Role of Aspect Ratio in Displays
October 11, 2008
What is Aspect Ratio?
Aspect Ratio is defined as the ratio between the width and height of an image. Movie theaters present films with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. Aspect ratios of cinematographers is denoted as decimal fraction for width to unit for height. The two main aspect ratios are 4:3 and 16:9. Here 4:3 is universal for standard definition video formats and 16:9 is universal for high definition television. 4:3 and 3:2 are the two common aspect ratios used in still camera photography.
Different Aspect Ratios
16:9 aspect ratio is the standard broadcast format for high definition television. With the same diagonal on the screen, 4:3 gives more area when compared to 16:9 aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is expressed mathematically as x:y. 16:9 is adopted as the standard broadcast format for high definition and digital TV in Europe. 4:3 screens are not as cheaper as the 16:9 screens. Aspect ratios in still photography is 4:3. There are number of aspect ratios available and this has led to a confusion in the minds of many. A widescreen display has an aspect ratio of 16:9 while a standard television display is 4:3.
Aspect ratios differ based upon the contents that are presented while the aspect ratio of the display device is fixed. Set up box that come with some TV sets is designed with an option to set the aspect ratio as 4:3 or 16:9. By any chance, if the aspect ratio is not set properly, the image may look distorted. Some set up boxes come with options to make settings for the images to be presented if all the aspect ratio of the display does not match. If the aspect ratio is not set properly, then the content will not be displayed well.
Pixel aspect ratio with regards to the video system is another complication related to aspect ratio. The nominal resolution of PAL video image is 720×576 pixels and that of the square pixel computer system is 768×576 pixels. The standard aspect ratio of most of the computer monitors and television sets is 4:3. Most of the American or Japanese or even European widescreen televisions come with the aspect ratio of 16:9. The 16:9 aspect ratio format is narrower than the widescreen formats used in cinemas.
Conclusion
Quality of pictures depend upon the aspect ratio. Correction of the aspect ratio is more important to get quality pictures. It is possible to correct the aspect ratio with the aspect correction function that is designed and introduced in to the AVS Video Editor. All video formats except MPEG and DVD can be corrected with this function.
Viewing Angle and its Effects
October 10, 2008
Seasons vary from time to time and so does the seasons related to sports like cricket, football or any different categories, such as entertainment or conflicts. Among these lot, during the occasions related to entertainment everybody gets thrilled to watch programmes (on televisions) with their near and dear ones. It increases the enthusiasm in oneself. To experience the joy at the maximum, you always try to occupy the first seat or more often the centre seat to watch programmes more clearly. Side seats are usually avoided as the quality of the pictures is relatively dull due to an insufficient viewing angle. Viewing angle is a major concept pertinent to television viewing and the manufacturers keenly deal with it while designing their prodigal models.
What is Viewing Angle?
Viewing angle is defined as the maximum angle from where the pictures can be viewed clearly. It is measured from one direction to the opposite direction. The highest viewing angle of display screens is 180 degrees.
Viewing angle in Plasma and LCD TV
Plasma TVs have wide viewing angle as the screen emit the light directly from the pixels. Whereas in the case of LCD screens, pixels pass on the light further just from a single point. Hence the contrast and colour is lost. Plasma TV offer high contrast from any viewing angle, whereas LCD TV offer very less contrast ratio when viewed from more than 45 degrees. Viewing angle depends upon the fluid type inside the LCD screen.
General
A TV is considered to be the best performing one depending upon many factors of which, a factor of great importance is its viewing angle. In earlier days, programmes were watched from closer view and hence did not require greater viewing angles. Later, when the number of viewers increased and when the viewers spread across the room on either side of the screen, pictures were not visibly clear. This is because less light is reflected towards the sides. Viewing angle is measured both horizontally and vertically. To eliminate the problems caused due to narrow viewing angle, Optically Compensated Bend (OCB) liquid crystals are used. Viewing angle can be increased more than 170 degrees with OCB.
Some manufacturers give the measurement of viewing angle based on the contrast ratio when it exceeds 5:1 or 10:1. To achieve greater viewing angle horizontally and smaller angle vertically, the screens are aligned when both horizontal level and vertical level are different in magnitude.
Conclusion
Manufacturers must consider contrast ratio also when dealing with the viewing angle. Every manufacturer who is striving to come up in the market is at his best while trying to increase the viewing angles of his products. Better contrast ratio and viewing angles, not only increases the popularity of the LCD or plasma TVs in the market, but also the number of customers longing for that product.
Hitachi P42TP01 HD Ready Plasma TV with Freeview
October 9, 2008
Hitachi P42TP01 Plasma TV is designed with HD Ready features with HDMI interfaces. It also features Picture and Picture (PAP) and Picture and Text (PAT). The viewing experience is enriched with the latest plasma technology. Teletext feature in this model has a 2000 page capacity. This TV comes with a built-in table top stand that has a swivel orientation. It comes with a digital tuner and an Electronic Programmable Guide (EPG) as well.
Display and other Features
Hitachi P42TP01 Plasma TV comes with a screen brightness of 1500candela/m². The contrast ratio of this model is 10000:1. Higher the contrast ratio, better the clarity and quality of the image. The screen size of this model plasma TV is 42” diagonally. The resolution of this model is explained by 1024 x 1080 pixels. A Progressive scan feature of much hype, scans each line to produce brighter and sharper images. The viewer can watch programmes on a widescreen format here, with its image aspect ratio of 16:9. Some of the most distinguished features of this plasma TV are on-screen menu, parental control, JPEG photo playback and screen saver. This plasma TV measures 107cm (W) x 10.2cm (D) x 71.3 cm (H) and weighs 32Kg without stand and speakers.
Power
Power supply in Hitachi P42TP01 HD Ready Plasma TV is internal and it requires a voltage of AC 230V and a frequency of 50/60 Hz. When the TV is in use, it consumes a power of 310W and when in stand by or sleep mode, it consumes power of 0.8W.
Video Features
Digital TV service such as Freeview helps you get access to about 500 channels. Hitachi P42TP01 Freeview Plasma TV is a HD Ready TV that is built to display high definition images. Teletext is a digital service on Freeview from where you can get latest news on sports, entertainment, financial services and lot more. Teletext has a memory of 2000 pages. It comes with a Digital Electronic Programme Guide.
Audio System
There are two built in speakers that produce stereo sound output. The total output power of these speakers is 20W. Various audio control are treble, balance and bass.
Pioneer KURO PDP-LX6090 HD Ready Plasma TV with Freeview
October 7, 2008
Pioneer KURO PDP-LX6090 Plasma TV comes with enclosure that looks perfectly black. KURO in Japanese means ‘the perfect black’. This TV comes with built-in digital TV tuner and Freeview technology. With Freeview feature, you can tune in to different freeview channels and radio stations. The screen size of this model is 60 inches. HD Ready is another important feature that is capable of displaying high definition pictures. This is also HDTV compatible meaning that it can receive HD signals and display the same. The resolution of this TV is 1920 x 1080 pixels. Resolution refers to the total number of pixels that are produced in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. The image aspect ratio is 16:9.
Features such as Video noise reduction, JPEG photo playback, on-screen menu, i-CLEAR Drive, room light sensor(RLS), HD Digital Film Direct 24 and Active DRE(Dynamic Range Expander) come with Pioneer KURO PDP-LX6090 Plasma TV. Digital Noise Reduction is another feature where the noise in each image is identified by the system and is eliminated. The frequency of Pioneer KURO PDP-LX6090 HD Ready Plasma TV is 60Hz, which means the picture is updated 60 times to produce sharper image. This model comes with two speakers that has a total output power of 36W. The supported sound formats in this model are SRS WOW HD, SRS Surround and SRS TruBass. It comes with infra red remote control. Power supply is of internal type and it requires a voltage of AC230V and a frequency of 50/60 Hz. Power consumed while in use is 510W and in standby or sleep mode is 0.4W. The dimension of this model plasma TV are 87.6cm (H) x 146.5cm (W) x 9.3cm (D) and weighs 50.8Kg.
Connections in Pioneer PDPLX6090 Full HD Plasma TV are 1 x composite inputs, 3 x HDMI input, 3 x SCART, 1 x USB and 1 x VGA. It comes with sub-woofer terminal too. Other important features of plasma TV are progressive scan, Picture in Picture and Digital Noise Reduction.
Panasonic TH42PZ85B Full HD Plasma TV
October 6, 2008
Panasonic TH42PZ85B Plasma TV is unique in its own way as it is built with the Intelligent Frame Creation and 24p Real Cinema Technology. Intelligent Frame Creation increases the refresh rates on the screen. Increased refresh rates does not allow flickers to appear to the naked eye. You can enjoy this feature on a widescreen that comes with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It comes with integrated tuners and DVB digital tuners. The screen size of this model is 42 inches with the screen aspect ratio of 16:9. With this aspect ratio, the user can watch programmes with widescreen effect. Moving pictures with high resolution can be achieved with the Intelligent Frame Creation with 50Hz video signal input. Natural frame to frame transitions are formed for displaying smooth motion images that have high resolution. The contrast ratio of this model is 30000:1. Two speakers that come with this model plasma TV produce surround sound with a total output power of 2×10W.
Other important features available in Panasonic TH42PZ85B HDMI Plasma TV are parental control and sleep timer. With the parental control, this TV can be protected from misuse of the children. Sleep timer can be set to turn the TV off at the set time. This product model measures 67.4 cm (H) x 106.4 cm (W) x 9.2 cm (D) and weighs 29.96 kg.
Design
The style of the design is rather distinct from other models with its glossy black finish with silver colour beneath the panel that contains a pair of speakers. Towards the back of the TV you can see five cooling fans just near the top of the panel. Though the fans produce some noise, it is compensated with the normal TV sound when the viewer seats himself at a distance of 6 feet away from the TV. You can also find few hand grips at the bottom of the panel for lift the TV with ease. Panasonic TH42PZ85B Plasma TV has a distinguished style of finish that makes it different from others. It comes with a pedestal stand that can be assembled to the TV.
Connections
You can find three HDMI inputs at the back of Panasonic TH42PZ85B Plasma Television and also on the left side of the compartment that can be accessed well. If a device is plugged in to the HDMI port, it automatically switches the source every time the TV is switched on and off.
