Troubleshooting HDTV Display Artifacts & Noise

[Jerry Jones]

January 2006 article by POPULAR MECHANICS:

http://tinyurl.com/f5o58

"You laid down serious cash for your new set, upgraded your tuner box and hooked it all into your surround-sound system."

"Then you turned it on and tuned into a whole new era of disappointment."

"Those HD pictures don't look as good as they should."

"The image breaks up into little blocks."

"Fast-moving objects aren't crisp."

"And standard-definition TV programs look like garbage."

"Is it your TV?"

"Is it the fault of your cable or satellite company?"

"The truth is that it could be either, or both."

"HDTV is still an evolving technology and plenty of glitches make it onto the screen."

"Some problems can be fixed with a simple adjustment, while others should send you back to the store with receipt in hand."

http://tinyurl.com/f5o58

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Fluff]

I would out of interest like to see what a decent broadcast crt looks like for SD +HD. The reference set looks like the sony BVM-A32E1WM it takes everything no up down conversions but is £25k!!!!

http://www.sonybiz.net/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll/templates/brochure.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0190682121.1155427970@@@@&BV_EngineID=eaddhheheehgbemgcfkmcfjfdhl.0&redirectURL=/images/product/X/BVM-A_Series(brch).pdf

[Dr Mordrid]

IMO the cheaper CRT HD's look better than either the LCD, LED or Plasma displays. Problem is you can only get them up to ~34".

Dr. Mordrid

[Jerry Jones]

I also believe the CRTs look better when it comes to standard definition *digital* broadcast TV channels and standard definition commercial DVDs. I would admit that part of the reason so many people favor the CRT image is that it's natural for people to admire the strengths of a technology to which they've been accustomed for decades. The color tones, the interlaced images, etc.

I suspect the young kids growing up in wealthy families with DLPs or plasmas or LCDs might instead favor their particular technologies over the CRTs.

However, when it comes to true high definition images that have been carefully acquired and preserved and transmitted (via high definition DVD or high definition broadcast) then I think it's quite difficult for me to pick a favorite TV technology as they all are capable of looking pretty good (although over-the-air transmission of high definition almost always reveals a few annoying faults from time to time).

I've been watching the NFL tonight (Bengals vs. Redskins) on NBC, which utilizes 1080i.

Even with high definition, the fast action scenes exhibit a lot of artifacting... especially in the background portions of the scenes.

I suspect these may be limitations that won't be overcome in the near future.

I can see the advantages of high definition when I view the programming on my widescreen notebook computer screen or on my 20-inch Acer Ferrari LCD; high definition's strengths do make themselves apparent.

But when my local TV stations switch to standard definition -- transmitted digitally via ATSC/Clear Qam -- then I favor the digital CRT TV every time because the CRT interlacing seems to mask digital noise better than the flat panel technologies.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net