Tomsrockindad Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 I recently saw an article in Smarthouse magazine regarding the introduction of 120Hz LCD TVs, as foreshadowed at the last CES in the states. The article can be viewed at Smarthouse. If the article is correct, there are a number of key advances being made in LCD which seem to address many of the shortcomings of LCD seen by those of us who are still used to CRT, such as motion blurring ("virtually eliminated"), contrast and colour reproduction ("claimed improvements"). I am interested in what people think of these claims and whether anyone knows when such sets are likely to be truly available (the article says, "by mid 2007"). Are any available now? My faithful old 68cm CRT is on its last legs so I am looking around. However, I am continually dismayed at the picture quality of the so-called top shelf LCD models. The salesmen wax on about how great the quality is of the latest panel and I always say, "yeah, but its a crap picture!" The question is, are these new sets likely to look really that much better? The CEO has finally signed the board papers allowing purchase of a new set, and here I am now holding off buying a 40" Samsung 1080p until this other tantalising question is resolved. Anyone?
Owen Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 The salesmen wax on about how great the quality is of the latest panel and I always say, "yeah, but its a crap picture!" The question is, are these new sets likely to look really that much better? Put simply no. If picture quality is your concern start looking at Plasma or SXRD.
madmax Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 How is 120Hz going to help countries like us who are on 50Hz? Sure, it'll be great for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, but they will also have to support 100Hz to make it better for watching tv.
AndrewWilliams Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 I'd assume that they are both 100/120Hz. Apparently 120Hz makes a huge difference when it comes to eliminating the annoying blur that all current LCDs suffer from. Everyone who's seen one in the US says that they look just as good as a plasma on fast motion material. Now they just need to dramatically improve black level, fill rate and shadow detail and then they'll match SXRD.
Tomsrockindad Posted March 4, 2007 Author Posted March 4, 2007 How is 120Hz going to help countries like us who are on 50Hz? Sure, it'll be great for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, but they will also have to support 100Hz to make it better for watching tv. The point you make is a good one. However, it's interesting that Smarthouse, a reputable Australian publication, saw something relevant in it to make it worthy of including. However, I'm fast coming to the conclusion that I might be better off with a plasma, and for my viewing distances I cannot see that I need a 1080p. Ian
Owen Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 Unless they are doing motion interpolation to generate distinct new frames (very doubtful), it’s hard to see how 100 or 120 Hz will help. Repeating frames does not improve motion as no new data is presented. LCD’s don’t refresh anyway, they only update pixels data that has changed from one frame to the next, so repeating frames results in no on screen change in pixel data. It is possible they are deliberately blanking the screen 120 times per second, which may be beneficial and help overcome visible pixel lag. Displays with truly fast screen update times like the SXRD don’t need that sort of trickery.
LennyD Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 I recently saw an article in Smarthouse magazine regarding the introduction of 120Hz LCD TVs, as foreshadowed at the last CES in the states. The article can be viewed at Smarthouse.If the article is correct, there are a number of key advances being made in LCD which seem to address many of the shortcomings of LCD seen by those of us who are still used to CRT, such as motion blurring ("virtually eliminated"), contrast and colour reproduction ("claimed improvements"). I am interested in what people think of these claims and whether anyone knows when such sets are likely to be truly available (the article says, "by mid 2007"). Are any available now? My faithful old 68cm CRT is on its last legs so I am looking around. However, I am continually dismayed at the picture quality of the so-called top shelf LCD models. The salesmen wax on about how great the quality is of the latest panel and I always say, "yeah, but its a crap picture!" The question is, are these new sets likely to look really that much better? The CEO has finally signed the board papers allowing purchase of a new set, and here I am now holding off buying a 40" Samsung 1080p until this other tantalising question is resolved. Anyone? I believe they are available now - if the new Sharp Aquos piano black LCD TVs released last week have the same specs as the American equivalent - D92U range. If so, the 52" and 46" inch have 120hz refresh rate and 4ms response time....
AndrewWilliams Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 Unless they are doing motion interpolation to generate distinct new frames (very doubtful), it’s hard to see how 100 or 120 Hz will help. Not sure about the others but that's precisely what JVC claim to be doing on their 120Hz LCDs on their web site - motion interpolation. I'm not sure if that's a good thing...it might potentially cause artifacts and/or increase processing lag.
Owen Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 I dread to think what the quality of the interpolation would be like on an inexpensive consumer grade display when 80% or more of the frames are interpolated (made up). The processing power to do it properly would cost much more then the display. The lengths manufacturers are going too to get half decent performance out of flawed LCD technology is amazing.
MLXXX Posted March 4, 2007 Posted March 4, 2007 Not sure about the others but that's precisely what JVC claim to be doing on their 120Hz LCDs on their web site - motion interpolation.I'm not sure if that's a good thing...it might potentially cause artifacts and/or increase processing lag. Yes I see the JVC site does claim interpolation. It apparently smoothes the appearance of horizontally scrolling tickertape text. I guess it could help reduce judder with movies taken at 24fps, during a pan. But as Owen points out, to do it properly would require a lot of processing power. One issue would be the need to recognize a scene change as such, rather than generate an artificial dissolving of one scene into another or even a 'morphing' of one object into a similar object in a new scene. I note that this sort of image processing could theoretically have benefits for a wide range of screen technologies, provided the screen can accept a fast update.
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