Some time ago in
this space, I predicted that the post-2010 Christmas season we would see the
demise of our beloved DVD as a video format. I cited economies of scale for the
Studios and the sheer perceived (and actual) value for the consumer, in the
form of clearly obvious performance superiority in both audio and video as the
drivers. It didn't happen. Here's why I think it didn't.
No, this isn't
the I-told-ya-so column ... yet. Events have moved much faster than I predicted
when I wrote a column on this topic about a year ago, but it seems we are
headed for the same forecasted result.In that column I pointed to lack of standards, lack of content, the
glasses nuisance and the problematic usage model in the home as probable deterrents
to wide (or any) adoption of 3D in your living room. Press releases received over
the past few months from various independent surveys have "leaked"
reports of disappointing sales from even the most conservative manufacturer's
estimates.
Pros: Good brightness and contrast ratio. Very accurate color gamut and grayscale tracking. Good feature set. 3D capable.
Cons: Somewhat limited calibration setup features. Lacks selectable color spaces, and a Color Management System (CMS) feature for fine tuning color space. The remote lacks backlighting.
To Buy or Not to Buy? Very good overall performance for an edge lit LED LCD. At a list price of $2,900, this panel represents a reasonably good value. Highly recommended for an edge lit LED LCD.
Pros:Very good value for the money at a list price of
$1,699. Very good black levels, and accurate color gamut (in the THX picture
mode) that adheres to the ITU-709 specifications for HDTV. The panel has good
off axis viewing when compared to LCD panels, and good 3D picture quality.
Cons: The panel begins to clip
white and color at very low contrast levels yielding a very low 17 fTLs. of
peak light output with no clipping, and with whites extending out beyond the
235 range for white in a video signal. Grayscale and gamma tracking is
inconsistent and choppy by comparison to other flat panels on the market both
plasma and LCD.
To Buy or not to Buy? Considering the TC-P42GT25
is available for under $1,500 on the Internet, it is a relatively good value
for the money. It is a very credible performer with good overall color accuracy.
One major flaw: It clips the video signal at very low contrast levels making its
light output somewhat limited.
Professional television calibration takes what we, at TweakTV, are suggesting as a starting point to the highest level of system performance and accuracy. It is essentially a fine tuning of your entire video system by a qualified trained technician with reference level test equipment. What we are providing with the User menu settings for digital cable and/or Satelllite via the HDMI inputs of HDTVs is just a basic start in what we refer to as “System Calibration”. A full professional system calibration includes setting up all the video sources including the cable box and/or satellite receiver, DVD player, and calibrating each input on the TV with a variety of sophisticated TV test equipment.
How
would you like to be able to turn your Pioneer PDP-5020 or PDP-6020 into an
Elite Pro-111FD or Pro-151FD?
If
you know anything about the last couple of generation Pioneer plasma panels,
you know that from a picture quality and performance stand point the PDP series
were good panels, and the Elites were great panels. You may also know that with
the 20 series PDP panels, Pioneer attempted to prevent professional technicians
from calibrating these panels by locking them out of the service menu. The
company’s stance was if you want a Pioneer that can be calibrated you must step
up to an Elite, which could be construed as a pretty arrogant move. In response
to Pioneer’s move, a small software company named ControlCal engineered an
interface with the panel in order to work around this problem.
Pros: 
Professional television calibration takes what we, at TweakTV, 
