Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving is the official start of the holiday HDTV buying season.  Despite the ongoing recession and high unemployment levels, analysts at iSuppli and the Consumer Electronics Association predict that 2009 will end with 8 million LCD HDTVs being sold in Q4 (up 7.3% vs. 2008). Here’s our advice.

Size Matters

You need to pick the right screen size for your needs.  Generally, LCDs go from 19” up to 65” and plasma HDTVs from 42” to 65”.  With 37” screens and smaller you can find LCDs with 720p resolution. At 32” and above 1080p resolution LCD sets are available. With plasma, a 720p class is offered in 42” and 50” screen sizes.

There are a number of considerations when you are deciding on an ideal screen size. First, consider your budget, then the physical limitation of your cabinet or room and seating position. Our exclusive HD Guru viewing distance chart (link) will tell you how close you need to be to see all the resolution with a given 720p or 1080p HDTV. Move further away, you will still get a great picture; however, you will not be able to admire all the resolution within the image due to the limits of human vision.

LCD or Plasma?

If you are considering a screen below 42”, LCD is the only way to go. But if you are seeking out a larger screen size, then you may choose either technology. On a basis of overall image quality, HD Guru and other experts agree that plasma beats LCD (including the LCDs called LED TVs). Why? Simply put, plasma is the only large flat screen technology available today which offers uniform viewing as you move off-axis, meaning everyone in the room sees the same great quality picture. All LCD HDTVs exhibit changes in color, black level and brightness as one moves further away from a straight-on dead center viewing position. There are a number of LCDs that have better off-axis viewing than others and they will be in our upcoming recommended HDTVs list article.

Plasma offers overall better black levels (their blacks always deeper compared to LCD when viewed off-axis) because plasma has the ability to shut off light in the picture at a pixel level. The best LCD black levels are the ones utilizing LED backlights, which include a feature called “local dimming”. This is accomplished by dividing the 2 million pixel images into hundreds of blocks.  Be aware a halo may be seen when the image contains adjacent high contrast such as white letters on a black background.

LED TV or LCD TV?

All LED TVs are LCDs. However, a number of TV makers are choosing to refer to their respective LED (Light Emitting Diode) lit TVs simply as LED TVs. The rest of the LCD TVs use thin fluorescent tubes called CCFLs (they’re miniature versions of the bulbs found in light fixtures). An advantage of LED as a light source is lower power consumption as compared to CCFLs. CCFL LCDs use about the same amount of energy as a plasma TVs for a given screen size.

LED TVs are capable of very bright images, making them the preferred backlight LCD technology for daytime viewing, especially in windowed rooms that lack shades or curtains.

There are two types of LED TVs, edge lit and back lit. The edge lit models have the advantage of the thinnest possible profile depth at just over one-inch. LED backlit units are deeper; however, many add a feature called local dimming, creating extremely dark black levels.

There are some disadvantages to current LED TVs. There are white and black uniformity issues at the picture perimeter with many edge lit designs. Also, off-axis brightness tends to fall off a bit more rapidly than occurs with CCFL backlit designs using the same LCD panel.

60Hz/120Hz/240Hz

Standard LCDs have a 60 Hz refresh rate. The motion resolution comes in around 320 lines (per picture height) out of 1080 lines. 120 Hz refresh ups the motion resolution to around 600; while 240 Hz kicks it up to 900 lines or higher. There are circuits incorporated that create more frames to smooth motion, however they come with increased picture artifacts (see related story here link). If you want a LED or LCD TV with the best panel and most features then you automatically get 120 or 240 Hz refresh.

Plasmas have full 1080 line motion resolution without the artifacts found in 120/240Hz LEDs or LCDs. Panasonics V and Z series plasmas offer a 96Hz refresh, which makes the image free of judder normally found in all 60 Hz (LCD and plasma) panels without the artifacts associated with 120/240Hz LED/LCDs.

Special Features

There are a number of added features for people that are looking for the most accurate image reproduction. THX Certified designs provide near ideal color temperature and HDTV color points right out of the box when using the THX picture setting. Many top of the line HDTVs have user calibration controls to allow (with proper test equipment and signals) the fine tuning of the TVs image to near perfection.

Buying your HDTV

HDTVs are in good supply for the holidays and are about 20% lower than last year. Circuit City’s demise changed the market conditions, making Best Buy’s Black Friday doorbuster prices on mid to high end models around the same as you can find today online at our HD Guru Pricegrabber webpage.  For brick and mortar stores, check out our” How To Get the Best Deal” (link).

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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved.  HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

By HD Guru

Edited by Michael Fremer

(November 7, 2009) Best Buy’s November 8, 2009 weekly advertising circular boasts that 32 HDTVs are “On Sale!” But of the 32, only four of them (12.5%) are at their lowest price of the year. The others, supposedly “on sale,” are either priced the same as they were as early as last August, or actually cost less between then and now, with the most egregious example being Sony’s KDL-52Z5100, which cost a rather significant $350 less at Best Buy as recently as last week (November 1^st, 2009)!

Why these pricing disparities? HD Guru surmises that Best Buy figures if you need to buy an HDTV right now, you can’t wait for the after Thanksgiving Holiday prices, so you’ll be willing to pay more now for the same set that would have cost you less 3 months ago. What we know that you don’t, is that set makers are currently offering generous dealer incentives in an attempt to maintain or increase their respective market share for the year 2009.

Your Buying Strategy

First, do your homework. Don’t take Best Buy or another retailer at face value when they shout “On Sale!” in their advertising circulars. Go to Camelbuy.com. The site tracks every Best Buy price and clearly displays the highest and lowest prices of the year. Also check out the HD Guru Pricegrabber website (Link) to learn the lowest online prices. Use our negotiating tips (Link) to get the best deal. If you can hold out, wait until “Black Friday” or later when Best Buy and their competitors want to grab every sales dollar to make their respective revenue goals.

The “Real” Sale HDTVs

Below are the four HDTVs that actually are at Best Buy’s lowest price of the year. The “Was” and “Now” price reflects the lowest price from August until the present, not the difference from Saturday to Sunday.  A week before the ad breaks, Best Buy often raises prices so they can claim they’ve “slashed” higher “regular” prices, even though in reality the “regular” price they cite is inflated and anything but “regular”. Prices are rounded up to the nearest dollar to save space.

Sam=Samsung

Make/Model               Size     Was     Now       Save

Sam/LN32B640          32″      $800    $749.99   $50

Sam/LN37B550          37″      $800    $749.99    $50

Sam/LN46B650          46″      $1450  $1409.99  $40

Sharp/LC19SB27UT  19″      $240    $219.99    $20

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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved.  HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

Value Priced LCD HDTV With 50 lux Home Light Level (Above)

 Same LCD HDTV With 500 lux Retail Store Light Level (Below)

(August 6, 2009) It may be difficult to believe, but just a decade ago cathode ray tube-based TVs (CRTs) were the biggest sellers. CRTs have excellent viewing angles, outstanding black levels and high contrast ratios. The technology’s Achilles heel (aside from sheer bulk) was a lack of brightness compared to today’s flat screen sets. However, for most indoor viewing environments, the light output was adequate.

Not surprisingly, store lighting in the TV departments of major retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City a decade ago was subdued to better emulate home ambient lighting conditions so the sets wouldn’t look dim and washed out.

That’s hardly the case today, with store lighting levels purposely cranked up as much as 50 times typical home lighting conditions. Why the change? Because these intense levels can make the best displays with the blackest black levels and highest contrast levels look inferior to cheaper, lower performance displays. Not surprisingly, this leads consumers into buying the cheaper sets because they think they’re getting as good a set, if not a better one, for less.

Contrast, Brightness and Resolution

A TV’s native resolution, black level and brightness (called white level) controls its perceived image sharpness. Resolution of almost all HDTVs falls into two categories, 720p and 1080p, so from a static resolution standpoint, almost all large screen TVs today are about the same (either 720p or 1080p).

“Contrast ratio,” for example 1000:1 (or 1000 to 1) indicates how many times greater is the highest intensity white signal than the lowest intensity black one (the number 1 is the black signal). While that gives you a ratio it tells you neither how bright are the whites, nor how dark are the blacks.

Here is where stores utilize intense lighting to manipulate your judgment. In a typical home environment, the set that will appear to have a better picture and be seen as sharper will be the one with the blackest blacks and reasonably white whites (around 30 ft lamberts) rather than one that’s similarly bright but with lighter black levels.

Viewers perceive just the opposite in a high ambient light showroom. Invariably they choose the set with the brightest picture as having the clearest image, even if the set has poor black levels because the bright ambient lighting masks poor black level performance.

The Measurement Methodology

Last month, using a Konica Minolta T-10 illuminance meter, HD Guru measured the amount of ambient light in the TV sections of  national retail stores and warehouse clubs located around Long Island (Sears, Best Buy, Target , Walmart, Costco and BJ’s.).

The measurement total depended upon the set quantity at each retailer; the more sets on display, the more measurements taken. See below for average reading per retailer. Daytime measurements in homeowners’ bedrooms, dens and living rooms also published below were taken with window shades and room lighting adjusted by the homeowners to their particular preferences. Not measured were kitchens, which tend to be far brighter than other rooms and where viewing time is limited and their smaller dimensions usually mean smaller screen sizes.

Store and Home Readings

Store averages (measured in lux) were: Walmart 411.66, Costco 742.77, Target 371.38, Best Buy 180.3, BJ’s 412.13, and Sears 236.58. By comparison, ambient light levels measured in 10 rooms of various homes ranged from just 1.2  to 110.1 lux, with all but two rooms reading less than 35 lux.

Why Do Stores Crank Up The Brightness?

Today, there are two basic retail categories: aided stores with salespeople, such as Best Buy and Sears, and unaided (self-service) ones like BJ’s, Costco, Target and Walmart. Price generally drives consumer purchases in unaided, brightly lit stores where the lower priced, poorer performing sets can appear to be as good as, or better than the more expensive sets. Get the set home and with no reference point, you’ll end up assuming you’re getting the level of performance observed in the store.

Management directs aided store salespeople to maximize profits. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it does conflict with making the right HDTV choice. How? Let’s assume you have a budget of $1500.  HDTVs pricing is very competitive and store margins are low. Stores maximize profits by convincing you that a $1000 TV looks as good, if not better than the $1500 set placed next to it. That leaves you with $500 to purchase high profit margin items such as service contracts, “high speed” HDMI cables and power conditioners, when a perfectly adequate HDMI cable can be had on-line for under $10 and a relatively inexpensive surge protector is all you really need. Read this before buying a service contract: (link).

Vizio TVs offer retailers lower profit margins compared to other brands according to industry sources. Not surprisingly, with the exception of Sears, which is an aided store, Vizio’s retailers are unaided stores, where high lighting levels and Vizio’s low prices allow it to compete with and beat Sony and other established brands to win top sales positions.

The MHT Exception

Best Buy’s Magnolia Home Theater division (MHT), located within many Best Buy locations, sells the best and most expensive HDTVs, including top of the line plasmas and LED backlit LCD flat panels not found on the main showroom floor.In order to demonstrate the best displays’ rich inky blacks, guess what MHT does? Correct! They match the store’s lighting  to about the same levels found in a typical home environment. Measurements taken at our local Best Buy’s MHT measured from 24.4 to 49.2 lux with an average level of just 34.7 lux!  Yes, Magnolia understands that for its customers to see and appreciate the deep blacks, high contrast ratios and superior image quality produced by the more expensive sets it sells, it needs to duplicate home light levels.

Tips

Setting optimal black level for a given display requires adjusting user controls via the TVs remote control, with ambient lighting set to levels similar to what’s found in your similar level found in your home and specialized test signals.

Unfortunately, these conditions are not possible in the big box retailers and warehouse clubs listed above, so you’re stuck with the store’s showroom mode settings. However, you can get a relative idea of the black level of a given display regardless of the stores high ambient light levels by using this trick.  Cup your hands forming a tunnel with your thumbs and index fingers making the front opening. Place the pinky side of your cupped hands against the TV screen and place your eye against the front opening. You will need to find or black area of the picture, if you’re lucky, black bars will be present at the top and bottom of the screen on a letterboxed demo material. This will give you an idea of just how light the blacks are on different displays.

Contrast Ratios Specs Are Useless

No accepted TV industry standard exists for measuring contrast ratios. Numbers provided by manufacturers are meaningless. The fake spec race is getting worse with many vendors now providing two contrast ratio specs, standard and dynamic. “Standard” is with white and black areas on the screen at the same time. “Dynamic contrast” is measured using a black screen with no content, versus brightness with a white area on the screen, resulting in a useless number. Who cares how dark a blank screen looks? HD Guru continues to get stonewalled when we query set makers for the methodology of their respective published contrast ratio numbers. The current record absurd claim is a published dynamic contrast ratio spec of 7,000,000 to 1. To add to the confusion, there is a natural maximum eye contrast resolution of just 300:1, according to a paper published by Siemens Technology (PDF link) (http://www.eizo.eu/html_76/ftp/bb_ensuring_image_quality.pdf.)

In an effort to rebut these published specs, HD Guru will be using a newly acquired Konica Minolta meter to make its own contrast ratio readings and will publish the results in all future  HDTV reviews.

-HDGuru® with Michael Fremer

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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

Photos – WNBC4 (top) WPIX11 (bottom)
Today, June 12, 2009 marks the end of over sixty years of regularly scheduled analog TV broadcasts. The remaining 974 full power TV stations will switch off their analog transmitters.  Here are some last minute tips and info for you, your friends and family members that have not prepared properly for the switchover.

How Many Households Are Affected?

According to the AP, “Research firm SmithGeiger LLC said Thursday that about 2.2 million households were still unprepared as of last week.” The survey was commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters surveying 948 households that relied on antennas. They reported 1 in 8 homes have not connected a digital TV or digital converter box.

Research firm Nielsen Co. survey says 2.8 million households, which equals 2.5% of the US market are not prepared.

Satellite and Cable Subscribers

Older analog TVs in your home that receive local broadcasts via cable or satellite subscriptions will experience no change. These program providers will seamlessly switch over to the digital broadcast. The signal will be converted to an analog signal your TV accepts (in either the cable systems head end or the box depending on the cable provider). Don’t worry, be happy.

Homes That Use Antennas to Receive Broadcast TV

If your analog TV currently receives local analog broadcasts via an indoor or roof antenna, you will need to purchase a DTV converter box for $40-$60. You can still obtain a $40 coupon from the government, however you will need to wait until it arrives before you can use it. Here’s the (LINK) regarding the program.

If you already have the converter and are currently receiving digital broadcasts you may need to rescan the tuner after your local stations switch off their respective analog signals. Why? In a number of markets the broadcasters are going to change the actual channel (frequency) they are using to send the digital signal.

Don’t confuse the DTV system’s “virtual” channel number such as 7-1 with the actual channel (frequency) of the broadcast signal. For example, WABC-DT in New York City (NYC) pre-analog shut off  digital channel is in the UHF band at channel 45, though when you tune you converter (or digital tuner equipped TV) the on-screen display shows it as 7-1. Today WABC when it shuts off its analog signal at 2:00 pm, the digital transmitter’s frequency moves to VHF channel 7. Your digital TV or set top box will no longer pick up ABC-DT until you rescan the set top box’s tuner (see the owner’s manual for instructions, each brand has its own procedure). If you want to learn which stations in your market are changing frequencies today, go to the FCC website (LINK) and click “full power stations list” at the top right side column. It will provide you with an Excel spreadsheet showing the stations in every market and their respective analog and digital channel frequencies.  Look up your area and see if any of the local stations in you market are going to change channels, and note the pre-transition channel of the digital station and post transition channel number.

There are two separate frequency bands for digital TV broadcasts, VHF covers channels 2-13 UHF channels will now range from Ch. 14-Ch. 50. Before today’s transition, some stations were broadcasting on channels higher than 50, all of those must move down channel today.

Reception Issues

Households receiving over-the-air signals need an antenna connected to the digital converter box (or a TV with built in DTV tuner). Receiving analog or digital broadcast signals prior to today doesn’t guarantee you will continue to see all the channels you’ve been watching for years. Why?  There are two reasons. As stated above, many digital stations are moving frequencies today.   There are two basic types of TV antennas. They are UHF only and combination VHF/UHF. In a number of markets (including NYC) all the digital stations have been broadcasting on the UHF band. Today three NYC market stations (WABC WPIX and WNET) are moving from the UHF band to the VHF band where their respective analog signals were located. If you’ve been using a “UHF only antenna”(two of the most common are called loop and bow tie because of their shape) these signals may disappear. If they do, you will need to replace your antenna with a VHF/UHF combo antenna to resume reception.

The other issue relates to households that until now have only been viewing analog channels. Digital signals have a reception threshold. If the signal you receive is weak you will see nothing or get the picture with intermittent freezing and or breakup indicating your current antenna is not compatible with the new digital signals properties. If the picture is breaking up, you may want to first try to insert a TV signal amplifier between the antenna and the convertor. It may boost the signal enough to provide a continuous image. Radio Shack sells this type of amplifier and they take returns if it does not do the job.  If the amp doesn’t do the job you will need to purchase a new antenna with more gain to replace the antenna you were using for analog signals. Note, as analog signals get weaker, you see video noise mixed with the picture called snow in the picture. Digital signals can’t produce snow, only a clean noise free image or one that breaks up or doesn’t display any image if you are not using an adequate antenna. For help choosing the right antenna go to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/dtvantennas.html

Help Is Available

The broadcasters, retailers and charitable organizations have all pitched in provide help for anyone having technical problems making the switch over. There are 4,000 FCC customer service operators to provide phone assistance at 1-888-CALL FCC. If you need someone to come over to your aunt’s house out of state to install her digital converter box, there is a list of companies and organizations that have volunteered to make a free house call. You can find list by entering her zip code in the upper right corner of the home page at www.dtv.gov

Your local broadcasters have pitched in too. You can find your local broadcasters DTV contact numbers on the same web page on the right hand side after entering your local zip code. Hopefully you’ll be more successful making contact than the HD Guru. Of the top seven NYC stations DTV hot line numbers called  yesterday, only three had someone manning the line.

Final Comments

Rural areas that have low powered analog stations and repeaters will continue to broadcast low power signals in select markets.

118 stations will keep their analog signals going up to 30 days, broadcasting a National Association of Broadcasters loop explaining the DTV switch and a a slide (pictured above). The photo above of WNBC , the first network station to drop analog programming in the NYC market.

If you are seeing digital signals for the first time on an analog 4:3 aspect ratio TV, you may see black bars on the top and bottom of the image. This is normal. It occurs because many digital programs are broadcast in wide screen (16:9) high definition. While the HD signal will be downcoverted to standard def within your DTV converter , the image will retain its 16:9 aspect ratio, resulting in the top/bottom black bars called “letterboxing”. You may have not seen this shrunken image previously when you viewed the same program in analog, as many shows were transmitted in a 4:3 aspect ratio version version for the analog feed.  Fortunately, many DTV converter boxes have an “aspect ratio” button on the remote control that allows you to zoom the picture to fill the entire screen; however the right and left sides of the image will be cut off.

Stations may power down their analog transmitters anytime today up to 11:59:59 PM. Call your local stations (phone number List) if you want the exact time of their respective shut off. Otherwise, simply repeat a channel scan periodically throughout the day.

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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved.  HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

(June 9, 2009) The US International Trade Commission ruled today Vizio Inc. must stop importing all HDTVs into the USA for continuing to refuse to license patents pertaining to digital TV reception owned by Funai. The initial April 9, 2009 order was delayed by a 60 day presidential review. The office of President Obama ruled today the order remain in effect, thereby halting the importation of all Vizio HDTVs. (The HD Guru submited an inquiry to the ITC,  but did not receive a response prior to publication).

Vizio is currently the number one shipper of LCD flat screen HDTVs into the US, according to the research firm, Displaysearch.

Vizio claims it removed the portions of the chips that violate Funai’s patent and plans to file an appeal of the ITC order today in the US Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

Copied below are the relevant portions of Vizio’s press release and information about the ITC obtained from its website.

IRVINE, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ — VIZIO, America’s Largest Shipper of Flat Panel HDTVs, responds today to President Obama’s decision not to overrule the ITC Orders, which determined that certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,115,074 (the “‘074 patent”) were valid and that certain now obsolete VIZIO television products, no longer shipping and no longer in production, contained a feature that infringe those claims. VIZIO believes that the claims of infringement are meritless because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) has issued a Final Rejection order relating to the ‘074 patent.

“We at VIZIO deeply respect the rights of intellectual property upheld by the PTO, which does not apply to this claim. Unfortunately, we are not immune to frivolous lawsuits and we reserve the right to defend ourselves of meritless claims at all times. The products involved with this particular claim are obsolete, and no longer in mass production. Therefore we believe this action will not impact our ability to conduct our business in normal fashion,” stated Laynie Newsome, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Communications.

VIZIO intends to move aggressively on all possible avenues to protect its rights. On June 10, 2009, Vizio will appeal the ITC’s determination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Vizio believes the Company’s position will be vindicated on appeal. In addition, on June 10, 2009, VIZIO will seek emergency relief from the Federal Circuit to stay the enforcement of the ITC’s Exclusion Order pending appeal. VIZIO has also presented its non-infringing technical solution to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “We at VIZIO are working with all appropriate U.S. government offices and departments to resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” stated Rob Brinkman, Vice President of Operations and Administration.

In a separate lawsuit filed by VIZIO, it is alleged that Funai has violated the federal Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Act, and numerous provisions of California’s unfair competition and antitrust law by unlawfully and unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement of the ‘074 patent, to the detriment of trade and commerce. Funai sought to delay the timely adjudication of these claims and recently a presiding district court judge denied Funai’s motion. Instead, the judge ruled that VIZIO’s antitrust claims should move forward without delay.

VIZIO now produces and distributes televisions designed with a non-infringing technical solution, which excludes the allegedly infringing feature from the chipsets in its television products.

Since the ITC’s limited exclusion order applies only to chipsets that contain the allegedly infringing feature, VIZIO believes their customers will continue to receive a continued supply of VIZIO’s television products.

The USITC

The United States International Trade Commission is an independent, quasijudicial Federal agency with broad investigative responsibilities on matters of trade. The agency investigates the effects of dumped and subsidized imports on domestic industries and conducts global safeguard investigations. The Commission also adjudicates cases involving alleged infringement by imports of intellectual property rights. Through such proceedings, the agency facilitates a rules-based international trading system. The Commission also serves as a Federal resource where trade data and other trade policy-related information are gathered and analyzed. The information and analysis are provided to the President, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and Congress to facilitate the development of sound and informed U.S. trade policy. The Commission makes most of its information and analysis available to the public to promote understanding of international trade issues.

The mission of the Commission is to (1) administer U.S. trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner; (2) provide the President, USTR, and Congress with independent analysis, information, and support on matters of tariffs, international trade, and U.S. competitiveness; and (3) maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).

The Commission has five major operations that serve its external customers:

* Import Injury Investigations,

* Intellectual Property-Based Import Investigations,

* Industry and Economic Analysis,

* Tariff and Trade Information Services,

* Trade Policy Support

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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved.  HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

So you’ve seen the demos in the store, read the reviews, found the best price.  You are the proud owner of a brand new High Def video camera. You’ve even shot some video of the wife and kids and watched it on your Panasonic TC-50G10 50” Plasma that was recommended by the HDGURU. It looks great, amazing almost like 3D! Wow, you can’t wait to send a video to Mom & Dad. They bought an HDTV, so they will be able to see just how great the video looks. But, how do you send them the video? They don’t have an HD Video Camera, you both bought a Blu-ray disc player, but how do you make a Blu-ray disk? Well, the answer is here, Adobe has released the Adobe CS3 Production Premium bundle. This amazing complete package includes everything you need to shoot, import footage, edit it, and add special effects, music, graphics, and titles! Everything that you need to create your masterpiece.  Add to that an LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray Disc burner and HD DVD-ROM reader, so that you can not only burn Blu-ray disks, but also watch both Blu-rays , HD-DVD’s, even regular DVD’s and CD’s on your HTPC (Home Theater PC). The only other ingredient that you need for this High Def recipe is 25GB Blu-ray blank disks.

Let me take you through the creation process of your first Blu-ray.  Let’s start. Adobe CS3 Production Premium comes with a fantastic group of programs that include Adobe OnLocation, Adobe Ultra, Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3, Adobe Encore® CS3, Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional, and Adobe® Soundbooth™ CS3. The install is not for the faint of heart and can take about an hour to complete. The package requires at least 32GB of hard drive space, a 32-bit video card and a 1280×1024 or higher resolution monitor.

With the package installed and your masterpiece shot with your HD Video camera, the real fun begins. Now, Adobe is not for those without some computer knowledge. If you are a little more advanced then you will want to load Adobe OnLocation®CS3 on to your laptop. This program allows you to capture directly to both your videotape and your computer hard drive. It also comes with an impressive array of very professional tools to make sure that your images are recorded perfectly. You can even have some fun with stop-motion animation. At the very least you can immediately review your shots to see if they came out the way that you expected. If you don’t want to get in that deep then you would use Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 to capture the footage from your camera to your hard drive. At this point you have several options, you might want to use Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended or Adobe Illustrator® CS3 to create custom graphics to use in your video or use Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional, a long standing industry standard to create some amazing special effects.  The great thing about it is that is all up to you and your imagination. You can make a simple video with very little trimmings or perhaps your own personal Star Wars epic! One of the more spectacular new additions to Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 is the ability to make web ready flash movies directly from the timeline with Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional without having to go through all the hassles that you might have to with other programs.  Adobe Flash® CS3 allows you to create excellent quality videos in a very small file size. But your choices don’t stop there, you can just as easily export for standard DVD, the web, and mobile devices. Another cool feature is the ability to create dramatic slow- and fast-motion effects right on the timeline, you can slow things down without compromising quality.

Adobe® Soundbooth™ CS3 allows you to orchestrate your video or just clean up your audio. One of the nicest features is the interactivity of the Suite of programs. If you are working on the timeline in Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 then you can right click on any audio file and choose to “Edit in Adobe Soundbooth.” Once your editing is done Adobe is still there for you with Adobe Encore® CS3.

Adobe Encore® CS3 enables you to take your completed masterpiece and burn it to Blu-ray. This is where your LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray Disc burner and HD DVD-ROM reader comes into play. Even though Blu-ray has won the format war, there are still a lot of bargains to be had in HD-DVD disks. Buy ‘em up and watch them with this versatile recorder/player. With Adobe Encore® CS3 you don’t even need a separate burning software, Encore allows you to burn directly to your Maxell 25GB Blu-ray blank disks. I tested both the BD–R (which allow you to record once) and on the BD-RE( the re-writeable version). Both performed spectacularly. They yielded perfect copies that played back glitch free. The time for the burn process depends greatly on the length of your content, but remember HD creates big files to get that great picture. It took me about 30 minutes to get a 10 minute Blu-ray burned.

Now keep in mind that Adobe Production Premium CS3® has many more features and it would take an e-book to tell you about all of them. I will be featuring more in depth technical articles on http://www.wemakehd.com as well as videos made with this package on http://www.exploreworldtv.com. So visit those sites for more info. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will try to answer as best as I can.

Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc.  All rights reserved.  HDGURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.  The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable.  Data within is subject to change.  HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

If Santa delivered a new HDTV to your home today, use this list to help get your HDTV up, running and looking good. Please read the owner’s manual before proceeding.

1) Get It Ready

If it is flat, (LCD or Plasma) the HDTV may need attachment to its table stand (if you’re not wall mounting it.). This requires two or more people. Remember; NEVER LAY A FLAT TV ON ITS FACE OR BACK. HOLD IT UP (vertical) BY HAVING IT SUPPORTED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BEZEL THAT SURROUNDS THE SCREEN. TO KEEP THE SET VERTICAL HAVE SOMEONE HOLD IT UP TO KEEP IT FROM FALLING OVER UNTIL IT IS PROPERLY ATTACHED TO THE TABLE STAND. NEVER PLACE ANY PRESSURE ON THE SCREEN (SUCH AS YOU PALM) DON’T TOUCH THE SCREEN. IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH PRESSURE TO CRACK IT! If the screen cracks, the HDTV is destroyed. Always lift by it by the bottom of the outside of the bezel; you may also steady it by grabbing the edges and sides of the bezel.

2) Make Sure Your New HDTV is Functional

This will save you a lot of aggravation. As soon as it is unpacked and supported (such as assembling the table stand and attaching the panel properly by consulting the owner’s manual), connect the power cord to wall AC and power it up. Put the batteries in the TV remote and hit the menu button. If you get an on-screen menu of any kind the HDTV is functional. If it stays black, it is probably dead. After verifying the on-screen menu, proceed to connect the TV to your signal sources.
Note: Many of today’s sets conform to Energy Star rules. If your set does, the first screen to appear will ask if you are using the HDTV in a home or (dealer) showroom. Select the “Home” mode for the best-looking image and lowest power consumption. This screen only comes up the first time you connect your new HDTV, selecting the Home mode will automatically place the user settings far closer to ideal than you can get in the showroom mode and save a lot on electrical consumption.

3) What You’ll Need to View Programs in High Definition

A) For over-the-air reception, you’ll need a TV antenna connected to the HDTV via the HDTV’s F type screw in connector. If there is no F type connector on the back of the set, you received an HDTV monitor, meaning there is no built-in digital tuner. You will need purchase a free standing HDTV tuner box to get the free over the air channels if it’s a tunerless HD monitor.
B) For HD Cable, You’ll need either a HD cable boxor a CableCARD (if your new HDTV has a slot know as a DCR or digital cable ready TV). You will have to order a CableCARD from your cable provider or you may connect the cable directed to the TV’s F connector to only receive the unencrypted HDTV cable channels (generally the broadcast network stations) provided your new HDTV has an unencrypted QAM tuner built-in (almost all new HDTVs do). Check the owner’s manual for inclusion and instructions on how to scan in the channels once connected.
C) For HD Satellite Reception, you will need an HD satellite box and the appropriate dish already installed (check with your satellite provider for more information)

4) To See HDTV, with a HD satellite box or HD cable box you must use either the component video connection cable (YPrPb) or an HDMI cable. Oh no, you don’t have either one of these cables. Here is a tip to get you up and running until you get one. Temporarily use an audio/video cable you may have lying around (it came with your VCR, DVD player or other video component). This cable is the one that has three RCA type connectors, a yellow one, a red one and a white one at each end. Connect the yellow one to the Y output jack on the source box and the other end to the HDTV’s component video Y input. Then connect the red one to the Pr output jack on the source box and the Pr input on the HDTV and finally connect the white one to the Pb jack on the HDTV and source box. Make sure all three are on the same numbered input on the HDTV (i.e. input 6, see owner’s manual for identification of the component video input on the HDTV) With the same numbered input selected on the HDTVs video input via the “input” button on the remote control, you will be able to see an HDTV image once you tune to an HD channel (the how to is in the owner’s manual). Not sure which channels are in HD? Use channel up on the remote, till you see a widescreen HD image (tip- make sure the HDTVs aspect ratio you selected is the “FULL” mode and the source box is in its 1080i output mode) You will need an audio cable too, in order transfer the audio from the source box to the display (unless you are using an HDMI cable and connection).

5) Once you have your HD image on the screen, change the user picture controls. (If the set did not have the home/showroom option mentioned above) manually get the set out of “Vivid” mode and into standard, movie or cinema (depending on the set). If you don’t have an input named “movie” the HDTV will have one of the others and either one will produce a more accurate image than Vivid. This function is usually under Menu button on the remote followed by picture mode setting. Next, use the remote control to turn down the contrast (aka picture) control . If the contrast is set too high, the light details will turn white and be obscured, such as wrinkles on a white shirt. Adjust the brightness control low enough to get the deepest black possible but do not bring it any lower, for it will bury the dark detail. This will require some experimentation by raising and lowering the control to you reach the ideal level. Adjust the color and tint control to produce the most natural, accurate skin tones.

Special instructions for new LCD HDTV set owners.

A) Many of the new LCD HDTV have a control that will be new to you. It’s called a “backlight” control. You will need to adjust the backlight control alternately with the contrast and brightness controls. The objects, for the set to produce the deepest level of black and natural (not overblown) whites and maintain dark detail.  Here’s how.

Alternately use the backlight adjustment with the brightness control. The object is to get the deepest black, yet still be able to see low level details such as a black suit against a dark background. You must alternate back and forth these to controls; every time you lower the backlight, you will make the blacks darker including dark details. Go back and forth until you see reach the level that the blacks are the deepest, while you still can see objects that are dark or black such as Batman’s costume against a dark sky. If set too dark, much of the costume will disappear into the background. Next, make sure the overall brightness of light colored objects such as a white shirt correct via the picture (also called contrast or white level control). The object is to have an overall adequately bright picture. If after raising the contrast control to 100% whites are gray and/or the overall brightness of the image is too dark, you will need to slightly raise the backlight control and readjust the contrast and brightness controls, because they may now need a little more tweaking. On many LCDs I have adjusted, the backlight control ends up at the low end of the range (around 0-20%) for the best image.

Remember, the object is to get the best light and dark detail in the image and the blackest blacks. This will provide the highest contrast ratio the set is capable of producing while maintaining fine detail in the light and dark parts of the image.

6) Sit back and enjoy the HDTV experience.

Have a Happy Holiday

HD GURU|Email 

This article has been updated from its original publication in 2006

Copyright ©2006,2007,2008, 2009 Gary Merson/HD Guru® All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademark. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission. The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable. HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

The HD Guru spoke to both retailers and HDTV makers who confirm that November’s pre-Black Friday sales were way down compared to 2007, resulting in extremely high inventory levels in stores and at manufacturer’s warehouses.  Stores made pricing decisions on Black Friday items no later than mid-October 2008, too early to anticipate November’s worsening retail traffic and lower sales. What is the solution?  In my analysis, stores and vendors will use Black Friday pricing as a baseline and depending on the sales level generated today (early reports are not promising); they’ll re-price HDTVs at or below today’s BF levels.  It’s a win-win for shoppers.

To help you decide which HDTV may be best for you and how to get the best deal, the HD Guru recommends reading these previously published HD Guru posts:

http://hdguru.com/hdtv-shopping-tips/209/ tells you how to choose the HDTV that is right for you and http://hdguru.com/getting-the-best-hdtv-price/246/ provides tips on how to negotiate the lowest price. However, there is an important update: readers report that their local Best Buy stores now allow negotiating below the tag price on HDTVs (and computers too). Your homework done and your HDTV decision made, ask the sales person for a manager and make an offer for less. Hey, try it, it can’t hurt!

Reader HDTV Purchasing Questions Emailed to hdguru@hdguru.com

Should I buy an Extended Warranty?

Generally speaking, HDTV extended warranties are a bad deal. However, they may provide a certain amount of peace of mind to buyers. First, find out the cost.  Some stores such as Wal-Mart charge about 10% of the set’s price, while others charge 20% or more. Remember, HDTV prices continue to drop 25% to 30% annually, so factor in what the replacement cost would be in 2 and 3 years before making a final extended warranty decision. Also, consider that if you pay with an Amex Gold card or higher, or with many gold or higher MasterCard or Visa cards, your bank may automatically double your manufacturer’s warranty. Check with your card issuer for terms and conditions. In addition, Costco automatically doubles the manufacturer’s warranty for all HDTVs they sell.

Learn who is actually providing the extended warranty. Is it the store or an outside company? This is very important. If it’s the store’s own warranty and they go out of business, your extended warranty will become worthless. Many companies use an outside firm for their coverage. A Circuit City customer service representative said its extended warranty is covered by Assurant Solutions and will be in effect if the chain goes under.

Most importantly: READ THE TERMS OF THE WARRANTY BEFORE PURCHASING and ask get answers to the following questions:

1)    Does the warranty cover all of the set’s parts and labor including lamps or bulbs (used within LCD flat panels and rear projectors)?
2)    Does it cover power surge related damage?
3)    What are the exceptions to coverage?
4)    What happens if parts are not available for repairs?
5)    Do you need to ship back the TV in its original carton for repairs?
6)    Who pays the freight each way?
7)    Is there a time limit for repairs to occur?
8)    If the TV can’t be repaired or parts are not available, will you get a refund or a new TV replacement, or just a refund of warranty’s cost?

If the store will not provide a copy of the extended warranty terms and conditions before purchase, do not buy it!

Should I buy from Circuit City (CC), now in Chapter 11?

If you find the HDTV you want, at the price you want to pay, I do not see why not. Just make sure it is a CC store that is not closing and is not having a liquidation sale. All merchandise at those stores is sold as-is and all sales are final. The liquidation is being handled by an outside company that purchased the store inventory from CC. Beware the liquidation closing CC stores are generally charging more for HDTVs than the CC stores that are remaining in business, as first reported by HD Guru and now by “Good Morning America” and other TV programs.

Should I buy a Power Conditioner For My HDTV?

Unless you reside in a home that is adjacent to a power substation and/or other major interference causing entities you should not. All HDTVs “condition” the power within their chassis’. Save the money for better things such as a Blu-ray player.

Should I buy a Surge Protector?

Yes. I prefer ones that self-test and have an indicator light that tells you if the protector is functioning properly. Surge protectors can fail after a single surge and without an indicator light, you will not know if it is working properly or just passing the next surge through and leaving your HDTV unprotected. An alternative is an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). They all have built-in surge protectors and will provide your connected components with continuous power during short-term blackouts or brownouts. They are especially useful for Cable and Satellite DVRs, as you will lose your program and possibly damage the hard drive if you have a sudden loss of power without a UPS connected to the DVR.

Do I need a higher speed HDMI cable for 120Hz HDTVs?

No! The speed of all signals is the same, it is the data transfer rate and bandwidth requirements that double when switching from a 1080i broadcast signal to a 1080p/60Hz Blu-ray signal. However, there are no 120 Hz signal sources for 120 Hz TVs. The change is made within the TV and the bandwidth requirements for the cable are the same as any other HDTV.

You can find HDMI cables 6 feet to 2 meters long for around five dollars (including shipping) that will provide your HDTV with the full HDTV signal at the HDGuru/Pricegrabber website located under the “Check Prices” banner in the lower left side of this webpage. There are differences in construction quality, however, so if you do a great deal of plugging and unplugging you may wish to spend a bit more to get a better built cable. Just don’t expect a better quality picture!

Copyright ©2008 Gary Merson/HD Guru™. All rights reserved. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.

Posted September 27, 2008
Choosing the right HDTV is difficult. One important consideration is to know how much resolution a particular HDTV extracts from a 1080i high definition signal. The HD Guru put 125 2008 HDTVs (plus one 2009 prototype) through a series of test signals to learn how different brands and models really perform. The specific results appear in the 2008 Resolution Tests PDF link below. Here is a brief rundown of these tests. For more testing information please refer to my previous articles that appeared in Home Theater magazine. You can find them at:

http://hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/1107hook2/
http://hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/1106hook/
http://hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/0506halfrez/

Deinterlacing Test

All LCD flat panels, microdisplay rear projectors and most plasma HDTVs are progressive displays, meaning they (should) process all 1080 lines within a 1080i signal and display them at a set’s native resolution. (1080i is the broadcast standard for most HDTV networks including CBS, NBC, CW and HBO.) This is accomplished by deinterlacing the interlaced broadcast signal into one that’s scanned progressively. An HDTV that does not properly deinterlace the signal will only process a single field, reducing vertical resolution to 540 lines. Last year the HD Guru tested 74 2007 models and found that slightly fewer than 65 percent passed this test. This year’s sets fared much better with 96% of the 125 HDTVs passing!

The deinterlace test was conducted using the Silicon Optix HQV HD test disc. You can purchase this disc in the Blu-ray or HD DVD format, at a 25% discount through a coupon. Information on how to order and the coupon code can be found at www.hdguru.com/?p=153.

3:2 Tests

Most scripted television programs and almost all movies are filmed at 24 frames per second. 1080i broadcasts require that the 24 frames be split into two fields that must be recombined in the proper sequence in order to produce a 1080p signal that is artifact-free and retains full resolution.

The Silicon Optix HD HQV disc also includes a test of this key performance parameter. Last year’s results were disappointing with only 14 out of 74 sets passing (18.91%). The 2008 models showed a slight improvement with 29 out of 125 sets (23.2%) properly handling the signal. Only 1 out of 28 Samsung models passed this test and the model that passed (LN-46A950) only did so after the set’s two anti-motion blur features were shut off.  Activation of either of the anti-motion blur circuits caused the set to fail.

Upon learning of the high failure rate, a Samsung spokesperson claimed newer production models of these sets will pass the test and that a downloadable firmware update, available now for owners of the failing earlier production units, fixes the problem.

(HD Guru policy is to report the results obtained, dealers sold a number these models without the latest firmware and many units may remain in their current inventory). Testing occurred between July and September 2008. The HD Guru will try to obtain samples loaded with the new firmware to confirm Samsung’s claims. If confirmed, the article and chart will be updated.

One LG’s plasma TV passed and two failed. An LG spokesperson indicated a running production change might have affected the test results. If there was any change (such as a firmware upgrade or special setting needed), it will be tested as well.

Bandwidth Tests

Can a 1080p HDTV resolve all horizontal detail down to a single pixel (out of 1920 pixels across)? To perform this test, I used a Sencore 403 HDTV signal generator with a pattern that has vertical alternating black and white lines, one pixel wide. If a set passes this test, every vertical line should be clearly visible (as black and white). If there is some roll off in bandwidth, the lines appear as dark gray and light gray. If an HDTV was unable to resolve down to a single pixel, the area of the screen would appear blank. Out of the 76-1080p sets tested, 68 displayed full bandwidth (one Philips was not tested due to its inability to sync with the Sencore generator). The remaining 1080p HDTVs exhibited some signal roll off. Note: all bandwidth, static and motion resolution tests were only performed on displays that are 1920 x 1080  “full HD” resolution. Displays with lower resolution, for example 1366×768 (listed as 768p in the chart), cannot fully resolve a 1080i HD signal.

Static and Motion Resolution

An HDTV may resolve a stationary test signal at full bandwidth, displaying all the detail within the 1920 individual pixels that appear across the screen, but not necessarily when motion is introduced, which on some sets causes a resolution drop. This can significantly degrade your viewing experience, especially if you watch a great deal of sports and/or action-oriented movies. How much resolution loss occurs? To find out, I used a test tool called the FPD Benchmark Software for the Professional.

This Blu-ray disc contains a Monoscope pattern (pictured above) which is made up of a series of four black lines that gradually come together in a wedge-like pattern that appears at the top, bottom and sides. Numbers adjacent to the lines indicate resolution. There are both stationary and moving versions of the pattern. In both instances, a number corresponds to the location of where all four lines can still be distinguished as they converge.  The maximum resolution is 1080 lines “per picture height”. If you want to calculate how many pixels a given display can resolve across the screen, simply multiply the resolution number by 1.77777.

Results

The motion resolution winner, displaying all 1080 lines through processes called motion interpolation (used on all 120Hz LCD panels) and sequential LED backlight control (called Motion Plus) was the Samsung LN-46A950. It is the only display ever tested that resolved 100% of the moving image’s detail. Congratulations to Samsung’s engineering team for eliminating motion blur on an LCD display! Please note: this performance level resulted from activating the display’s Motion Plus control and setting the interpolation (called Auto Motion by Samsung) to “low.” Any other combination of the motion control settings resulted in motion blur, dropping the perfect 1080 line score down to as low as 330 lines!

The next highest motion resolution results came from plasma HDTVs. The best 2008 models were the two Pioneer plasmas at 900 lines, followed by the other plasma displays, with results in a range of 800-850 lines. (The 150” Panasonic plasma prototype scored 920 out of 1080 lines).

Moving down the list are the 120Hz LCD flat panels. The results ranged from 550-620 lines of motion resolution, depending on the make and model of the display.

The lowest “motion resolution” group of displays were the 60 Hz LCD flat panels with a maximum of just 340 lines out of 1080. The biggest “loser” of resolution goes to the 37” Sharp LC-37D64U, recording just 260 lines out of 1080 on the Motion test, a disappointing 75%+ loss of resolution. The lone rear projector tested was a Samsung DLP. It joins this group with 330 lines of motion resolution.

Use the chart attached to this article to help you make an informed decision when choosing a new HDTV. While other factors such viewing angle and color reproduction are also important to consider when shopping for a new display, excellent image resolution provides the “high” in high definition TV viewing

2008-resolution-tests-125-hdtvs.pdf

Copyright ©2008 Gary Merson/HD Guru®  All rights reserved. HD GURU is a registered trademark.  The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.

The HD GURU is looking for an intern. The Candidate should reside in the NY Metro area, have journalistic ambitions, a knowledge and enthusiasm regarding consumer electronics and a willingness to work with an award winning CE journalist. Computer literacy is a must have. The work would initially be about 10 hours per week but may grow. A  very modest compensation will be available. To apply, please email a resume, plus short covering note to hdguru@hdguru.com

Email The HD GURU:  hdguru@hdguru.com