George Cole Gets Connected

GEORGE COLE

GETS CONNECTED

GEORGE COLE PINPOINTS HOTSPOTS IN THE WORLD OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

AN UNRESOLVED RESOLUTION?

At this year’s CES 2020, 8K televisions took centre stage as companies such as Samsung, LG and Sony unveiled new ranges of 8K sets. But the push for 8K has also opened up a can of worms when it comes to standards. At least one company is stating that its sets o er “Real 8K,” implying that other 8K televisions are not the real deal

The argument comes down to standards and interpretation. The 8K Association has set out a list of criteria that defi nes whether a television is 8K or not. This includes the resolution (7680 x 4320 pixels), as well as specifi cations for luminance, type of codec, interface and other factors. If a TV set meets these criteria, it can be described as an 8K TV. The US Consumer Technology Association defi nes an 8K set as having 33 million or more active pixels, at least 7680 horizontally and 4320 vertically within a 16:9 viewable window.

But not so fast, say some. They point to a decision made by the International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM), an international group of scientists, engineers, researchers. The ICDM aims to develop an Information Display Measurements Standard (IDMS) for displays, which includes a new way of measuring resolution. Traditionally, screen resolution has been defi ned by the number of pixels, but the ICDM states that this method is outdated.

The argument goes that in the past, displays were composed of red, green and blue (RGB) pixels, but modern sets use an RGBW (for white) array, in order to increase the aperture ratio (the higher the ratio, the brighter the screen). This arrangement also a ects contrast modulation (CM). Contrast modulation measures the ability to display a series of white and black patterns, each one pixel wide. The higher the CM percentage, the sharper the text and image. ICDM states that the CM should be at least 50% for both text and images. The argument from at least one manufacturer is that any so-called 8K TV set with a CM of less than 50% isn’t really an 8K set (no surprise that its sets o er a CM above the 50% threshold). It’s a headache for retailers trying to sell 8K sets and consumers interested in investing in the technology. Expect this controversy to run and run during 2020.

WALL OF WONDER

“Micro LEDs would seem to o er the Holy Grail for TV display.” Also at CES, Samung was busily demonstrating what it claims will be the next big leap in television display technology – Micro LED. The company was showing Micro LED displays ranging in size from 50 inches to a whopping 292 inches. Micro LEDs would seem to o er the Holy Grail for TV displays. Unlike conventional LEDS, they don’t require a backlight, as they are self-illuminating; they don’t need LED shutters, and unlike OLED technology, there is no issue with burn-in. They are very power

e cient and sets can be made very slim. The snag is their high production cost. But research company

IHS Markit forecasts that production costs will fall, with sales of devices using Micro LED technology rising from less than 1000 in 2019 to 15.5 million by 2026. It sounds impressive, but as IHS Markit points out, this will still only account for less than 0.5% of the global TV market…

WHO NEEDS EYES?

Those of us above a certain age will remember the days when colour televisions came with three control knobs for adjusting colour, brightness and contrast. By tweaking these controls, viewers could achieve the optimum image quality (or so the theory went). Nowadays, with AI, HDR and other features, TV sets can automatically adjust many parameters to get the best picture possible (so the marketing hype goes). Now, Panasonic has announced a new TV set, the HZ2000, which is said to be the world’s fi rst TV set to support Dolby Vision IQ and Filmmaker Mode. Dolby Vision IQ uses a combination of HDR and built-in light sensors to measure the ambient light level of the room and tweak the image accordingly. It also uses dynamic metadata to analyse the TV content and, again, adjust the TV settings for the optimum image quality – so says Dolby. It makes you wonder if we need ever trust our own eyes again when it comes to getting the best image on our screens.