HDTV: Buying Guide Part Two

In my last article I wrote how there's never been a better time to buy a high definition (HD) television, and I had just preordered the Samsung HLS-5087W 50 inch rear projection DLP unit. The Samsung was delivered last Thursday and here's a summary of my initial reaction.

First let me give some background on preparing for the new HD television. I'm a satellite TV subscriber and needed to upgrade my DirecTV hardware to be HD-compatible. So last month I logged on to www.directv.com and ordered the HD upgrade package. For $200 DirecTV came out and replaced my old satellite dish with a new 5-LNB oval HD dish. The HD package included the lease of DirecTV's new H20 HD receiver, and also included installing a new UHF antenna on my roof to receive other-the-air (OTA) HD local broadcasts. The new dish and receiver were required for HD reception since DirecTV is transmitting local HD broadcasts in the new MPEG-4 compression format instead of the older MPEG-2 standard. Since HD material requires much more bandwidth than standard definition video, satellite and cable providers will be migrating to the new MPEG-4 standard over time and DirecTV is leading the way for now.

I was now all set to receive HD programming as soon as Samsung HLS-5087W arrived with one exception - an HDMI cable to output the digital video/audio signal from the H20 to the Samsung. I'm a big believer in investing in high quality cables for analog connections between audio/video components. But HDMI is a digital interface that transmits a stream of 0's and 1's. So either it works or it doesn't. I therefore bought a $20 HDMI cable on the Web instead of investing $90 or more for a Monster cable that I thought would yield exactly the same audio and video quality. One great thing about HDMI is that it carries both video and audio signals (in uncompressed, digital form) so you can easily reduce the cable clutter behind your home theater system.

Now everything was all set - I just needed the new Samsung to be delivered. I ordered the television from Crutchfield, which has a great reputation for customer service, is an authorized Samsung online retailer, and offered the television with no tax or shipping charges. The delivery guys brought the television into my living room, took it out of the box and placed it on my home theater stand. I connected the power cable, connected the HDMI cable form the H20 to the Samsung, turned on the power, modified the TV display type on the H20 from 4:3 to 16:9 and amazingly the new television just worked, right out of the box!

I was quickly in HD nirvana - watching local broadcasts in full 1080i and Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as premium services such as HBOHD and the various HD channels that are part of DirecTV's HD package. But how would the 150 DVDs I own (most of which I trade via Peerflix) look on the new HD Samsung? I first had to bring up the menu on my Panasonic DVD recorder/player and activate 480p output over the component cables that I connected to the Samsung. Most DVD players sold in the last three years can output a progressive signal (the p in 480p) over component cables instead of the normal interlaced picture transmitted on composite and S-video connections. 480p is a big visible improvement over 480i and you'll want to make sure you are watching all of you DVDs on a HD television using 480p.

I chose Shrek as the first DVD to showcase on the Samsung. Dreamworks did an amazing job with the animation quality of Shrek and thought the DVD would be a good test of the picture quality of a standard definition DVD on a HD television. So how did it look? One word sums it up - amazing! I don't expect I'll be going out to the movies much any more - I'll just wait for the DVD to come out.

On Saturday night I watched a broadcast of Steve Winwood in HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 on KQED, the local PBS affiliate. Being a huge Steve Winwood fan, and having seen Winwood on this tour at a local venue in 2005, I was eager to see what kind of audio/video experience the new HD unit could deliver via a local, OTA HD broadcast. Once again, I was just stunned by the picture quality and quickly went to KQED's web site to see what future Soundstage broadcasts are scheduled. I'm now eagerly awaiting Garbage's performance premiering next month.

There was one more thing left to do though before I could experience the maximum picture quality from the new Samsung - I needed to calibrate the picture for maximum video quality. Virtually all televisions sold today ship from the factory with video settings that are far from optimal. Colors are typically oversaturated, with too warm a tone, and sharpness, brightness and contrast controls that are far from optimal as well. So I dug out my copy of Video Essentials: Optimizing Your Audio/Video System DVD and spent a half hour adjusting the color, brightness, contrast and sharpness controls. The HLS-5087W has numeric display of each of these settings, which is a nice touch for those of us who go through the trouble of tweaking every setting possible for maximum picture quality. It was hard to believe that I could improve upon the quality of the Samsung's picture out of the box, but fine-tuning the picture settings resulted in a much more film-like appearance of movies from both my DVD player and H20 receiver.

I'm looking forward to watching the season premiere of HBO's Entourage series in full HD glory tonight. It's also going to be difficult holding off purchasing a HD DVD source with HD-DVD and Blu-ray players and titles now starting to appear. But we'll talk about that in our next posting on Tech Talk.

James Ambras is a consumer technology enthusiast of the highest degree, and his 'Tech Talk' series appears each month at http://blog.peerflix.com. Jim's day job is as the VP of Engineering for Peerflix, the leading online destination to trade DVDs. For more information, visit http://www.peerflix.com.

Regionfree DVD Players in France

DVD Region Lock System

For curbing piracy and misuse of movies, from the U.S. in DVDs, the Region Lock System was established. The whole world has been divided into six area codes, with Region 1 being U.S., Canada, and US Territories, Region 2 having Japan, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East. France is also part of this region. The Region 3 comprises Southeast Asia and East Asia, while Region 4 has Australia, Central America, South America and Mexico. Region 5 encompasses Eastern Europe, Indian subcontinent, Africa, and North Korea, while Region 6 has China. As per this system, DVDs produced in certain regions are coded with their respective number and are able to play only on the DVD players sold in that region. This Region Lock System ensured that movies from countries belonging to other region codes were incompatible on the local DVD players.

DVD Standards in France

France has the SECAM standard for DVDs and televisions. The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Color with Memory) standard was introduced and took affect in France in the early 1960s. SECAM runs with 625 lines/frame, same as PAL, but PAL transmits the color information sequentially. The other standard is the NTSC, which is used by many countries in America and some Asian countries, even Japan. Most of the European countries have the PAL standard, which is very similar to the SECAM standard. The televisions and DVDs having the PAL and SECAM standards are compatible with one another. However, they are incompatible with the NTSC standard. Thus, implying that any DVD purchased from the U.S. would be incompatible with a DVD player in France, and vice versa.

Similarly, the voltage inputs of the two regions also vary, since France uses 220 volts and the U.S. uses 110 volts. This would also be a hindrance for playing DVD players from these two countries interchangeably.

Regionfree for France and around the World

The newer versions of DVD players were then designed to override the region codes and to be able to play DVDs from any part of the world, whether in France or another country. These are called region free DVD players. The region free DVD players have a provision for interchanging the NTSC to PAL, and PAL to NTSC standards built into them for greater reach to customers. They are also provided with a dual voltage facility that permits a customer to use the DVD player anywhere in the world without fear of equipment damage. It is permissible by law to own and use a regionfree DVD player if it is not being misused for piracy or illegal activities.

A Wide Range of Features

The DVD players have been greatly improved since their inception and come with a wide range of features. They can be used for playing a wide range of devices like the CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-A, DVD-R, DVD-RW, WMA, MP3, JPEG, MPEG 4, and SACD. The other feature available is language choice for audio tracks, subtitles and menus. They provide for special effects like freeze, slow, fast, step, and scan. One can avail random play and repeat play, ease of programmability and a digital audio output. The DVD players are also available in portable and wall mounted forms.

The price range can vary tremendously from $85 to $750, depending on the brands, types of features provided and utility factor. The major brands of region free DVD players available in France are Toshiba, Samsung, Denon, LG, Sony and many others.

Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders. To prevent the latest movies from reaching countries where a film has not reached theaters yet, Hollywood studios imposed a block. This regional coding is a digital flag on the disc that tells the DVD player where a particular DVD comes from. This is supposed to prevent the disc from being used by an incompatible player in another country. A normal DVD player can only play discs designated for the player's own particular region. However, a codefree DVD player is a capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere around the world. A codefree DVD player can play DVD discs from all 6 regions and both standards, PAL and NTSC. That's every DVD movie on earth! PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-9945

Plasma Television Pixel Problems What are Black Dots Sunburst and Shadows?

Plasma Televisions are delicate and pixel problems are not uncommon. Here's a possible scenario:

You spent months anticipating your plasma television purchase, weeks working out the details of instillation and connections and will spend years paying for it. When you finally collapse down on the couch, you see little black dots on your screen. What is happening? Have you finally lost your mind?

A plasma television, like your digital watch from the 1980?s, is made up of lots of pixels, tiny dots of color.

Sometimes millions of them make up a large screen television. Everyone is aware of the phenomenon of pixilation when they increase the size of a low-resolution image. But what you probably are not aware of is that most screens that you look at these days are made up of pixels. These pixels are so small that they make curved lines look natural.

Broken Pixels Do Happen

Sometimes, though, in manufacturing a screen of pixels, the manufacturer makes a mistake and one of the pixels gets broken. If this happens, you will see it as a tiny dot on your screen. If your screen has a rainbow colored dot; that is dust. You should dust your screen on a regular basis.

If you do see little dots on your screen, call the maker of your plasma television. They will probably have to replace your plasma television. There is nothing that you could have done to make the pixels go bad. Quality control is supposed to catch these things before they leave the factory, but mistakes do happen. (Lower end plasma television manufacturers sometimes have lower standards.)

No matter what the factor standards, if it is noticeable, complain until it is fixed. You paid a lot of money for your plasma television, and deserve a superior picture for that money.

Sunburst Pattern is A Common Problem

Another display problem with plasma television that is less often discussed is a sunburst pattern or a ring on your display. This is a common problem with laptop displays. Plasma televisions are much less durable than ordinary televisions.

Never Touch Your Screen

If the installer grabbed your plasma television wrong when installing it, he may have damaged the screen. Or if someone fell against the screen, it may damage your picture. Or your toddler pressing against the screen can damage the picture. Never, ever touch your plasma television. That is what a remote is for. If you are wise, you will encase it in glass. No, I am not joking. These things are delicate.

Phantom Shadows and Flickering

Other display problems like phantom shadows and flickering can also interfere with your picture. Phantom shadows and flickering you can probably fix using accessories. Your plasma television manufacturer will help you trouble shoot these issues. If nothing works, insist that it is not your fault. They will fix it if you are persistent enough.

Conclusion

Standard televisions have had over half a century to get all the bugs worked out of them. Even still, they are not always perfect. Plasma televisions offer many benefits over traditional televisions, but they are still new technology. If you have persistent problems with your set, call your television?s manufacturer.

Ready for plasma? Louis Zhang provides jargon-free, relevant information on plasma televison technology, selection and installation as well as a guide to consumer reviews. For more on plasma television technology tips, go to Plasma TV Pixel Problems

Plasma vs LCD Televisions

Plasma versus LCD ? a fascinating, complex battle indeed! LCD and plasma TVs each have their own characteristics. And the decision about which one you prefer has a lot to do with your personal taste, much like preferring a peanut butter sandwich to a jelly sandwich, or vice versa.

Let us proceed point by point.

Each pixel in a plasma TV is made up of three phosphors ? one red, one blue, and one green. They emit light when struck by beams of electrons. The quantity of light emitted depends on the intensity of the electron beam. It is the phosphors themselves that create the light one can see on a plasma screen.

On the other hand, LCD TVs use millions of crystal, which are suspended in a liquid that is sandwiched between transparent panels. A bright florescent light is in place behind this liquid crystal sandwich. The crystals are instructed to either let the light pass or block its passage. Color filters are used to determine color.

As far as size is concerned, both TVs were always thin, and so that question is something of a stalemate. For example, the difference between 3 and 5 seems to matter in case of certain models, but becomes almost immaterial when it comes to a large-screen TV.

In terms of the viewing area, however, plasma TVs have always been known for their larger sizes. And that holds true in general. Put in a different way, one will have a greater variety of plasma TVs to choose from when he/she is looking at the big models. But it should be kept in mind that LCD TVs, too, are steadily gaining ground.

Now comes the question of price. For a large-screen plasma TV and a large-screen LCD TV of the same size, the plasma TV would normally cost less. LCD TVs are, however, dropping in price, and it is highly likely that the two will be on equal footing in the price department quite soon. All else being equal, in the plasma vs. LCD TV battle, plasma tends to win on this one for the time being. But the battle goes on.

Plasma Televisions provides detailed information on Plasma Televisions, Discount Plasma Televisions, Wholesale Plasma Televisions, Plasma Vs Lcd Televisions and more. Plasma Televisions is affiliated with LCD Televisions.

HDTV CableCard

Look thorough the specifications list of many of the current crop of HDTVs and you will see the term CableCard listed on many of them, but what is HDTV CableCard?

Quite simply, it's a very elegant method of receiving HDTV from a cable provider. Instead of supplying you with a set-top box to receive and decode its HDTV transmission, the cable supplier gives you an HDTV CableCard which simply slots into your TV. The card decodes the channels that your subscription allows your receiver or integrated HDTV does the rest.

The advantage is that an HDTV CableCard takes up much less room than a set-top box, doesn't need its own power supply, and reduces the number of cables you need for cable HDTV. Another advantage is that if you move house and have to switch providers, you don't need to learn how to use a brand new set-top box. You just relinquish your existing card and get a new one from your new provider, everything else stays the same.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of HDTV CableCard is in the picture quality. Cable companies are not known for the high quality of the components they put into set- top boxes. Most consumers can't tell the difference between a decent picture and a very good one. So cable companies tend to go for features rather than quality. With CableCard your equipment - the HDTV tuner or integrated HDTV does the scaling and display, so you choose how good the image quality is. If it matters to you, you can buy a good tuner or integrated TV and benefit from better scaling and display.

The disadvantage of HDTv CableCard is that it is currently one-way, so cable services which require interaction, such as pay-per-view, on-demand services, sports season tickets and program guides don't work. For those you'll still need a set-top box.

A two-way version of CableCard is currently in development.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.

Plasma TV Be Aware When Buying Online

A plasma TV may very well be the next step in your home entertainment future and the potential sources for the purchase of a plasma TV have never been better. Because a handful of retailers have jumped on the plasma TV bandwagon and started offering these televisions as part of their home electronics line, the cost of a plasma TV has never been lower. The fact that the technology has become well-established has also helped lower the cost of the plasma TV. So where do you go to find great deals on plasma TV sets?

Any retailer or wholesaler that offers a good array of home electronics likely has plasma TV sets in stock or has a source for them. For many people, purchasing from a local retailer is literally the only option they'll consider because they want to check out the set ?in person.? While the cost has started dropping, a plasma TV still represents a major investment among your home entertainment components and you may be playing it safe to shop where you can actually see the set you are about to buy.

For other people, shopping online is a great way to do comparison shopping. You can find several online sources of home electronics that will allow you to conduct side-by-side comparisons of various plasma TV models. While you can do almost the same comparison by shopping retail stores in person, you might find that a side-by-side comparison makes your shopping easier.

Online shopping for the plasma TV of your dreams could net you a great deal, but don't overlook the fact that you're likely going to be paying shipping on top of the cost of the plasma TV. That cost might or might not be sufficient to kill the savings of purchasing online over that from a retailer in your area.

Tom Ace is the founder of Plasma tv Resources a website providing information on plasma televisions.

Home Theater Room Design ? Get Professional Help

Do you want to design a home theater, but have no clue on where to start? If this sounds like you, you are definitely not alone. There are hundreds of people that want to have a home theater, but are at a loss when it comes to the proper design features. This is where professional interior designers come into play. Home theater room design professionals have seen a boom in business over the past couple of years. Today more than ever before, there are a large number of people that are interested in updating their home.

The room design for your home theater or media room is a lot more important than you may think. Sure, you want it to look good, but in order to take full advantage of the investment you have made in home theater equipment, you need to design it to sound good too.

The placement of your speakers, television and furniture all add to your home theater experience. Sure you want comfy chairs and sofas, but if they are too big to situate them properly, your media experience will suffer. You also need to take into consideration where the speakers will be placed. It is ideal to have a center speaker located in front center of where the ?audience? will be sitting, a speaker on the front right and front left as well as speakers behind the seating area. As far as visuals go, you want all the seats in the house to have a great view of your TV so you should design the room with these things in mind.

Even though you do not need a professional to help you design your home theater, you may be better off getting their help; at least during the beginning stages. Many people that try to design their own home theater end up wasting a lot of money on things that they do not need, or things that they could have found somewhere else for less money. When you are working with a professional interior designer, they will supply you with a couple of different ideas, and then you can work with them in order to ensure that you get exactly what you want. The only downside to hiring a professional is that you have to pay for their services. But even though you may have to put out a bit of extra money, you will be ensured of getting a room that is professionally designed.

If you are in need of a top notch home theater room design, you will definitely want to consider hiring a professional. There are hundreds of these professionals just waiting for your business. All you have to do is locate one in your area, and then tell them what you need. In no time at all, you will have a customized home theater that all of your guests will envy.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can learn more about home theater design.