HD For Indies

Mike's first thoughts on his HDTV, HD-DVD player, and HD cable, in rambly blog fashion.

thoughts on new HDTV:

-I got my Sony KDS-60A2000 HDTV delivered. It is a 60" SXRD (Sony's flavor of LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon)), then I got the Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player, and Time Warner Cable's HD cable box

-setting up wasn't as bad as I thought - not as many initial "must decide" decisions to be made, but a ton of color correction choices, mostly involving turning "enhancements" OFF.

I found this handy page that has cnet's settings they'd clearly spent time coming up with to optimize viewing.

The default "Vivid" settings, especially in a bright room, are far too contrasty, oversharpened, and saturated - looks good in the showroom, but a guy with dark hair and a dark suit is a black blob all too often, especially on modern shows like CSI with that high contrast look.

There are three presets - Vivid, Standard, and Custom, which you can tweak as needed - I'm thinking I'll use a modified Standard setting for day and Custom for night.

Nice features - you can fine tune sharpening, edge enhancement, white point, gamma, etc. All those settings..and most of them I end up turning off or waaay down.

Each input retains its own custom setting - a VERY nice option allowing fine tuning of each input - I anticipate setting up my Multibridge Extreme to use both HDMI and HD component outputs to feed into the HDTV via usage of long cable runs under the house (yeah, I'm that kind of geek), so I can route from studio to living room.

One downside, though - viewing angle is CRITICAL - even standing up (from sitting on couch) creates a HUGE shift in luma (brightness) - side to side there is some variation, but if I display a flat grey screen, I can move up/down a foot and see the grey shift darker and bluer. Standing in front of the set, even 5 feet back, gives a completely off-the-map bad viewing experience, so the sweet spot to view is sitting on the couch, about 3 people wide. Hmm. Of course, two people is really optimal for Movie Palace Mode viewing. : ) I've tested extensively with a wide demographic cross section.

The HD-DVD player takes a long time to fire up, and the UI is interesting - the difference between reading about it and then actually using it is interesting - I got King Kong and Batman Returns in HD-DVD, and while King Kong follows the expected DVD main menu structure, Batman Returns just starts playing the movie until/unless you press a menu button.

Then you get a UI that pops up from the bottom WHILE THE MOVIE IS PLAYING which is pretty cool but a little distracting, it is superimposed as a graphic layer over the playing movie. Pretty slick. You can explore the menu stuff (and even get descriptions) while the movie is playing, surf for other chapters while the movie is playing, etc.

But an interesting note about how the HD-A2 HD-DVD player works - it is like a computer with an anemic graphics card, struggling to do what it is doing, barely able to do it. Fast forwarding is rough and skippy and not smooth, the UI elements slide out in course chunks, not smooth. I've heard HD-DVD players are essentially comptuers with video outputs, and if this is true, it has a slow CPU and a not-great GPU. I picture future players capable of smoother fast formwarding (mine goes in chunks, and not even time chunks of same size!), smoother UI motion, etc. Curious to know if the $1000 players do any better. I'd like to have the HD-A20 due this spring with 1080p capability, but I don't know if that'll actually play any better - is the 1080i output here just 24p with 3:2 pulldown added? How would a 1080p player work with 24p footage? 2:3:3:2 or 2:3:2:3 cadence to play back progressive frames? And will it run the UI any more smoothly?

When you pause, after a couple of minutes a Universal (the studio not generic) screensaver comes up - interesting.

TV stations - turns out my digital cable service offers HD digital cable - all I had to do was drive 10 minutes away and swap out cable boxes. I kept also traded out the old one to use in my bedroom for an extra $7 a month - not bad.

I stayed up late, watching Lost in HD then The Departed on my plain jane DVD player going into the component outputs - looked good, but nowhere near HD good. Mosquito noise is glaringly obvious at this scale.

Scaling oddnesses - there's Normal (4:3 pillarboxes), Full (16:9 full screen), Zoom (for 16:9 on a 4:3 screen) and Wide Zoom (same thing but for what, anamorphic? it squishes it vertically a bit more)

Had a few issues - audio dropouts during Lost every few minutes - turns out it is doing that to everyone. And annoyingly, changing audio volume on the remote doesn't do anything. I already had tech coming out from Time Warner cable, and he couldn't figure it out - all he did was make the cable remote change the volume on the TV itself...where there was no audio (DVI link from cable box to TV carries no audio signal, using toslink (optical) to receiver). As it is toslink I need to adjust volume on the final device audio is sent to....all this is yet another factor in the fact that all this HD related stuff is waaaaaaaay too complicated for the average consumer - if it is a pain for ME, what might it be like for someone like my Dad who can barely get a regular DVD to play? Typical consumers are completely out of their league - if it took me hours and hours of research to make an informed but still compromised decision, what's it like for normal people? I figure at LEAST 2-3 years for prices to get more affordable and interoperability to get resolved for the most part, and several more years for affordable Apple-level-of-ease to make it work well together.

My old Sony XBR 32" CRT had speaker inputs to use the TV as a center speaker - unfortunately, the new TV doesn't have that capability. Can't use HDMI downmixed as there is a delay - if both running I get an audio difference and an echo. So a center speaker is on my list. And while I've been happy with my Alesis Monitor Ones for providing base, time maybe for a subwoofer as well.

I now have to sell off some old gear to get some new toys - I'll put it up on eBay etc. and let you folks know.

Picture quality is AWESOME - I got my HD-DVD and watched the T-rex fight in King Kong and the Batmobile run in Batman Returns, and the detail is great. Black levels need to be adjusted to be right for day or night viewing.

SD content looks just so-so - the higher end XBR2 set supposedly has better SD uprezzing circuitry, but that was out of my comfort zone on price.

The compression artifacts in digital cable - on static scenes it is OK, BUT for fast moving scenes with lots of high frequency detail, MAJOR compresion artifacting, makes me think about getting that Algolith Flea HDMI device for mosquito noise and blocking reduction - but it is $1000, so never mind.

I'm definitely flip flopping on my "can't tell the difference" statements from before about DVDs on too small HDTVs seen from too far away. At roughly $2K if you shop aggressively online, this Sony KDS-60A2000 shows MILES of difference between SD and HD content. And with only 16 HD channels compared to the zillions of SD ones, my previous argument stating that most folks couldn't tell the difference....isn't quite the same anymore now that I've seen this.

The set I got for a bit over $2K was intro'd at a list price of $4500 just last summer. So I'd think it isn't unreasonable to think prices for something this size and approximate quality to cut in half again in another 6-12 months.

At that point, one's willingness to have something this large in your living room becomes the limiting factor.

It is definitely one of those things that once you see major HD, you don't want to go back. And even 1080 res stuff - I can see how I'd want it to be sharper - seeing how sharp the CG graphics are as compared to the footage - MOST of the footage shown isn't as sharp as this set.

I hooked up my laptop and ran iPhoto slideshow from some 5 megapixel digital stills - I can definitely see the advantage of higher res, even from my cheapie $300 Canon Digital Elph (a 450 model).

This bodes well for Red, Dalsa, and other greater-than-HD acquisition cameras.

Major quality glass is also a part of it.

-HDNet is woefully repetitive - clearly they need more content, and GOOD content. NOT HVX200 type stuff, either, but F900, 950, F23, Viper, Dalsa, Red One, (maybe SI-2K), with top-notch glass to really show it off. Will that work financially? I don't know.

HDNet's movie channel also runs a lot of ooooollllllld movies that have been re-transferred. While it is a delight to see a 1970s movie (McCable and Mrs. Miller) in high def, COME ON Mark Cuban, let's get some newer content on here! It is weird to see 80s hair and makeup in high def...

I'll be curious to see what the max bang/buck Red One setup, using still lenses for docs will be able to create.

In any case, over the next week or two I hope to get everything all wired up so I can readily monitor from any of my three uncompressed HD capable Macs, via HDMI (using the Multibridge Extreme) or HD component analog. Should be fun to see how it all looks!

While I could clearly see the difference between this set and the $6000-$8000 consumer HDTVs, it is still pretty good. It isn't as sharp as a a pixel-for-pixel like LCD would be, but watching the desktop from my Macbook from 10 feet away running at 1920x1080 (and it overscans, I can't see the top pulldown menus!) is comfortably legible and looks GREAT.

I'm now juggling four remotes - the HDTV, the digital cable box, the HD-DVD, and the receiver's. Usual thing to sit down with all the new manuals and cross pollinate all the control functions - they all have the capability to control multiple devices.

I find myself watching stuff I wouldn't otherwise - just watched Ant Wars and some quest for giant crocociles on DiscoveryHD. Hell, even though I ADORE Lyle Lovett, I'm wathing him on Austin City Limits in HD (rocks that it is my local PBS channel, and I know it was shot about 3 miles from my house!).

-and oh yeah, I'm a total noob on HDTV, HD cable, and HD-DVD - so be it, this is where I am. I know it has been covered elsewhere, it is just new to me as as an owner setting it all up...

Everything takes longer with HD - and I'm not talking about renders in Final Cut here - the HDTV takes a while to warm up, is dark dark dark when it first turns on. The HD-DVD takes about half a minute to get rolling, and another chunk of time (too lazy to stopwatch it, you can Google and find out how slow) to start playing from the time the HD-DVD is put in. Again if it is a computer, it is a slow one. And changing channels on HD cable is sllllllooooooooow as well - can't just click-zip through like you can with regular cable, the Guide starts to make a lot more sense and be highly useful, because it takes 2-5 seconds (varies) from final button press until the picture and sound are up. And speaking of audio delay, after pausing or chapter skipping, it takes seconds for the HD-DVD audio to "catch up" with the playing audio. Switching inputs on the HDTV (which has nice labelling capablities, so it isn't Input 6, it is Cable Box or HD-DVD or Studio Feed) is also slow and takes seconds. Switching back and forth between shows/inputs is vexingly slow.

BTW - I ended up deciding to get the HD-DVD player as an upgrade from the $230 I was expecting to spend on an good HDMI uprezzing DVD player. For an extra $170 from Amazon it does good DVD uprezzing and OH! It plays HD-DVDs too. I've said it before, I'll say it again - technology is only as relevant as it's price point. A $400 2nd gen HD-DVD player, or a $600 PS3 or $800+ Blu-ray player? As a $150 bump up from a good uprezzing DVD player, it fits into the "kinda pricey upgrade but worth it", vs a major financial commitment (as gear goes) that you think twice or thrice before committing to. A $175 upgrade to something they were already buying (almost doubling it) is in the "Ehhh....I might." category. A $370 upgrade? Gotta check with the wife/girlfriend/back account/conscience...

Speaking of the player I got, I was surprised to see it does NOT support MP3 discs! Crazy considering what all it does - the Oppo uprezzing DVD player did DVD-A and the other high def audio format, as well as a bunch more stuff. While the HD-A2 does play DVDs and DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs (kudos), I was suprised at the lack.

I've got an AppleTV on order, but at this point the only thing it'll do I like is a nice interface for my iTunes collection...which won't fit on the 40GB hard drive anyway. I was thinking of making a dedicated media Mac with an old G5 (that I rarely use, sadly) that I could leave hooked up to the HDTV full time (or optionally with a long run DVI cable), and it'd do more and cost less (you can get Front Row to work on non-Intel Macs with an available hack). In any case, I'm letting the AppleTV order stand, in part just to keep up on things. The stuff I do for you guys...

OK, enough rambly for now.

-mike

Labels: HD-DVD, HDTV, original