What You Should Know About HDTV
You can never know enough about HDTVs, especially when your about to buy one, you want to make sure you get the best you can at a decent price. Gary Merson is an HDTV expert who has reviewed more HDTVs that you have probably ever seen. Gary has answered a whole bunch of HDTV related questions for courant.com
Q: What do most people not know about HDTV that they should?
A: That there is a vast amount of free, high-definition programming available via a roof or indoor antenna, though one’s ability to receive it depends upon proximity to the broadcast antenna. Many stations multicast, turning a single digital channel into two or more. The extra channels can be more news or around-the-clock weather services, music videos or whatever the stations wants.
Q: What advice do you give people before they go out to a store to buy their first HDTV?
A: Be aware of the distance you sit from the screen, the amount of ambient light in the room and if you plan to get your HD programming from the cable or phone company, satellite, over the air (with an antenna) or a combination. This will help the salesperson guide you to the best choices.
Q: What are a couple of your favorite lower-cost big-screen (42 inches or bigger) HDTVs?
A: I like Mitsubishi’s 1080p DLP-based rear projection sets (starting at about $2,000) as well as 42-inch Hitachi ($2,500) and 50-inch ($2,000) Panasonic plasma models.
Q: Any simple tips for people to improve their picture without a DVD calibration disc?
A: First, change the factory default picture setting (usually called Vivid or Brilliant) to a less-bright one (sometimes called Cinema or Pro). Next, turn down the contrast (also known as “picture”) to around 50 percent to 60 percent of maximum. Picture quality will improve, and the life of the display – or the bulb, in the case of rear-projection sets – will be extended. Many bulb-driven sets also include a low or “natural” setting, which should be selected for extended life.
Q: Is the picture supplied through cable boxes true hi-def or something less (compressed)?
A: Depends on the cable system. Many cable systems transmit fewer bits than they’re sent by using an HD image quality degrading technique they call statistical multiplexing, or “stat mux.” Stat muxing sacrifices picture quality in order to provide more channels.
Q: What are your favorite networks for HD picture quality?
A: CBS consistently broadcasts the highest-quality HDTV pictures, but they have fallen behind in upgrading their live telecasts, showing only three out of eight NFL games a week in HD (Fox shows all the games in HD). On cable, HDNet and the “in studio” content on Wealth TV, currently available via Verizon’s FIOS system, look amazing.
Source: courant.com
