TV Screen Sizes (slightly OT) 2004-02-16 - By Jason Lechak
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Hi Dave. Couple of bits of info:
HDTV is High Density Television. This is supposed to be the next standard.
Currently there are not too many stations that support this, but you do get
a sharper image, and I think you have to pay for the stations at this time.
DVI stands for Digital Video Input. Most flat panel LCD computer monitors
come equipped with this type of input.
720P means, 720 columns of resolution, P means, progressive scan. 1080I
means, 1080 columns of horizontal resolution, and I means, interlaced.
Progressive scan gives you a clearer picture, because both the odd and even
horizontal screen lines are redrawn with each screen refresh. Interlaced
means, in one screen refresh, all the odd lines are refreshed, then in the
next refresh, the even lines are refreshed. This is the old way of
refreshing TV video, because back in the olden days TV systems were not
fast enough to refresh the entire screen each time. This is quite similar
to PC monitor refresh rates and terminology.
Component video means, the Red, Green, and Blue video components are kept
separate; you have 3 separate cables. This offers enhanced color
resolution. The lowest quality video is called composite video, where all 3
color streams are combined into one cable. S-Video is in between composite
and component video, in terms of quality.
NTSC is the U.S. standard for television refresh rates. The other method,
mostly used in Europe, is PAL. NTSC refresh rates are at 29.97 frames per
second, whereas PAL rates are 24, I think. So NTSC just means, you can use
the TV in the US.
widescreen is typically 16:9 aspect ratio, which is close to movie theater
aspect ratios. In other words, the widescreen TV looks like a mini theater
screen.
In comparing widescreen (16:9) and 4:3 ratio TV's, 16:9 just looks like a
movie theater.
So, in going to a 16:9 TV, you get a more realistic movie-going experience.
Progressive scan offers a clearer picture over interlaced, since all
horizontal lines are refreshed each video frame. Also look for digital comb
filters (3 line are good). I am not sure if these are required or even
included in these newer tv's, but the filter acts as a smoother between
horizontal lines. Component video is a great feature if you have a dvd
player and/or VHS player with component video outputs. You get a great
picture from your dvd player, especially. The prices for widescreen tv's
are getting lower each season. I think you can still get quite a bit of
mileage out of a standard 4:3 TV, with digital comb filter, if applicable,
with component video inputs. I got one for $250 a couple years ago. Oh,
BTW... standard, 4:3 ratio TVs have a lower screen resolution than the 720
and 1080 ones.
HTH,
Jason
At 09:47 AM 2/16/2004 -0800, you wrote:
>I recently decided to venture into the world of shopping for a new TV. In
>short, it gave me a headache. But along the way, as I was drowned in a
>bunch of new acronyms (HDTV, DVI, 720P, 1080i, XBR, Wega, Component video,
>aspect ration, widescreen, NTSC), I decided to boil it all down to a few
>simple questions:
>
>1) How big is the screen?
>2) How sharp is the picture?
>3) How much am I paying?
>4) What am I getting over my current 27 inch, 12 year old TV?
>
>What I found interesting is that there was really no comparisons done on
>screen sizes between Widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) and NTSC or normal
>screens (4:3 aspect ratios) for any given diagonal measurement. Given that
>TV manufacturers only quote screen sizes in terms of their diagonal
>measurement, this was rather frustrating. Exactly what am I paying $1000 of
>dollars for in the big tube TV's and how much bigger will it be over what I
>have now?
>
>And this is where tS came in rather handy. Thus I made the following render
>for my own purposes, but I thought it might be handy to others:
>
>http://home.comcast.net/~dianeangelini/Stills/TV_Screen_Sizes.jpg
>
>Some other simple tips for the interested consumer can be found here:
>
>http://home.comcast.net/~dianeangelini/tv_tips.doc
>
>A good source of information is also here:
>
>http://www.hdtvinfoport.com/hdtv-buyers-guide.html
>
>So what did I decide? Well, after my headache cleared, I got so disgusted
>with the whole experience I decided to wait one more year.
>
>I hope this is of help to others.
>
>Thanks,
>Dave Angelini
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