Lots of recent projectors have been getting high contrast ratios by using a dynamic iris. That means the iris changes size depending on what is displaying on the screen, putting out more or less light. This gives the projector a wider contrast ratio, meaning the difference between the darkest dark and the brightest white is greater. This improves the quality of the video in a way that is clearly visible.

Now JVC has created a projector with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio without an iris.

By revising lens and other optical designs, the company realized the high full on/off contrast ratio. JVC prepared a dark room assumed as a home theater room and emphasized its development’s higher picture quality and, in particular, improved “black reproduction” aimed at preventing black from showing gray, in comparison with the company’s current product inside the room.

JVC used 3 D-ILA chips at 1080p resolution in their prototype projector. But I’ve been thinking. If they can pull off a 10,000:1 contrast ratio without a dynamic iris, just imagine what they can do if they do use one?

JVC Demonstrates Projector Achieving 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio without Using Aperture

I have a lot of respect for Joe Kane. I have used DVE (Digital Video Essentials) to calibrate my systems and it does the job very well. I read somewhere before he came out with the latest DVE that Joe had talked to Microsoft on the VC-1 codec and was blown away by what it supposedly could do for video.

So fast forward to today and Joe is showing off the VC-1 codec compared to the antiquated MPG-2. I guess he got lots of “ooo’s and ahhhh’s”.

I have never been a lover of Microsoft, but it seems they have done themselves proud with this codec. I would, however, like to see this against MPG-4 (h.263) and Divx. These two camps have also done some good things with their latest codecs.

Ultimate AV: The Look and Sound of Perfect With Joe Kane

In the audio world of home theater, THX is a big name. A THX certified product means that the product meets certain quality standards. While not a fool-proof method of shopping (there more to a product that honest wattage ratings, etc), the THX seal does give a little peace of mind about the product you’re buying. THX home cinema system will sound good if set up properly.

Now THX plans to do the same thing for HDTV displays. THX says getting the THX seal on their HDTV will force a manufacturer to make better performing products.

THX Certified Display testing includes the following:
o Front of Screen (FOS) Testing
• Luminance
• Contrast
• Color Gamut
• Gamma
• Uniformity
• Max Resolution
o Video Signal Processing Testing
• Scaling
• Deinterlacing
• Motion/Video Conversion

It is possible for a certification program for HDTV’s, through objective tests, to make it so that you know a display will look very good. Let’s hope that this is what THX’s program will accomplish.

THX Introduces Performance Benchmark and Project Certification for HDTVs

PS Runco will be one of the first manufacturers to produce a THX certified display.

A friend of mine made his own audio mixer from scratch. Steve’s just that kind of guy. He also reverse-engineered the infrared remote codes for his Yamaha tuner, which didn’t come with a remote, yet supported one. I think Steve might take a look at this article about creating your own component video switch and complain that the technology behind such a device is age old and that he could have done something similar as a teenager.

But that doesn’t change the fact that you may have several component video sources, no component video switcher, and only one or two component video inputs on your display. The only choice you have besides manually connecting and disconnecting devices every time you want to use them is to have a switch of some kind. Either a switch in pre/pro or receiver, or a dedicated switch. There are some video-game oriented switchers that can do this for surprisingly cheap. (Like this HD switcher from Pelican for $25.) So I think that the only real reason you’d want to build your own is for the challenge (if you’re not Steve, of course).

In which case, you might want to take a peek at this article from Engadget about creating your own component video switcher.

How-To: Make a component video switch

Every once in a while you see articles about how to make a projector screen. Like this article about making a projector screen for less than $100. Now Engadget has another similar article about making yourself your own projector screen, and they include a shopping list, instructions, photos, the works.

How-To: Make a custom projector screen

One of the people that replied to the above article suggested building your own retractable screen, and he’s got some pictures and videos to boot! But his instructions aren’t as detailed. The cool thing is that it’s remote controlled!

Remote controlled projection screen

Rodolfo La Maestra has been writing a very longwinded multipart article on HDMI. These articles have everything you want to know (and a lot you don’t) about HDMI.

His latest part gets into those “better” cables and the new cable type introduced in the 1.3 spec.

HDTV Magazine Articles: HDMI Part 8 - Cables for 1.3

What’s there to know about HDMI 1.3? If there’s something you want to know about HDMI 1.3, it’s highly likely that this Audioholics article will have the info you need.

For example, they tackle these questions:

1. What specifically does HDMI 1.3 add to the 1.2a spec in terms of audio Video format support?
2. Can you tell us about the new color space standard that HDMI 1.3 supports?
3. What about new audio formats?
4. Are additional form factors available for HDMI 1.3?
5. Based on your conversations and interactions with manufacturers, when do you think we might start seeing HDMI 1.3-enabled display and AV processing devices (e.g. this year, next year)?
6. Will lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD be supported in up to 7.1 formats?
7. Did any cabling or tolerance parameters change for the specification?
8. What part did the new gaming consoles, Blu-ray, and HD DVD technologies play in structuring the new specification?
9. Are there mandatory and non-mandatory audio and/or video formats present in the latest format?
10. Does HDMI 1.3 specifically address any PC market issues?

I was particularly interested in #6, to which they answer: “According to the Dolby web site, Dolby TrueHD can support more than 8 audio channels. According to the DTS web site, DTS-HD offers 7.1 channel capability. Current specifications for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray limit the audio to eight channels.”

Hmmmmm. Interesting…

Audioholics HDMI 1.3 Q&A

John Archer of AVReview UK has written an interesting article that describes many of the benefits of the new HDMI 1.3 standard. If you thought it was just a marginal update, think again. Things like a more than doubling of potential bandwidth throughput, a much higher color range, and a lip-sync correction system give the update a pretty high drool factor. In addition, the PS3 is potentially the first consumer electronics device to carry the new standard. Not bad for a $600 BD player/game system.

AVReview UK article

Dan Ramer over at DVDFile has another interesting article. This time he discusses whether or not HDTV is enough. Is HDTV at the point where we can’t see more? Is it at our limit of visual acuity, or is there more beyond 1920 x 1080? I’ll give you a big huge hint:

Hmmm. Apparently the eyeball can perceive much finer detail than we enjoy with high definition. My 8-foot wide home theater screen is positioned for about a 42-degree wide field of view. But if I can perceive 0.59 arc minutes, I’d need 8542 pixels across the screen to reach my limit of visual acuity (42 * 60 / 0.59 = 4271 line-pairs or 8542 pixels). But even the Digital Cinema Initiative 4K specification calls for only 4096 x 2160 pixels. So it’s safe to say that vision is far better than today’s high definition or tomorrow’s digital cinema. Does that matter?

Does that whet your appetite? There’s a lot more over at DVDFile.com.

High Definition Is Here

People have been complaining quite loudly about HDMI switching devices and lockups that occur because of it.

It’s interesting that the media (as usual) gets it wrong and places the blame on HDMI. HDMI is just a delivery system, a cable, and some specs on how to shove a whole bunch of data down that cable. On the other hand, there is HDCP. This copy protection “scheme” is suppose to authorize display devices (HDTV) with content devices (Blu-Ray/HD DVD). Sounds good in principal until you add one more thing.

The switch.

Most receivers today that have an HDMI switcher in them to do just that. Switch from HDMI device to HDMI device. The problem is that when it switches it cuts off the connection to other device, the HDCP handshake is broken, and boom goes the player.

Short of getting rid of HDCP (that has my vote), the only way to fix this is for the receiver to be the HDCP device. Kind of like playing “man in the middle”, but I think that the HDCP group wants the player to directly talk to the display device.

Another “hack” would be the HDMI switch inside the receiver broadcasting the display device HDCP signal back down to the connected devices like say your satellite receiver and your Blu-ray player. The players would be happy because they are getting their HDCP signal fix and there should be no lockups. This also would save the receiver company from having to pay the HDCP licensing fee.

A compromise needs to be hammered out quickly because I think that critical mass will happen next year when the new receivers start shipping that support the HDMI 1.3 bandwidth and can decode the new audio formats. By that time this HDMI/HDCP mess had better be a non-issue.

The latest on HDMI

Digital Home Canada has a nice little article about how to choose an HDTV of the appropriate screen size. They factor in things like the size of your room, where you’re going to place your HDTV, how much space you have in that place, and how far you’ll be sitting away.

I gotta be honest here - I didn’t really consider any of those things when I bought my HDTV. It’s a rear-projection HDTV that takes up a lot of space, which is made worse by the fact that I can’t push it against the wall because there are some shelves in the way that I don’t want to remove. (If only they were a foot shorter!)

When I went shopping for an HDTV, I considered things like technology (was it DLP, LCD, CRT, etc) and features (did it have an DVI/HDCP port, PIP, enough inputs, etc) and picture quality. Then I took a look at the price to see if it was within budget. Then I made sure I got the biggest dang HDTV I could afford that met all my requirements.

So I ended up with the 57″ Hitachi 57T500 CRT rear-projection HDTV. It’s a great set and I’ve been enjoying movies, games, and television ever since. I’ve never thought that it was too big or too small. I never thought that I’m sitting too close or too far. I never thought about how it fit the room. (Though personally I think it looks great.) So for me it’s been a pretty good experience buying my HDTV on a wing and a prayer, so to speak.

How did you decide what size HDTV to get?

Choosing the right size of HDTV

I know it’s been a couple weeks since the HDMI 1.3 spec was released, but here’s the image of the regular HDMI connector along with the new mini-HDMI connector. I don’t think there’s any functional difference between the two, so I wonder why manufacturers don’t start using it exclusively.

HDMI’s mini-plug looks like this