Archive for the ‘Cable And Satellite Tv’ Category
Jenn Besonia asked:
LCD Display has many tiny cells which are called pixels. It also has fluorescent back light. This produces light to a mirror and then projects it to the screen. The excellence and sharpness of the figure that you receive also depend on the pixel. In recent times, due to the hi-tech era, images are now as true as it is because of the capability of matching precise color tones.
Some of the popular models are: Samsung LN46A650, which is 46-inch, has 1080p and 120hz. Samsung LN40A650 which is 40-Inch, has 1080p and 120Hz. Samsung LN52A650 which is 52-Inch, has 1080p and 120Hz. Philips which is 37” Widescreen. All are LCD HDTV.
Comparing shops than comparing brands is more useful if you are going to buy a flat screen TV. You should also test out sites such as Target and Best Buy for great buys. Circuit City and Wal-Mart are also good sites for it. There are tons of good deals there. Things that are for extravagance before have turned into items of consumption because of the continuous development in technology. Manufacturers are now having a regular price war which gives them a smaller profit margin.
Few years ago, people think that LCD TVs would just be feasible in tinier sizes. Now that we have known about Samsung, Westinghouse Digital, and also Sharp and LG Philips, it is now safe to say that all those past notions are not true.
If you can not still decide which LCD TV you are going to buy, here are some tips that will surely help on making your decision.
You should first consider your money. Do a budget for buying your LCD TV. Second, choose the size of the TV you will buy. It should always fit with the size of your room. 27’ is the typical panel size but it still depends on your definite needs.
Third, think of the features you are looking for in a TV. Various LCD sets appear in the company of memory card slots. Camcorders are also part of LCD sets sometimes.
Fourth, consider where you like speakers to be at. Do you want it to be on either sides of the panel or you just want it at the bottom?
Fifth, make sure viewing angles will fit to the arrangements of seating in your room.
Sixth, ask yourself, “What quality of picture do I want?” For instance, if you are fond of bigger screens compared to 30”, 1366 X 768 resolution will be suggested.
Finally, be friendly to other experienced customers of a store. Ask them about the TV you desire to buy because their answers would really be a big help. The store staffs’ recommendations will also be credible because they know much about this thing.
—————–
To know more information about LCD TVs, visit Erratic World Site.
LCD Display has many tiny cells which are called pixels. It also has fluorescent back light. This produces light to a mirror and then projects it to the screen. The excellence and sharpness of the figure that you receive also depend on the pixel. In recent times, due to the hi-tech era, images are now as true as it is because of the capability of matching precise color tones.
Some of the popular models are: Samsung LN46A650, which is 46-inch, has 1080p and 120hz. Samsung LN40A650 which is 40-Inch, has 1080p and 120Hz. Samsung LN52A650 which is 52-Inch, has 1080p and 120Hz. Philips which is 37” Widescreen. All are LCD HDTV.
Comparing shops than comparing brands is more useful if you are going to buy a flat screen TV. You should also test out sites such as Target and Best Buy for great buys. Circuit City and Wal-Mart are also good sites for it. There are tons of good deals there. Things that are for extravagance before have turned into items of consumption because of the continuous development in technology. Manufacturers are now having a regular price war which gives them a smaller profit margin.
Few years ago, people think that LCD TVs would just be feasible in tinier sizes. Now that we have known about Samsung, Westinghouse Digital, and also Sharp and LG Philips, it is now safe to say that all those past notions are not true.
If you can not still decide which LCD TV you are going to buy, here are some tips that will surely help on making your decision.
You should first consider your money. Do a budget for buying your LCD TV. Second, choose the size of the TV you will buy. It should always fit with the size of your room. 27’ is the typical panel size but it still depends on your definite needs.
Third, think of the features you are looking for in a TV. Various LCD sets appear in the company of memory card slots. Camcorders are also part of LCD sets sometimes.
Fourth, consider where you like speakers to be at. Do you want it to be on either sides of the panel or you just want it at the bottom?
Fifth, make sure viewing angles will fit to the arrangements of seating in your room.
Sixth, ask yourself, “What quality of picture do I want?” For instance, if you are fond of bigger screens compared to 30”, 1366 X 768 resolution will be suggested.
Finally, be friendly to other experienced customers of a store. Ask them about the TV you desire to buy because their answers would really be a big help. The store staffs’ recommendations will also be credible because they know much about this thing.
—————–
To know more information about LCD TVs, visit Erratic World Site.
Filed under Cable And Satellite Tv
Edward Joseph asked:
Buying your HDTV can lead to confusion and most find it an intimidating experience. However you can make the process easier by breaking it down into smaller parts such as checking the budget ranges, size of screen, style and considering special uses and options available.
Budget Range
The very first thing you need to consider is of course the budget range. In regards to this you will need to look for HDTV of a particular screen size, display type, quality of picture and the name of the brand. We recommend you to read various reviews of individual HDTV’s, though for less than five hundred dollars, you should be able to pick up a twenty inch set with HD-ready.
In case you are considering spending somewhere between five hundred and one thousand dollars, you can go for a thirty-two inch set with integrated tuner. A forty-six inch HDTV is available in the range of one thousand to two thousand dollars. For higher budgets beyond two thousand dollars, the market offers a fifty-two inch LCD, sixty inch Plasma and seventy-five inch DLP HDTV.
Though most dealers are ready to offer discounts on the above prices, you may have to settle for the previous year’s model. This is merely because HDTV technology is continuously getting improved and the old sets are available at lower prices. Another important aspect to purchasing your HDTV is the screen size, which is not like what you were used to with CRT TVs and the biggest size was the most desirable.
With so many extra large screen sizes becoming available in HDTV’s today, you risk being too close to the screen. It thus involves you having to move your eyes from one end of the screen to the other. This causes a dizzying effect on the viewer, most often resulting in headaches.
So it is advisable to buy a HDTV which matches well with the size of your room. The thumb rule for selection is to seat at a distance of two to four times the diagonal measurement of your screen. Which means that for a twenty-four inch set, the proper distance to view from would be between four and eight feet.
Another aspect of HDTV sets is that they are available as LCD, Plasma and DLP. A LCD means Liquid Crystal Display which is more or less the same as found on computer monitors. On the other hand, Plasma sets are those with glass screens unlike the plastic which are used in LCDs. Plasma sets are sure to provide better quality of picture, especially when viewed from an angle, though the screen glare is also more
Buying your HDTV can lead to confusion and most find it an intimidating experience. However you can make the process easier by breaking it down into smaller parts such as checking the budget ranges, size of screen, style and considering special uses and options available.
Budget Range
The very first thing you need to consider is of course the budget range. In regards to this you will need to look for HDTV of a particular screen size, display type, quality of picture and the name of the brand. We recommend you to read various reviews of individual HDTV’s, though for less than five hundred dollars, you should be able to pick up a twenty inch set with HD-ready.
In case you are considering spending somewhere between five hundred and one thousand dollars, you can go for a thirty-two inch set with integrated tuner. A forty-six inch HDTV is available in the range of one thousand to two thousand dollars. For higher budgets beyond two thousand dollars, the market offers a fifty-two inch LCD, sixty inch Plasma and seventy-five inch DLP HDTV.
Though most dealers are ready to offer discounts on the above prices, you may have to settle for the previous year’s model. This is merely because HDTV technology is continuously getting improved and the old sets are available at lower prices. Another important aspect to purchasing your HDTV is the screen size, which is not like what you were used to with CRT TVs and the biggest size was the most desirable.
With so many extra large screen sizes becoming available in HDTV’s today, you risk being too close to the screen. It thus involves you having to move your eyes from one end of the screen to the other. This causes a dizzying effect on the viewer, most often resulting in headaches.
So it is advisable to buy a HDTV which matches well with the size of your room. The thumb rule for selection is to seat at a distance of two to four times the diagonal measurement of your screen. Which means that for a twenty-four inch set, the proper distance to view from would be between four and eight feet.
Another aspect of HDTV sets is that they are available as LCD, Plasma and DLP. A LCD means Liquid Crystal Display which is more or less the same as found on computer monitors. On the other hand, Plasma sets are those with glass screens unlike the plastic which are used in LCDs. Plasma sets are sure to provide better quality of picture, especially when viewed from an angle, though the screen glare is also more
Filed under Cable And Satellite Tv
C R Ellsworth asked:
HDTV will be a greater leap in the quality of the home entertainment experience than even the change from black-and-white TV to color, or Hi-Fi to Stereo, or AM to FM. HDTV, in addition to picture and sound will also deliver data services, such as electronic program guides or information related to the programs you watch. Local broadcast stations broadcasting in HD will be able to broadcast one extra high quality picture, or several separate camera angles equal to today’s pictures. HDTV will offer the opportunity to develop sophisticated services that meet consumer demand for flexibility and convenience.
HD will be presented in a 16:9 format and will allow resolutions up to 1940×1080 plus provide you with twice the amount of picture information both vertically and horizontally. It will not work on regular analog televisions since these sets don’t support the interfaces required for HDTV signals.
After February 17th of 2009 local analog TV channels will stop transmitting, everything else connected to your analog TV will continue to work.
DVD
By the time HDTV is wide spread, high-definition movies will be on the shelves, playable on Blu-ray, HD DVD or both, depending on which way the format wars go. When you switch over to HD, you may need to connect your HD set-top box, Blu-ray or HD DVD player to your TV using a HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD are compatible with existing standard DVD, so you can play your current discs on a next-gen player, but the two competing formats are not compatible with each other. It’s a bit of a laugh if you are old enough to remember the ‘Beta-Max VHS Wars’, Beta you say?
Technology
What problems are facing the early adopters of this new technology and what caveats remain for it to become mainstream? The people buying HDTV units today are known as “early adopters”. They usually buy whatever is the ‘Latest & Greatest’ especially in the Hi-Tech field. Other consumers will have to be sold on the technology. A huge number of older television sets will instantly become obsolete and when their owners make plans to replace them, newer technology like HDTV as it exists at the time of the mass conversion will be very attractive. You can bet that there will be a market for ‘conversion hardware’ to enable the use of ‘analog’ sets with the new HD Broadcast Technology. If you now record off-air local TV shows on your VCR you will not be able to continue doing that after February 17th of 2009 without an upgrade. To continue recording local TV programs you will either have to connect a Digital to Analog TV Converter box to your VCR or purchase a different TV recording device that has a DTV tuner built in. You’ll need that to continue to record programs from local TV stations after February 17th of 2009. The advent of Tivo will eventually make the VCR question irrelevant.
While the prices of HDTV sets are dropping, the High Definition equivalents of many of the complimentary technologies that we’ve come to expect will remain relatively expensive, such as home recording and storage media. The HD DVD and Blu-ray war is another slow down in bringing High Definition technology into the mainstream. In reality the main distinctions between competing HD formats will be virtually unnoticeable unless you are viewing on a screen 55″+ in size.
Antenna
In cities across the nation stations have already begun broadcasting an HDTV signal, receivable with an antenna. In order to receive over-the-air digital and HD signals, you need a tuner and a digital antenna. In order to watch local network affiliates, some satellite customers may have to switch from their dish to an antenna. To receive HDTV via antenna you’ll need: An HDTV, HDTV tuner, HDTV antenna. Depending on your location you may need an antenna rotor to point the antenna to multiple broadcast towers.
A major hurdle to overcome with over-the-air HD broadcasts via Antenna is, the technology has to overcome the ‘consumers’ misperceptions and long held myths, combined with lack of knowledge about the capabilities of antennas. The solution to the Antenna/Satellite conversion question may have a more long term effect on the consumer response than the seemingly obvious debate in other hardware.
Note: HDTV tuners that come built-into many HDTVs are over-the-air tuners for use with an antenna and cannot be used as your cable HD tuner.
Local Response
It’s always a good idea to check with your local TV dealer regarding what HDTV services are available in your area before buying. It would even be a good idea to call your local TV stations and ask for the Chief Engineer to find out the stations’ particulars.
The cable industry believes that HDTV will drive DTV sales up and bring prices down to a where more consumers can buy.
I’m looking at a DLP Projector System now; capable of displaying HD and allowing connections for an HDTV Tuner. Perhaps HDTV will be my next acquisition.
HDTV will be a greater leap in the quality of the home entertainment experience than even the change from black-and-white TV to color, or Hi-Fi to Stereo, or AM to FM. HDTV, in addition to picture and sound will also deliver data services, such as electronic program guides or information related to the programs you watch. Local broadcast stations broadcasting in HD will be able to broadcast one extra high quality picture, or several separate camera angles equal to today’s pictures. HDTV will offer the opportunity to develop sophisticated services that meet consumer demand for flexibility and convenience.
HD will be presented in a 16:9 format and will allow resolutions up to 1940×1080 plus provide you with twice the amount of picture information both vertically and horizontally. It will not work on regular analog televisions since these sets don’t support the interfaces required for HDTV signals.
After February 17th of 2009 local analog TV channels will stop transmitting, everything else connected to your analog TV will continue to work.
DVD
By the time HDTV is wide spread, high-definition movies will be on the shelves, playable on Blu-ray, HD DVD or both, depending on which way the format wars go. When you switch over to HD, you may need to connect your HD set-top box, Blu-ray or HD DVD player to your TV using a HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD are compatible with existing standard DVD, so you can play your current discs on a next-gen player, but the two competing formats are not compatible with each other. It’s a bit of a laugh if you are old enough to remember the ‘Beta-Max VHS Wars’, Beta you say?
Technology
What problems are facing the early adopters of this new technology and what caveats remain for it to become mainstream? The people buying HDTV units today are known as “early adopters”. They usually buy whatever is the ‘Latest & Greatest’ especially in the Hi-Tech field. Other consumers will have to be sold on the technology. A huge number of older television sets will instantly become obsolete and when their owners make plans to replace them, newer technology like HDTV as it exists at the time of the mass conversion will be very attractive. You can bet that there will be a market for ‘conversion hardware’ to enable the use of ‘analog’ sets with the new HD Broadcast Technology. If you now record off-air local TV shows on your VCR you will not be able to continue doing that after February 17th of 2009 without an upgrade. To continue recording local TV programs you will either have to connect a Digital to Analog TV Converter box to your VCR or purchase a different TV recording device that has a DTV tuner built in. You’ll need that to continue to record programs from local TV stations after February 17th of 2009. The advent of Tivo will eventually make the VCR question irrelevant.
While the prices of HDTV sets are dropping, the High Definition equivalents of many of the complimentary technologies that we’ve come to expect will remain relatively expensive, such as home recording and storage media. The HD DVD and Blu-ray war is another slow down in bringing High Definition technology into the mainstream. In reality the main distinctions between competing HD formats will be virtually unnoticeable unless you are viewing on a screen 55″+ in size.
Antenna
In cities across the nation stations have already begun broadcasting an HDTV signal, receivable with an antenna. In order to receive over-the-air digital and HD signals, you need a tuner and a digital antenna. In order to watch local network affiliates, some satellite customers may have to switch from their dish to an antenna. To receive HDTV via antenna you’ll need: An HDTV, HDTV tuner, HDTV antenna. Depending on your location you may need an antenna rotor to point the antenna to multiple broadcast towers.
A major hurdle to overcome with over-the-air HD broadcasts via Antenna is, the technology has to overcome the ‘consumers’ misperceptions and long held myths, combined with lack of knowledge about the capabilities of antennas. The solution to the Antenna/Satellite conversion question may have a more long term effect on the consumer response than the seemingly obvious debate in other hardware.
Note: HDTV tuners that come built-into many HDTVs are over-the-air tuners for use with an antenna and cannot be used as your cable HD tuner.
Local Response
It’s always a good idea to check with your local TV dealer regarding what HDTV services are available in your area before buying. It would even be a good idea to call your local TV stations and ask for the Chief Engineer to find out the stations’ particulars.
The cable industry believes that HDTV will drive DTV sales up and bring prices down to a where more consumers can buy.
I’m looking at a DLP Projector System now; capable of displaying HD and allowing connections for an HDTV Tuner. Perhaps HDTV will be my next acquisition.
Filed under Cable And Satellite Tv
Muna wa Wanjiru asked:
For a great many of us selecting a TV is a very important decision. While some people will prefer to watch TV on a normal LCD television, other will like to watch their programs on a plasma TV. Since you can find a large number of plasma TVs you will need to know how to choose the best plasma TV that you can afford.
As plasma televisions range in size you should look at the price and features that you will find with these televisions. The size of the plasma TV that you select will influence the amount of money that you need to pay.
The various plasma TVs in the market that are 42 inches and below are not that expensive. You can generally expect to pay in the region of $1000 to about $5000 for these plasma TVs. The plasma TVs that are large than 42 inches in size will have a high price for you to pay.
Once you have settled on the brand and the size you can concentrate on the other aspects of looking for the best plasma TV. The different features that you will find in plasma TVs will also influence your choice of plasma TV.
These different features will include how the color saturation looks. As most plasma televisions have a rich color look you can usually find well placed blocks of solid black that adds a depth to your viewing pleasure.
There are many other features that you can find in plasma TVs. As the plasma TVs has plasma gas cells to provide the color for the TV you will see that your plasma TV can give you a better true to life color and depth to your various programs. The ability of looking at high definition television viewing will give a smoother look to your picture image.
When you are selecting the best plasma TV that you can buy you should see if there are any terminals that are found with your plasma TV choice. These terminals will let you plug in accessories like a camcorder, DVD player, game stations like playstation and X-box. Sometimes you will be able to see another mini screen in the corner of your main viewing screen.
By looking at these different items you can choose the best plasma TV for your television watching pleasure. Knowing the main features and elements for choosing a plasma TV will reduce the field of plasma TVs that you have to look through. This way you know that you will choose only the best plasma TV that you can get.
For a great many of us selecting a TV is a very important decision. While some people will prefer to watch TV on a normal LCD television, other will like to watch their programs on a plasma TV. Since you can find a large number of plasma TVs you will need to know how to choose the best plasma TV that you can afford.
As plasma televisions range in size you should look at the price and features that you will find with these televisions. The size of the plasma TV that you select will influence the amount of money that you need to pay.
The various plasma TVs in the market that are 42 inches and below are not that expensive. You can generally expect to pay in the region of $1000 to about $5000 for these plasma TVs. The plasma TVs that are large than 42 inches in size will have a high price for you to pay.
Once you have settled on the brand and the size you can concentrate on the other aspects of looking for the best plasma TV. The different features that you will find in plasma TVs will also influence your choice of plasma TV.
These different features will include how the color saturation looks. As most plasma televisions have a rich color look you can usually find well placed blocks of solid black that adds a depth to your viewing pleasure.
There are many other features that you can find in plasma TVs. As the plasma TVs has plasma gas cells to provide the color for the TV you will see that your plasma TV can give you a better true to life color and depth to your various programs. The ability of looking at high definition television viewing will give a smoother look to your picture image.
When you are selecting the best plasma TV that you can buy you should see if there are any terminals that are found with your plasma TV choice. These terminals will let you plug in accessories like a camcorder, DVD player, game stations like playstation and X-box. Sometimes you will be able to see another mini screen in the corner of your main viewing screen.
By looking at these different items you can choose the best plasma TV for your television watching pleasure. Knowing the main features and elements for choosing a plasma TV will reduce the field of plasma TVs that you have to look through. This way you know that you will choose only the best plasma TV that you can get.
Filed under Cable And Satellite Tv
C R Ellsworth asked:
Recently the “Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act” was passed. This sets February 17th – 2009, as the “final-cut-off-date” for Over-The-Air Analog TV Broadcasts. That means your ‘Rabbit Ears’ and the tall antenna on your roof will be useless except for lawn ornaments. To watch any TV presentation that originates outside of your home you will need new hardware. The minimum will be an HDTV with a digital tuner. The tuner can be integrated or external. If there happens to be an HDTV Transmitter close enough to your home, you can buy an HDTV antenna.
HDTV signals are line-of-sight, so if you are on the edge of a broadcast area there are Roof mounted antennas available. This is how the local broadcast network affiliates will transmit, if you still watch them. There will of course be satellite and cable available for the myriad extra entertainment venues they provide.
Some regions may need an HDTV antenna if your cable provider is slow bringing HDTV to your area or if your area has no cable. If you use one of the Satellite providers you should be in luck. They are transitioning to HDTV as we speak. Ain’t Competition Great.
HDTV SPECIFICATION
The HDTV specification provides for three different types of HDTV, denoted by the number of lines of resolution and the signal type. They are:
*1080p (1080 lines, progressive scan)
*1080i (1080 lines, interlaced)
*720p (720 pixels, progressive)
Any TV not capable of displaying at least 720 lines is not ‘HDTV ready’ and any signal with fewer than 720 lines is not an HDTV signal. So, in order to be properly HDTV capable, a TV needs to be able to display at least 1280 pixels horizontally as well as at least 720 vertically.
The ‘i’ and ‘p’ in the HDTV specification refer to interlaced and progressive scan. The analog TV we’ve been watching for years is interlaced. That simply means that each frame of video is split into two fields. Each field contains alternate lines of the signal (one has the odd, the other the even) and is displayed for 1/60th of a second. Because it happens so fast, your brain interprets each frame as a single image. Progressive scan signals have no fields, they simply display each frame in its entirety for 1/30th of a second. This results in a higher quality image, particularly noticeable in fast-action broadcasts such as sporting events,
Once the decision is made as to how you are going to receive HDTV some decisions need to be made about how you will use the system. Your choices in display technology will depend on your most frequent use of the system. Depending on your interests you will want to evaluate different types of displays and/or controls.
Gamers will probably want different display qualities than a Home Theatre Buff, Sports enthusiast or Business users. Business applications such as Power Point & Spreadsheet display well with most consideration being given to the size of the audience. Avid sports viewers will need true high speed performance. I haven’t been a Gamer since before Intel’s P III, so their concerns will be addressed in another publication.
So what do you prefer?
A front-projection system uses a projector and a separate screen, and it projects images onto the front of that screen. This setup looks most like what you’d find in a movie theater — the projection unit is completely separate from the screen. The projector can be placed on a table or mounted to the ceiling. The picture looks best when displayed on a high-quality screen, but a specially painted, flat wall will work as well.
Rear-projection systems look more like traditional televisions. They display images on the back of a screen rather than the front, and the projector is completely contained within the television itself. You can also set up a rear-projection system with a projector and a special screen, but the term is most often used to describe self-contained TV sets.
For that theatre experience at home, without the sticky floor and screaming kids, I prefer a front-projection DLP Projector for my Home Theatre Room. In my opinion DLP is best for Home Theatre Video’s (DVD Etc. because of higher contrast and deeper black levels, Contrast (3000:1 for DLP, 1000:1 for LCD).
A projector of this type can project on a wall screen up to 120″ in size with high contrast and deep black levels. DLP miniprojectors on the market are around 3 pounds. Most LCD projectors are five pounds or more. These differences are being narrowed as technology progresses. For Business applications such as Power Point & Spreadsheet display these are not noticeable concerns.
I’m a Home Theatre Buff so DLP meets my expectations. But there are other technologies with their own pluses and minuses.
Plasma Displays have great resolution and incredible color definition. With a resolution of 1366 x 768 a plasma display can give virtually a 3-D effect. This in combination with exceptional color reproduction can be quite stunning.
Plasma does have some issues though. They can be subject to ‘Burn in’ and there is a concern with ‘Life Cycle’. At the price levels you will find in display technologies a screen that only lasts 20,000 to 25,000 hours before replacement is needed is problematic. This is possible with Plasma although NEC is working on raising their ‘life cycles’ to 60,000 hours.
LCD’s have an average life cycle of 30,000. LCD Screens deliver a very good picture. The LCD was the first display to have 1080 line resolution. LCD is better in bright light conditions. LCD historically delivers better color saturation than you get from a DLP projector although this is a major focus of new research on DLP tech.
Compared to Plasma, LCD has slow reaction time if you are watch presentations focusing on split-second events such as NASCAR and other sports. Contrast, at 1000:1 is not great compared with Plasma & DLP. Full black is hard to achieve with LCD, black is usually a deep Gray. LCD may also be subject to a screendoor effect, at times seeming to show a division between pixels. Also a potential problem with LCD: Long Term Image Degradation. Although this would most likely happen after a comparable Plasma screen may show effects of a burn in or element failure.
There are so many factors to consider and so much information out there that many more articles can be written. So for now further research and choices are up to you.
Recently the “Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act” was passed. This sets February 17th – 2009, as the “final-cut-off-date” for Over-The-Air Analog TV Broadcasts. That means your ‘Rabbit Ears’ and the tall antenna on your roof will be useless except for lawn ornaments. To watch any TV presentation that originates outside of your home you will need new hardware. The minimum will be an HDTV with a digital tuner. The tuner can be integrated or external. If there happens to be an HDTV Transmitter close enough to your home, you can buy an HDTV antenna.
HDTV signals are line-of-sight, so if you are on the edge of a broadcast area there are Roof mounted antennas available. This is how the local broadcast network affiliates will transmit, if you still watch them. There will of course be satellite and cable available for the myriad extra entertainment venues they provide.
Some regions may need an HDTV antenna if your cable provider is slow bringing HDTV to your area or if your area has no cable. If you use one of the Satellite providers you should be in luck. They are transitioning to HDTV as we speak. Ain’t Competition Great.
HDTV SPECIFICATION
The HDTV specification provides for three different types of HDTV, denoted by the number of lines of resolution and the signal type. They are:
*1080p (1080 lines, progressive scan)
*1080i (1080 lines, interlaced)
*720p (720 pixels, progressive)
Any TV not capable of displaying at least 720 lines is not ‘HDTV ready’ and any signal with fewer than 720 lines is not an HDTV signal. So, in order to be properly HDTV capable, a TV needs to be able to display at least 1280 pixels horizontally as well as at least 720 vertically.
The ‘i’ and ‘p’ in the HDTV specification refer to interlaced and progressive scan. The analog TV we’ve been watching for years is interlaced. That simply means that each frame of video is split into two fields. Each field contains alternate lines of the signal (one has the odd, the other the even) and is displayed for 1/60th of a second. Because it happens so fast, your brain interprets each frame as a single image. Progressive scan signals have no fields, they simply display each frame in its entirety for 1/30th of a second. This results in a higher quality image, particularly noticeable in fast-action broadcasts such as sporting events,
Once the decision is made as to how you are going to receive HDTV some decisions need to be made about how you will use the system. Your choices in display technology will depend on your most frequent use of the system. Depending on your interests you will want to evaluate different types of displays and/or controls.
Gamers will probably want different display qualities than a Home Theatre Buff, Sports enthusiast or Business users. Business applications such as Power Point & Spreadsheet display well with most consideration being given to the size of the audience. Avid sports viewers will need true high speed performance. I haven’t been a Gamer since before Intel’s P III, so their concerns will be addressed in another publication.
So what do you prefer?
A front-projection system uses a projector and a separate screen, and it projects images onto the front of that screen. This setup looks most like what you’d find in a movie theater — the projection unit is completely separate from the screen. The projector can be placed on a table or mounted to the ceiling. The picture looks best when displayed on a high-quality screen, but a specially painted, flat wall will work as well.
Rear-projection systems look more like traditional televisions. They display images on the back of a screen rather than the front, and the projector is completely contained within the television itself. You can also set up a rear-projection system with a projector and a special screen, but the term is most often used to describe self-contained TV sets.
For that theatre experience at home, without the sticky floor and screaming kids, I prefer a front-projection DLP Projector for my Home Theatre Room. In my opinion DLP is best for Home Theatre Video’s (DVD Etc. because of higher contrast and deeper black levels, Contrast (3000:1 for DLP, 1000:1 for LCD).
A projector of this type can project on a wall screen up to 120″ in size with high contrast and deep black levels. DLP miniprojectors on the market are around 3 pounds. Most LCD projectors are five pounds or more. These differences are being narrowed as technology progresses. For Business applications such as Power Point & Spreadsheet display these are not noticeable concerns.
I’m a Home Theatre Buff so DLP meets my expectations. But there are other technologies with their own pluses and minuses.
Plasma Displays have great resolution and incredible color definition. With a resolution of 1366 x 768 a plasma display can give virtually a 3-D effect. This in combination with exceptional color reproduction can be quite stunning.
Plasma does have some issues though. They can be subject to ‘Burn in’ and there is a concern with ‘Life Cycle’. At the price levels you will find in display technologies a screen that only lasts 20,000 to 25,000 hours before replacement is needed is problematic. This is possible with Plasma although NEC is working on raising their ‘life cycles’ to 60,000 hours.
LCD’s have an average life cycle of 30,000. LCD Screens deliver a very good picture. The LCD was the first display to have 1080 line resolution. LCD is better in bright light conditions. LCD historically delivers better color saturation than you get from a DLP projector although this is a major focus of new research on DLP tech.
Compared to Plasma, LCD has slow reaction time if you are watch presentations focusing on split-second events such as NASCAR and other sports. Contrast, at 1000:1 is not great compared with Plasma & DLP. Full black is hard to achieve with LCD, black is usually a deep Gray. LCD may also be subject to a screendoor effect, at times seeming to show a division between pixels. Also a potential problem with LCD: Long Term Image Degradation. Although this would most likely happen after a comparable Plasma screen may show effects of a burn in or element failure.
There are so many factors to consider and so much information out there that many more articles can be written. So for now further research and choices are up to you.
Filed under Cable And Satellite Tv