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Old 12-08-2012, 03:17 PM
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Natural Picture.

A lot of modern flat screen TVs I've seen have harsh pictures, especially on broadcast TV via a digibox.

Can anyone tell me please which format would give the most natural picture; Plasma, LED or LCD?

Just out of curiosity, are there any new formats lurking in the background, about to be launched at the already confused buyer (like me)?
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Old 12-08-2012, 06:14 PM
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"Natural" is a hard-to-identify quality. All flat-panel sets have a more precise display, probably what you describe as harsh. Some people have said plasma sets are more "film-like", though I have not seen that.

LCD and the current "LED" sets are both the same display type (LCD), but the "LED" ones use light-emitting diodes as their light source behind their LCD display panels versus the thin fluorescent bulbs used behind the panels of the non-LED sets.

The next new technology to possibly be widely sold is "OLED" TV sets. Those will be flat-panel sets with actual LEDs (organic in this case, that is the "O") making up their pictures as opposed to LEDs behind an LCD panel. OLED sets theoretically will have the best off-angle picture quality, and perfect black-level performance, but the ones sold so far have had problems with wearing out/getting dim too fast, and image retention/burn-in issues. Samsung is big on its "AMOLED" cell phone screens (same technology), but the ones I have seen have poor color tint and image-retention problems as well.
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Old 12-08-2012, 06:47 PM
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Has so much to do with the way one is set up, brightness, black level, color level, gray balance. My own S0NY LCD set looks excellent but I deviated away quite a bit from the factory settings to get it more "natural" looking. Factory presets are pretty much as you describe, harsh, too contrasty and bright, and colors too saturated.
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Old 12-08-2012, 10:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Combwork View Post
A lot of modern flat screen TVs I've seen have harsh pictures, especially on broadcast TV via a digibox.

Can anyone tell me please which format would give the most natural picture; Plasma, LED or LCD?

Just out of curiosity, are there any new formats lurking in the background, about to be launched at the already confused buyer (like me)?
What do you mean by "on broadcast TV via a digibox?" There's no need for a box if it's broadcast. The situation where picture quality is worst is analog cable on a new digital set. In that case the analog signal from the cable company is usually a stepchild, plus it has to be internally converted for the high definition display, so the result is usually mediocre or worse.

Most TVs are set up in a horrible sales floor mode because shoppers are impressed by the brightest and most colorful, just as they are impressed by louder speakers more than better ones. The good news is you can adjust the set for natural colors when you get it home.

LCDs tend to have smoother color rendition than plasma, because plasma gets its variable output by time-gating, so it can show some artifacts under certain shading and motion conditions. Plasma, on the other hand, has a wider viewing angle than LCD without visible color change. LCDs generally have a more consistent brightness vs. picture content, where plasmas generally turn down the brighter scenes automatically to reduce energy consumption.

At the studios, color is judged on CRTs or LCDs, not on plasmas.
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Old 12-09-2012, 04:57 AM
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[QUOTE=old_tv_nut;3056207]What do you mean by "on broadcast TV via a digibox?" There's no need for a box if it's broadcast.

Thanks old_tv_nut; my replies a bit long.

We use a digibox because it's an old analogue set. It can't deal with a digital signal; the digibox takes a digital signal in and sends an analogue signal out. I worded the bit about "broadcast TV via a digibox" badly. What I meant was the difference between something made by the broadcaster (news review, game show etc) and films. Films have a different colour balance. "Back To The Future" is a good example, sharp colour seems to work well on it.

I understand what you mean about default settings. Awful. We've 2 wide screen CRT sets (Toshiba and Panasonic).

After getting into the service menu of the Toshiba and balancing Red, Green and Blue cut picture looks very good. Then STUPIDLY after a couple of pints of cider decided to 'improve' the geometry. No No N0.............. It took me a while to get it back to reasonably correct. Wide screen looks good but 4.3 has a curve on both sides (Paralax adjustment helped as did ASC (?) but it was an improvement only, not a cure). Cinema, Super Live and Subtitle all have pronounced vertical curves at the edge of the picture. On these three only, headings are almost completely off the bottom of the screen. I could adjust height and width but having got wide-screen to look good I don't want to disturb anything.

It's a good example of someone with just enough knowledge to know how to screw things up. If I could find a default setting I'd use it, leave geometry alone and adjust the colour only.

So plan 2. Find a TV man who really knows what they are doing. Clean, oil and set-up a mechanical clock for him and let him loose on the set.

The Toshiba is is a heck of a set. Three SCART inputs, built in Dolby Surround. Other inputs front and back. It even has a built in crosshatch generator accessible via the service menu.

Both sets are close to the top of the range. The Toshiba cost the equivalent of $40, the other was free.

ANOTHER CORRECTION. What we get is a broadcast digital signal picked up by the old UHF tv aerial on the roof. DVD's do look good, but given a strong signal broadcast picture on the Toshiba is a very close second.
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Last edited by Combwork; 12-09-2012 at 05:02 AM.
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Old 12-09-2012, 05:02 AM
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[QUOTE=old_tv_nut;3056207]What do you mean by "on broadcast TV via a digibox?" There's no need for a box if it's broadcast.

Thanks old_tv_nut; my replies a bit long.

We use a digibox because it's an old analogue set. It can't deal with a digital signal; the digibox takes a digital signal in and sends an analogue signal out. I worded the bit about "broadcast TV via a digibox" badly. What I meant was the difference between something made by the broadcaster (news review, game show etc) and films. Films have a different colour balance. "Back To The Future" is a good example, sharp colour seems to work well on it.

I understand what you mean about default settings. Awful. We've 2 wide screen CRT sets (Toshiba and Panasonic).

After getting into the service menu of the Toshiba and balancing Red, Green and Blue cut picture looks very good. Then STUPIDLY after a couple of pints of cider decided to 'improve' the geometry. No No N0.............. It took me a while to get it reasonably correct. Wide screen looks good but 4.3 has a curve on both sides (Paralax adjustment helped as did ASC (?) but it was an improvement only, not a cure). Cinema, Super Live and Subtitle all have pronounced vertical curves at the edge of the picture. On these three only, headings are almost completely off the bottom of the screen. I could adjust height and width but having got wide-screen to look good I don't want to disturb anything.

It's a good example of someone with just enough knowledge to know how to screw things up. If I could find a default setting I'd use it, leave geometry alone and adjust the colour only.

So plan 2. Find a TV man who who really knows what they are doing. Clean, oil and set-up a mechanical clock for him and let him loose on the set.

The Toshiba is is a heck of a set. Three SCART inputs, built in Dolby Surround. Other inputs front and back. It even has a built in crosshatch generator accessible via the service menu.

Both sets are close to the top of the range. The Toshiba cost the equivalent of $40 including delivery, the Panasonic was free.
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Last edited by Combwork; 12-09-2012 at 08:19 AM.
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