An Ideal Cinema?

based on DLP with a native resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels

(16.9). Hitachi and Mitsubishi have signed agreements to

develop consumer HDTVs based on this technology for sale in

late 2000. The image quality of the prototype was, to my eyes,

excellent. If the consumer versions can match it, and do so

For t he first t ime, t he Shoot -

Out

included a high-definit ion

affordably, we may not have reason to mourn the passing of

CRT for long.

Given the arrival of HDTV and the ramp-up of HDTV pro-

gramming over the next few years, there is little reason to

consider buying an LCD or DLP projector today with less than

XGA resolution. The gain in detail on high-definition images

with XGA is, in my opinion, well worth the typical 30 percent

price increase over comparably equipped SVGA models. If the

price can be justified, SXGA (1280 x 1024) projectors are, of

course, much better, but are currently available only with

LCD technology. Several notable models of LCD projectors

with SXGA resolution were introduced at the show, including

Sanyo’s PLC-EF10N and Barco’s BarcoReality 6300DLC.

While neither would be my first choice for a home theater,

they are significant in one respect: They both include a form

of digital video connection. Such a connection bypasses the

traditional conversion steps between analog and digital most

video signals must take between the video source and the dis-

play. A digital connection provides the cleanest possible way

to send the signal and, as importantly, eliminates a lot of the

fussy set-up issues involved with getting an image to look

good. The Sanyo projector provides a digital connection

called “PanelLink,” which is becoming a standard way to con-

nect computers to flat-panel monitors. The Barco product

provides an optional FireWire connection. FireWire (IEEE

1394) is the standard that will very likely be used to connect

consumer DTV products together, from HDTVs to digital

VCRs to surround processors. The important point is this:

What is available on these professional projectors now will

become available on consumer projectors, in one form or

another, soon.

The trend to digital connectivity is not just restricted to

projectors. Plasma display panels (PDPs) are getting in on

the act, too. A prime example introduced at the show is the

Revox E-542. Advertised as the world’s thinnest PDP, at a 2-

inch depth, it consigns all user-connections to an external

box that sends digital video signals and power to the display

over a single cable up to 40’ long. The control box has a slot

to accept a FireWire interface card to be developed later

this summer.

Speaking of PDPs, they were definitely one of the hot

technologies at the show. They are being increasingly con-

sidered for use in corporate boardrooms and for point-of-sale

displays. In the consumer world, more and more people are

considering them worthy alternatives to large direct-view

CRT monitors and rear-projection units for home theater.

The more affordable panels are those with “standard” resolu-

tion – 852 x 480 at 16.9 aspect ratio. The most recent of these

at the show had better contrast ratios, higher brightness, and

more accurate colors than last year’s models. Nevertheless,

they weren’t turning heads the way their high-definition sib-

chroma transitions. Barco’s VSE-20 line doubler, Extron’s DVS-100 scaler, and RGB Spectrum’s DTQ scaler all earned a “poor” rating, mostly because of their inability to cleanly handle VCR playback (particularly in the case of the DTQ). If VCR playback is discounted, they each earn a rating of “adequate.” In the 64 kHz category, I considered only one product “good,” the Communication Specialties Deuce Pro. I rated Analog Way’s Smart Cut II scaler “adequate” because of some instability during VCR preview modes and because of relatively poor high-frequency luma response. Extron’s Sentosaxi earned a “poor” rating because of a considerable number of obvious deinterlacing artifacts. I likewise rated Focus Enhancement’s QuadScan “poor,” in this case mostly because of its unstable response to VCR playback – the image was not steady even during regular play. If this is ignored, its overall perfor- mance is adequate. Lastly, Barco’s VSE-40 also earned a rating of “poor” because of its relatively poor high-frequen- cy luma response combined with an excessively noisy pic- ture.

This comparison of upconverters should be taken with

caution because the source material and conditions imposed by the Shoot-Out were too limited to evaluate the performance of the products thoroughly. If you’re in the market for an upconverter, try to audition the products your-

self using test material and sources you are intimately
familiar with.	AK

lings were. Last year, only one high-definition PDP was intro-

duced at the show. This year, five were introduced, which is

a good indication of the way this technology may be matur-

ing. NEC’s PlasmaSync 5000W was the standout. This 50”

diagonal 16.9 panel, with a resolution of 1365 x 768, had the

best looking image I’ve seen yet from a PDP.

While PDPs are unquestionably getting better, they still

have problems. One of the more notable is a tendency to pro-

duce noise in dark areas of the image. The only panel I saw

not showing this noise – the Revox E-542 – had obvious con-

touring (discrete steps in the grayscale) in the dark regions of

the picture, leading me to suspect that the noise may be an

intentional trade-off to reduce the visibility of contouring.

PDPs also tend to show rather obvious deinterlacing and

resizing artifacts, although this may simply be a function of

the image processing electronics rather than a property of

PDP technology itself.

This report wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a land-

mark event at this year’s show. Hughes-JVC and Miramax

Films teamed up to give show attendees a “digital sneak pre-

view” of Miramax’s An Ideal Husband before its release on

film. Shown in its entirety, the movie was projected onto a

theater-sized screen by a Hughes-JVC ILA-12K projector.

“ILA” stands for Image Light Amplification and is Hughes-

JVC’s answer to the problem of projecting a high resolution

electronic image with extremely high brightness. Digital

Light Processing (DLP) is the competing answer from Texas

Instruments. While the image I saw from the Hughes-JVC pro-

jector was not perfect, the resolution, color saturation, and

contrast were all good enough to give me confidence that

electronic projection – whether based on ILA or DLP tech-

nology – will be equal to the task when digital cinema

becomes an every-day reality. When that day arrives, the

technologies exhibited each year at Infocomm will have

found their ultimate expression.