Post by dkennedy on Mar 4, 2005 6:07:59 GMT -5
The Clicker - Projection CRT TVs
Posted Mar 3, 2005, 7:37 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Each week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, a weekly column on television. Last week he did part 1 of his HDTV buying guide (part 2 is coming!), this week he talks about projection CRT TVs:
As is seemingly always the case, there are two types of people in this world: analog people and digital people. It’s a binary statement, I admit. But what can I say? I’m in the digital camp, and, as the crocodile might say after eating the frog, “That’s what I do.”
However, I take comfort in knowing that while I enjoy the fast-food, quick-and-easy lifestyle served in the digital camp, my counterpart in analog-land sits in his sound-proof, pitch-black room squeezing out every bit of unmolested goodness from his record player, his tube amps, and, yes, his CRT.
Analog people are the guardians of fidelity. They come armed with their 2000 pound TVs and their near-neurotic mantra of “Look at those black levels.” For that I salute them.
What you are about to read are gross overgeneralizations for which I’m sure to be lambasted in the comments section, but, hey, what would a game of “My technology is better than your technology” be without gross overgeneralizations?
Projection CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) televisions are the foundation of the home theater market, and they have earned that distinction for good reason. Before “Home Theaters” were a product that one could buy at Radio Shack for $499, CRTs ruled the land. They were (and still) are the best picture available. They’re based on the same technology that we’ve been using since TV was invented. It’s tried, it’s true, it’s solid.
So what is the technology?
Much like standard televisions, projection CRTs use beams of electrons encased in vacuum tubes to light a coating of phosphors at the end of the tube. Unlike standard televisions, projection televisions use three separate tubes (one each for red, blue, and green). These beams scan the surface of their tubes very quickly in unison and “draw” the picture.
CRTs differ from digital displays in two key ways. First, they do a much better job at black levels. Because they only light the necessary areas, they don’t have to control as much ambient light.* This results in blacks being, well, black. Second, they aren’t a fixed-pixel technology. While a DLP TV might be 1280 x 720 at 60 Hertz, CRTs will drive a number of resolutions and timings. A CRT’s limitation is basically how fast the gun can scan without exploding.
Sounds great, right? Well, with the pros come the cons. CRTs are heavy. CRTs are big. CRTs are finicky. They run hotter. They need more tuning. Those three guns we talked about earlier need to be aligned such that they are all pointed at the same place (convergence). Those phosphors we talked about have a nasty habit of wearing out (burn-in). They’re not as bright as many of the new digital televisions. So, get ready to buy blackout curtains.
The other night I watched Fox’s “Stars Without Makeup.” During its airing I realized two things. First, that I was going to hell for merely watching such a show, but, more importantly, that the show was the perfect analogy for analog televisions.
If you’re willing to deal with their size, weight, ISF calibrations, blackout curtains, etc., they look great. In fact, they look like the technology equivalent of a movie star. If, on the other hand, you happen to catch them on a sunny day without their make-up, you’d be hard-pressed to see the picture let alone declare it to be the winner. As such, it’s difficult to recommend CRTs to the average consumer.
So why would anyone be willing to put up with it all? One word: choice. There is a certain freedom afforded to the analog. Unlike digital televisions (which we’ll talk about in future weeks), CRTs aren’t boxed into strict performance specs (e.g. 60 Hertz). Change the wave sign that you’re delivering to the set, and you’ll change the picture. This allows CRTs to be tweaked to get the absolute most from content.
Let’s look at an example:
For historical reasons**, nearly all televisions today run at 60 Hertz. This means that the screen will be updated once every 1/60th of a second.
60 Hertz is fine if you’re watching video-based content. However, as we discussed a few weeks ago, much content is film-based and recorded at 24fps. This presents digital televisions with a slight problem as 60 divided by 24 doesn’t result in a whole number. So, even if your television is perfectly able to deinterlace the content, you’re still unable to re-create the smooth movement of film.
Analog TV’s can (depending on the capabilities of your set) sometimes be driven to different specs. For instance, some people choose to drive their sets at 72 Hertz. By doing this, their televisions will display one frame of a film for exactly 3 display cycles. Ergo, they are able to deliver the exact timings seen in actual theaters.
The above is just one example of the flexibility one gains by using an analog technology. Some consumers tweak the signal to reduce overscan. Others adjust their timings to change their 1080i sets into 540p sets. There’s a world of experimenting and perfecting that can be done with analog sets.
Over the next few weeks we’ll talk about DLP, LCD, and Plasma sets. In the meantime, if you’re a fan (or opponent) of a technology, I’d love to hear your reasons. E-mail the reasons that you bought or didn’t buy a technology to theclicker@theevilempire.com.
Until next week, save my seat!
* We’ll talk about light issues with digital sets in future columns.
** This is the case for two reasons. First, in the United States, power cycles about 60 times per second. With earlier televisions syncing the power cycles to the display cycles was important. Secondly, HDTV is usually related to cycles of 60 (60 fps for 720p and 60 fields per second for 1080i).
Posted Mar 3, 2005, 7:37 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Each week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, a weekly column on television. Last week he did part 1 of his HDTV buying guide (part 2 is coming!), this week he talks about projection CRT TVs:
As is seemingly always the case, there are two types of people in this world: analog people and digital people. It’s a binary statement, I admit. But what can I say? I’m in the digital camp, and, as the crocodile might say after eating the frog, “That’s what I do.”
However, I take comfort in knowing that while I enjoy the fast-food, quick-and-easy lifestyle served in the digital camp, my counterpart in analog-land sits in his sound-proof, pitch-black room squeezing out every bit of unmolested goodness from his record player, his tube amps, and, yes, his CRT.
Analog people are the guardians of fidelity. They come armed with their 2000 pound TVs and their near-neurotic mantra of “Look at those black levels.” For that I salute them.
What you are about to read are gross overgeneralizations for which I’m sure to be lambasted in the comments section, but, hey, what would a game of “My technology is better than your technology” be without gross overgeneralizations?
Projection CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) televisions are the foundation of the home theater market, and they have earned that distinction for good reason. Before “Home Theaters” were a product that one could buy at Radio Shack for $499, CRTs ruled the land. They were (and still) are the best picture available. They’re based on the same technology that we’ve been using since TV was invented. It’s tried, it’s true, it’s solid.
So what is the technology?
Much like standard televisions, projection CRTs use beams of electrons encased in vacuum tubes to light a coating of phosphors at the end of the tube. Unlike standard televisions, projection televisions use three separate tubes (one each for red, blue, and green). These beams scan the surface of their tubes very quickly in unison and “draw” the picture.
CRTs differ from digital displays in two key ways. First, they do a much better job at black levels. Because they only light the necessary areas, they don’t have to control as much ambient light.* This results in blacks being, well, black. Second, they aren’t a fixed-pixel technology. While a DLP TV might be 1280 x 720 at 60 Hertz, CRTs will drive a number of resolutions and timings. A CRT’s limitation is basically how fast the gun can scan without exploding.
Sounds great, right? Well, with the pros come the cons. CRTs are heavy. CRTs are big. CRTs are finicky. They run hotter. They need more tuning. Those three guns we talked about earlier need to be aligned such that they are all pointed at the same place (convergence). Those phosphors we talked about have a nasty habit of wearing out (burn-in). They’re not as bright as many of the new digital televisions. So, get ready to buy blackout curtains.
The other night I watched Fox’s “Stars Without Makeup.” During its airing I realized two things. First, that I was going to hell for merely watching such a show, but, more importantly, that the show was the perfect analogy for analog televisions.
If you’re willing to deal with their size, weight, ISF calibrations, blackout curtains, etc., they look great. In fact, they look like the technology equivalent of a movie star. If, on the other hand, you happen to catch them on a sunny day without their make-up, you’d be hard-pressed to see the picture let alone declare it to be the winner. As such, it’s difficult to recommend CRTs to the average consumer.
So why would anyone be willing to put up with it all? One word: choice. There is a certain freedom afforded to the analog. Unlike digital televisions (which we’ll talk about in future weeks), CRTs aren’t boxed into strict performance specs (e.g. 60 Hertz). Change the wave sign that you’re delivering to the set, and you’ll change the picture. This allows CRTs to be tweaked to get the absolute most from content.
Let’s look at an example:
For historical reasons**, nearly all televisions today run at 60 Hertz. This means that the screen will be updated once every 1/60th of a second.
60 Hertz is fine if you’re watching video-based content. However, as we discussed a few weeks ago, much content is film-based and recorded at 24fps. This presents digital televisions with a slight problem as 60 divided by 24 doesn’t result in a whole number. So, even if your television is perfectly able to deinterlace the content, you’re still unable to re-create the smooth movement of film.
Analog TV’s can (depending on the capabilities of your set) sometimes be driven to different specs. For instance, some people choose to drive their sets at 72 Hertz. By doing this, their televisions will display one frame of a film for exactly 3 display cycles. Ergo, they are able to deliver the exact timings seen in actual theaters.
The above is just one example of the flexibility one gains by using an analog technology. Some consumers tweak the signal to reduce overscan. Others adjust their timings to change their 1080i sets into 540p sets. There’s a world of experimenting and perfecting that can be done with analog sets.
Over the next few weeks we’ll talk about DLP, LCD, and Plasma sets. In the meantime, if you’re a fan (or opponent) of a technology, I’d love to hear your reasons. E-mail the reasons that you bought or didn’t buy a technology to theclicker@theevilempire.com.
Until next week, save my seat!
* We’ll talk about light issues with digital sets in future columns.
** This is the case for two reasons. First, in the United States, power cycles about 60 times per second. With earlier televisions syncing the power cycles to the display cycles was important. Secondly, HDTV is usually related to cycles of 60 (60 fps for 720p and 60 fields per second for 1080i).