We got a new TV yesterday.
Sony Bravia KDL-V40XBR1
It’s a 40 inch LCD model, and here’s a shot:
< KLS with her new toy
The TV replaces our old 32 inch XBR picture tube model. The upgrade is significant. Our old TV was merely ‘HD ready’ in that it could display a maximum resolution of 720p (that would be 1080×720 pixels) in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
As you can see the new model has a native 16:9 aspect ratio, but it also has a maximum resolution of 1366×768 and – much more importantly – a HMDI input (up to 1080i) which is essential for HD media signals. It is an LCD model, and the picture is alarmingly sharp and vibrant (to those of us used to picture tubes).
The TV has three component input jacks, one S-Video, 2 composite, one RGB, one USB and one HMDI slot. Right now I am using component inputs for the PS2 (which outputs at 480i), the Gamecube (480p), and the DVD player (480p). The S-Video is used by our TiVo, and the composite by the X-Box (both are, of course, sending an NTSC signal due to the limitations of their connections). It quickly became apparent that we needed better signals to get the most out of this new TV!
There is nothing we can do about the PS2 and Gamecube – both are displaying at the best possible resolutions for the systems. (The PS2 can ‘fake’ a widescreen signal, but it is still in 480i resolution maximum and simply squashes the image with a very fake result). Both my PS2’s (yes, I own 2) are older than fifth generation, which is where progressive scan output was added. So 480i is the best I can do with that (which, incidentally, looks great). The gamecube looks amazing at 480p anyway (By the way, the little letters ‘i’ and ‘p’ mean interlaced and progressive scanned (double the scan lines) respectively. The numbers mean the vertical pixel count. So 720p would be 1080×720 progressive scan).
The DVD player is an obvious weakpoint. Our player is probably five years old, outputs at a maximum 480p resolution and cannot upconvert to 720 or even 1080 signals. Newer models, including some for under US$100, can do exactly that.
However upconverting requires the use of the HDMI slot, since progressive scan cables have a limit of 720 resolution. And tomorrow I am going to Time Warner to pick up our brand new HMDI, HD-DVR. Yes that’s right – a true HD digital cable tuner with an HDMI output. These are brand new apparently, and will actually transmit a pixel-pixel 1920×1080 signal to the TV (not to mention record programs in this resolution). I can’t wait to see how it looks!
Anyway, since the DVR will be using the HDMI slot, that means I must find a DVD player that can upconvert to 720p via a component cable. I know for a fact Samsung makes one, and I’m sure others do. Since the prices are amazingly low these days for such things (I doubt we’d need to spend over maybe US$130) we may pick one up today at the store where we bought the TV (Tweeter).
Of course down the road we’ll probably have an X-Box 360, which can output at a maximum 720p resolution through component cables. A Playstation3 (maximum 1080i resolution which requires HDMI) and a Nintendo Wii (720p component). I’ll work out just where I’m going to be plugging these things in at a future date.
About the picture above. Astute readers may note that the TV is displaying a 16:9, very high quality image. Look in the lower right corner and you will read WMHT-HD. That is our local public access TV channel, but transmitted in HD. It turns out our local cable company transmits a few HD channels unscrambled, which means non-digital subscribers can pick them up. Of course tomorrow we’ll have access to all the non premium (monthly fee) HD channels, and I can’t wait to see how they look!
A friend has this TV and the HD broadcasts look fantasic. Sport in particular looks great.
He’s got a cheap ($80!) DVD that converts to 720p but I wasn’t that impressed, there was flickering and the colours seemed mixed. I fiddled with the settings and mangaged to improve the picture somewhat, but it still bothered me. I decided eventually it was my viewing distance (his lounge is very close), and once I sat further away from the TV and things looked better.
However it might be worth shopping around for a not so cheap DVD, why have the expensive TV only to plug in cheap components? The TV won’t make a bad signal any better.
We discovered today that upconverting to 720 or 1080 from DVD players is possible, albeit via HDMI only. Since we will be using our HDMI slot for the HD DVR this isn’t an option.
I think it’s simply the exceptional quality of the screen showing the limitations of the DVD format. The screen has resolution about twice as high as DVD, so it’s never going to look perfect no matter how much hardware conversion occurs. I have fiddled with the DRC modes of the chip (in the TV) – essentially antialiasing the DVD image – which works ok, but older movies or DVDs based on sources such as TV shows will never look perfect (when viewed at full screen)
You are correct that the quality of the screen appears to magnify any problems in the input signal. This is why broadcast TV or VHS looks very poor on one of those fancy TVs.