TVs. Part 2. Plasma or LCD, chassis, diagonal, motion transmission, color, effect on vision

Hello again, dear habracheloveki.

The first part caused a certain interest, so it was decided to continue this topic.
I want to say a special thank you to those who paid attention to the first part. I did not think that my humble article would cause such a considerable interest.

We can continue. In the second part, I would like to share my thoughts on choosing a diagonal of a TV for various applications, choosing a technology, as well as how frame interpolation affects the smoothness of movement and try to debunk some myths about modern TVs. Also, I want to touch on the topic of the influence of various parameters of the TV on the vision.
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After I figured out the materiel, I decided that now I need to find out what influences the image in practice and how, knowing this, I can choose TV.

Chassis

It is necessary to recall such a thing as chassis. Roughly speaking, this is all the electronics inside the TV. Televisions on the same chassis have completely the same video path. Televisions with the same chassis necessarily carry the same set of inputs and have exactly the same signal processing.
Chassis models are most often described in service instructions, but they cannot be directly compared: the chassis does not have characteristics that can be compared.
When LCD matrixes are produced by only a few players on the market (these are Samsung, Sharp and LG), almost every TV maker develops the chassis. Of the major players, this is not Sharp (oddly enough, producing the best matrix on the market and unable to develop the chassis), who buys the chassis from Philips. Basically, the chassis differ from series to series (the lower the series - the easier the chassis), one model of the chassis can capture several series (then TVs of different series will be similar).
An interesting, if I may say so, incident this year was made by Philips - it built all the TVs from the 6th to the 9th series on one chassis, and this means that among other things, all these TVs have one image processor that responds for frame interpolation. Philips calls various types of processing beautiful marketing names “Perfect Pixel HD”, “Pixel Precise HD” and if before there were real differences in processing between these names, now all the differences have been erased. I understand why Philips left different names for one, in fact, processing - older series TVs should feel superior. But this is not fair.

LCD, Plasma - what to choose?

If you have not read the 1st part of the article and do not know the main differences between different display technologies, matrixes and different types of LCD backlight - I advise you to read.

If you choose a TV, you should first decide what technology to give preference. And this is the hardest part. Sellers in one voice said that nothing existed except LCD, on the “advanced” video forums only plasma was advised. Everything turned out to be a bit simpler - everything has its own purpose and each technology is suitable for its task.

What factors influence the choice in favor of LCD

- You are watching TV in a bright room.
Plasma is essentially a glass and no matter how “cool” the anti-glare filter is, the plasma behaves worse in bright light. Add to this the high brightness of the LCD LED and get the answer - if you are watching TV in a bright room, you should pay attention to the LCD.

- You want to use the TV as a monitor (Internet, image processing)
As you know, LCD has practically no memory effect when the image freezes on the screen, therefore it is ideally suited as a technology for monitors. Plasma has a residual image effect. In addition, the gradations on the plasma display take place with the help of dithering ; therefore, everything is “not moving” near a clear grid of pixels. Plasma as a monitor is not suitable.

- Do you want a TV small diagonal
Small diagonals are where the LCD reigns supreme. FullHD plasma starts with only 42 ".

- Your eyes do not perceive plasma TV imaging technology.
There are people (only a few percent of them) who do not like plasma because they see flicker. If you see flicker, set the mode to 96 Hz, turn off all the lights (“energy-saving” lamps also have their own frequency and it can interfere with the plasma), turn the settings if you are using a PC. Only then can we talk about "flicker."

- Do you like over saturated colors
I do not belong to this category of people, but there are such people.

What factors influence the choice in favor of plasma

- You want to view mostly HD content
Blu-Ray, BD-rips - it's all about the plasma. These are her best friends and she most fully reveals quality content.

- You often watch TV with dim lights or in the dark
If light is the main enemy of plasma, then darkness is its best friend. It is in the dark that the image is revealed in full force.

- You choose a TV for home theater
Cinema is what they buy plasma for. It is this one that creates the effect of the “volume” of a 2D image, has a deep black level, is famous for its lack of light, has excellent contrast transitions.

- You need a large diagonal TV:
50 "—65" these are exactly the diagonals in which the plasma should be chosen. A 65 "home-screen LCD TV is a very strange choice.

- You like natural colors:
I do a little photography and imagine what reference colors are. These are not dim at all, as you might think, but bright, saturated and deep colors.

Diagonal selection:

It's time to choose a diagonal for the TV. The choice of this diagonal is influenced by the following factors:
- The distance to the TV. Attention - only the distance, the size of the room does not affect the choice of the diagonal.
- Content resolution. It is absolutely clear that the higher the clarity of the content, the closer you can watch TV.
- Purpose. If you choose a TV for home theater - this is one diagonal, the TV to the country - the other.
- The budget. If, as often happens, the budget is limited, it is not necessary to buy the recommended diagonal, you can buy less.

There is such an organization: THX George Lucas, she distributes certificates for the image and sets standards in the field of television. It is her recommendations that I propose to use (especially since these are recommendations of not one THX, but of many and many companies and experts.

I suggest to your court a table of diagonals:


When I bought my first 42-inch TV for viewing from 3 meters, this table would have shocked me, but not now. Now I realized that the diagonal tends to “shrink” (when the TV first seems large). Please turn Note that the table is relevant when choosing a TV for home theater.If you are not such a "gourmet" and choose a TV for a pleasant viewing of programs in the evening, you can pay attention to the smaller diagonal.
When you select the diagonal indicated for THX for 1080, the diagonal does not seem big, the eyes do not run around the screen and do not get tired at all.

There is one simple rule: there are not many diagonals. Choose a TV for home theater and are not limited in budget - take the diagonal from the table.

What about the eyes?

So we got to the most common myth that has remained in our memory since the days of the CRT. This is due to the radiation generated by this type of TV. Modern TV is devoid of it.
The myth says that the larger the TV diagonal, the more harmful it is to the eyes in the end.
"Breaks down" mainly accommodative muscle , which is responsible for focusing. It stretches the lens so that the rays come together at the desired point. When the functions of the accommodative muscle are disrupted, a spasm of accommodation occurs and it becomes harder for the eye to focus on distant objects. Children of school age are more likely to have myopia.
Because of what when watching TV "spoils" vision? In general, because of the same, because of what it spoils when reading a book, especially in dim light - the eye focuses at one distance, strains, the ability of the accommodative muscle is impaired. The muscle is tensed the more, the closer and the smaller the object on which you want to focus.

What conclusions can be drawn from this?
- The closer the distance to the TV, the more tired the eyes and the higher the likelihood of visual impairment. But the relationship is not linear (that is, 2 meters is not 2 times more harmful than 1 meter), but rather, it is exponential or close to it, and there is not much difference between 2 and 3 meters.
- The smaller the object on which you want to focus, the more tired the eyes and the more likely the dysfunction of accommodation.
That is, in theory, a small diagonal is more harmful than a large one. I did not manage to find research on this subject, but it can be said with confidence that, other things being equal, a large LCD or plasma TV diagonal is no more harmful than a small one.

Frame Interpolation

Many users ask the question why on some televisions the fast movement of objects or panning looks smooth, while others do not. We should start with the fact that the standard 24 frames per second for the film industry was adopted in the first half of the 20th century, when the requirements for cinema were somewhat different and excessive waste of the film was not welcomed. This “jerking” of an image is called a strobe.
Absolute fact - 24 fps is not enough to transfer fast-moving objects or panoramic camera movement.
This means that when you turn off the soft processing, without exception, TVs will display this type of movement is not the best images. We are hostages of the standard.
There are several real solutions to this problem, but they all boil down to an increased frame rate.
1) Frame interpolation. The fact that in different degrees of success can all modern TV from the average price category. TV on the fly analyzes 2 adjacent frames and draws another one or even 2 at its discretion.
2) HFR (high frame rate). Shooting initially in a higher frame format. Eliminates the image processing processor artifacts of the TV processor, but requires a special shooting, and most importantly - the carrier. The first and only film shot with HFR - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey . It is not clear to me on which media it will be distributed and whether it will even be distributed in the HFR.

All methods of increasing the frame rate carry one serious drawback - the loss of the "cinematic" image. The film looks unnatural, unusual. While the movie world is at a crossroads - shoot and watch in the HFR or the usual frame rate. What path will be chosen - no one knows.
Personally, I watch documentaries and cartoons with frame interpolation, but turn it off for feature films.

Frame interpolation is designed not only to deal with the strobe, but also to increase the dynamic resolution of LCD TVs (only modern Panasonic plasmas are capable of displaying 1080 lines of dynamic resolution with frame interpolation turned off).

So we come to why some TVs show a dynamic picture in this way, and others in a different way.
To make comparisons, you need to set the interpolation value to one position or turn it off altogether (this item is called differently by different manufacturers). Only then can we talk about a different display of dynamics.

Modes

I think this is the most important point at the initial stage of choosing a TV. I often heard the words that the models of one class from different manufacturers show a completely different picture (such as the fact that the Philips 5-series is much better than the Samsung 6-series, etc.). With a probability of 99%, this is a mistake and it's in the details.
At this stage, almost everything depends on the mode set. Incorrectly set mode can make the worst image on the best TV in the world.

Choosing a TV, be careful about the modes - on all candidates, see all, select the ones that will appeal to the most. If something does not suit, set the "Custom" mode and twist the color settings, contrast.

From here come a few other myths. For example, that samsungi show "nuclear" colors. This is true for phones where it is almost impossible or difficult to set up and calibrate. On TVs, absolutely all parameters are adjustable. From here we smoothly proceed to calibration.

Calibration

This item will be very short, as it is not at all my environment, but a couple of words should be said. Absolutely everything in our world has tolerances. especially in mass production. The parameters of each released TV differs from both the standard and its counterparts. The degree of color deviation from the standard is measured by the DeltaE complex characteristic (this was casually mentioned in the first part in the “image characteristics” section. The greater the deviation from zero, the greater the color deviation from the reference one. As a person with a little photo, I can say that the reference colors are very deep, bright and saturated, they do not need any processing.

Calibration of a TV is a process when a signal is sent from a reference source to an input, which is measured at the output with a colorimeter. Then the wizard sets up the TV in such a way (only the top and pre-top models have full calibration capabilities) so that it gives the colors as close as possible to the standard. On average, it is possible to achieve values ​​of 2-3 Delta E, which is considered indistinguishable from the standard by the human eye.

Instead of conclusion or brief theses

In short, I want to write everything that I wanted to convey to those who do not want to read the whole article:
1) Each technology has its own purpose. Plasma - for home theater, large diagonals, viewing in the dark. LCD for viewing in bright rooms, in country houses, when choosing small diagonals, while working with a computer or if you see plasma flicker.
2) When choosing a TV, pay attention to the modes. They solve a lot. Look at the modes of all candidates for purchase, select the ones you like, look at them. Do not compare TVs according to the modes set by the sellers in the store.
3) Choosing a diagonal, push off from the task. If you choose a TV for home cinema and are not constrained in the means - there is not a lot of diagonal. In this case, for 2.5 m and 1080 content, the ideal diagonal will be 65 ". If you choose a TV for other purposes, it is possible, and sometimes necessary, to choose a smaller diagonal. Do not forget that those TVs that initially seem huge after time seem much less.
4) The frame interpolation is a slippery thing. Although it helps to create a smooth movement, not everyone will like it. It is important to know that there is no universal way to achieve smooth movement of fast-moving objects. There are tradeoffs and you need to choose what you want.
5) If you buy a top TV for home theater, perhaps it makes sense to calibrate it. For some TVs this is especially important. In particular, for those that have a very large DeltaE deviation out of the box. For example, Samsung ES8000 (8007), Sony HX923.

Since the article came out much more than I expected, there was not much that I wanted to say. Let's leave it for the final 3rd part. If you're interested, I will talk about the types of 3D, their practical differences, pitfalls (difficulties and features that sellers do not talk about), sources of 2D playback, and most importantly, 3D content (there are enormous difficulties with this), well and about your choice, of course.

Thank you for your attention to my reflections.