This just in, the 75 inch Mitsubishi LaserVue has arrived

DOM-DOM-DOM!!! You can hear the symphonic tympani explode in the background...

Mitsubishi just dropped the H-Bomb in the rest of the league. Those who were not lucky enough to be vaporized instantly by the blast are now dying of radiation poisoning.

The market impact of the new LaserVue may not be that massive, but I think it is going to be big. The news reports in my mailbox indicate that the L75-A91 has arrived. This is in contradistinction to the L65-A90, which was the original LaserVue introduced for public consumption back in 2008.

Let me show you how to decode that nomenclature. L stands for laser. The next two digits indicate inches. 65 indicated 65 inches; 75 indicates 75 inches. A9 in the technology model. If that changes the brains and guts of the HDTV will have changed dramatically. The last digit indicates revision of the technology model.

So with that key we can see that L65-A90 indicates Laser, 65 inch, A9 technology, revision Zero. The model just introduced is the L75-A91. This indicates Laser, 75 inch, A9 technology, revision one. They increased the size 10 inches and revved the technology. Marvelous, eh?

Ready for the punch line? The 75 incher costs $1,000 less than the L65-A90 did when it was originally introduced in the year 2008. $5,999 is not to much to spend for a masterpiece like this. I am pleased by this price progress.

This news really flipped my lid and made my day. I feared that DLP was going tthe way of the dynosaurs and that Mitsubishi might just give up on LaserVue. Not a chance. They are still open for business. I am excited.

75 inches! That is just drop-dead gorgeous! It would look fantastic in my living room. I want one. My HDTV is now officially for sale. I do not want to continue with this 55 inch Luxia that still features a bit of motion blur. I want to reward Mitsubishi for this great achievement.

The one and the only disappointment is that this remains a 1080p unit. We get the standard 1920 x 1080 pixels of resolution we have always seen. I am still looking forward to the days of 4K resolution. Toshiba is doing that now, but their technology is not for me. I want Laser, not LCD. I want big, not 55 inches. 55 inches is not big.

Of course, they are touting that this is a 3d-ready unit. What does that mean? It means you need to spend another $300 or $400 to make it fully 3d functional. Why would I do such a thing? I have no idea. I give up, why would I?

So what about 3d?

I am a great lover of technology. I am quick to embrace any possible improvement. I am what is commonly known as "an early adopter". The second HDTV seemed even remotely good, I dived into the pool head-first. For the record, this was late 2006 when the XBox360 got it's HD-DVD attachment and the PS3 was about to be released (signifying the arrival of Blu-Ray).

The arrival of true 1080p disks signified to me that this market was about to mature.

So what about 3d? Have I adopted that? Nope. Do I have plans to adopt it soon. Nope. Do I have any plans to adopt it? Not really. Why? Because every demo I have seen, save one, sucks hard. This is not at all unlike the 3d effects we see in the movie theater: They suck hard.

I'm going to be perfectly frank with you good folks: 3d leave me cold. I am not excited. The major reason is that the movie produces don't do anything with the media. An occasional shot which pops out at you is not worth the annoyance of the glasses. Even the most advanced 3d movie ever made, which is Avatar, still made relatively limited use of 3d.

Even when the true 1080p 3d Blu-Rays begin to arrive, which they have not, I still doubt that there is much power in the media itself.

Of course, this does not prevent marketing forces from attempted to persuade you to 'upgrade' to a 3d set. Mark ye well the following example of marking hype:

If you check out an in-store demo, you'll likely be impressed by 3D. We recently spent some quality time with Panasonic's VT25 3D plasma watching Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and it was a blast. After all, 3D adds depth and, when it's done right, can make you feel like you're inside the picture. -PC Magazine

All I can say to that is "bullshit" and "thank you for regurgitating the predigested marking hype from the advertising companies... oh wait! I forgot! PC Magazine is a marking/advertising company." In sooth, they always have been.

The quote above is proceeds from a false premise, uses fallacious logic and reaches and erroneous conclusion. Almost no one has a VT25 HDTV on display, must less equipped with the several-hundred dollars worth of glasses necessary to do 3d. Worst of all, if you have seen it, and I have, there is no there there. There's nothing special going on. The demo left me flat. I didn't want it.

Inevitably, sooner or later, I will want to buy a new HDTV. Moore's law guarantees progress in all of the basic areas of HDTV quality. I will want that increase in core-competency at some point in the future. Upgrade day may not come for two years, but sooner or later, it will come.

No doubt, this will bring 3d along with it. 3d is being rolled into all HDTVs as we speak. This will become a default feature of all HDTVs soon. You won't be able to buy a current model year without it. However, my reason for buying will not be 3d. The shit just doesn't do anything for me.

To you folks in the industry: I have to say that I really believe you are wasting your time with this 3d jazz. It is much more difficult to interpolate a 3d layer from 2d sources than it is to upscale 1080p to the so-called 4K standard. It is much more difficult for the creative film maker to shoot a movie in 3d than it is to shoot the movie in 4K with a simple RedCam.

I believe the difference between 1080p and so-called 4k is far more dramatic, far more stunning and far more desirable than the anything 3d has ever thrown at me. Every photographer and graphic artist will tell you that more pixels are better. Higher resolution is better resolution. Every gamer will tell you a higher res screen is a better screen. Every computer user will tell you that more screen real estate is better.

If I were you, I would toss the 3d thing on the back burner and work hard on the 4K thing. I will upgrade immediately for a reasonably priced 4K screen. 3d holds no interest for me.

There is still motion blur and jutter on LCD TVs

Those of you who have read my blog know that I recently bought a Samsung Luxia UN55B7000.  This is the recently acclaimed LED LCD HDTV which supposedly defines the state of the art in LCD flat screens at this moment in time.  It is also 1.2 inches in total thickness, a fact cause the fashion critics to stand up and praise God. 

Almost 3 full weeks have elapsed since I made my purchase.  It will be 21 days as of tomorrow.  I purchased my Unit on April 18.  What have I learned?  Many things, in truth, but none more important than this:  There is still motion blur and jutter on LCD televisions.  There is also flat-cold ghosting and after-imaging on fast moving objects in movies.

Anyone who says otherwise is a Goddamn fucking fork-tongued liar.  Direct that filthy lying sonofabitch to my blog so I can insult the shit out of him.

You can't get away from it.  120Hz works for sports like Football and Basketball.  120Hz motion smothing does not work on Blu-Ray movies.  It does wacky things to 24fps movies.  You won't like it.  You will shut it off.  I guarentee it.  The first time you see the lips of an actor out of sync with the sound-track, you will hate this feature.  You will be pissed.

Folks, blurring and ghosting are not (and never have been) issues with DLP technology.  There is a very precise and logical, physical, scientific explanation for this fact.  Let me tell you about it.

LCD is an acronym signifying Liquid Crystal Diods.  There are approximately 2 million Liquid Crystal Diods in a rectangular array on any 1080P LCD television.  Each one of those 2 million Liquid Crystals changes its color osculation in response to an electrical signal sent to it by the video processor.  It takes a bit of time for an LCD to change its osculating frequency (and therefore color) in response to a new electrical signal.  We call this delay between signal change and osculating frequency change "Refresher Rate" or "Refresh Time".  LCDs carry an important measure quote called "Refresher Rate".  This figure is quoted in Milliseconds.  All LCDs featuring 120Hz technology have a refresher rate of 4ms.

Believe it or not, that is hella-slow.  DLP is radically faster.

DLP is a different kind of technology.  DLPs are based on a light gun powered by a 150 or 180 watt bulb.  This gun is located at the back of your 10 to 19 inch deep DLP HDTV.  It is a type of projection technology, not unlike CRT or the projectors you see in movie theater.  It is identical to the digital theater projection systems you see in high-end movie houses like the Archlight, or the Mann Chinese Theater in Hollywood.  It is merely rear-screen projection rather than front-screen projection.

The DLP shoots photon waves of light at your screen, and paints the picture in colored light.  How fast is this in comparison to LCD?

Last time I checked, the speed of light is a universal physical constant and is quoted at 299,792,458 meters per second.  How long does it take a beam of light to travel about 13 inches or 33cm from the bulb to screen?  Last time I checked that works out to 1.10076 E-8.  I think that's just about 11 nanoseconds.  Last time I checked a nanosecond is defined as 1 E-9 s.

So we are talking about the difference between 4ms and 11ns.  We are talking about the difference  between 4.0 E-3 vs. 1.1 E-8.  That is 5 orders of magnitude, and 363% multiplied on top of that just for good measure.  That means my new LED LCD is 3.63 E+5 slower than my old DLP.  In English that means my new LED LCD is 363,384.79758 times slower than my old DLP.

When I said DLP is radically faster, I meant radically faster.  I bullshit you not.

That means that there is no fucking motion blur on any fucking DLP.  That means that there is no fucking ghosting or after images on any fucking DLP.  You can shove that fact up you fucking ass and bleed to death rapidly it if you are DLP detractor.  The problem that afflicts LCDs does not apply or pertain to DLP in any way shape or form.  By its very scientific nature, DLP completely avoids this problem.  Asking how DLPs control motion blur is like asking how you rewind your DVDs before returning them to Block Buster.  The question is illogical because the problem does not exist.

Are you ready for some whipped cream on top?  My old DLP cost $2000 about 2 years ago.  This new LCD cost about $3000 just 20 days ago.

Are you ready for the cherry on top of the whipped cream?  My old DLP was 6 inches larger than my new LED LCD.  It was a 61 inch behemoth.  This one is just 55 inches.

For this reason I am disappointed in my purchase.  All-in-all, it is still pretty good television, but it is not as good as the best DLPs on the market today.  Although the clarity and detail are magnificent, motion is more important.  We call them motion pictures for a reason.

I am very glad that my mother covets my new LED LCD with great lust.  She is seeking a family discount price on a used purchase as I write this.  I think I am going to sell it to her... just the second that the Mitsubishi WD-82837 comes out in June.

Bye Bye Pioneer

The HDTV illuminati are disconsolate and drowning in tears. They are going to lay down and cry for a hundred years.

This week, we confirmed that Pioneer is exiting the HDTV business entirely. They aren't just dropping their famous Kuro Plasma line. They are getting out of the business of HDTVs. No Lasers. No LCDs. No DLPs. Nothing. Pioneer is out.

This brought howls of dismay from the HDTV critics, who have routinely showered Kuro with every award and superlative they could muster. The basic line goes like this “It is sad that customers won't pay for the superior quality of Pioneer. This shows that there is a race to the bottom as vendors try to cut cost in this era of economic crisis.”

Well, that is pretty nice bullshit, but bullshit none the less. Let me set the record straight: Pioneer isn't quiting because people are too stupid to recognize quality when they see it, or too cheap to pay for it when they see it. Nope. That ain't the reason at all. Pioneer got run out of the plasma market by Panasonic. Panasonic beat the hell out of them. Panasonic simply made bigger, cheaper and better looking plasma screens that Pioneer. I am talking about better image quality and better styling at the same time. Pioneer could not compete with Panasonic, and they knew it, so they quit.

As long as Panasonic is around, there simply is no reason for any rational consumer to spend $6000 on a 60 inch Kuro 151FD. You could have a 65 inch PZ850U for about $4500 instead. Plasma consumers opted for the latter in 2008. Pioneer was awash in red ink.

As I have said several times in this blog: The Kuro isn't what it is cracked up to be. It is a strong performer, but quite overrated. Certainly not the best HDTV money can buy. There was certainly a cult of Kuro during its existence, but having a cult following does not prove superiority. Plan 9 From Outer Space has a cult following. It is far from the greatest film ever made.

I don't know why, but experts get locked in an Ivory Tower echo chamber sometimes. They seem to be lemmings with herding instincts. Each year in the NFL draft, the critics get hot for some prospect who surely turns into a bust. They overlook good kids who turn into all-pros. Joe Montana was drafted in the 3rd round. Kurt Warner wasn't drafted at all. So it is with movies and so it is with HDTVs. Tim Couch and David Carr were both selected #1 overall. The NFL (regretably) showed these two to be failures. Likewise, the market has rendered its verdict on Pioneer's Kuro: Kuro is a non-viable product. This means the evaluators were wrong in their initial assessments.

Some perfectly marvelous HDTVs get mediocre reviews—or no coverage at all—just because there isn't strong mind share behind them. I don't believe HDTV critics have a real scientific methodology, despite their attempts to cloak reviews in the shroud of Science. Speaking of the Pseudo Science of HDTV reviews, let's debunk that bullshit right here and now.

There is a standard called ITU BT.709. It is sometimes mistakenly called Rec.709 by the TV critics. BT.709 is an International Telecommunications Union standard. This standard defines the pixel count, pixel depth, frame rates, and color space of HDTV. The standard can be found here. It is a digital electronics standard just like any other digital electronics standard. It was formed in the same way that all standards are formed.

Now, I happen to know something about digital electronics standards. I am a programmer with more than 14 years of professional experience and about 27 years of total experience. I have to deal with ANSI, ECMA and ISO all the fucking time. I know how these standards get formed. A number of experts are drawn from major industry firms. These experts are gathered together somewhere in the world for a conference. They are sequestered in a room once or twice. You usually have just two physical meetings. The rest of the time, the experts collaborate online for about a year or two. They vote many times by email or webform. In the end, they publish a massive document which few people ever read. This document defines the industry.

What is important about this story is that it is a messy political process, dominated by industry titans with a commercial agenda. There may be one or two technology purists on the team, but any standard SIG is comprised mostly of pragmatic business-minded men... And they are always men.

BT.709 was formed by a number experts from the largest TV firms in the world. They negotiated a product which they felt they could manufacture and sell at a reasonable profit. That was the goal. Just as surely as the first ECMA standard for C# did not define a perfect or complete language, the ITU standard for HDTV did not define the philosophically perfect spec for HDTV. They are nowhere near the logical limit of visual quality in BT.709.

BT.709 is just one conclusion among many possibilities. It is just one compromise solution which got enough votes to pass out of the standards committee. It is the spec we have. It is the spec we work with, but it isn't perfect, I can assure you of this.

In the case of any standard, there are always weaknesses. There are always obvious points where you can go above and beyond the spec and achieve much better results. Exceeding the spec is no sin. Computer firms do it all the time, with delightful results. God, where in the world would we be if NVIDIA and ATI hadn't pushed way beyond the spec for VGA and SVGA?

Whenever I read reviews of the Kuro the critics always seem to propound the fidelity of the Kuro to the BT.709 standard. Repeatedly, they state that the Kuro is the only HDTV to nail the spec perfectly. Repeatedly, they chastise inferior HDTVs for failing to hit the spec. Repeatedly, they critique better HDTVs for exceeding the spec. Mitsubishi has been criticized many times for exceeding the spec.

I can understand why you chastise HDTVs which fail on the low side. This is justified. I do not agree with criticizing firms who exceed the spec on the high side. Unless you believe BT.709 is the perfect and logical limit of video quality, firms should try to exceed BT.709. This is no sin. To characterize it as a sin is just flat cold wrong. Rather, it is progressive improvement.

Ergo the cult of Kuro is simply predicated on bad ideology. That is all. Only this and nothing more. Kuro has been crowed the king by those who hold fast to this faulty ideology. There is no need to take them seriously. Their lamentations are a tale told by an idiot full or sound and fury signifying nothing.

If you happen to be one of these poor players, strutting and fretting upon the stage, only to be heard no more, I have some good news for you. It goes like this.

HDTV is a field strongly allied to the semiconductor industry. HDTV is an example of digital science and engineering. As such, it is subject to Alan Moore's law. Moore's law basically says that we double the density of transistors on any given dice size every 18 months. This means we basically double to power and sophistication of our digital electronics products every 18 months.

If you are upset that Kuro is gone, just wait 18 months. In 18 months Vizio and Phillips will be making flat pannels superior to the current Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro 151FD.

So, whatever happened to my NEW HDTV?

I haven't bought it yet, that's what happened. Why? Essentially, my Dad is having financial trouble due to the close of his Restaurant. He wanted to back out of the deal. This suited me just fine, because--as it turns out--I was having a little financial problem of my own.

It turns out that HSBC turned me down for the Mitsubishi Diamond Credit program. They gave no specific reason for doing so. They simply stated that they had consulted Transunion before making their decision. I happen to subscribe to TrueCredit.com, a service provided by Transunion. Everything is fine there. I don't have a long and deep credit history including three car loans, and two mortgages, but what I do have is pretty good. My Transunion FICO is resting at 708 right now. That ain't bad. I am shocked that HSBC would turn down a 708 FICO for a TV loan... but then again I am not.

I just blogged recently about HSBC going into crisis. [Consult The Great Depression II.] I just want it to be understood that this is their fault, not mine. In an ordinary environment, they would have lent me the money. As we all know, this ain't no normal or ordinary banking environment.

There is a certain Korean car vendor I know [he also owns my apartment building and lives here] who was deeply dismayed when he heard my report on this matter. He claimed that no FICO above 700 ever drove away from his car lot without financing on a brand new car... At least prior to this mess. He has seen many cases like this lately. It is killing his business. He was hoping for news that the credit freeze was thawing. I brought news of continued winter weather.

Regardless, I am going to buy a new HDTV as soon as I can find a buyer for my current HDTV. I have more or less decided to buy a Mitsubishi DiamondScan WD-73835. This will give me an extra foot of screen, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 3d movies. I think this is the best value on the market. I would like more time to pay for it and lower interest, but I will do it anyway.

3d a smash at CES? LaserVue puts plasma to shame...?

Or so they say here. Supposedly, 3d ready HDTVs like Mitsubishi's DLPs and Panasonic's Plasmas are the rage right now at CES. What is a 3d ready HDTV? It basically an HDTV which can take any Blu-Ray {and perhaps any HDMI digital input} and transform the standard flat 2d picture into a stereoscopic picture. This means you can sit in front of the DiamondScan or the Viera and watch Dark City, or Apocalypto or No Country for Old Men in 3d. All you need are the customary glasses. The original authors and engineers of the film and disk do not need to do anything special to permit this stereoscopic feature to function. Its all done, post-process, with our marvelous silicone digital signal processing technology.

Although I have never been a particular fan of 3d movies, I must admit, this is cool feature. It would be fun and cool to try it out with my library. It would give me a reason to go back and watch all my favorites again. I am skeptical it will work well {this technology has never worked well in my estimation} but it would be fun to try it. Based on the enthusiasm for the tech, it must be working better than I would presume.

But then again...

We come to the issue of LaserVue. If you read my past blog entries, you know what I think about LaserVue: Its a fraud. The emperor has no cloths on. I say this is as a commited DLP fan who wishes it would work. I am more likely to buy a Mitsubishi DiamondScan 835 than a LaserVue right now, and not because of LaserVue's price. I would finance it, if I though it would work better. It does not.

Nevertheless, somehow, someway, the lovely Alix Steel [will you marry me babby?] is all bubbly about how LaserVue puts Plasma to shame. She even embedded a small res video in her post to prove it... not that such a proof can prove her point. I hope you are right, Alix, but I am highly skeptical. One thing I will say is this: You are girl after my own heart. Image quality is more important than skinny screens.

I vow that I will give LaserVue another look soon. It may be that Mitsubishi debugged their shtick in the past few months. I was expecting major improvement with the next gen. So far we have no generational landmark, but Mitsubishi may be making improvements to the LaserVue firmware. This process did wonders for my mighty PS3.

In my last survey of the market, Panasonic's marvelous Viera PZ850 series proved itself to be a serious contender for the championship. If the LaserVue can put such a screen 'to shame' it will be worth every penny of the $7,000 they are asking for it. It is no mean task to crush the PZ850 series or the Pioneer Kuro Elite Pro.