Frequently Asked HDTV Questions

"High definition" or HD is the highest form of the new kind of television called digital television. Digital HDTV is a whole new viewing experience, like a movie theater in your home, even on smaller HDTV sets. HDTV means a widescreen TV picture with 5 times more information on the screen than conventional analog TV. What's more, HDTV offers 5.1-channel digital surround sound, like a movie theater.

You can enjoy FREE over-the-air HDTV on Channel 9 (and other local stations). Virtually all local TV stations are now broadcasting digitally and there's lots of programming to watch, like ABC's popular Desperate Housewives and Monday Night Football as well as NFL on CBS and Fox on Sundays and most primetime programming on all of the major networks. Please visit http://www.wftv.com/tvlistings/index.html and click on the WFTV-DT tab to view the complete HD program listing for WFTV.

Sharp aims to triple LCD output

Sharp Corp., Japan's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays and mobile phones, will spend 200 billion yen (US$1.66 billion) to triple output of the panels as rivals raise investment and pare unit costs.

Monthly production at the company's Kameyama factory in central Japan will surge to 90,000 glass substrates in 2008, the Osaka-based company said in a release Friday. Output will double to 60,000 by July this year, and the company expects LCD TV sales to jump 50 percent next fiscal year to 9 million units.

"In the current market environment, the investment is necessary," said Mitsuhiro Osawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. who rates the company "neutral plus." Declines in LCD TV prices are "a worry," he said.

President Katsuhiko Machida is speeding up production of larger, high-definition screens to outpace falling prices and keep up with rivals such as Sony Corp.

HDTV guru offers tips to newcomers

This industry analyst, reviewer and HD freak tested at least 150 HDTVs last year, presides over the trade publication HDTV Insider Newsletter and is launching a Web site for consumers called HDTVguru.com.A few questions for the high-def guru:What do most people not know about HDTV that they should?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.What advice do you give people before they go out to a store to buy their first HDTV?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.

Sanyo begins making LCDs planned for FC in Tijuana

Liquid crystal display televisions that were expected to be built at the Sanyo plant in Forrest City are now in production at the companys Tijuana, Mexico facility.

In December, Sanyo officials announced that the increasing demand for flat screen televisions was forcing the company to lay off more than one-third of its local workforce because the plant has traditionally produced cathode ray (picture tube) televisions (CRT), which are becoming obsolete. Orders for those have declined from 1.5 million in 2004 to less than an anticipated 300,000 sets for fiscal year 2007, which begins April 1, company officials have said.

When the layoffs were announced, company officials said they were negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the International Union of Electronics, Electrical, Technical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA) to cover the new operations.

Gadget Guy: Buying Affordable HDTVs

Has the high price of high definition television kept you from making the plunge into HDTV? The prices are coming down, but you need to be careful about what you get for the money.Walk into any TV showroom and there will be big screens in all price ranges. One growing segment caters strictly to the budget conscious.A lot of companies have cropped up to make discount televisions, said Ryan Brown with Magnolia Home Theater. Personally, I found a lot of those to be somewhat problematic or at least a compromise.Still-- you can get a good picture at a good price-- about a thousand dollars for a 42-inch screen. And, if you can accept a much smaller picture, sets that use conventional picture tube technology can give you a pretty good HD picture for hundreds less. Those TVs have always been less expensive but retained a picture quality that is very high, Brown said.

Getting the best picture on your new HDTV

Here are a handful of pointers on getting the best picture on your new HDTV, be it a flat-panel LCD television, plasma or rear-projection unit.

Is it really HDTV?

First, make sure it's truly a high-definition television, capable of displaying up to 1,080 lines of resolution. Don't assume a widescreen LCD or plasma television is an HDTV set just because it's flat, as it may only be an EDTV ("enhanced digital television"). EDTVs can display only 480 or 576 lines of resolution, so be sure you read the television's specs before you buy.

HD programming

Depending on where you live, you might receive some free over-the-air HDTV broadcasts (if your television has a built-in ATSC tuner), but most of us will need to buy or rent an HDTV receiver box from our cable or satellite TV provider.

High-definition television: How much of it can you stand to see?

Reports Sharon of Roseville: "Today's topic is HDTV. How it all began: I was making a Sam's Club run and was mesmerized by the TV display at the store's entrance. There were Shrek and Donkey in full living color. I could see the moles on Shrek's neck and each and every hair on Donkey.
"It was one of those moments that could have gone either way within minutes — but I allowed common sense to take the place of instant gratification and decided to consult with my High-Tech son-in-law.
"Step Two: I told my son-in-law that I wanted one of those TVs, and he told me to research it. I did. Here's one TV I found: '50" HD Plasma TV incorporates advanced technology to reproduce beautiful, natural-looking images with exceptional, full 1080p HD resolution. With 2.07 million pixels, twice as many as standard HD models, the TH-50PF9UK features Real Black Creation technology for deep, rich blacks delivering a high contrast ratio of up to 5,000:1 and 16-bit processing for an outstanding 4,096 steps of color gradation.

Sony heading back into plasma TV market?

DigiTimes: Sony is considering returning to the plasma TV market and is in talks with Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display (FHP), according to market rumors. Taiwan Sony said it has not received any notice about such a plan and it is not very likely that Sony will support PDP TVs again since the eighth-generation (8G) TFT LCD plant from S-LCD, a joint venture between Sony and Samsung, will enter volume production by the end of 2007.
Rumors said executives from Sony have had discussions with FHP about related issues, but the company has yet to finalize any decision since executives within the company have not reached a consensus.
fhp fujitsu hitachi plasma Samsung Sony

HDTV: Which comes first, programming or sets?

The number of HD channels is still small. But the recent inclusion by networks of prime-time offerings has put HD on many people's radar. BY FRANK AHRENS Washington Post Service
For much of the past decade, there has been something of a chicken-and-egg scenario with high-definition television, or HDTV: Consumers weren't buying the very expensive HD television sets because there was so little HD programming. On the other side, television networks said it was not worthwhile to produce pricier HD programming because no one was buying HD sets.
Now, that standoff is starting to change.
The number of channels delivered in HD is still small -- usually about a dozen or so on a cable or satellite lineup. But the recent inclusion of the major networks and their prime-time offerings -- American Idol, Desperate Housewives, CSI and ER, among others -- has put HD on the radar of mainstream viewers.

Get HDTV on Your Laptop

So your buddy with the new plasma TV won't shut up about how great the game looks in high-def. He's right it is like watching a whole new sport. But you don't have to splurge on a 50-inch flat screen to quell your HD envy. Stations across the country broadcast HD signals over the air, absolutely free. And since most laptop screens already have enough resolution to display high-def, all you need is an HD tuner that plugs into a USB port on your Mac or PC, and you can enjoy the ultracrisp picture at home or away. Let's see Mr. Plasma do that.
How to get more stations and better reception: Depending where you live, a bigger indoor antenna, like the Zenith ZHDTV1 ($40; zenith.com), may improve your HD signal. Place it in a window and point it toward the nearest broadcast tower. Find more antenna tips at antennaweb.org.

Guide to 120Hz HDTVs: Which Sets Have That Magic Number?

In the first part of this series we showed you how 120Hz technology will double up frames and make watching movies on HDTV even crispier than ever. Heck, with all those frames spewing forth, its butta-smoothness is almost like hyper-HD. Now, the first wave of these sets has arrived on these shores. We laid our own eyes on many of the 120Hz sets on the show floor at CES, and can vouch for their stupendous quality.
At CES in January, most of the major flat panel display manufacturers were showing 120Hz TVs, aiming to quell those rumblings that some of the standard HDTV sets weren't laying down smooth-enough video, especially when watching movies.
Studying the HDTVs with this latest 120Hz technology built in was an enlightening experience. We were blown away by their overall quality.

Pacific Media Reports Fourth Quarter 2006 HDTV Sales Doubled ...

The move to higher resolution models was clearly demonstrated by the fact that 1080p models accounted for nearly one-third of the total unit sales, and the majority of these were LCD models. 1080p demand has grown rapidly; just six months ago, it accounted for just 5% of the total unit sales. Sony was the top-selling brand in consumer flat panel displays 30-inches or larger, with Samsung close behind in both unit and revenue share. The best-selling consumer model was the Panasonic TH-42PX60U, a 42 plasma HDTV with an average street price of $1,331. Note: Data cited here is based on a sample of retailers and resellers, and is subject to sampling error. About Pacific Media Associates Pacific Media specializes in global display market information, covering all large-screen display categories: front projectors, plasma and LCD TVs, and rear-projection displays.

Chi Mei plans to double LCD TV and LCD monitor shipments in 2007

By achieving this goal, the vendor aims to become one of the big three LCD TV brands in the Taiwanese market, and enter into at least the second ranking group in the European market. Cheng Liang-bin, vice president at Nexgen Mediatech Inc., a Chi Mei Group member for sales of Chi Mei branded LCD TVs and LCD monitors, noted that Chi Mei's own branded LCD T and LCD Monitor shipments posted 200,000 units and 1 million units, respectively, in 2006.
Chi Mei ranked fifteenth to sixteenth in the European LCD TV market in 2006, with a negligible share of less than 2%. However, it targets shipments of 250,000 units in the region for 2007, representing more than 2% of an estimated 22 million LCD TV market.

Flat panel TV technologies at a crucial crossroads

Television will dominate the upcoming 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this month, as LCD-TV OEMs showcase their latest and greatest products, while providers of other display technologies try to prove that they can remain relevant amid the liquid-crystal deluge.
Television display technologies such as microdisplay Rear Projection (RPTV) are entering a crucial time when they must either do or die. One slip in deadlines could send the RPTV segment spinning into an unrecoverable decline in market share.
For Plasma Display Panel (PDP) televisions, the main challenge is continuing to weather the onslaught of LCD-TVs in the 40-inch and larger market. The longer PDP-TV can hold out, the longer OEMs will continue to make money selling such sets, assuring their continued support for the technology.

ENVISION PERIPHERALS RAISES THE BAR ONCE AGAIN

Envision Peripherals Inc. (EPI), home to AOC and Envision branded flat-panel displays, today announced the expansion of its line of advanced technology LCD-HDTVs with the addition of the 19-inch, wide screen Envision L19W461 and 15-inch L15X661. Both units deliver full-featured performance and state-of-the-art technology in screen sizes designed for dorm rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and other compact environments where space is at a premium. Featuring advanced display technology to produce the most brilliant picture quality available from any High-Definition or standard program source, the handsomely styled units each is equipped with bottom-mounted speakers that deliver crystal clear sound to complement the brilliant picture quality. Priced at $399 and $299 MSRP, respectively, the Envision L19W461 and L15X661 each features multiple built-in tuners (ATSC/Clear-QAM/NTSC) for reception of digital and analog OTA (over-the-air) transmissions and digital cable transmissions.

How High Definition Television Works: HD 101

For most of the last 50 years, it was much simpler to purchase a television and enjoy the available programming. In fact, in the early days of television all you had to was plug the set in (and pull up the rabbit ears) and enjoy yourself. Anyone could do it. Today there are so many industry acronyms and abbreviations to wade through: SDTV, EDTV, HDTV, 480i, 480p, 525p, 720p, 1080i, native display, aspect ratio, letterbox, analog, digital, progressive scan, interlaced, non-interlaced, composite video, component video, and DVI. Then there are different display devices like plasma, LCD, DLP, LCOS! And what, you may wonder, is the difference between a television and a monitor? It's enough to make your head spin.
But even if you purchase the right product but don't have the right signal, you may not be getting true high definition.

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Samsung Helps to Propel Consumers into the High Definition Era

Singapore, 19 January 2007 -- Samsung announced its strategic partnerships with Discovery Networks Asia and National Geographic Channel Asia to deliver High Definition (HD) experiences to the region. Through this milestone initiative, Samsung aims to leverage on its technological and product leadership in HDTV to introduce consumers to the marvels of HD. Our passion is to enhance consumers’ lifestyles. Samsung’s comprehensive suite of HD offerings has been waiting for this exciting moment to demonstrate to consumers the real benefits of HD. We found the two perfect content partners in Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel to realize consumers’ imagination of the HD experience," said Mr. David Henry, Regional General Manager, Corporate Marketing, Samsung Asia Pte Ltd.

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Pioneer Produce a 60-inch Plasma

As the first company to launch a plasma TV back in 1997, Pioneer has launched another screen, but this time the PDP-607XD is a whole 60-inches.
Plasma giants Pioneer are on their 7th generation of plasma screens with the PDP-607XD, so we cant understand why we have to have a separate external box to make this TV HD-ready. Pioneer explained that if consumers want to get HD broadcasts they will need a separate HD receiver. Can somebody remind me what year we are in? With so much competition from other plasma HDTV models on the market it seems ludicrous to leave the job of HD provisions to a box sat by the side of the TV. We all know that other companies have managed to offer HDTV without any external additions, so its left us a little baffled. Oh yes, nearly forgot to mention, this plasma will can only support 1080p format, providing lower quality picture performance than plasmas supporting the paramount 1080i.

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Extending the Lamp Life of Your HDTV Microdisplay

If you have one of the new lamp-based microdisplays such as DLP, LCoS, SXRD, D-ILA or LCD it will definitely pay off to learn how to extend your lamp life. Lamp life varies by manufacturer design based on the application of the product and varies anywhere from 2000 to 8000 hours. Lamp replacements run from $200-$500 but most consumer rear projection displays are in the $200-$300 range and also lean more towards longer rather than shorter life design. The good news here is unlike any other display you have owned you can bring these back to brand new performance by simply replacing the lamp.
Lamp replacement is generally easy and comes in the form of a cartridge. It is considered a consumer replaceable device and does not require a technician to perform. Most manufacturers will provide a direct replacement when under warranty.

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Big game spurs Big TV sales

CHICAGO Mark Smithe admits to a moment of doubt before shelling out $10,000 for a 65-inch high-definition, flat-panel, plasma TV and related gear last week.
The hesitation was brief. He's a Bears fan, after all, and what better way to experience the Super Bowl than to see and hear every Brian Urlacher glare and crunching hit through a system with 2 million pixels and theater-quality speakers?
"It's a little bit of keeping up with the Joneses," said Smithe, one of an estimated 2.5 million Americans purchasing a new television for Super Bowl Sunday, based on results of a recent survey. "Our friends' jaws are going to drop when they see this."
Just buying chips and dip and a 12-pack of beer doesn't cut it for Super Bowl parties any more. If you expect your friends and neighbors to choose your place for the big game, you may have to pony up for a flat-screen TV, digital tuner and surround-sound speakers so they can spectate with quality.

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