Category Archives: HDTV

Check, Recheck and Triple Check

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

One of the tasks involved in doing reviews on equipment is identifying faults with that equipment. That may seem easy, but it isn’t always. If you have a lousy picture while watching HDTV, is it the HDTV receiver that’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Firmware, HD DVD, HDTV, Testing | Leave a comment

576i to the rescue

Posted on May 1, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I mentioned below that ‘what we really need is a HD TV receiver that can either output 576i over a HDMI output (DVI outputs do a weird output when set to 576i, which isn’t compatible with all the displays I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, HDTV, Interlacing, Video | Leave a comment

HD picture quality, vs SD picture quality

Posted on April 28, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

The issue before last of Sound and Image magazine carries my article comparing the picture quality of SDTV and HDTV. In brief, I captured snippets of both versions of the same programs on a high definition PVR (the Strong SRT-5490), … Continue reading →

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We need a videophile’s High Definition Digital TV Receiver

Posted on April 26, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve been struggling to get my head around this for some time. The problem has been a lack of replicable test signals. But I think I’ve got it nailed, at last. I was watching a late night movie on ABC … Continue reading →

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Putting pressure on TV cinematographers

Posted on April 4, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

It isn’t easy to be a TV cinematographer these days. The other night I was watching Medium on high definition TV. The pre-titles opening scene was, as usual, one of Alison Dubois’ dreams. Mrs Dubois is the titular Medium, and … Continue reading →

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Topfield releases its first HD PVR

Posted on November 16, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Just received a press release from Topfield. It has now released its TF7000HDPVRt. That string of letters at the end have meaning: t=terrestrial (ie, as opposed to satellite), PVR=Personal Video Recorder, and HD=High Definition. Price? $1,299. The natural competitor to … Continue reading →

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How good is HDTV anyway?

Posted on June 26, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Of course, I love high definition. As I sit here writing, my son is playing ‘Call of Duty 2’ on an XBox 360, set to 1080i output, playing via a Denon AVR-4306 receiver (with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio) to an … Continue reading →

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What output resolution to use for HDTV?

Posted on June 15, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

Okay, you have a nice shiny new high definition TV receiver. You work through its setup menus and discover you can set its high definition output resolution to 576p, 720p or 1080i. Which should you use? Preferably, none of them. … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, HDTV, Interlacing, Scaling, Video | Leave a comment

Digital TV bitrates in Canberra

Posted on November 2, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Vince writes: Could you place (or give a link) on your blog the local TV stations bit rates that I have variously seen in your articles to the Canberra times? Why not? First, though, I should note that the following … Continue reading →

Posted in Codecs, Compression, DTV, HDTV | Leave a comment

Forthcoming: Twin Tuner High Definition PVR from Strong

Posted on September 9, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday I had a long chat with Trevor Young of Strong Technologies, which currently sells the SRT-5390 digital TV receiver/Personal Video Recorder. He says that the company has a number of new products forthcoming, including a high definition TV receiver … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Equipment, HDTV, Recorders | Leave a comment