| Secret 8: YOU MAY NOT SEE A PICTURE AT ITS | | | | ignore it. Life isn't perfect. Be VERY CLEAR |
| BEST.What you should do about it:Depends on | | | | on what the warranty covers or |
| how deeply you want to crawl into | | | | doesn't.Mosquito noise.Not buzzing. It's a |
| this.Warning!This is technical but I'll | | | | swirling that looks like tiny bugs flying |
| simplify. Each piece of electronics - a | | | | around. You'll see it - if you do - in |
| display device (Hi-Def, digital television) | | | | saturated colors.Screen Door Effect. |
| has its own way of showing the picture, | | | | |
| involving a fixed number of pixels (picture | | | | It looks like looking through a screen door |
| pieces). This isn't the same for all sets. It | | | | into your picture. (Especially - to my eye - |
| isn't the necessarily same for DVD players, | | | | on Plasma sets.) It's because of how the set |
| converters, or whatever else you plug in to | | | | is built (you are actually seeing the holes |
| see a picture. So somewhere the data is | | | | or spaces between picture elements). |
| converted. ALL CONVERSION SCHEMES ARE NOT | | | | Manufacturers are aware of this and doing all |
| EQUAL. THERE MAY BE LOSSES of resolution, or | | | | they can to fix or mitigate it.Blocking.The |
| clarity. There may be what they call | | | | picture breaks up into little (or bigger!) |
| artifacts. | | | | blocks. This is horrible to see unless you |
| | | | love modern art. It'll be seen in moving |
| And here's a thrill: The TV stations don't | | | | pictures of detail. This is the worst |
| have to use all their new digital bandwidth | | | | sin.Rainbows.Certain people see a rainbow |
| to broadcast in full high-definition. For | | | | effect in certain DLP (Digital Light |
| example, rather than being limited to | | | | Projector) sets. You might notice it if you |
| providing one analog programming channel, a | | | | look slightly away from the screen. It's |
| broadcaster will be able to provide a super | | | | caused by the way the DLPs work. Some are |
| sharp "high definition" (HDTV) program or | | | | better at this than others. There's no pot of |
| multiple "standard definition" DTV programs | | | | gold at the end, either.Pixel failure.Since |
| simultaneously. Providing several program | | | | there are so many elements (pixels) to a |
| streams on one broadcast channel is called | | | | picture, one or more can fail. THE WARRANTY |
| "multicasting." The number of programs a | | | | MIGHT STATE that a certain number of failures |
| station can send on one digital channel | | | | is okay with them and may even be expected. |
| depends on the level of picture detail, also | | | | IF you saw it you'd only notice it up close |
| known as "resolution," desired in each | | | | (see section on where to sit in relation to |
| programming stream. DTV can provide | | | | screen - you shouldn't BE that close. One or |
| interactive video and data services that are | | | | more might also stay lit permanently. That'll |
| not possible with "analog" technology. They | | | | be more obvious, a tiny, tiny red in a black |
| may use some of it for something else that | | | | scene, for example. There may be millions of |
| makes them more money. They - or the | | | | these dots on your screen, to give you a |
| satellite channels - can, in effect, send a | | | | sense of scale. This isn't the end of the |
| degraded picture alongside another new | | | | world.Secret #10: SPEAKERS NEVER SOUND THE |
| channel of degraded picture. There's nothing | | | | WAY THEY DO IN THE STORE. What you should do |
| you can do about this. Nice.Secret #9: | | | | about it:Just know it. There's little you can |
| ARTIFACTS.Important background on nasty | | | | do. (But in the audio section of I'll tell |
| artifacts:Warning:Like a pimple on a teen, | | | | you all about how to get the best out of your |
| after they see it, that's ALL they see. If | | | | sound.)Why? It has to do with the acoustics |
| you want to live in denial, skip ahead to | | | | of the room in which you listen. Each room |
| Number 10. And these aren't REALLY secrets, | | | | makes the same speakers sound differently. |
| because you can see them, but you might not | | | | Sometimes better, sometimes worse. You could |
| notice right away.What you should do about | | | | buy a subwoofer and bring it home and HEAR NO |
| it:Decide which you can live with and which | | | | BASS where you sit. But this will be covered |
| you can't. It will drive you crazy if you let | | | | in the audio section. Along with what you can |
| it. Or spend a fortune to get the latest | | | | do about it.There. Now you know 3 more Ugly |
| technology that might have it fixed. Or just | | | | Home Theater secrets. |