DID YOU KNOW?
Channel Master has announced three new combination analog/digital TV antennas that are optimized to receive VHF channels 7-13 and UHF channels 14-51.
THE HDTV INBOX
AUGUST, 2008
You’ll find answers to HDTV questions from our readers here.
IN THE NEWS
Peter Putman, CTS, ISF, Named InfoComm Educator of the Year
HDTV TUTORIALS AND FAQs
The most common questions about HDTV and DTV are answered here
Hey Kids, Time For A Game Of Musical Chairs! All DTV stations broadcast on UHF channels, right? Wrong! What’s more, on February 17, 2009, many of them will move back to VHF channels.
IPTV: What’s Behind The Acronym? Is it really possible to send HDTV programs to your home without a terrestrial DTV receiver, cable TV set-top box, or satellite dish? Not only is it possible, it may become the preferred way to watch HDTV on everything from your cell phone to your laptop.
1080p: A Year Later A year ago, I sat down and pounded out an article about all the hyperbole, buzzwords, and fallacies surrounding the push for 1080p imaging. It’s time to revisit the subject!
Read This Before Buying a Plasma or LCD TV Ifyou are like many consumers, you’re thinking about purchasing a plasma or LCD flat screen HDTV.
Square Pegs and Round Holes
Don’t Look Now, but the Interfaces to Your Projectors and Monitors are Changing…
LCD, DLP, D-ILA, and Plasma Tutorial
Is 1:1 pixel mapping possible with today's projectors and monitors? Match Me If You Can tells all.
Grayscale and Contrast inProjectors and Monitors Did you know that high contrast ratios don't make the display — grayscales do? Read Contrast, Shmontrast and you'll understand why.
Audio and Video Cable Basics
Don't get caught up in the marketing hype and spend more than you need to on audio and video cables.
Bandwidth and Its Place in the Video Signal Chain I've been working on a multi-part training program that covers, among other things, the "A to Z" of video signal interfacing and distribution.
Have all those projector and monitor acronyms got you confused? Read Seeing Is Believing to clear up the picture.
THE FRONT LINE: AUGUST 2008
1080P/24 Reality Check: Here We Go Again!
PRODUCT REVIEW: AUGUST 2008
Samsung BD-P1500 BLU-RAY Disc Player
Samsung is getting better at Blu-ray.
Now, they just need to cut their prices.
THE DTV TRANSITION: AUGUST 2008
Here’s Your DTV Checklist
There’s only six months left until “D” Day! Are you ready for digital TV?
QUICK PICK REVIEW: AUGUST 2008
RCA ANT1500 VHF/UHF Panel Antenna
It’s flat, and it has a cool design. Does RCA’s indoor panel antenna deliver the goods?
QUICK PICK REVIEW: AUGUST 2008
Zenith DTT901 DTV Converter
PRODUCT REVIEW: JULY 2008
SONY XEL-1 OLED TV
Sony’s XEL-1 is like no TV you’ve ever seen before. Does it measure up to its $2,500 price tag?
QUICK PICK REVIEW: JULY 2008
LG RC897 DVD Recorder + VCR
Wish you could time-shift digital TV programs to VHS tapes and DVDs? LG’s got the product for you, but it won’t come cheaply.
THE FRONT LINE: JULY 2008
INFOCOMM 2008 –
Projection, Wide And Digital
This year’s InfoComm show added NSCA’s expo and the NXTcomm (IT) event for a new record in attendance.
THE FRONT LINE: JULY 2008
Epson: An Inside Look
Epson is the market leader in LCD projection. Last May, several journalists got a first hand look at how they got there.
THE FRONT LINE: JUNE 2008
Sony 2008 Bravia Showcase
THE PRO PERSPECTIVE: JUNE 2008
NAB and InfoComm: The Same, But Different
As you read this, InfoComm looms just around the corner...
THE FRONT LINE: MAY 14, 2008
A Spring Walk In New York City
Panasonic and Pioneer held press events 26 blocks apart on May 7, and they shared something blue in common.
QUICK PICK REVIEW: MAY 14, 2008
Westinghouse Digital TX-42F430S LCD HDTV
The “W-D” has a new 42-inch HD set, and it performs very well indeed.
PRODUCT REVIEW: MAY 9, 2008
RCA DTA800 and Channel Master CM7000 Digital TV Converters
Two of a kind? In some ways, yes, but in others, they’re vastly different.
THE FRONT LINE: APRIL 25, 2008
Samsung 2008 Spring Fever Showcase
Samsung’s new HDTVs have futuristic designs and are calibrator-friendly.
QUICK PICK REVIEW: APRIL 3 2008
OPPO Digital DV-983H Scaling DVD Player
Has OPPO squeezed every possible ounce of performance out of the DVD format? Sure looks like it…
PRODUCT REVIEW: APRIL 2,2008
InFocus IN83 1080P DLP Home Theater Projector
InFocus’ IN83 is a strong performer — but is it worth the price?
THE DIGITAL TV
TRANSITION
“Hey, Where’d All My Channels Go?” –
A Follow-Up Readers discuss how their local terrestrial DTV channels show up on cable TV systems.
One Year Left To “Hey, Where’d All My Channels Go?” 365 days from now, analog (NTSC) television goes dark. Are basic cable subscribers ready for the day their analog channels disappear?
DTV Reception Out On The Fringe Live in a rural area, without cable TV service? Wish you could receive terrestrial digital TV programming? You just might be able to.
Ever wonder why you have trouble with off-air digital TV reception? It might be the weather, or it might be your antenna. It might even have nothing to do with RF at all, but rather with the digital video, audio, and program data sent by the TV station.
Spectrum analyzers should be an essential part of your toolkit! Find out why.
Indoor HDTV/DTV Reception Yes, you can receive 8VSB signals indoors with cheap antennas.
Modifying the Channel Master 3022 UHF Yagi The 3022/4308 is a good antenna for HDTV/DTV reception that can work better with some simple modifications.
Outdoor HDTV/DTV Antenna Performance I took a bunch of outdoor TV antennas and conducted a side-by-side test of analog and DTV reception with each.
Indoor HDTV/DTV Antenna Performance In this test, I rounded up a few popular indoor TV antennas and checked them out for analog and DTV reception.
ARCHIVES
WEB SITE DESIGN
TOP TEN ARTICLES
Digital Stream DTX9900 and GE 22730 Digital TV Converters Two more contenders for your $40 NTIA converter box coupons.
Zenith DTT900 Digital TV Converter It’s DTV made easy, and at an affordable price.
Samsung DTB-H260F Terrestrial DTV Set-Top Receiver Samsung’s DTB-H260F is the first DTV set-top box to include the latest 5th-gen 8VSB chipsets — and they make a big difference.
Sanyo PLV-Z2000 Home Theater LCD Projector This ain’t your father’s PLV-Z5, baby…
Pioneer Elite PRO-110FD 1080P Plasma HDTV Pioneer’s new KURO technology takes plasma to another level. No, wait — make that another universe.
How to Calibrate a Professional Video Projector Find out why projector calibration is just as important in a pro AV application as it is for your home theater.
Two Of A Kind: Panasonic TH-50PZ77U and Samsung FP-T5084 Plasma HDTVs Panasonic and Samsung are #1 and #2 in the plasma HDTV business. So it was logical to square off their two 50-inch 1080p offerings in a product review.
Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player The HD-A2 is Toshiba’s 2nd-generation entry-level HD DVD player. This time around, they got it right.
OPPO DV-981HD Upscaling DVD Player Do your DVDs suffer in quality when viewed on your new 1080p HDTV? OPPO to the rescue!
JVC DLA-RS2 1080P Home Theater Projector Following on the heels of the reference-grade DLA-RS1, the RS2 has a pretty tough act to follow – and does it in style.
