| Video Noise June 2005
Obsolete Yet? Part Two: Video
Displays
Selecting the right technology and
features will help you get the most out of your video-display purchase. If you’re
considering any of the new display technologies -- plasma, LED, LCD, D-ILA, LCoS, or DLP
-- the major thing to remember is that, compared to the cathode-ray tube (CRT), these
technologies are still in the early stages of development. Each year, blacks get blacker,
resolution gets higher, and color reproduction and optics improve. Until these
technologies become more mature, you’ll always run a good risk of your older display
being noticeably inferior to the newer models. Although CRT-based displays are not
particularly popular these days because they’re based on a much older technology,
that technology is well tested; when properly set up, CRTs can achieve remarkable results.
But CRTs will never be as thin and cool as the newer display technologies.
Should you wait to buy one of the new displays? The newer
technologies will probably steadily improve for another ten years. How long are you
willing to wait? There is also potential for an as-yet-unseen display technology to
completely obliterate the current crop. Laser displays have all the advantages of CRT
displays, combined with all the advantages of the other technologies. If laser displays
come to market, anything you buy today will seem like a dinosaur in ten years. It’s a
tough choice for anyone shopping for a video display. All you can do is educate yourself
about the technologies and features and make your best choice, knowing that there will be
something better out there in five or ten years.
If the display you get can show a 1920x1080 interlaced-scan
image (or progressive-scan with onboard conversion), it’s ready for the best video
images that will be available for the foreseeable future. Any lesser maximum resolution
will limit the detail the display can deliver. It may look pretty darn good with less than
1920x1080 resolution, but it won’t be the very best possible. Some sets advertised as
"high-definition" displays have a maximum resolution of only 1280x720p.
Technically, those manufacturers are correct -- these sets are HDTVs -- but they
fall short of the current highest resolution possible for HDTV.
A digital video input is one of the more worthwhile
features of the newer displays -- they provide better video quality than analog
connections. How many digital video connections will be enough for you will depend on your
expectations for your home theater. A common setup might include a digital cable or
digital satellite box, a DVR capable of HD recording, a disc player (DVD, HD DVD, or
Blu-ray), and perhaps one other HD input -- from a D-VHS recorder, an outboard HDTV
broadcast tuner, or an HD-capable video game system. With a setup like that, you’d
want four digital video connections. But as of May 2005, few video displays have more than
a single digital video connection. This may be reason enough to delay a purchase until
sets come equipped with the number of such inputs you need.
You’d think you’d be able to rely on a surround
processor with digital video switching capabilities. Then you’d need only one digital
video input on the video display; the processor could route the correct video signal to
the display. Unfortunately, digital video switching is still rare in surround processors.
Some processors recognized as being among the best have no digital video connections at
all, though some newer models are so equipped.
Knowing what you’re up against is the best defense
against making the wrong choice in what can be a very expensive purchase.
...Doug Blackburn
db@hometheatersound.com |
