All About HDTV: Answers To Your Questions

Buying a TV used to mean deciding what size screen you wanted, then going out and finding the set with the best-looking picture you could afford--with not much more to it than that. In the end, such basic choices are still mostly what it's all about. Yet somehow the process manages to be, or at least to seem, much more complicated.

One reason is that, increasingly, most of the TVs available today are high-definition models. And along with dramatically improved picture and sound, HDTV brings a boatload of new terminology, new features, and new connection options. To help make sense of it all, here are the answers to the most common and most important questions posed by today's HDTV shoppers.

HDTV Basics

Q. What is HDTV?

A. HDTV (high-definition television) comprises a family of digital broadcast formats that offer extremely clear wide-screen pictures and Dolby Digital sound. An HDTV broadcast contains about six times as much picture information as a conventional analog TV broadcast.

Q. What does "wide screen" mean?

A. In television, a wide-screen picture is one with a 16:9 aspect ratio--that is, 16 units of screen width for every 9 units of screen height. This is very close to the aspect ratio most commonly used in the film industry and a better match to the human visual field than the traditional, almost square 4:3 aspect ratio of conventional television (and of movies made before the early 1950s).

Q. What are 1080i and 720p?

A. These are the picture formats used for HDTV broadcasts. Some networks and stations use 1080i (CBS and NBC, for example), whereas others (including ABC and Fox) use 720p. TV creates an illusion of motion by displaying a succession of still images. In a 1080i signal, each complete video frame is 1920 pixels (picture elements) wide by 1080 pixels high, transmitted in interlaced format. A 720p signal, on the other hand, contains 1280 by 720-pixel frames transmitted in progressive format.

Q. What is 1080p?

A. Basically, it's a progressive version of 1080i (see above). HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs carry video in 1080p format; it is not used for broadcast.

Q. What's the difference between interlaced and progressive video?

A. Progressive video presents a complete frame at a time. Interlaced video, on the other hand, builds each frame out of two fields--one comprising the odd-numbered pixel rows, or scan lines, the other the even-numbered pixel rows--which are presented alternately. Whereas the frame rate for 720p (progressive) HDTV is 60 per second (60 fps), the frame rate for 1080i (interlaced) is just 30 per second, but with a field rate of 60 per second.

If you're thinking, "Well, that seems like a bit of a cheat," you're right. It's a pretty effective one most of the time, however, which is why interlacing was adopted for the analog television systems of the twentieth century. It allowed greater effective picture resolution within the transmission bandwidth allotted for TV channels, yet the screen was refreshed frequently enough to avoid obvious flicker on the cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays of the era. Its advantages outweighed its drawbacks.

Q. Which is better, 720p or 1080i?

A. That depends on the amount of motion in the program. For still images or scenes containing relatively little motion, 1080i can deliver greater detail. But 720p excels on scenes containing fast motion. That's why the networks with the heaviest commitments to sports programming have adopted 720p. ABC owns ESPN, for example, and Fox owns many regional sports networks.

HP's 32-inch LCD TV

HP LC3200N

HP's 32-inch LCD TV provides a wealth of ports and image adjustments.

Usually you buy a television to look at the screen, but the back panel of the HP LC3200N is pretty impressive too, as it has an incredible number of ports to which you can connect other equipment; it even has FireWire ports for showing footage from a digital video camcorder or exporting to a digital-VHS deck. The one addition we'd like to see is a second HDMI port (something that, of the group of TVs we tested at the same time as the HP, only the Dell W3201C provided).

You'll find a large selection of on-screen color controls, as well. Though this panel is made by Sharp and is very similar to the Sharp Aquos LC-32D6U, the HP set adds six-color hue, saturation, and image-value adjustments. (We couldn't take full advantage of those controls in our image-quality tests, however, because we use standard settings and a set calibration routine.) The HP set trailed the Aquos unit in overall image quality, though it came very close in high-definition programming and in DVD playback. As with the Aquos, switching to this set's alternate picture modes (most of which are customizable) gave us a more attractive image.

The LC3200N's screen, which is surrounded by a shiny black bezel, sits on a humongous silver base that makes the set very stable but isn't elegant. The speakers can mount on the sides of the screen, making the panel look even wider than it is. The TV has a Dolby Virtual surround-sound mode that's somewhat effective, but the speakers' audio quality is merely adequate. The long, thin remote control has cheap-feeling buttons, though they are backlit.

Upshot: The LC3200N didn't win our image-quality tests, but it does have a wide array of ports to connect racks full of equipment, and its extensive image adjustments should help you get the picture you want.

-- Alan Stafford

Canon Elura 100

Canon Elura 100

This very small and low-cost camcorder offers a true wide-screen display, but lacks manual focus.

The Elura 100 ($400 as of 5/2/06) is small both in size and in price: In fact, at 2.2 by 3.0 by 4.3 inches, it's one of the smallest camcorders available. Though it's not quite pocket-size, it's compact and light enough to fit into a purse, so it won't drag you down.

Despite that, the Elura 100 fits comfortably in the hand, and the controls are in the right spots for easy shooting. The zoom control for its 20X optical zoom lens sits under the index finger (the digital zoom goes up to 800X, but the image quality is so poor at that level that the digital zoom is unusable), and the record button is under the thumb. It's also easy to switch the camcorder from camera mode to player mode via the mode dial located around the record button. Though most of the controls are accessed through an on-screen menu (which is controlled with the four-way joystick on the back of the camcorder), there are some buttons for features such as the wide-screen mode and for turning off the LCD backlight. There's also a switch for going into program mode or easy mode, which puts most settings at automatic for point-and-shoot use.

It feels as though Canon cut corners to keep the Elura 100 inexpensive. The case feels too flimsy to stand up to rough treatment--the plastic port covers are attached by small pieces of plastic that could easily get torn off.

The 2.7-inch LCD screen is clear and bright, and (unlike the LCDs of many of the other camcorders we looked at) it's a true wide-screen display: When you're shooting in the 16:9 wide-screen mode, video fills the entire screen. The Elura 100 is also unusual for a budget camcorder in that it shoots true 16:9 wide-aspect video: While many other camcorders just trim the top and bottom parts of the video, the CCD image sensor in the Elura 100 is a true wide-screen sensor, which makes for higher resolution.

Though video showed good detail, it lacked the vivid colors we saw from more-expensive models. In low light, problems were more pronounced, with some colors almost vanishing in a gray haze. You can add more light by using the two built-in LED lights, but these provide light only at a range of a few feet. The video didn't look unattractive in good lighting--it just wasn't as good as the video of more-expensive models.

We also noticed a quiet but distracting noise while recording. Though the stereo microphones on the top of the case picked up good-quality sound, they also picked up the motor noise, which was audible in quiet parts of recordings.

The battery life of the Elura 100 was excellent: A fully charged battery lasted just over 148 minutes, long enough for an extended trip. It's a pity that the video quality wasn't better, however, as that's our only serious complaint about what is otherwise a worthy low-cost camcorder.

The Canon Elura 100 is a good choice for budget shooters. While the image quality isn't great, the Elura is a compact, easy-to-use camera that won't confuse novice filmmakers.

-- Richard Baguley

Brother HL-5250DN

Brother HL-5250DN

Brother's network-enabled small-office laser has it all.

Brother has another winner on its hands with the HL-5250DN. Its low price tag and compact footprint make it a good fit for the tight budgets and crowded workspaces of many small offices. Yet this attractive monochrome laser also produces top output quality at outstanding speed, can print on both sides of the paper, and hooks up easily to your network.

In addition to a standard 250-sheet paper tray in the printer's base, the front panel folds forward to reveal another tray that can feed up to 50 sheets of alternate media. You have to use this secondary tray to feed envelopes, and though you can stack them only three high, that's better than other printers that take only one at a time. The printer lacks a rear exit to provide a flat paper path, so there's some chance of creasing the edges of your envelopes. However, the advantages of a built-in duplexer at this price should outweigh that risk. You can attach up to two optional 250-sheet paper trays to the bottom of the printer, but at $200 each, they aren't exactly a bargain.

The control panel to the right of the HL-5250DN's 150-sheet output bin consists of just two buttons and four lights. Even without LCD-based menus for entering network parameters, the printer is easy to install, thanks in part to Brother's efficient, if not colorful, setup booklet. You get no other printed documentation, but the software CD-ROM includes a video to illustrate the initial setup and the User's Guide as a PDF document. You can download Brother's useful set of network administration tools at no cost from the company's Web site.

Replacing the toner cartridge is easy enough, but you have to pull the drum assembly out from the front of the printer before detaching the cartridge and attaching a new one. Out of the box, the HL-5250DN comes with the standard-size toner cartridge rated by Brother (according to the industry standard of 5 percent page coverage) for 3500 pages. You can save money by buying high capacity cartridges rated for 7000 pages for $100. When you factor in replacing the $189 drum assembly every 25,000 pages, your cost of consumables would be a reasonable 2.2 cents per page.

Our panel of judges positively glowed about the HL-5250DN's print quality. Text looked crisp and sharp, with just a few oddities visible in the shape of some characters. Although our line art sample was a little light, its nicely distinct close parallel lines and barely perceptible banding made it one of the best samples produced by a monochrome laser printer. Even our challenging grayscale image looked good--it was a little dark and showed some strong moiré patterns in textures, but its fine contrast and minimal banding impressed us.

In our speed tests, the HL-5250DN printed text at 21.6 pages per minute, which is competitive with lasers costing several times as much. At 9.6 ppm, graphics also emerged faster from the HL-5250DN than from the other models we tested this month.

Upshot: With fast printing, quality output, easy networking, and a built-in duplexer, the Brother HL-5250DN would be a great choice for a small office.

-- Paul Jasper