Sony Press Trip To Tokyo (June 2008)

Sony graciously brought a select few press members to Japan for a week long trip focusing mainly on new developments in their HDTV lineup. We arrived on Tuesday, June 10 in the afternoon. The next day, we began with a tour of their new showroom at the company's headquarters in Shinagawa,Tokyo where Sony showcases all its consumer video products, as well as, the company's well regarded professional broadcast products. The tour ended with an impressive demonstration of Sony's 4096 x 2160 or what is commonly referred to as the 4K x 2K digital cinema projector, model SRX-R220, in the showroom's elaborate theater.

On April 19^th I published a short piece on a rather serious issue I encountered in the field while calibrating the very popular Pioneer PDP-5080 720p resolution plasma panel. You may recall that when I completed the grayscale calibration in the service menu, and exited the service menu to take measurements to check the accuracy of the grayscale, I found that it hadn't retained the calibration settings at all. Quite by chance, I found that if you turn off the Pure Cinema, then the calibrated grayscale returned.

Depending on what your needs are, there are a few different options open to you for purchasing your new HDTV.

One of these options would be to buy it on the Internet. If you are a do it yourselfer, then internet purchasing may be the right option for you. Be careful, and do some research beforehand on the company you plan on making the purchase with. Make sure the seller is an authorized reseller for the product you are planning on buying, and that it will come with the full manufacturer’s warranty.

 According to sales figures from last year, Vizio's VX32L was the largest selling 32-inch HDTV in the U.S.  This year's VO32L 32-inch LCD panel promises to be another big hit. Vizio was kind enough to lend TweakTV this new model for a Sneak Preview for our members. With a street price of just $649, the VO32L is aggressively priced to say the least.

Starting on Friday July 18, and running through Sat July 19, Value Electronics at 108 Garth Road in Scarsdale, NY conducted a flat panel shoot out consisting of six flat panel HDTVs. I was asked to calibrate all the sets and introduce the two sessions by presenting the attendees with information on the different criteria of the shootout, what parameters were measured and why, and field and answer questions.  

I guess it’s a sign of the times. With TV shows like “Survivor” and “The Bachelor” espousing the virtues of deceitful behavior and getting big ratings, why should I be surprised that specifications from A/V manufacturers occasionally stretch the truth. I’m not, and they do…and they continue to on an ever more frequent basis. Still, one has to draw the line somewhere.

Size Matters

When it comes to video display devices (TVs) size matters more than you might think. My experience as a custom installer taught me that customers always want the biggest picture they can possibly get when purchasing an expensive home theater system. While the overall size of the picture in a home theater definitely adds to the impact of the home theater experience, bigger is not always better. The optimum size of the screen depends on several factors.

If you guessed that was a Carnac bit from the Best of Carson DVD box set you wouldn’t be too far off…that’s available at Cost-Club as well. When it comes to a bargain for an HDTV using money that was hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar on your porch until the “time was right”, perhaps the feeling of being all-knowing and all-omniscient has you donning a massive, red velvet turban with adorning flowing cape. Once the domain of canned goods that, were they to fall on your foot, would wreak the same kind of damage as an Al McGinnis slap shot, savvy merchandising has propelled your local warehouse club into a formidable electronics powerhouse.