Thursday, January 19, 2012

Free 37" LG LCD HDTV!

I still can't believe this one. This TV was dropped off at an electronics recycling depot by a guy who said it was driving him crazy with intermittent issues. The next day I figured I would check it out and after a few hours of use I did notice some flickering problems with the image. I went into the TV's menu and reset all the image settings back to factory default. I think he had the brightness setting cracked up so in resetting to default may have simply solved the issue by not having the brightness up too high, forcing the backlight inverters to draw more power from an aging power supply. That's my theory anyway because fact is since doing that the TV has been working fine. I left it on for a few days playing movies to test it out and it hasn't shown any issues since! Here it is shown in this video on the 3rd day playing movies for 6 hrs today and it's still working fine! This LG model is from 2005 so it's 6 years old now. But as I mentioned in the video this is an IP-S based panel, not a TN panel like the majority of LCD TV's and Monitors. This means it was a higher end model (IP-S based LCD panels always cost more than the cheaper and more common TN based LCD panels) and to my pleasant surprise it has great contrast, color depth and viewing angles for an LCD TV of this age. It even handles non-HD/SD content surprisingly well as shown with the Sega Genesis running via Composite video. I can honestly say as far as static contrast and color depth goes this 6 year old ...

Canon Eos 3000 Online Stylus Touch Pen Quick Compare Stereos

Friday, January 13, 2012

Guide to Hi-Def TV Specifications

!±8± Guide to Hi-Def TV Specifications

Want to buy a high-def TV but just don't know how to figure out the specifications to choose the best sets? Here's a short guide to some of the most common specs you'll be faced with.

Contrast ratings - a measurement of the darkest blacks to the lightest whites - Panasonic boasts of a 18000:1 contrast rating for their best plasma. In nearly every case, you'll find that plasma TVs have better contrast ratings than any other high-def TV, but you don't necessarily need off-the-charts contrast ratings to have a television you'll enjoy. An 1800:1 makes most people happy, and in a darkened room you often can't tell much difference, though it will be obvious in a showroom.

1080p and 1080i - These numbers refer to the horizontal lines that make up your television image. Traditional televisions - and traditional TV broadcasts - have a 480i; most modern high-def TVs have 1080 or better. The p and i refer to the method the television uses to interpret these lines. An i is an interlaced picture, where every other line refreshes, usually every 1/60 of a second. A p displays all the lines at once, and refreshes either every 1/60 or 1/30 of a second. Look for sets that have a high number and the p for best pictures. Also, for best results look for Blu-ray sets that match this number for your television; some televisions designed for interlaced images cannot handle a Blu-ray set only for p.

Scaling - Refers to the ideal resolution for your television's picture. This is more important for a front-projection DLP TV than any other set, as it determines the maximum and minimum picture for good viewing.

Artifacts - Auras, ghost images, sharp edges, and other distracting things that can detract from your high-def TV's good image processing. A television reviewed as having few or no artifacts is always better than one that has some complaints.

De-judder processing - this refers to the sometimes-jerky motion when frames change too slowly. Because high-def TVs are in essence computing devices, this depends heavily on internal processor speed as well as good programming at the factory. Some experts complain that certain sets do too good a job at de-juddering, and as a result the image is unnaturally smooth in motion. Most consumers are happier with this sort of set, though, so the better your de-judder is the happier you will probably be.

Resolution - Most sets have at least 1920 x 1080 resolution, referencing the vertical x horizontal lines your set will display. High resolutions indicate better pictures, provided everything else works well.

Color-temperature presets -- With values like Cool1 and Neutral, these presets skew your television's color settings toward blues or reds. These settings are not necessarily a make-or-break thing for your high-def TV, but it's nice to be able to skew your picture without fiddling with every color setting. Most high-def TVs have many other color settings you can mess around with, but none of them are critical.

There are several other specs, with more being created every day, but these should help you choose a great high def TV for your needs.


Guide to Hi-Def TV Specifications

Rayovac Flashlight Cheap