays. A replacement bulb will cost around $400
o Reproducibility: image quality can vary greatly from machine to machine Website design By BotEap.comDigital Light Processor (DLP): Website design By BotEap.comThe DLP is a product of Texas Instruments that is manufactured in Korea. It uses a chip with many mirrors (there can be over a million mirrors on a chip that is about an inch square) that can be mechanically steered to reflect the correct color. This technology offers excellent viewing at a moderate cost. Website design By BotEap.comIn the best DLP projectors, like the ones used at your local movie theater, there are three separate mirror chips, one for the red, green, and blue channels. However, in mass marketed DLP projectors, there is only one chip. In these sets, to define the color, there is a color wheel consisting of red, green and blue filters. This wheel rotates between the lamp and the DLP chip and alternates the color of the light that falls on the chip. Website design By BotEap.comThe rotating color wheel used to project the image can cause a screen problem known as rainbow effect, where colors separate into different reds, greens, and blues. At any given time, the image on the screen is either red, green or blue, and the technique relies on your eyes being unable to detect rapid changes from one to the other. However, not only can some people see colors separately, but the rapid sequence of colors may be responsible for reported cases of eyestrain and headaches. But the vast majority of people cannot detect the rainbow effect. Website design By BotEap.comNewer sets have the color wheel rotation speed doubled. Also, newer sets use a six-segment color wheel (instead of a 3-segment) that has two sequences of red, green, and blue. Because the wheel is twice as fast, and because red, green, and blue are seen twice with each rotation, the effect is a quadrupling of the speed of rotation. This removed the visibility of the rainbows for most people who previously saw the effect. Website design By BotEap.comSamsung and other companies have introduced DLP equipment with LED lamps and no color wheel. Lamp bulbs in older designs need to be replaced every few years. The LED lamp should last the life of the TV. Website design By BotEap.comLaserVue (Mitsubishi) is being introduced in the United States now in time for the holiday season. LaserVue is a DLP (Texas Instruments “Dark Chip 4″ Digital Light Processor) system that eliminates the conventional light bulb and replaces it with a solid-state laser. Video performance is outstanding, but the technology will cost you about $7000 for a 65” HDTV. Reliability/improved lifespan may be better, but there is little data on this new laser. You would expect an ion laser to argon has a life of approximately 8000 hours (5 to 6 years in typical use).The Mitsubishi LaserVue uses a laser system made by Arasor, an Australian start-up, made from lithium niobate (PPKN).Mitsubishi is currently making accelerated stress testing, but has No results published so far A LaserVue HDTV consumes less than 200 watts of electricity That’s about half that of a comparable LCD HDTV and less than a third of a high-frequency plasma system definition. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Small package size
o High contrast image with deep black levels
or good value Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Less bright images
o Rainbow effect
o High maintenance cost: DLP requires frequent bulb changes (6,000-8,000 hours, about 3-4 years with typical use) vs. 50,000 or more for most LCD or plasma displays. A replacement bulb will cost between $300 and $400. Samsung is using LED lighting instead of lamps. The LED should not have to be replaced. Website design By BotEap.comPlasma screen: Website design By BotEap.comSlim design, high contrast ratings, size up to 60 inches or larger; some display limitations: older, more expensive systems had a high risk of burn-in (a memory of what was projected was retained over time); This could pose a problem for those who like to play video games or watch recorded movies. Pausing the game or tape for too long may cause an image to burn on your screen. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Exceptional image quality: can produce up to 8.6 billion colors, accurate color reproduction and wide viewing angles
o Large screen sizes – some plasma TV units are now manufactured in screen sizes that can span up to 100 inches
o Lifespan – Plasma TVs are also known for their extended life capability of approximately 60,000 hours and high contrast (deep blacks)
o Less expensive than LCD Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Screens are very bulky, heavy and fragile
or burned
o Degrades slowly over time
or inefficient energy Website design By BotEap.comComing soon: OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) HDTVs are out now, but it’ll be a couple of years before they’re worth serious consideration. An OLED assembly is less than 1″ thick. OLED has already been used in digital cameras and cell phones with small panels, due to its power efficiency, which is important in portable devices. Website design By BotEap.comRULES: Website design By BotEap.como NTSC Analog TV o Standard Definition TV (SDTV): The current system being phased out (National Television Systems Committee).
o EDTV (Enhanced Digital TV) – Basically high-end standard definition TV – while these sets may be better than standard sets, the picture quality is not the same as HDTV. Technically, there is little difference between an SDTV and an EDTV (except for the higher price).
o ATSC Digital TV: It is the new system (Advanced Television Systems Committee), which is not necessarily High Definition.
o HDTV: is digital television in which the image is a widescreen image with much more detail than is contained in current analog television images. Most consumers will see a vast improvement in image quality. HDTV has better picture quality than SDTV because it has a higher number of lines of resolution. The image is two to five times sharper because the spaces between the scan lines are narrower. Website design By BotEap.comRESUME Website design By BotEap.comAny of the four technologies can be a good choice. Competition is intense and all technologies will continue to improve. Shopping for a TV will never be as simple as it was before HDTV, but the benefits may be worth it.
o Rear Projection TV (RPTV): uses a combination of mirrors and lenses to project the image from behind onto the display screen. This allows the displayed image to be significantly larger, up to 70 inches or more. This technique generally offers the best value (image size vs. cost).
o Frontal Projection Television (FPTV): it is like a cinema. The image is projected forward to an external screen. But just like a movie theater, a very dark room is required because the screen will reflect any light in the room. This technique is typically more expensive than rear projection, but the footprint (the area consumed by the equipment) of the system is smaller.
o Better color saturation, richer and more vibrant
o Better sharper image, important for text
o More energy efficient Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Poor black levels and contrast
o Problems displaying moving images (sports)
o LCD panels (mainly in the blue channel) can degrade, causing changes in color balance
o Visible pixelation Website design By BotEap.comLiquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS): Website design By BotEap.comA type of LCD technology, LCOS uses liquid crystal instead of mirrors to project (usually rear projection) an image onto the screen. LCOS is a good value compared to plasma and LCD TVs, but expensive compared to all other rear-projection TV technologies like DLP. This technique uses a chip like a DLP array does (see below), but the chip is coated with liquid crystal, which reflects the image seen on the screen. LCOS based systems allow for a higher screen resolution than an LCD or Plasma display. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Crisp, vivid colors and deep black levels
o Does not change slowly over time like plasma equipment does Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Dead pixels often occur because the technology is partially reflective
o High maintenance cost: LCOS requires frequent bulb changes (6,000-8,000 hours, about 3-4 years with typical use) versus 50,000 or more for most LCD or plasma displays. A replacement bulb will cost around $400
o Reproducibility: image quality can vary greatly from machine to machine Website design By BotEap.comDigital Light Processor (DLP): Website design By BotEap.comThe DLP is a product of Texas Instruments that is manufactured in Korea. It uses a chip with many mirrors (there can be over a million mirrors on a chip that is about an inch square) that can be mechanically steered to reflect the correct color. This technology offers excellent viewing at a moderate cost. Website design By BotEap.comIn the best DLP projectors, like the ones used at your local movie theater, there are three separate mirror chips, one for the red, green, and blue channels. However, in mass marketed DLP projectors, there is only one chip. In these sets, to define the color, there is a color wheel consisting of red, green and blue filters. This wheel rotates between the lamp and the DLP chip and alternates the color of the light that falls on the chip. Website design By BotEap.comThe rotating color wheel used to project the image can cause a screen problem known as rainbow effect, where colors separate into different reds, greens, and blues. At any given time, the image on the screen is either red, green or blue, and the technique relies on your eyes being unable to detect rapid changes from one to the other. However, not only can some people see colors separately, but the rapid sequence of colors may be responsible for reported cases of eyestrain and headaches. But the vast majority of people cannot detect the rainbow effect. Website design By BotEap.comNewer sets have the color wheel rotation speed doubled. Also, newer sets use a six-segment color wheel (instead of a 3-segment) that has two sequences of red, green, and blue. Because the wheel is twice as fast, and because red, green, and blue are seen twice with each rotation, the effect is a quadrupling of the speed of rotation. This removed the visibility of the rainbows for most people who previously saw the effect. Website design By BotEap.comSamsung and other companies have introduced DLP equipment with LED lamps and no color wheel. Lamp bulbs in older designs need to be replaced every few years. The LED lamp should last the life of the TV. Website design By BotEap.comLaserVue (Mitsubishi) is being introduced in the United States now in time for the holiday season. LaserVue is a DLP (Texas Instruments “Dark Chip 4″ Digital Light Processor) system that eliminates the conventional light bulb and replaces it with a solid-state laser. Video performance is outstanding, but the technology will cost you about $7000 for a 65” HDTV. Reliability/improved lifespan may be better, but there is little data on this new laser. You would expect an ion laser to argon has a life of approximately 8000 hours (5 to 6 years in typical use).The Mitsubishi LaserVue uses a laser system made by Arasor, an Australian start-up, made from lithium niobate (PPKN).Mitsubishi is currently making accelerated stress testing, but has No results published so far A LaserVue HDTV consumes less than 200 watts of electricity That’s about half that of a comparable LCD HDTV and less than a third of a high-frequency plasma system definition. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Small package size
o High contrast image with deep black levels
or good value Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Less bright images
o Rainbow effect
o High maintenance cost: DLP requires frequent bulb changes (6,000-8,000 hours, about 3-4 years with typical use) vs. 50,000 or more for most LCD or plasma displays. A replacement bulb will cost between $300 and $400. Samsung is using LED lighting instead of lamps. The LED should not have to be replaced. Website design By BotEap.comPlasma screen: Website design By BotEap.comSlim design, high contrast ratings, size up to 60 inches or larger; some display limitations: older, more expensive systems had a high risk of burn-in (a memory of what was projected was retained over time); This could pose a problem for those who like to play video games or watch recorded movies. Pausing the game or tape for too long may cause an image to burn on your screen. Website design By BotEap.comAdvantages:
o Exceptional image quality: can produce up to 8.6 billion colors, accurate color reproduction and wide viewing angles
o Large screen sizes – some plasma TV units are now manufactured in screen sizes that can span up to 100 inches
o Lifespan – Plasma TVs are also known for their extended life capability of approximately 60,000 hours and high contrast (deep blacks)
o Less expensive than LCD Website design By BotEap.comCons:
o Screens are very bulky, heavy and fragile
or burned
o Degrades slowly over time
or inefficient energy Website design By BotEap.comComing soon: OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) HDTVs are out now, but it’ll be a couple of years before they’re worth serious consideration. An OLED assembly is less than 1″ thick. OLED has already been used in digital cameras and cell phones with small panels, due to its power efficiency, which is important in portable devices. Website design By BotEap.comRULES: Website design By BotEap.como NTSC Analog TV o Standard Definition TV (SDTV): The current system being phased out (National Television Systems Committee).
o EDTV (Enhanced Digital TV) – Basically high-end standard definition TV – while these sets may be better than standard sets, the picture quality is not the same as HDTV. Technically, there is little difference between an SDTV and an EDTV (except for the higher price).
o ATSC Digital TV: It is the new system (Advanced Television Systems Committee), which is not necessarily High Definition.
o HDTV: is digital television in which the image is a widescreen image with much more detail than is contained in current analog television images. Most consumers will see a vast improvement in image quality. HDTV has better picture quality than SDTV because it has a higher number of lines of resolution. The image is two to five times sharper because the spaces between the scan lines are narrower. Website design By BotEap.comRESUME Website design By BotEap.comAny of the four technologies can be a good choice. Competition is intense and all technologies will continue to improve. Shopping for a TV will never be as simple as it was before HDTV, but the benefits may be worth it.