tvblink.com - great tool

[Jayflap]

I did a search for tvblink.com and did not find anything so I thought I would post this. My apologies if it has been discussed already.

At work we happened to be sent a brand new Sony XBR top of the line LCD monitor (KDL-52XBR5) which is supposedly the fasted refreshing LCD monitor on the market. Hanging on the wall was a baseline Pioneer Plasma monitor. I don't know the model on that, but it was a 50" model instead of the 52". When looking at HD, the images were similar, but the plasma was a bit better. When you did an upconvert of an SD image (which we all know is still very prominent) is where the plasma shines.

Using the downloadable DVD from tvblink.com, you can run a series of tests that really push the limits of the monitor to show motion blur, aliasing issues, and general detail. In the motion blur test (a series of Rubik's cubes moving across the screen at different speeds) the LCD blurred horribly on the 2nd  line down while the Plasma held up all the way through the 4 lines of the test. The aliasing showed some minor aliasing on the plasma, the LCD had very large pixels as a series of bars rotated on the screen. The other test that really impressed me was simply the 'cloud' test. It is a series of clouds moving across the screen. At one point on the LCD it looked like fog, but on the plasma there was still a very distinct line between the layers of clouds.

It is worth downloading and seeing if the sales person will allow you to compare monitors using it. This test is incredible to determine the shortcomings of monitors.

Cheers,
Jason

[klwillis45]

Nice find, downloading now

[steve053]

Thanks - this will come in handy some day soon.

[Jayflap]

No problem. Thank my manager who loves testing this stuff then turned me onto the site. I wonder what reaction you might get walking to a Best Buy or Circuit City with one of these discs. Not sure if they would let you or not. :huh?:

[Bebop]

Shouldn't be a problem if they want to sell you a new TV.

[Snard]

Okay, I'm downloading this as I type, but I noticed the following text on the web site:
   Important note: When you test at the store be sure to do it with a regular DVD player  connected via the composite video out or the S-Video out. This way you are really testing the capabilities of the HDTV. If you use a DVD with progressive output (via component cables) you will not see the true performance of the HDTV. The same goes for the newer HDMI up converting DVD players.
Now really... how many stores today are going to have a DVD player connected to a HDTV via composite video or S-Video? I understand that he doesn't want the DVD player to "correct" the video during its up-conversion, but it seems to me that you're really testing the ability of the HDTV to handle analog 480i signals. Am I missing something?

[Jayflap]

You are not missing anything at all snard. The thing is that showing the upconvert (no matter what the connection) is that you are exposing the short comings of a particular set. These problems will still exist in HD, but are just intensified in the upconverted SD mode. If the image blur is still noticeable in the HD mode on the Sony, but it is intensified in the SD upconvert.

Just trying to give folks a tool so they can pick the best television out there for the money. When you have a tool like this, it helps you to look at things that you have concerns about by pushing the upper limits of the monitors capabilities.

I just wish they didn't kill all the CRTs out there. We had LCDs as our edit suite monitors for a very short time because they simply couldn't refresh fast enough for edit suite demands. We replaced them with a good old Sony multiformat CRT and it looks beautiful.