CRT vs LCD

[richardm]

The worse problem with the Sky service I have is that they seem to vary the compression or bit-rate on the various channels which means some can show marked artefacts (such as a water rippling being very pixelated) and strange colour artefacts such as banding – which looks as if they haven’t used enough colour levels when they’ve processed the original source.

I must admit I've never noticed that myself. Perhaps it's a problem with your particular Sky box. Or perhaps I'm just very uncritical

 

[Darat]

I must admit I've never noticed that myself. Perhaps it's a problem with your particular Sky box. Or perhaps I'm just very uncritical

At first I thought it was a problem with my plasma and I wasn't very happy, but the same problems show up on an old fashioned CRT TV. So I've always assumed it is at the SKY side. I notice it more on the "non-premium" channels such as UK Gold, Living and the like. Sky one and the movies don't seem to suffer from it. (Hope it's not my box that is crap and I've been living with this "problem" because of that!).

 

[evildave]

Seems to be more appropriate for a home theater than everyday watching, and certainly not for a pc monitor replacement. Sadly, I'd be replacing the bulb once a year if I used it like I wanted to.

Plays video games good.

 

[H3LL]

A bit off topic, but it's a habit of mine.

With digital services I'm often struggling to hear dialogue and then get pinned to the wall as music/sound FX jump in. When I adjust the volume to keep the music/sound FX tolerable I then get a second pinning to the wall as advertisements come on.

Is it the equipment or the signal?
Is it my ears (not perfect. 60% deaf in right ear. No hearing-aid)?
I heard something about 'sound compression' where it's not actually louder (db) but seems so. Is this a fact or myth?

Thanks in advance for any info'. Also please continue with the topic as well as I'm looking to upgrade TV and PC and value the opinions/advice.

 

[garys_2k]

A bit off topic, but it's a habit of mine.

With digital services I'm often struggling to hear dialogue and then get pinned to the wall as music/sound FX jump in. When I adjust the volume to keep the music/sound FX tolerable I then get a second pinning to the wall as advertisements come on.

Is it the equipment or the signal?
Is it my ears (not perfect. 60% deaf in right ear. No hearing-aid)?
I heard something about 'sound compression' where it's not actually louder (db) but seems so. Is this a fact or myth?

Thanks in advance for any info'. Also please continue with the topic as well as I'm looking to upgrade TV and PC and value the opinions/advice.

Dynamic range compression. They can limit the feature's range from some very low dB to somewhat loud dB, saving the very loud to excruciating dB range for commercials. Quiet dialog is allowed to get quite quiet (but nowhere near zero, no matter how much it seems like it). They can non-linearly compress ranges into new, tighter ranges so almost all dialog is about the same, and almost all FX are at a higher "about the same" volume level. Commercials are in the highest "about the same" range.

Hmm, someone should be able to write a filtering codec that could recompress the really nasty loud stuff back down to reasonable levels...

 

[evildave]

Or detect commercials and cut 'em out.

 

[El Greco]

Or detect commercials and cut 'em out.

I think that some channels in Germany had been doing something similar a long time ago. They used to send "start" and "end" signals when they aired certain programs and VCRs with the proper technology could decode such signals and record without the commercials. Apparently, those who paid for the commercials were not very happy with this and so I haven't heard of that technology for a long time.

 

[evildave]

Actually, ReplayTV has a commercial skip feature. They had to fight all kinds of lawsuits off to keep the feature, basically the equivalant of an automatic fast-forward when the audio became a lot noisier and the screen changed abruptly. Seems some broadcasters didn't like that idea for some reason. It still records the commercial. It's just they detect the commercial and skip it when playing back recorded shows.

http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/Paramount_v_ReplayTV/
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/Newmark_v_Turner/20040109_eff_pr.php

The case was sparked after a top entertainment industry executive began publicly to claim that people who don't watch television commercials are "thieves" and 28 entertainment companies subsequently launched a lawsuit against the makers of ReplayTV arguing that using the digital video recorder to skip commercials and send programs is against the law.

That's right, you're a 'thief' if you don't watch that loud, obnoxious, retarded commercial 65 times.

 

[El Greco]

That's right, you're a 'thief' if you don't watch that loud, obnoxious, retarded commercial 65 times.

I believe that advertisers are aware of the negative results that excessive repetition of the same commercial can bring. It's just that stations usually sell air time in packs and so you can't just buy the time you think you need. On the other hand, if you know that the consumer is going to hear your commercial all day long, it would be wise to at least offer several variations of it. But then again, the one who pays may not want to spend that much money.

 

[Ove]

I think that some channels in Germany had been doing something similar a long time ago. They used to send "start" and "end" signals when they aired certain programs and VCRs with the proper technology could decode such signals and record without the commercials. Apparently, those who paid for the commercials were not very happy with this and so I haven't heard of that technology for a long time.

It was called "VPS" (Video Pixel Signal) but it wasn't really designed to skip commercials. The idea was that you shouldn't have to record more than nescessary.

You programmed your VCR for the programmed start time and then activated the VPS feature. The video then wouldn't start recording until it recieved this signal. Great if the programme was delayed.

I don't think the advertisers had anything to do with it's cancellation but rather that the VCR producers didn't bother to make this feature for VCR's sold only in Germany. The system never "caught on" you might say.

You don't have the "problem" with commercials in Germany because the commercials are in blocks, between programmes NEVER in the middle. It is one of the really really bad things that American TV has invented. Fortunately most of the TV channels over here has NOT adapted this disgusting feature. I simply don't understand how you guys can stand seing a movie in bites of 10-15 min.

 

[evildave]

Well, you just get used to it. You can get used to almost anything. Even politicians starting wars to help out their buddies' businesses.

 

[El Greco]

You don't have the "problem" with commercials in Germany because the commercials are in blocks, between programmes NEVER in the middle. It is one of the really really bad things that American TV has invented. Fortunately most of the TV channels over here has NOT adapted this disgusting feature. I simply don't understand how you guys can stand seing a movie in bites of 10-15 min.

Unfortunately the same happens here. Commercials every 30 minutes or so. Unless you are watching a Fassbinder or a Taviani film on the public TV; you will get few (if any) commercials there Other than that, only the subscriber channels show movies uninterrupted. But anyway, few people rely on the Greek TV for movies these days. With newspapers offering 3-4 DVDs each weekend, everyone has many more movies than he will ever watch.

 

[heath]

Re: Re: CRT vs LCD

I always thought this was because of slow LCD response times. 25 ms makes an FPS game quite blurry.

Only crap LCDs are 25ms nowadays. 16ms is much more common. I DO have an LCD screen and i DO play games and it's fine. Just choose wisely.

For me the BIGGEST selling point by far for LCD is they are TINY compared to CRT. I gained about 10" on my desk from moving to LCD. I'd get another 4" if I moved the screen all the way off the desk and bolted it to the wall.

Equally I'm tempted to "upgrade" my 36" CRT TV to a 42" Plasma to gain about 20" of my lounge back. A great deal from Tiny recently in the UK i think was a 42" plasma TV + surround sound + dvd etc for £1500 (which by UK standards is CHEAP - I paid that for my alone CRT 3 years ago - considering I could sell my TV and the crap [by comparison to what I have now] rest of the package I could probaly upgrade for a few hundred squid.... Very tempting)

 

[ZeeGerman]

You don't have the "problem" with commercials in Germany because the commercials are in blocks, between programmes NEVER in the middle. It is one of the really really bad things that American TV has invented. Fortunately most of the TV channels over here has NOT adapted this disgusting feature. I simply don't understand how you guys can stand seing a movie in bites of 10-15 min.

That's only true for the public TV broadcasters. The private channels do interrupt the program for commercials. Not as bad as in the US (yet) but enough for me to basically stop watching TV alltogether.

 

[Ove]

That's only true for the public TV broadcasters. The private channels do interrupt the program for commercials. Not as bad as in the US (yet) but enough for me to basically stop watching TV alltogether.

Ahh but i gave up RTL-Sat1-etc years ago. I do watch German programmes occationally, i DO understand German and you guys DO make some good programmes but i HATE watching british/american actors dubbed in German. Honestly i don't know how you guys put up with it . Much of an actors caracteristica is in the way he/she uses the vioce and that vital part of all movies is in German TV and movie theaters replaced with some German "actors" that all sound like they were recorded in a phone booth..
But you guys make some very good police series, i have been a fan of German detective series ever since "Der Alte" and "Derrick". Good work.

 

[El Greco]

i HATE watching british/american actors dubbed in German. Honestly i don't know how you guys put up with it .

Yes, I've been wondering the same thing about Germans. I mean, not even the French do that!

 

[a_unique_person]

You don't have the "problem" with commercials in Germany because the commercials are in blocks, between programmes NEVER in the middle. It is one of the really really bad things that American TV has invented. Fortunately most of the TV channels over here has NOT adapted this disgusting feature. I simply don't understand how you guys can stand seing a movie in bites of 10-15 min.

The latest advertising 'feature' here is the ad during the show, in some form of banner scrolling across the top or bottom, or popping up from the side, plus the voiceover while the credits are rolling. I hate to say it, but I suspect the Americans invented it.

 

[Darat]

The latest advertising 'feature' here is the ad during the show, in some form of banner scrolling across the top or bottom, or popping up from the side, plus the voiceover while the credits are rolling. I hate to say it, but I suspect the Americans invented it.

Yep probably that damn yank Murdoch....

 

[ZeeGerman]

Much of an actors caracteristica is in the way he/she uses the vioce and that vital part of all movies is in German TV and movie theaters replaced with some German "actors" that all sound like they were recorded in a phone booth..

No reason to me, I know what you mean. I NEVER watch dubbed english/american movies. I either go to a cinema where they show the original version (luckily, there is one nearby or I rent the movie on DVD.

Zee