The Big Picture

Life

You have the DVD player and the expensive surround sound system. You’ve got the bass boosted and the treble tweaked to your satisfaction. But there is still something missing: The big picture.

You can’t recreate cinema experience at home with a 20in CRT (cathode ray tube) TV. The small picture doesn’t do the sound justice. So what exactly should you be aiming for? Well, today’s home cinema enthusiasts have more choice than ever. Depending on your budget and your personal preference, you can choose between a widescreen CRT TV, a projector system, LCD TVs or plasma displays.

Your choice all depends on what you are expecting from your visual technology. For example, if you are going for the big screen cinematic experience, a television or a small LCD TV is not going to give you the same effect. This is where projectors come into the mix. If you are going for occasional use, the plasma screen is a stylish, albeit expensive way to go.

Widescreen wonders — CRT televisions

The traditional CRT television has long been a fixture in our homes. Although it may be a bit on the bulky side, its quality and price has ensured that consumers — for the time being, anyway — still opt for the trusty CRT.

The wide screen version is becoming more and more popular with regular consumers. ‘By far the most common display device for home cinema is the CRT TV, thanks principally to its low price and wide availability,’ says Grainne Ryan, consumer marketing, Mitsubishi Electric. ‘The most common sizes are between 28 and 32in in both 4:3 and wide screen models.’

The popularity of widescreen, or 16:9 aspect ratio, is continuing to grow steadily and according to Ryan, it is now accounting for 50 per cent of the sector. Ryan believes the growth is, for the most part, driven by increasingly better technologies. ‘The advent of new digital technologies has facilitated the development of 16:9 aspect ratio, allowing superior viewing.’

There are several important factors to consider when buying a widescreen CRT TV. Obviously budget will be a big factor for consumers. However, it is also worth taking into account what use the TV will get, what devices it will be connected to, etc.

‘It will of course depend on how much the customer is willing to spend and what use and features they require,’ says Ryan. ‘With the amount of widescreen content on TV and DVD increasing and falling prices, the TV of choice for living rooms is widescreen, either 28in or 32in.’

There are several products available on the market in the widescreen CRT market. The Mitsubishi Black Diamond DIVA range of 100Hz and 50Hz PureFlat TV’s integrate Digital Scan and a flicker free picture results in images that are sharper, clearer and more defined.

The Mitsubishi Black Diamond line-up offers five widescreen CRT TVs, 28in Superflat, 32in Superflat, 28in 50Hz PureFlat, 32in 50Hz and 32in 100Hz, to a 32in 100Hz PureFlat TV. The PureFlat technology gives less screen flicker, truer images and a wider viewing angle, while the 100Hz flicker-free processing displays a crisper, more defined image.

Panasonic’s widescreen TVs come with Nicam stereo sound and flat picture tubes. The TX-28PS1 is a 28in, 50Hz wide screen TV.

Toshiba is taking advantage of new technologies available on the market, with its Active Vision picture. This combines Active Mode 100Hz Dynamic Frame Scan with progressive scan. Progressive scan means the image lines are scanned sequentially instead of alternately; the image is outputted progressively, resulting in smoother lines and sharper colours. According to Toshiba, the 100Hz active mode compensates for motion, making sure that moving images are as sharp as still ones.

The Toshiba widescreen TVs also have Dolby Digital surround and Dolby Pro Logic surround. The 32ZT29 has a 76cm screen size, while the 36ZT29 bumps it up to 86cm. Both models are face flat, which means they use horizontally and vertically flat TV tubes and give a wider viewing angle with less reflection. Component video input, digital surround processing and 50W RMS audio output with extension speakers are all included in the package.

One of Toshiba’s TVs is the Advanced 100Hz widescreen 36ZD26. It has an 86cm screen, is face flat and incorporates progressive scan.

Projecting a better image — Home cinema projectors

While projectors may be seen to belong in the cinema or on a lesser scale, work or school, they are also starting to make their mark on the home entertainment world.

‘Front projectors can best deliver the cinema effect but until now, sales haven’t been high due to high costs, low picture quality, as well as handling and set-up complexities,’ says Ryan. However, today’s projectors are highly portable and affordable, making them a good choice for home cinema.

According to Daniel Moore, projector category manager, HP, home cinema is the fastest growing sector of the projectors market. He attributes this growth partly to the popularity of DVD players. ‘They are missing the big picture,’ he says. ‘There is no point in having a home cinema without the big picture.’

With projectors, you can get an image up to six metres in diagonal — pretty impressive for watching action films at home. And some projectors can be picked up for under EUR2000, a bargain when you compare it to some of the other more expensive technologies.

However, Moore also points out that a projector is not a replacement for a television. ‘It’s for the cinematic experience,’ he explains. ‘You’ll always need a TV for day-time viewing.’

So if you’ve decided to invest a projector, where do you go from here? There are different types of projectors available on the market. However, the most popular are LCD and Digital Light Processor (DLP) projectors.

LCD projectors have been around for some time; users can choose between standard LCD, with one panel of LCD glass controlling red, green and blue, or go for the more advanced polysilicon LCD, which has three panels to deal with colours. However, there is stiff competition between LCD and DLP projectors, which have a single chip with thousands of tiny mirrors that modulate the lamp’s light. Moore says the contrast on the DLP projectors outweighs the LCD version. This means that the blacks are darker on screen and there is better detail in the pictures. LCD panels usually have a typical contrast ration of 400:1 to 600:1; DLP have a contrast ratio of 2000:1.

When you are buying a projector, Moore recommends buying decent cables — the connections can mean the difference between a sharp, bright picture and one that looks slightly off-colour.

Yet another thing to take into consideration: Although the bulbs last thousands of hours, eventually, they will need to be replaced. A bulb that last over 2,000 hours is quite good. It’s also worth taking into account how expensive the bulbs are, however, as this could be a hidden cost you may not have considered.

Brightness can also vary. The higher the ANSI lumens rating, the brighter the output. For home cinema, between 1000 and 2000 lumens should be sufficient. 

The noise level is also something to consider. A noisy fan in your projector may ruin quiet, tension-filled scenes in films.

You should also look at what connections your DVD player has and match them up to the projector you are buying. There are a few different connections available, including S-Video, composite and component video.

Using a DVD player means you can take advantage of the latest technology — PAL progressive scan.

Moore recommends that when buying a DVD player, consumers choose one that supports progressive scan.

Games will also be produced in this format in the future; according to Moore, the first game with high definition graphics, Dragonbreath 3D, is due to be launched on Xbox before Christmas.

Active Matrix

If you’ve decided that projectors are the way forward for your home cinema, there are plenty of products out there for you to choose from. HP has a new projector that, although originally aimed at the education market, may become a fixture for home cinema. The VP6110 is a digital projector with optical zoom and 24-bit colour. Its brightness is rated at 1500 ANSI lumens, while its resolution is 800 x 600 True SVGA. It automatically resizes images to full screen and supports connections such as S-video, composite and component. The HP projector also supports High Definition TV up to 1080i.

Another company that excels in the projector market is Epson. The company has just launched its new home projector, the EMP-TW10. The new projector uses a D3 LCD projection system with a polysilicon TFT Active Matrix and has the standard 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing. The image can be as large as 7.62m, but can also be downsized to just over two metres diagonally for smaller rooms. The EMP-TW10 has a contrast ratio of 700:1 and brightness of 1000 ANSI lumens. There are four preset colour modes: Theatre, Theatre Black, Living Room and Dynamic. The projector has all the standard connections so that you can use it with your home cinema equipment, including TVs, DVD players, VCRs and games consoles. Aesthetically, it doesn’t dominate the living room with its slim-line design, while the maximum fan noise if just 28dB.

If you are willing to spend a little bit more, then consider the Epson EMP-TW500. The company describes this projector as ideal for the ‘serious audio-visual equipment buyer’. Also rated at 1000 ANSI lumens, the projector produces an image as large as 7.62m without compromising picture quality. It has a wide-XGA resolution (1280 x 720 dpi) and combines 10-bit colour processing power and Epson’s colour management technology, ColourReality II Technology, to deliver crisp, clear images. The EMP-TW500 also has a cinema filter, lamp power and an electronic iris.

Bogart

The Astaire line from Philips is also aimed at the home market. The Astaire Deluxe is an LCD projector with a contrast ratio of 600:1 and 1000 ANSI lumens brightness. The Crystal Clear technology built into the projector ensures a sharp picture, with six picture presets for movies, games, cartoons, sports, Internet and nature viewing. Picture-in-picture allows you to watch two different inputs at the same time. Teamed with optical and digital zoom, plus all the standard connection options, the projector is perfect for the home market. On top of that, the bulb lasts an impressive 6,000 hours, so you won’t have to replace it too often. The Astaire LC6281 is slightly less high-spec, with only 800 ANSI lumens and a contrast ratio of 400:1. It has no optical zoom, but does come with a digital zoom and has all the picture presets available in the deluxe model.

Philips also does a ‘Bogart’ projector: The LC7281. This projector has a contrast ratio of 1800:1; it’s a DMD device. It includes the six picture presets, picture in picture mode and colour tracking to automatically optimise the picture depending on the type of input. However, its lamp life is far shorter, at only 2000 hours.

Toshiba produces both LCD and DLP projectors. The S40 has a polysilicon TFT, with an S-VGA resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. Its brightness reaches 1,600 ANSI Lumens, with a contrast ratio of 400:1.

The MT8 is a DLP projector with a W-XGA resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9) and compressed resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels (S-XGA). It has 1,000 ANSI Lumens brightness, a contrast ratio of 1,400:1 and only weighs 4kg, so it can be transported easily enough.

Liquid crystal is cool — LCD TVs

LCD TVs are becoming more popular in the home cinema market. Grainne Ryan believes that the technology will gradually take over from plasma screens as the panels become larger and more affordable for the mass market. Another issue to take into account is viewing life: LCD gives about 60,000 hours of viewing, while plasma has only 20,000, according to Ryan.

When purchasing an LCD TV, consumers should know what to look for. Most important is the picture quality of the unit, plus the sound technology it uses. Investing in an LCD monitor does not mean that you have sacrifice picture quality: Check out the viewing angle on the panel (the wider the better) and the contrast ratio. There should also be a range of connections, including Scart connections and SVGA inputs, with standard features of a CRT TV, like Teletext, also included. LCDs don’t use phosphors, so they don’t suffer from screen burn. The slow response times that dogged LCD panels in the past may now be solved, as many of the current high-end models have improved response times. The contrast ratio tends to be lower on LCDs, though, so some may look washed out.

‘Plasma and LCD TVs still can’t match the price of CRT TVs, but they look great and are a luxury item for which demand is increasing,’ says Ryan. ‘The idea of having a TV slim enough to hang on a wall has immense appeal and as technology matures and prices fall, the accessibility of these products will increase.’

There are plenty of LCD TVs out there; current manufacturers include JVC and Toshiba among others. Mitsubishi plans to introduce a 15in 4:3 and 22in widescreen LCD TV onto the market and predicts huge growth in the LCD TV market over the next five years.

JVC has got in on the LCD act with four new LCD TVs: A 17in model, 23in, 26in and 32in TV.

The TVs have a silver design with a piano black frame, have a built-in tuner and a high-resolution W-XGA display panel (1280 x 768 pixels). The LT-32C31 and LT-26C31 have a number of new technologies, including Digital Image Scaling Technology, Super DigiPure, Motion Compensation, Digital Comb Filter and Auto VNR. JVC’s Colour Management allows users to adjust a selected colour and automatically compensates for colour washout in bright images. Both LCD TVs offer Progressive Scan-ready component inputs. On the audio front, the TVs have two front oblique cone speakers with 20W total RMS output, BBE Sound System and 3D Sound. The LT-32C31 won’t be released until January.

The more portable 23in and 17in models offer many of the features of the larger TVs, but can also be used with PCs.

Toshiba’s Stasia range covers LCD and plasma TVs. The LCD TVS have Crystalline rapid response screen technology. This promises to minimise picture distortion or blurring. Toshiba have even produced a couple of widescreen LCD TVs: The 14VL43, with a 34cm screen and the 20VL43, which comes with a 50cm screen. Both models have Nicam Digital Stereo sound and SRS Wow virtual surround sound. The TVs come with the multi-standard tuner and have VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels).

Some screens are just gas — Plasma TV

Plasma screens are extremely thin in design. They don’t contain cathode ray tubes; instead, they create pictures through cells between sheets of thin glass, creating the image using phosphors to generate light. The individual cells reproduce red, green or blue respectively and there are three cells to every pixel on the screen.

Currently, the main advantage of plasma is its thin size. Consumers often look for plasma because it’s visually pleasing. However, it also comes in at a nice price — a plasma panel could set you back thousands of euro. Danny Mulligan suggests that one cost-effective way for consumers to get plasma into their house is to opt for a plasma monitor instead of a television. ‘A satellite receiver can be plugged directly into the monitor,’ says Mulligan. Philips has a range of plasma monitors, including the 420P20 monitor, which has a contrast ratio of 1000:1, DVI (digital) input, S-Video and is RGB-compatible. The BDS4611 includes a remote control so there are no buttons on the front of the monitor, although its contrast ratio is lower, at 800:1. Its connectors include RGB, Component, CVBS and S-Video.

Toshiba offers a range of Stasia plasma TVs and screens. The Stasia Plasma TV 42WP36 has a screen size of 107cm, with a WVGA resolution (852 x 480 pixels), a multi-standard tuner, a contrast ratio of 700:1 and component video input. Other connections include three Scart (with two full RGB), audio output and PC input. The speakers are built into the unit, with 20W RMS audio output; it has Nicam and BBE high fidelity sound.

Plasma screens available in the Stasia range have composite video, S-video, RGB, component video and audio inputs. The 42WP27 has a 107cm screen, Nicam Digital Stereo and WCGA resolution. The contrast ratio is noticeably higher than that of the TVs, at 3000:1.

Another advantage plasma has over LCD is the viewing angle. Viewing images on an LCD TV from the side can be difficult, but plasma doesn’t suffer this limitation. 

Technological drawback

Like all things in life, the new technology inevitably has its drawbacks. Plasma struggles to display deep black tones and if you opt for a cheaper model, the colours may not be as vibrant. If faced with a choice between playing for higher contrast or higher resolution, your best bet is to opt for higher contrast. The picture will appear to be more detailed than a low-contrast high-resolution image. Try before you buy.

The terms ‘dead pixels’ and ‘screen burn’ may also sound familiar; plasma is susceptible to both. Phosphor burn isn’t covered by most (if not all) warranties; leave a static image on the screen for too long and you may find it burns itself on to part of the panel. ‘Dead pixels’ occur when some cells don’t produce light or stay lit after they should have turned off. If you don’t like the idea of spending a few thousand euro on a plasma screen that may need to be replaced in a few years time, your best bet is to not bother at all. And although the displays do produce good quality images, they aren’t necessarily the best quality pictures available.

But technology limitations are being worked on. ‘There are limits, however, consumer display technologies are benefiting from intensive R&D at the moment with the constant result of overcoming these technology limits,’ says Grainne Ryan. ‘LCD screens are getting larger, plasma becoming more affordable; even home cinema systems with Dolby Pro-Logic II are now able to decipher unformatted discs. Projector technology is improving all the time, with the advent of DLP projectors for superior picture quality and the price has decreased significantly in the last year.’

18/11/2003

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