TV Picture

Posted by: Fisbey on 06 December 2008

Having recently got an LCD TV, which I have to say I'm somewhat underwhelmed by, I'm finding the general feeling to be 'they're (new TV's) great, the bigger the better, you can see the blades of grass etc etc.

Is it me or are we missing the bigger picture here? (no pun intended)

Do we listen to hi fi for the overall experience or for the detail?

Confused
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by winkyincanada
Can't agree. My new LCD stuns me everytime I watch it. The picture seems to communicate the intention of the director and actors in a way I've not experienced previously (provided the "Motion Enhancement" is OFF! - see other posts).
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by Fisbey
Yes I saw that - I have to admit I'd prefer a good old (decent) CRT - but sadly mine was on the way out....

Oh and they take up space I don't really have.

Each to their own and all that, but I can't help feeling we're being conned....
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by Fisbey
I watched 'Bird' last night, a good film, but another thing I've noticed with LCD is the dark areas are a bit odd...

Motion blur, narrow viewing angle

mmmmm
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by winkyincanada
My new TV is the first one I've owned in 4+ years. Previously, I had a couple of really nice Sony CRTs. I'm not sure that that LCD is better in every way, but the balance for me is that LCD is working fine. I paid a quite a bit for mine though - no "bargain" at all.

What TV do you have?
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by Fisbey
A Panasonic 26 inch...
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by JamieL
Can't beat cathode ray tubes (CRT).

I work at Yorkshire TV studios a lot, and last year some new LCD TVs/monitors were brought into the gallery ready to install. Our vision engineer had a look at one, put it back in the box and said it simply does not have a the picture quality required to monitor the cameras for broadcast.

The colour is very stable on LCDs, but the detail does not update as fast as a CRT. I agree the blacks glow too much, and 'hunt' to find the right level, instead of just dropping back to black.

The size and shape is more convenient than a CRT, and I presume they are not as hot when run for a long time.

One thing to look at with a TV/monitor when choosing it is a picture that is busy with movement all over.

I saw the London marathon playing on some monitors in a shop, and many of the screens could not keep up with the detail. Much of this is down to taking a feed from a Sky digital box, where the compression causes much of this, but since all the monitors were from the same feed, differences could be seen in the lack of refresh rate.

Another similar test would be a shot of water, preferably slightly choppy. Movement all over the screen.

In contrast something like the news, with a static camera, and only minimal movement from the presenter should look good on any monitor, and so is not something that is a good test of a monitor.

I do like what I have seen in demos of Hi-def monitors, and am thinking of moving on to one of those.

It would not please my cat though, that big back to the CRT, with the heat rising is her favourite place to sleep, and I would lose the occasional entertainment when she rolls over, then claws madly at the smooth plastic as she falls off the back.

Jamie
Posted on: 06 December 2008 by Fisbey
One of my cats used to sit right in front of the old tv - but now has to sit further back to get a better view - she isn't happy either!...