HDTV choices not all black and white ( Bigger is better )

rmn...Daily Camera ^ | May 28, 2007 | Todd Neff

[george76]

physicist says multiple factors affect picture quality.

If you own a high-definition TV, don't read Edward Kelley's new tipsheet for folks in the market for plasma, LCD and other high-end displays. He doesn't want to ruin your day.

Kelley is a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Flat Screen Display Laboratory in Boulder. He wrote most of what one in the industry called "a bible" for the industrial testing and certification of flat-panel screens.

Kelley's tipsheet opens sternly, with an all-caps warning.

"SOME PEOPLE HAVE FOUND THAT THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL HAS REDUCED THEIR ABILITY TO ENJOY THEIR FLAT PANEL TELEVISION," it reads, adding, "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!"

Kelly, 58, has six small NIST labs at his disposal, from the cavelike Black Lab full of spectroradiometers, photometers, cameras and other equipment to a machine shop where he makes his own lamps and light sources to shine on various screens. The most striking device, a 6-foot-diameter blue orb called an integrating sphere, could be Mork from Ork's second car.

Don't ask Kelley to recommend a specific brand or whether to go with LCD, plasma or micromirrors. He concentrates on how to properly measure the performance of any sort of display in terms of color, brightness, grayscale rendering and other factors. Plus, he says, different environments call for different screens.

Manufacturers buying millions of displays a year rely on standards Kelley developed, refined or verified "in his darkrooms and labs and caves,"

"NIST is a servant to industry."

Kelley has been an innovative servant. Among many other things, he developed a globally recognized test for display-screen quality using a plastic-foam beer cooler, which remains a Black Lab fixture.

"This is called redneck metrology,"

[george76]

• HD-ready is not HD. HD-ready televisions can display high-definition TV signals, but many fall short of the 1920-by-1080-pixel screen resolution of true high-definition TV.

• Get more tips. Download Kelley’s tipsheet at pdl.nist.gov/tips.html

Source: Edward Kelley, Nist

[pnh102]

Heh... wonder if it mentions Monster Cable LOL.

[johnny7]

Hell... I’m still using a SONY Trinitron purchased back in 1980.

[IncPen]

ping

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the list.......

[Poser]

I have no clue how many pixels my Vizio 42” LCD has. It works fine.

[Nervous Tick]

>> pdl.nist.gov/tips.html

Hmmm... that link doesn’t work for me (wants authentication).

And I can’t seem to find it on the NIST main site.

Bummer!

[george76]

Despite - or perhaps because of - his immersion in flat-panel display technology, Kelley doesn’t own one.

“I’m waiting for them to come down in price and go up in quality,”

[george76]

me too

wants authentication

[Hawthorn]

> HD-ready televisions can display high-definition TV signals, but many fall short of the 1920-by-1080-pixel screen resolution of true high-definition TV <

I doubt seriously that many people will ever be able tell the difference between a 780p picture and a 1080i picture, unless viewing on a 50” or bigger screen, from a distance of five feet or less.

(The 780p images on my 42” screen look great even from four feet away, and I can’t imagine needing anything bigger or with more resolution — short of operarting a full-sized movie theater!)

[SteveMcKing]

I have yet to see an LCD or plasma screen over 30” that doesn’t look distractingly pixelated.

That’s including the most recent, most expensive models priced $3000 and up.

DLP looks much better, if you don’t mind the extra bulk in your home. (I do.)

[johnny7]

The audio is going on it though... and I’m debating whether to invest in its repair.

[Recon Dad]

I have a Visio 50” plasma and it is awesome. I plan on buying others as needed. The price is awesome also.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

My 52” Plasma is absolutely incredible. Stunning. Even six months after I purchased it, I continually marvel at the quality. It is mounted on the wall, about 12 feet from the sofa, with a viewing height of 5’ at bottom to 7’ at top, with a slight downward angle. The slight downward angle points at the viewers, and keeps the screen free of dust!

[fhlh]

I get the rainbow effect with DLP... so In my case it looks like crap..

[Procyon]

The correct URL is:

http://www.fpd.nist.gov/tips.html

[snarkpup]

I recently bought a new standard def TV with adjustable aspect ratio, mostly for watching anamorphic (16:9) DVDs. When I went to a store I would take along one of my own DVDs and freeze frame on a certain scene that has an extreme range of brightness. On my old Sony Trinitron, I can see good detail in all the shadows and highlights. Every LDC monitor I tested flunked this test.

I ended up buying a 30" JVC with a CRT. It blew away all the other units at the store and was on sale because they were phasing out CRTs.

[Moonman62]

According to Consumer Reports the only regret most had was not getting a bigger screen.

[oyez]

SONY Trinitron was an outstanding Television. I remember buying the model that came after it. Had it about two years and the flyback transformer burned out. It made more sense to replace the thing than go through the expense of repair. I have avoided SONY ever since.