The Plasma TV Blog

The blu-ray disc supports all HD formats and resolutions up to 1080p. The progressive scan technology of the 1080p resolution is considered by many experts to produce the best image, but others feel finding the “best” is more a factor of matching resolution to the type of HD television, and the size of the display screen. So, if you are in the camp of the “1080p is best“, then this is the answer to the question.

DVD’s use SD, and they lack the necessary storage capacity to support HD. Anyone who has watched HD knows just how clear a picture can be, and how brilliant and lifelike the colors are reproduced. DVDs can not capture this quality, and this is the main reason behind the development of the blu-ray. The blu-ray disc will not only support HD, but the players will be able to upgrade the quality of existing DVDs to HD standards. Your DVD collection will not become obsolete, and the quality of the movies on them will be enhanced on the blu-ray players.

So, if you are looking for the best viewing experience with a blu-ray disc, you are most likely not going to go far wrong with 1080p resolution.

With the cost of energy continuing to rise, power consumption is often a consideration when making a major appliance purchase. Unfortunately, television manufacturers are not going overboard to provide us the data we need to make comparisons of this particular cost item. They do not fail to flash a large variety of numbers and specs at us, but they concentrate on screen size, resolution, pixel density, and those sorts of data that tell us how well they perform in the area of image reproduction. They are not so quick to talk about how much it is all going to cost.

One problem is a lack of a standard method of testing and reporting power consumption data. Even private labs that run tests vary widely on their methods, and comparing results can be misleading. It sounds like a big secret is being concealed here, and it makes the average consumer a bit wary about just how much power his new big screen TV is gobbling up.

The news is not bad, however, when it comes to the newer DLP projection Televisions. A review of the testing data shows them to be fairly inexpensive to operate, especially when compared to Plasma and LCD units of similar size. One way to compare power consumption is to calculate the watts used per inch of screen size (wpi). One recent test showed a 50 inch plasma unit measuring its wpi at 9.02 watts. Dropping to a 43 inch screen produced a mark of 6.12 watts. This is an increase of almost one third more power consumption for a mere 7 additional inches. By comparison, a look at several DLP 50 inch models yielded a wpi of between 3.12-3.86 watts.

Since a 32 inch CRT analog model included in this study was measured at 3.12 watts, a figure identical to the low end of the DLP scale, it is easy to see that the DLP is offering a larger screen, and quite a bit better image resolution with little, if any, increase in power consumption. You can still pretty much watch your DLP 24 hours a day for about the same cost as taking your family to the movie theater, and considerably less than if you also buy popcorn.

Digital Visual Interface is the name give to a connecting device that is used with digital display devices to maximize the visual quality. It uses binary data to transmit the required brightness level of each individual pixel in the display. The device was developed by a group of researchers primarily for the purpose of improving the quality of display in devices such as the LCD flat screen monitor.

With the signals being sent as binary data, the DVI reads the binary number and knows what brightness level to transfer to each individual pixel. This represents an improvement over the older analog interface such as VGA that was primarily designed for use with CRT monitors. The VGA did not use discrete time, and as it transmitted each horizontal line of the image, it varied the output voltage to produce the desired illumination of each pixel.

When a VGA connection was used with a digital display device, it led to the need for a decoder that in effect sampled the voltage output of the transmission to produce the brightness in the pixel. This was inexact and led to distortion, and a condition known as cross talking. The DVI provides a direct pixel to pixel exchange by assigning a binary number to encode the brightness level.

Like other interface connectors, the DVI consists of pins, and must be handled with care prior to the connecting to the display monitor to prevent damage. Damaged or broken pins will lead to loss of image quality.

The two long time standards of the electronic industry are the RBG/VGA connectors. RGB gets its name from the three primary colors, red, green, and blue. These colors are combined to produce the myriad of colors available. An example is 24 bit color, where each of the three has eight variants that can be combined to produce the final color. VGA stands for video graphics array, and is a pin type connector that is used to transmit signals to a display monitor.

The VGA connector comes in two styles, one with nine pins in two rows, and the other with 15 pins in three rows. The 15 pin connector has the capability of carrying HD signals, but the RGB/VGA array has been left behind in the area of video and audio capacity by the new s-video connection, as well as the DVI (digital video interface) and the HDMI (High Definition Multi-media interface) plugs.

The main use of VGA has long been in the area of personal computing. The ability to tie the VGA directly to the motherboard of the PC has made it a standard part of computer connections, and this is likely to remain so for some time. However, there is a trend toward the integration of the PC into the overall Home Theater experience, and this is surely going to lead of more use of the interface type plugs. The increased pixel arrays of the new generation of televisions has led to new ways of producing the color spectrum, and has lead to a decline in the importance and use of the RGB model also.

Component video is a type of analog video that is transmitted in two or more signals. It differs from Composite video which combines the various elements into a single signal. All types of analog video signals, which are also called components, need to carry the information needed to reproduce the proper color of the image. The most simple type is known as RGB, or red, green, and blue. It is through the mixing of these colors that the actual on screen color is produced.

There is a more complex signal where a single color carrying signal called a luminance signal is used. This luminance, or light signal, is combined with other components known as chrominance that contain the color information. This advanced signal is capable of remarkable and more accurate color reproduction, and this is what is usually referred to when one speaks of Component Video today.

Component video has been widely used for producing signals such as 480p, 576p, 720p, and above. Its ability to process the progressive scanning signals, represented by the letter p, is what made it popular in Plasma and LCD television. Component video signals can also be used in 1080i and 1080p formats, but DVI and HDMI connections are generally thought to produce superior results at that resolution size.

It is important to be aware that many new DVD players, and televisions require that settings be adjusted to account for the type of input/output signal being used. The use of Component signals may not be the default setting. Likewise, they might not be defaulted for progressive scan, and the failure to adjust the settings will result in a very inferior image reproduction.

S-Video is an abbreviation for Separate Video. It is also sometimes known as Y/C, and also, not quite accurately as S-VHS. It is an analog video signal that carries data as two separate signals, one for brightness and the other for color. It differs from Composite Video which combines both into one signal. S-Video is a common video carrier for 480i and 576i resolution video.

Normally, S-Video signals are connected to display monitors using a 4 pin mini_DIN connector with a 75 ohm termination impedance. The DIN is a standard electrical connector using small pins. The name DIN comes from the German Institute that establishes standards. S-Video cables are in wide use for connecting DVD players, and this wide spread use has tended to make them fairly inexpensive. Their major disadvantage is that the pins are a bit fragile, and when one bends excessively it can impact signal reception. If a pin is broken, the connector needs to be replaced. Most older model VCRs do not support S-Video signals, and if they are used only the luminance signal, or brightness signal, is received resulting in a black and white picture.

S-Video signals are easily converted to composite signals, and converters are available at most retailers. None of them will improve the signal. They will merely convert it. S-Video does not have the necessary bandwidth to successfully carry High Definition signals, and therefore is not commonly used on the new generations of HDTVs. They are quite common on DVD units and many variations of camcorders have S-Video out plugs as well.

The basic underlying problem that had to be overcome in order to make the television in your home a reality was how to send the signal from the studio to a receiver in your home, and how to connect that receiver to your display monitor. The first solution to this problem was a format known as composite video. The name came from the fact that two signals were needed, the video and the audio signal, and they had to be combined and modulated into a single radio frequency signal (RF carrier). The RF signal was broadcast, received by your antenna and then separated again into video and audio mode.

The term composite video also refers to the fact that the video signal itself consists of three distinct signals. They are sometimes called Y, U, and V, or together as YUV. The y signal carried the brightness, the light of the picture. By itself it would produce a black and white image. The U and V signals carry the color information. The signals are actually mixed to provide the color picture seen on the screen.

The device used to connect composite video signals to your television is usually a connector known as a RCA jack. The name comes from Radio Corporation of America which first developed the jack in the 1940’s to connect their phonographs to amplifiers. They are familiar now to any home owner who uses either video or audio equipment. They are the multicolored plugs with the video signal being carried by the yellow plug, and the audio signal through red and white plugs that divide the audio signal into right and left.

Plasma Television was once called by one of its early developers as a “solution looking for a problem.” When the first plasma monitor was developed in 1964, its purpose was to provide a bigger computer monitor. The real advantage of the plasma fired display over the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) type display was that it seemed that the monitor could be of increased height and width without a corresponding increase in depth. When a CRT screen is enlarged in size, the cathode ray tube must enlarge also. Eliminating the cathode ray tube would allow unlimited expansion of the screen size.

There was not a big demand for large screens at this time. Computer monitors that could fit easily on a desk top in limited space was one thing, but the leap to in-home large screen televisions was a completely different matter. The early attempts to enlarge televisions were rear projection type units that were both expensive, and did not deliver a very clear picture either, and were viewed mostly by the public as rather impractical showpieces of the rich. At this time, large plasma screens were being used in places where they could be mounted on walls, like the screens at the stock market, or in the lobbies of hotels.

Over the years this trend has changed. First, it was proven that the plasma displays were capable of improved image reproduction. Advances in the technology, such as progressive scanning, produced pictures that were vastly superior to what the normal CRT screens could show. The improvement in contrast ratio, and the lack of image distortion when viewed at angles all created the idea in the mind of the consumer that plasma was the future of Television. The move to analog signals, and the increase in the use of High Definition increased plasma’s popularity.

The increase in picture quality, the thin profile of the plasma display, and the ability to maintain quality at larger screen sizes all came together to create today’s current demand for what is commonly called Home Theater. At first, Plasma was the undisputed leader, but recent improvements in LCD units, and the introduction, and massive publicity attached to the newer DLP units have cut into the Plasma lead. Screen sizes continue to increase as the price continues to come down, and the future of Home Theater High Definition Television seems unlimited. It is fairly certain that Plasma will continue to improve and evolve.

Link to Part 1 of this article. Plasma History Part 1

The news here is good. Power consumption is a critical issue in this time of rising power costs, and the increased use of a wide variety of electrical devices in the home is a cause for concern. The new generation of televisions are not only providing larger screens and pictures with startling resolution and clarity, but they will not be putting any additional strain on the pocketbook, at least not once you get them home and plugged in.

The LCD television is a good choice for those concerned about power consumption. The majority of the televisions and monitors using LCD, or Liquid Crystal Display, have been able to operate without the need for cooling, and thus fans and other cooling devices are not present resulting in a major reduction in power consumption. The LCD unit also differs from Plasma display units in that a backlight is used, providing a steady light source that is blocked to produce the image. Whereas the Plasma consumption, which is low to begin with, can fluctuate when the images have a lot of bright colors and motion, the LCD does not.

With the light source coming from this backlight, it provides a platform for improvement in power demands, and recent units have been released that have shown almost a 50% reduction in wattage use. This is indicative of the general cost trend in this new technology and its increasing applications for home use. Not only are the basic units becoming better as they become less expensive, but the cost of using them is steadily dropping as well.

It is a bit difficult to estimate the power consumption of a Plasma television because of the nature of its display characteristics. Since the amount of current needed to “fire” the plasma and produce the image is so dependent on the type of image being reproduced, power consumption is going to vary widely depending on the individual watching habits of the set’s owner. For example, a football game with its rapid motion and bright colorful background is going to require a considerable more amount of power than a slow paced and dark movie.

Many tests have been run to determine power consumption in plasma units, and taking a look at a sample test will give some insight into the answer to the question. In one test of a rather large screen plasma TV, the unit was set to operate at standard mode for an eight hour continuous period. The test signal was a wide variety of programming recorded from a standard cable TV channel. It was found that the power consumption for the test period ranged from 292 to 505 watts for each eight hour test period. The average consumption was 399 watts. The test confirmed the up and down pattern of consumption based on image activity that is common in Plasma units.

Using an arbitrary, but average figure of $0.08 per kilowatt hour, this would still only work out to around $85 per year. Regardless of how these figures are crunched or the type of tests run, the bottom line is that Plasma TVs are not all that expensive to run. At even double the kilowatt cost of the above test, watching your plasma TV eight hours a day, seven days a week, will cost less per month than one trip to the movie theater.