High-Def TVs?

Al, that would make sense if the main picture-quality bottleneck for SD programming was its native resolution . . . but that's not the case. Pristene-quality NTSC video is actually quite stunning, it's just that the common modes of consumer delivery (analog broadcast, analog cable, and compressed digital QAM from cable and DBS services) make quite a mess of it. A typical mid-1980s high-end video setup was an 8' diagonal screen with a Kloss Novabeam projector . . . such a system with an analog C-band satellite feed could easily embarass anything in Best Buy playing HD.

Here are what I see as some of the biggest picture quality problems with consumer TVs:

7. Poor viewing angle - this continues to be a problem with most RP and LCD technologies. RPs still frequently have poor corner focus as well.

6. Excessive luminance peaking - the classic "sharpness control" set too high, causing lots of noise

5. Non-linear grey scale - LCDs typically have problems at the black end, all technologies seem to have problems at the white end, mostly processing/calibration related

4. Grey-scale linearity doesn't match between each color

3. Color balance is usually WAY, WAY off

2. De-interlacing artifacts

1. POOR SCALING ALGORITHMS!!! Really, there's no excuse here, just corner-cutting. It's interesting how many of them have noise issues that are amplified by common MPEG compression.

All of these issues (except for #1 somewhat, and sometimes #6) exist for BOTH standard and high-definition broadcasts. It's simply that with HD, the source is that much better to start with, so most people don't notice it as much.

Kirkus -- Thanks for your thoughtful insights.

Actually, they reinforce the decision I made about 3 years ago to buy the last and perhaps best crt-based hdtv of its screen size ever made, just before it became unavailable. A Sony 30 inch 16:9 hdtv set, model KD-30XS955 (all 155 pounds of it!). The display technology-related issues that comprise much of your list were, of course, even more pronounced then for flat panel sets, but of course essentially don't apply to crt-based sets, which in my view at the time provided much better picture quality for much lower prices.

We watch Cablevision cable channels on this set, from a distance of about 7 feet. Analog sd channels are quite nice, digital sd channels are significantly better, and hd channels are as good as I can conceive of.

When I bought the set, I also purchased an Avia setup dvd, but I never saw fit to use it because everything seemed so perfect right out of the box (once I turned off the set's default "vivid" mode, that is).

Too bad the manufacturers have pretty much unilaterally taken the option of high quality crt-based hdtv sets away from consumers.

Thanks again for your good comments.

Regards,
-- Al

Ah, yes. There were some wonderful CRT sets made as a lovely swan song to what became a very well-developed technology. A similar thing happened a few years prior with CRT projectors . . . the 9" Barcos were truly stunning.

I think the main problem with continuing to manufacture high-end CRT sets was the availability of high-quality picture tubes . . . widescreen tubes are very costly and have a high rejection rate, and all picture tubes have some pretty nasty chemicals inside that make RoHS compliance very difficult.