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Some exciting new hardware for HDTV was observed today-
The most spectacular display was the latest in D-ILA projection display demo. The system showed a very high quality image on a theater size 16X9 screen about 30 ft. wide. The image was completely free from the LCD and DLP cross hatch. The horizontal resolution was speced at 1365 pixels. They also announced, but did not show a projector on the next generation in HDTV projectors that would exceed for the first time, 1920 pixels. They call it Q-XGA. boasting over 2200 H pixels. The image I saw today on the D-ILA was absolutely the best I have ever seen anywhere. For the home, they displayed and demoed two D-ILA projectors starting at $13,000 MSRP and capable of 1365 H pixels. One demo had true HD and the other was DVD. There was a huge difference in PQ between the two with the HDTV image clearly out shining the DVD, both on a 120" screen.
I also asked their reps about the problem I have observed mentioned many times on this forum about some D-ILA images not looking as good as they should. Here is what I was told-- All D-ILA projectors are set at the factory for Computer graphics gamma and edge enhancement. Unless you specifically ordered the D-ILA with a Home theater gamma setup you won't get a true CRT look and feel to the color balance and sharpness. It will look unnaturally over edge enhanced. JVC now has a factory mod that can make the projector look more natural for film, and home theater movies. Frank- You should check this out with your JVC contacts.
I also saw many HDTV upconverters that were quite superb and at much more reasonable prices, eg. $20,000 with near transparent conversion of 480i to 720p to 1080i back to 480i. With many video producers tapped out in equipment expenses, shooting with 16x9 SD digital cameras and upconverting to HD for air will certainly increase the amount of material available in very high quality SD upconverts. While not true HD this process does preserve the 550 line H res that is done by these cameras as opposed to being cut back to 300 lines of NTSC broadcast.
In general, HDTV is becomming very commonplace with most manufacturers. Widescreen is nearly 100% saturated throughout the NAB floor now. It is a sign that manufacturers are taking HD as a given that all stations will be moving in that direction, however, I did see one small booth advertising data casting today. (Note: I have only covered one location of the show. )
Other hardware- I saw some HD consumer recorders too. See my posts in the HDTV Recorders section.
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Don Landis
Home Theater Pics at: www.scubatech.com Last updated 3/25/01
The most spectacular display was the latest in D-ILA projection display demo. The system showed a very high quality image on a theater size 16X9 screen about 30 ft. wide. The image was completely free from the LCD and DLP cross hatch. The horizontal resolution was speced at 1365 pixels. They also announced, but did not show a projector on the next generation in HDTV projectors that would exceed for the first time, 1920 pixels. They call it Q-XGA. boasting over 2200 H pixels. The image I saw today on the D-ILA was absolutely the best I have ever seen anywhere. For the home, they displayed and demoed two D-ILA projectors starting at $13,000 MSRP and capable of 1365 H pixels. One demo had true HD and the other was DVD. There was a huge difference in PQ between the two with the HDTV image clearly out shining the DVD, both on a 120" screen.
I also asked their reps about the problem I have observed mentioned many times on this forum about some D-ILA images not looking as good as they should. Here is what I was told-- All D-ILA projectors are set at the factory for Computer graphics gamma and edge enhancement. Unless you specifically ordered the D-ILA with a Home theater gamma setup you won't get a true CRT look and feel to the color balance and sharpness. It will look unnaturally over edge enhanced. JVC now has a factory mod that can make the projector look more natural for film, and home theater movies. Frank- You should check this out with your JVC contacts.
I also saw many HDTV upconverters that were quite superb and at much more reasonable prices, eg. $20,000 with near transparent conversion of 480i to 720p to 1080i back to 480i. With many video producers tapped out in equipment expenses, shooting with 16x9 SD digital cameras and upconverting to HD for air will certainly increase the amount of material available in very high quality SD upconverts. While not true HD this process does preserve the 550 line H res that is done by these cameras as opposed to being cut back to 300 lines of NTSC broadcast.
In general, HDTV is becomming very commonplace with most manufacturers. Widescreen is nearly 100% saturated throughout the NAB floor now. It is a sign that manufacturers are taking HD as a given that all stations will be moving in that direction, however, I did see one small booth advertising data casting today. (Note: I have only covered one location of the show. )
Other hardware- I saw some HD consumer recorders too. See my posts in the HDTV Recorders section.
------------------
Don Landis
Home Theater Pics at: www.scubatech.com Last updated 3/25/01
