Post by Skaggs on May 29, 2009 7:04:39 GMT -5
How to Get the Best Standard-Def TV
By Eric A. Taub, May 28, 2009, 5:26 pm
The New York Times
I recently had a chance to see a terrific-looking standard-definition video image; it beat the standard def pictures I typically see on plasma and LCD sets by a mile.
What was this great technology that made it happen? An old picture-tube TV.
It’s a little secret that when it comes to standard-definition imagery, our newest flat-panel sets come up short, while picture-tube TVs shine. With some flat-panel TVs’ slow pixel-response times, and their attempt to up-convert images to near high-definition, they often make things look worse.
Cable and satellite companies often over-compress their channels’ signals, using different rates depending on how much movement there is on a particular program service–sports channels tend to get less compression than talking head channels. The compression can even be dynamic, changing within a channel based on the movement. Try watching BBC America on DirecTV: The image is so soft as to be difficult to watch.
In fact, if you’re watching television the old-fashioned way–from an over-the-air digital signal displayed on a tube TV–you’re in luck. Because over-the-air broadcast channels tend to use less compression than cable or satellite, the picture, especially viewed with a picture tube TV, is exemplary. It rivals the best quality one used to normally see only in a television production studio, viewed on very expensive Sony CRT monitors.
There are a number of other reasons why standard def looks so good on picture tube TVs, including such factors as gamma, processing latency of digital displays and fixed pixel location. As they used to say in my high school in Queens, don’t worry, that won’t be on the test.
If you have an old picture tube TV gathering dust in the basement, you might not want to throw it away just yet. Hooked up to a digital converter box, you could be receiving broadcast television images that will impress your higher-tech friends.
By Eric A. Taub, May 28, 2009, 5:26 pm
The New York Times
I recently had a chance to see a terrific-looking standard-definition video image; it beat the standard def pictures I typically see on plasma and LCD sets by a mile.
What was this great technology that made it happen? An old picture-tube TV.
It’s a little secret that when it comes to standard-definition imagery, our newest flat-panel sets come up short, while picture-tube TVs shine. With some flat-panel TVs’ slow pixel-response times, and their attempt to up-convert images to near high-definition, they often make things look worse.
Cable and satellite companies often over-compress their channels’ signals, using different rates depending on how much movement there is on a particular program service–sports channels tend to get less compression than talking head channels. The compression can even be dynamic, changing within a channel based on the movement. Try watching BBC America on DirecTV: The image is so soft as to be difficult to watch.
In fact, if you’re watching television the old-fashioned way–from an over-the-air digital signal displayed on a tube TV–you’re in luck. Because over-the-air broadcast channels tend to use less compression than cable or satellite, the picture, especially viewed with a picture tube TV, is exemplary. It rivals the best quality one used to normally see only in a television production studio, viewed on very expensive Sony CRT monitors.
There are a number of other reasons why standard def looks so good on picture tube TVs, including such factors as gamma, processing latency of digital displays and fixed pixel location. As they used to say in my high school in Queens, don’t worry, that won’t be on the test.
If you have an old picture tube TV gathering dust in the basement, you might not want to throw it away just yet. Hooked up to a digital converter box, you could be receiving broadcast television images that will impress your higher-tech friends.