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Editor's HDTV Pick

HP 47 inch MediaSmart 1080p LCD HDTV "Out of the box" digital media platform. Enjoy videos, pictures and music from home network + digital media delivered over your broadband Internet connection + 3 x HDMI

Features across the Sharp Aquos D62 series of 1080p LCD HDTVs is the same apart from the display size. Other models in the D62U series are the previously reviewed are the LC-46D62U and the LC-52D62U.

Key features include;

• full HD 1080p resolution,
• 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio,
• fast 6ms response time,
• built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners,
• twin HDMI inputs

For more information on the technologies Sharp has included in the design of these HDTVs, read our previous review of the 46 inch LC-46K62U and the LC-52D62U.

The Panasonic PT-AX200U (Americas) / PT-AX200E (Europe and Asia) is a native 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) high definition digital home theatre projector with an impressive 2,000 ANSI lumen brightness. Panasonic’s marketing of the PT-AX200U has an emphasis on it’s suitability as a gaming projector and 720p will handle the signal definition of most current games. Equally impressive is the 6000:1 contrast ratio.

For the PT-AX200U, Panasonic have utilized 3LCD microdisplay technology which uses three LCD panels (one per primary color) to produce an image. 3LCD is marketed as having the following key advantages;
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LCD display technology is inherently prone to motion blur primarily due to LCD pixels remaining lit between frames (referred to as sample-and-hold) unlike the rise and fall of pixel lighting with other display technologies eg. plasma. Another possible cause is a response time which is insufficient for the speed required by the frame rate of the display.

LCD manufacturers have moved to combat motion blur through faster response times and doubling of the refresh rate to 120Hz. Faster frame rates (refresh rate) smooths out motion improving the image sequence the eye perceives. To produce the faster refresh rates the video processor interpolates a frame between each existing frame. The faster frame rate makes motion appear smoother to the viewer. Bravia XBR5 models have Sony’s version of the technology, Motionflow, while Mitsubishi has Smooth120Hz, Toshiba - ClearFrame, LG – TruMotion Drive and JVC call it Clear Motion Drive II.
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Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence (NICTA), has developed low cost, very high speed wireless technology integrated into a single chip. The integrated transceiver is extremely small, making it simple to embed into devices. Five (5) gigabits per second wireless transfer of audio and video files will be possible - ten (10) times the current maximum wireless transfer rate. While transfer speed has increased, cost has dropped to 10% of current costs. These are numbers which will transform home entertainment systems to wireless networks.

Consider the scenario posed by NICTA Chief Technology Officer, Embedded Systems, Dr Chris Nicol , “For example, consumers will be able to download a high definition DVD onto their personal digital assistants at a public kiosk in seconds, take it home and play it directly onto their high definition TV.” The range of the new wireless technology is 10m – a suitable distance for home entertainment systems.
(read more..)

Judges for CES 2008 recognized an astute, market changing idea when they nominated the Epson Ensemble HD 1080 as a Design and Engineering Honoree in the Video Components Product Category. The market changing concept being recognized was Epson’s development of a world first complete, fully-integrated audio and video projection system. It seems such a simple concept but factors appealing to consumers will be;

• There is no requirement to shop around for separate equipment items matching performance requirements, connectors etc. – it’s an “out of the box” solution even including everything required for installation.
• The system is already integrated complete with a single remote to control all components.
• With cleverly integrated surround sound speakers cabling and installation effort and costs have been minimized.

The Ensemble HD package includes:

• Epson PowerLite Home Cinema Projector - 1080p or 720p in cradle with integrated speakers
• Motorized electric screen – 100 inches with integrated LCR speakers
• Integrated 5.1 surround sound system - custom-designed by Atlantic Technology
• Subwoofer – 10 inch
• Audio/video controller with dual HDMI inputs and 1080p up-conversion with built-in progressive-scan DVD player
• Universal remote control - pre-programmed, backlit LCD
• Installation components including all mounting brackets, cables and wire management tracks

(read more..)

Epson’s Powerlite S5 is 3LCD technology projector for a good recommended price. It has an SVGA (800 x 600) native resolution and will support HDTV (720p and 1080i). The contrast ratio is a reasonable 400:1. Replacement projector lamps are a considerable life time cost for projectors making Epson’s new E-TORL lamp’s 4,000 hour rated life a bonus.

With 2,000 ANSI lumens of brightness the Epson Powerlite S5 can project a bright image even with considerable ambient light.

Epson 3LCD Projection Technology Benefits

Briefly, 3LCD technology is a video projection system that uses three LCD panels to produce an image. It has three key advantages: (read more..)

LCD displays require a backlight which is generally a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp). A CCFL is similar to very thin domestic fluorescent bulb however, it does not emit heat.

WCG-CCFL ((Wide Color Gamut - CCFL) backlight provide a wider color gamut resulting in on-screen images with more natural or “life-like” colors. WCG-CCFL backlights achieve about 95% of the NTSC video signal color gamut compared to a typical 75% of NTSC from conventional fluorescent backlights. The new generation luminescent materials in WCG-CCFL backlights produce deeper, more accurate reds and greens.

Genoa Color Technologies have announced a CCFL backlight capable of achieving an even greater 110% NTSC. Possibly this innovation incorporated into LCD displays soon for even more realistic color images.

NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) is the technical standard for display products in the United States.
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All gamers desire that feeling of immersion when playing their favorite game. A projector and a home theater sound system are one way to achieve it but, it’s too costly an option for many. Recognizing a market need, InFocus have produced the Play Big IN1 Gaming projector. The IN1 is an all-in-one solution delivering projection, audio, connectivity and portability for the gaming enthusiast. The projector comes with all the connectivity options required for the latest gaming consoles (Playstation, Wii and X-Box) and entertainment devices (DVD player or cable box).

Projection

The Infocus IN1 projection engine is based on DLP technology from Texas instruments. The IN1 has a VGA (640 x 480 pixels) native resolution. The contrast ratio is a respectable 1500:1 – especially as it is for Full On/Full Off testing which delivers lower contrast ratio figures. With a brightness of 500 ANSI lumens (max), a low ambient light environment is required for a bright on-screen projected image.
(read more..)

Color depth describes the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel. Higher color depth, bits per pixel (bpp), allows a wider range of distinct colors to be defined.

Without sufficient color depth, flat panel displays can have difficulty reproducing color gradients resulting in bands of color known as false contouring (also known as banding or posterization). Deep Color refers to the use of greater bit depths to boost the number of colors which can be reproduced. Boosting the number of distinct colors which can be represented enables color gradients to be reproduced consequently eliminating false coloring.
(read more..)

Technorati Tags: Color depth, bits per pixel, bpp, false contouring, banding, posterization

The human eye can see a broader range of colors than the standard sRGB color space. The “xvYCC” (Extended YCC Colorimetry for Video Applications) color standard (IEC 61966-2-4) is a color space for use video electronics to display virtually the entire gamut of colors perceivable by the human eye. The extended xvYCC gamut supporting some 1.8 times as many colors as the commonplace sRGB color space - deeper greens, reds and blues

A color model is a mathematical models defining how colors can be represented as groups of numbers – RGB and CMYK are color models. Color models are mapped to a reference color space (see diagram) with the footprint within the space being the gamut.
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Technorati Tags: xvYCC, color space, extended xvYCC gamut, color model, reference color space, gamut