Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Disc Player

Look what Panasonic sent me for review!

The DMP-BD10 seems like a good DVD player and a good enough Blu-ray Disc player. Panasonic sent some sample discs along with it:

The Panasonic disc is very impressive and is MPEG-4 AVC (pictured). The other two are MPEG-2 and are both from Fox (and one of them is "Fantastic Four") and aren't very impressive. Fantastic Four has a video transfer that suffers from temporal noise reduction artefacts so it's hard to evaluate the quality of the player using it. It's also one of those transfers that lacks the "wow, it's HD!" factor. Grrr.

The remote control is also chunky but does the job. Full review coming soon...

Posted at 4:57 PM | Permanent Link

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

100hz Sony BRAVIA LCDs in the distant future: Sony's 2007 range

I think this is the first site to break this news (yay), so feast your eyes. An anonymous source tells me that Sony Europe's 2007 range of LCDs should be hitting stores in July. The S and V-Series are confirmed to be getting an update (these will probably be the S3000 and V3000 series respectively), and news has already surfaced regarding an update to the premium X-Series (which will feature 3 HDMI inputs, support for xvYCC colour, Sony's DRC-MFv2.5 detail enhancing chip, and perhaps also 1080p/24 support).

Also interesting is the fact that a T-Series is planned, which will be exclusive to Sony Centre stores in the UK. This is certainly an interesting concept. I'd speculate that the T-Series will take an existing design, make it more aesthetically appealing, and perhaps add a special feature or two. But hey, that's just my guess, we'll see later this year.

Apparently, either the entire LCD range - or perhaps only selected models, it wasn't made clear - will feature 100hz technology, which is an interesting way of tricking the human eye into perceiving better defined motion that you can read more about on BEHardware.com.

It's interesting to note that the later-on-in-Summer release date is in line with previous years. I can only assume that the April/May 2006 releases of the S2000 and V2000 models were to get HDTVs out in time for the European World Cup.

Anyway, for those who can't wait until later on in the year for their LCD fun, you should take a read of my review of the Sony KDL-40W2000, arguably the finest 1080p LCD TV available today.

Posted at 9:47 PM | Permanent Link

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Can Gefen break new ground and introduce an affordable video processor?

Most people are already familiar with the idea of Upscaling DVD players. That is, DVD players that take your standard 480 line (NTSC) and 576 line (PAL) discs and claim to up-convert them to High Definition resolutions using image processing algorithms. Well, rather than being hard-wired to the output of an MPEG decoder like the (usually) cheap processors that are built in to upconverting DVD players, an external video processor uses much higher quality components and lets you upscale the video output of anything you hook up to it - not just DVDs.

"Doesn't my LCD or Plasma TV already scale the picture up?" you ask. Yes it does, but remember that these TVs need to be sold at a semi-affordable price point, so the processing in them is of the cheaper, mediocre-ish variety (yes, even in "expensive" brands of TV). That's not to say they can't produce nice results at times, but it's a far cry from optimal performance. Enter video processors (sometimes also referred to as "Scalers" after one of their key functions) - devices that take existing video and condition it to be just right for your individual model of display. Now that I finally have a "Full HD" 1920x1080p HDTV, I'm now looking towards getting one.

Processors aren't cheap and you can expect to pay anything from around $1000 to $4500 US smackers for one. Gefen, however, have just announced their Home Theater Scaler, which is up for pre-order for a supposed February release on their web site - for only $450. Suspiciously cheap perhaps, but not a rock-bottom price either. If it gets even some things right, then it could well end up being a must-have for a lot of people.

Here's what you can expect from this nifty (?) little device:

• Supports HD output all the way up to 1080p
• Dual 3D motion video adaptive de-interlacers with smooth low-angle edge - for smooth, low-jaggy playback of VIDEO content (that's the theory)
• Automatic 3:2 pull-down & 2:2 pull-down detection and recovery - for smooth, clear playback of both 50 and 60hz FILM content
• Frame rate conversion function, for unlucky North Americans who have TVs that can't natively display 50hz
• Some gimmicky sounding image "enhancement" functions
• Temporal Noise Reduction for analogue video inputs

And here's the inputs it has - as you can see, there's not a huge selection due to the size of the unit:

• 2x Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) in for SD and HD, with accompanying Analogue Stereo audio inputs
• 2x HDMI inputs, with accompanying Digital audio inputs - both Optical and Coaxial

The thing is, for there to be any point of this product at all, the results that came from running your devices through it would obviously have to be better than connecting them directly to your TV. Supposedly, the device is built around a chipset from a company called Mstar, who nobody seems to have heard of. Hrrrmmm.

It's incredibly unlikely to better the results of the $2000 video processors, and from looking at the back of it, it's perhaps a little short on the connectivity front, but if it does what it claims to and does it well, then Gefen have a revolutionary product on their hands, and who knows - some video processing die-hards think that it it could just trigger the beginning of the end for processors with 4-figure price tags. I'm going to be watching this one VERY, very closely.

Watch this site for news on the Home Theater Scaler as it comes in.

Posted at 10:46 PM | Permanent Link

Monday, January 22, 2007

DVD Transfer Hall of Fame

Avast ye swabs. Remember the DVD Transfer Hall of Fame on Whiggles.com? Well now it's appearing on this site instead. Visit the Hall of Fame today and see the sort of quality it's possible to squeeze out of old Standard-Def DVDs.

The Hall of Shame is coming in the next week or so.

Posted at 8:18 PM | Permanent Link

Saturday, January 20, 2007

HDTV yay!

I've just been sitting back and admiring my KDL-40W2000, now that I can finally enjoy one without seeing misty patches all over the screen. It really is astonishingly good once it's set up properly, and this is just watching standard def DVD on my cheap-ish Panasonic DVD-S97.

But my crazy money throwing around plans aren't done yet. Although it'll be a long time before I get to throw around any more money, because the next thing is going to be more costly than the TV itself. Yup, a video processor. But why would I want one of those? Well, on my current setup I can choose between three sets of artefacts when I watch standard definition DVDs:

1. Using the Panasonic S97 with upscaling turned on: Gain the bonus of the Faroudja chipset's jaggy-smoothing technology for nice silky pictures. In the process, introduce the Faroudja chipset's macro-blocking enhancement error and very minor ringing which is part-and-parcel with the scaling process (especially scaling done at affordable prices).

If you're wondering why I'm up-scaling DVDs to 720p when my TV is 1080p (meaning the picture gets scaled twice - dangerous in terms of quality), it's because the 1080-line mode on the Panasonic S97 looks like pixellated crap.

2. Use the Panasonic S97 to output DVDs in standard-def (not upscaled) but still have it do the Deinterlacing. Which means giving up the jaggy-smoothing features of the Faroudja chipset and also get rid of the macro-block enhance problem - but say hello to my TV's slight colour shift error instead.

3. Use the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player to do the upscaling. That will only work if the DVD is NTSC since it's an American player. The HD-A1 is a top-notch upscaling player apart from this lack of European friendliness - but, it has the Chroma Upsampling Error. So the edges of colours look a little jaggy.

All three of these methods give excellent quality with the right disc, but as you can see they each have their own annoyances. Yes, the quality is excellent, but the fact is that it could be more excellent. I can't wait to get a video processor so I can (hopefully?) give all of these issues the boot. Damn me and my chasing after perfection.

Posted at 1:33 AM | Permanent Link

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Sony BRAVIA KDL-40W2000: I finally got a clear one!

The web is filled with angry owners of Sony BRAVIA LCDs, who are experiencing the dreaded cloudy backlight problem that I previously posted about. The good news is that I finally got a clear KDL-40W2000. This is my third unit.

Yep, this is my third KDL-40W2000 (which, again, if you're not sure, is the UK version of America's KDL-40V2500). It has a very, very slightly uneven look with the backlight turned up to full, as is normal for LCD - but no excessive clouding, no banding, and not even any dead pixels! The tiny non-uniformity is invisible when the backlight is at a realistic (non-torch mode) level, unlike my last two excessively cloudy sets where it actually showed through into normal viewing.

Here's a picture of it with the backlight maxed out in a dark room. As you can see there is only a tiny, normal amount of non-uniformity. The light you can see in the top left corner is actually the glowing that results from the white Input Indicator.

Now let's just hope that this A1-grade panel doesn't get hit by a flying Wii remote, hmmm? For anyone considering trying their hand at owning a KDL-40W2000, be sure to read my in-depth review.

Ah, so happy. Now just to have it ISF Calibrated and paired up with an external video proce$$or.

Update: AVS Forum member xetairex found this interesting info which might explain why there's so many crap panels in these TVs lately. It's from an article in "Business Week" and if it's the reason, I think the top brass at Sony need to be told to get themselves on the next flight out to Korea and kick some backsides:

Early on, Sony also had concerns about quality [from the Samsung LCD panel factory]. The company not only dispatched its own engineers to the joint venture to vet LCD displays, it also insisted that every panel it used be shipped through its LCD-TV factory in Inazawa, near Nagoya, Japan. There the panels went through another rigorous quality check before electronics such as digital tuners, power units, and other components were added. Only then were they packaged into TVs or shipped off as modules to assembly plants in Spain and Mexico.

Now, however, panels are being shipped directly from S-LCD to the assembly plants.

Posted at 7:25 PM | Permanent Link

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Star Trek coming *exclusively* to HD DVD

Now this is interesting. Although I'm not a fan of Star Trek, Kevin Collins, an HD DVD insider, has revealed during a HomeTheaterForum.com Chat, that all of the Paramount Star Trek films will be released exclusively on HD DVD in 2007. Now, whether this means that the title will be exclusive to HD DVD period, and is released in 2007, or exclusive to HD DVD in 2007 but due for Blu-ray release in 2008, is unknown, but given the number of fans this franchise (sorry to use that word) has, it's a pretty big score for the format.

Why is this newsworthy though? It's because Paramount Home Entertainment has, so far, been "the most neutral of the neutral" companies in this "format war". Unlike other studios, every one of the few HD titles released by Paramount on HD DVD has also been released on Blu-ray. This is the first title that will be exclusive to HD DVD, even if it is only for a year (it could be for good, though).

Here's the exact quote from the chat, which, by the way, is a great read:

For instance, the Matrix trilogy will be coming out this year from WHV [Warner Home Video], Star Trek will be exclusive to HD DVD this year, Babel and The Good Shepherd. All in all there will be over 600 HD DVD titles by EOY [end of year].

Posted at 8:48 PM | Permanent Link

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Sony BRAVIA LCD hell - the mura defect

So, if you spent £1600 on an HDTV, and got this whenever the screen had dark pictures on it, would you accept it?

As you can probably guess, it's a big "NO" from me, and it's a big "NO" from most of the AVS Forum in America, which is filled with angry punters who are also experiencing this problem. See those purpley/blue patches? It almost looks as if you're lightly applying pressure to the screen, only it's there all the time. This is known as the "mura defect" and until now, seems to have been a fairly uncommon problem. On the latest panels from the Sony/Samsung S-LCD factory however, it seems that all cloudy hell has been let loose, because I've been inundated with messages about cloudy Sony TVs from all ranges. The 40" 1080p panels, however, seem to be incredibly badly affected.

The panels have also made their way into American models - the KDL-40V2500 and KDL-46V2500, as well as the premium KDL-40XBR2, KDL-46XBR2, as well as the XBR3s. In Europe, the affected equivalent models are called the KDL-40W2000, KDL-46W2000, KDL-40X2000, and KDL-46X2000.

IGN's Craig, who's had a nightmare over the last few years with duff LCDs and Plasmas, has posted pictures on his blog, showing his Sony LCD which also has the problem. His is one of the Sony XBRs, which are known outside the US as the "X-Series" - the top of the range model!

I need to point out that although cameras overemphasise the problem, it's very much real and it does rear its ugly, cloudy head during normal viewing as well. Although it's a total pain to keep returning these TVs (the next one will be my THIRD!), I simply can't accept this sort of defect on an expensive TV from a premium brand (there are other similary-sized panels that don't have this problem, although they're let down by video processing issues).

The Sonys are worth pursuing, and the W-Series represents excellent value - IF you get a good one. Whether or not me and/or the store have the patience, though, remains to be seen.

Posted at 8:46 PM | Permanent Link

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Sony show 27" OLED TV

Engadget are at CES and have pictures of Sony's prototype 27" OLED TV. It has 1920x1080 screen resolution and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 (hopefully real, not "dynamic").

I'll be curious to see what technology replaces LCD for TV viewing, but whatever it is, it looks like Sony aren't planning to be late to the game this time. I'll be curious to hear what sort of specifications (whatever those are worth) competing technologies to OLED can manage, because let's face it, given recent events it wouldn't surprise me if there was a cheaper AND better next-generation technology out there that Sony haven't experimented with yet.

Posted at 8:02 AM | Permanent Link

Monday, January 08, 2007

Toshiba announces 51gb HD DVD disc and strengthened hardware support

Blu-ray Disc's "size advantage" thrown into dispute

At their pre-CES conference, Toshiba have announced that they have successfully researched an HD DVD disc holding a total of 51gb. The disc is still in preliminary stages and will first need to be approved by the DVD Forum to become an official part of the HD DVD spec, meaning we won't be seeing films released on it any time soon.

Although I last year brought information from Toshiba that a triple-layer 45gb disc was possible, the 51gb size comes as a surprise to everyone. Until now, a single-layer on an HD DVD disc has held 15gb. To make the 51gb disc possible, it would appear that Toshiba's engineers have maximised the available space per layer to bring it up to around 17gb.

Just how necessary a 51gb HD DVD disc is, is also unknown, because as of yet, the Blu-ray format, which has a select few titles on its much touted (and reportedly difficult to produce) 50gb discs, has not produced superior picture quality or features despite its space advantage. Most HD DVD titles use VC-1 as their video codec of choice, which is incredibly efficient at compressing video, meaning that artefact-free results have been delivered on 30gb and even 15gb discs.

In addition, new hardware manufacturers have announced support for HD DVD, including boutique manufacturers Onkyo and Meridian. Toshiba has also strengthened its lineup by introducing a new mid-range model that supports 1080p video output, the HD-A20, due to ship in the Spring for $599. Microsoft and decoder chipset provider Broadcom are also working to create solutions to allow for even lower-cost HD DVD players.

Stay tuned for more HD DVD news from CES.

Posted at 11:33 AM | Permanent Link

Sunday, January 07, 2007

LG BH100 pictures

Everyone's favourite HD news bringer Angry The Clown has found (or at least told us) that American electronics retailer Best Buy has now listed the LG HD DVD/Blu-ray combo player on their site. The model number is BH100 and it is replacing LG's cancelled Blu-ray-only player.

The good: it plays HD DVD and BD movies, meaning you can theoretically play just about every HD video disc released (WMV HD DVD-ROMs not included). Also, at $1200, the price isn't THAT bad, either.

The bad: the prototype pictures look butt-ugly (superficial, I know), and LG aren't one of the most trusted names in the consumer electronics world. Hopefully this dual format player will be the first of many (although I still maintain that there are currently few BD exclusive movies that interest me).

Posted at 5:11 PM | Permanent Link

Thursday, January 04, 2007

LG's HD DVD and Blu-ray combo player

Think your combo disc is all that, Warner? Well, how about a combo HD player? Yup - it's true!

I WAS going to wait until this news was 100% official, but to be quite frank, if HighDefDigest (who recently linked here - yay!) are reporting it, and we're being told to expect more info at CES, then it's good enough for me.

Yep, the fine people over at Lucky Goldstar (LG) Electronics have grown some much needed cojones and have announced a player that can handle both HD DVD and Blu-ray disc. This news, ironically enough, comes on the same day as WB announce an HD DVD/Blu-ray combo FORMAT disc. (I wonder which layer will be accessed if such a disc is played in a combo player such as LG's - hopefully we'd be given the choice).

Great news, if you ask me. Although I'm a firm HD DVD supporter and have no regrets, picking up the one or two BD-exclusive titles that interest me will be a welcome feature.

Hopefully, other manufacturers will follow suit, and maybe, just maybe, dual-format players can become standard.

Source: High Def Digest

Posted at 11:52 PM | Permanent Link

Rumour Mill: Warner to release HD DVD/Blu-ray Combo disc

CES 2007 is around the corner, and the rumour mill is already churning. The New York Times is reporting that Warner Home Video has researched and plans to announce an optical disc that can play HD video in both HD DVD and Blu-ray players. The disc is called "Total HD".

The good: well, if it becomes cheap enough to become standard, maybe it could help end this ridiculous "format war". That can only be a good thing, right?

The bad: the word is that the disc might only be able to hold a single layer of each. That means a 15gb HD DVD layer and a 25gb Blu-ray one. For the average length film encoded using VC-1, this probably means that you can still fit a film on without any obnoxious pre-blurring and visible artefacts, thanks to the advanced compression (VC-1 can do some seriously amazing stuff, although more space is always good to be safe).

On top of that, manufacturing the discs could always end up being expensive. There's no word yet on exactly how much these combo discs are going to cost.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out, but I can't wait for CES to start on the 8th!

Posted at 3:57 PM | Permanent Link

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Sony KDL-40W2000 Reviewed

Oh my! The KDL-40W2000 has just been reviewed at DVD Times by, guess who? Me! Go and buy one!

Posted at 4:13 PM | Permanent Link

Monday, January 01, 2007

It's January 1st AND I have another new HDTV...

Sorry for the lack of udpates people, but I've been having fun playing with my new New Year's present to myself! Yep, on December 30th, I picked up a Sony KDL-40W2000 1080p BRAVIA from Costco (where else?). After jumping in last time to a TV I hadn't evaluated with the KDL-32V2000, and being a little stung by finding irritating edge enhancement issues in what was an otherwise great TV, I went down to everyone's favourite warehouse store with my HD DVD player and a disc full of test patterns to nip any potential problems in the bud before I put down my £1537. Needless to say this isn't the easiest price for me to afford so I'm selling my previous KDL-32V2000 in order to pay for half of the bill.

The Costco people looked horrified when I told them of my plan to actually see what the TV was like before I handed over the cash, but fortunately enough they have a great returns policy so said if I had any problems at all, I could easily return it. Fair enough, I thought, so I went home with 40 inches of 1080p fun.

Remember all the problems I told Sony about that they said actually weren't problems and that they wouldn't fix? Well, the good news is that they've fixed them! The new TV has no ugly halo issues with any video mode, which means that even through Composite video, you can get really nice looking results.

Of course, it wouldn't be a consumer TV if it was totally problem free, because they've managed to introduce a new video fault, and that is that on 480i video (and to an almost unnoticeable extent on 480p), there's a Y/C Shift error so that any red colours appear shifted too far to the right out of the lines. This is 100 times better than the halos on the last TV though and since only the lowest resolution video mode is affected, it doesn't annoy me too much. Nevertheless, it's incredibly careless and I wish Sony's engineers would find problems like this rather than me having to. Naturally I'll be pointing it out to Sony in the hope that they'll fix it (yeah, right).

So all in all, I'm delighted with the KDL-40W2000 and am working on a full review of the beast. Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!

Posted at 5:55 PM | Permanent Link