Tag: resolution

Sceptre 32 inch TV Review

Posted onAuthorTruXter


I have the 32″ screen sceptre television. 720p resolution. Presets for picture temperature are either very dark or very white washed or low color. After a bit of manual adjustments, the picture is near flawless.
3 hdmi connections on the back, 1 usb connection. All of the typical rca jacks.
Usb connection is for usb storage drives. Sorry only mp3 and photos. Wont play video.
Screen sizes are normal, zoom,stretch and cinema. Cinema is zoomed way in. Most of the image does not fit in screen are. Its like being zoomed in on 1/4 of the video.
Zoomed mode, zooms in too far also, just not as bad as cinema. Stretched, basically stretches the images to fit the width of screen area. Leaves black bars and middle of viewable area distorted from stretching. Though the manual says the outer edges will be stretched looking.

but. When you have the image set at the default original setting where you have black bares on left,right,top and bottom, your video will be at the highest resolution that your tv can display . So if image quality is your goal…..

bottom left button on the remote is one of the first buttons you should push. hit that three times if you want out of the dark, energy efficient mode. top right button, hit that twice. These are the defaults that I found most bearable with the lighting in my house. I still made manual changes.

The audio through the built in speakers, far above and beyond what I expected. This beats the LG tv I have for comparison. (specs to come in other posts).
External speaker sound, again above what I expected. This is while selecting between 2.1 surround, and 5.1 surround sound.

Overall weight of the sceptre 32 inch tv, a lot lighter than my 19 inch lg monitor and slightly less weight than my 32 inch lg television. Weighs less than 5 lbs. Or at least feels that way to me.
Assembly of the factory stand, very simple. Wall mount is 200mm/200mm and again very simple. For this, there is an extra backing piece you find in the box. I saw mine and was certain the manufacturer goofed and gave me an extra back for a some remote that didn’t get packaged. No worries, this backing is for the lower section to cover the hole when you removed the stand. I chose not to use the wall mount, Since I am in a new house and I really do not want holes in my wall. I may want to relocate that television some day, and would be stuck with holes. So um…. no thanks.
Use of local tv through antenna (had to purchase one) images are amazing. Now that is true high def at it’s finest, if this is an option for you, I recommend it. Highly recommend it. Full screen at default settings with high crisp images.
Signal through local cable, not using the cable box, well there are hundreds upon hundreds of channels that can be received. The Hd channels are of no quality comparison to local broadcast.
Pretty much the same if you use the cable box, you just have to find channel 3 and let the cable box do all of the work for you.

Ratings of Sceptre 32 inch TV
image quality in default 8/10
image quality at full zoom 7/10
audio on board 9/10
Audio through external speakers 10/10
ease of install 10/10
image set up ease 7/10
Broadcast signal image 10/10
Look of the tv (physical appearance) 9/10

Full review rating/score (based on TruXter Tech Review’s unprofessional opinion) 8/10

 

 

Update 12/28/2011

Lately I have noticed a weird noise when the  tv warms up. and then again when it cools off. Sounds like the plastic is snapping.

Update12/5/2012
But still. Bang for buck, this is a great T.V. . One year later and this t.v. is working like it was brand new. Speakers are good with no buzzing, no dead pixels, no off coloring. The t.v. is in great condition.
Menu is a bit slow. Especially selection reception resolution. That’s a tad frustrating. I haven’t found anything about upscaling so. I am not sure it does this. The popping I posted about earlier, seems to have stopped for a good while now. wasn’t a loud pop, more like a surprising crackle.

Gimp Vs Adobe PhotoShop poll

Posted onAuthorTruXter

This is to collect data and show in a later post about image editing software.
This is between Gimp GNU Image Manipulation Program and Adobe Photoshop
I have both installed on my computer at work. And I use both Gimp and Photoshop.
but I use one way more than the other. There is a debate between myself and the head IT guy
about which one has better tools, which one is more reliable and which one has better resolution images.
I say it’s all about the user.

This is not a comparison. This is a Poll to see what gets used more.
Not what you think is better between photoshop vs gimp
but what you use more. Photoshop or Gimp.
[poll id=”6″]

This one is is again not about what is better.
This gimp vs photoshop poll is about which one has more tools
addons that you get online and tools that are bundled with the image editing tool all count.
[poll id=”7″]

This one is about Quality
Which one produces better looking images
Gimp or photoshop
[poll id=”8″]

Finally, which one is more reliable
Which one crashes the least, hangs up the least and starts the fastest between Gimp and Photoshop
[poll id=”9″]

What I see From A Wide Screen

Posted onAuthorTruXter2 Comments

Face it, The first Wide screen (not in a theater) for public purchase that was for any decent use, was on our laptops. You can give huge thanks to the laptop computer creators for your new wide screen television, or wide screen monitor on your computer. sure there were a few devices out before the laptop computer that had flat screens . But this whole post is about anything  greater than 8bit. I am talking about something that evolved into a nation wide demand for higher resolution to be broadcast for television purposes.The better the laptop monitor got, the more appealing it got want that kind of thin screen on your personal desktop computer. And the more you wanted a flat  screen monitor, the more you wanted a flat-screen television. This would lead to so much more real estate on your desktop and your entertainment center. With all of this extra space we could now see ourselves with  wider monitors. That of course triggers the gears in your head. You find yourself saying “hey, at the beginning of all of the movies, they say the movie has been modified to fit my screen”. Now we have an idea.

So everyone has one these days, except for a few people. The world treats them as if they are leaving themselves behind. Or they are just stubborn. But really, are they? Could they just have better things to spend their money on?

I was using a 25 inch crt Monitor and had a 62 inch crt television. Now I am on a 19″  widescreen monitor and a 42″ widescreen television. Some how I tell myself I am better off because the videos fit my monitor and television. The truth is, it’s not any wider now. In fact I lost the whole top section of my monitor and top section of my television. Instead of the video being made to fit my tv, my tv is now made to fit the video. Sure the tv is now at a higher resolution than the old one. Now the colors are crazy now. One show is what they call “hot” while another  is not . So the red or the yellow bleed out.

I do know one thing, my desk isn’t bowed in the middle like it was with that big glass monitor. I am happy to move the television upstairs on a whim. Much lighter now. A bit more expensive still.

Do we really need wide screen monitors and wide screen televisions? or are we just happy with flat screens and our movies fitting the view area?

Selecting a Flat Screen Monitor

Posted onAuthorTruXter

So you are looking for a monitor for your computer. You are not 100% certain as to what you are looking for. Simply because you are either just coming off an old CRT monitor, or one of the first breeds of lcd monitor. If you are just now coming from the first breeds of flat screen monitors then I have to tell you, quite a bit has changed now. A nice new flat panel monitor will do you some wonders. If you are coming from a CRT monitor ( I will assume it was a very high quality CRT monitor) then you are not looking at better, or worse resolution, . What? what you say? We can feel safe in saying that this is a whole new ball game now. First gen flat screen monitors were no comparison to crt monitors. Now days it is finally a whole new game. It’s low cost high quality now. Wide screen areas. With the advent of High def televisions (HD tv). We got a huge choice in upgrades and tweaks and inventions that shot monitors through the roof in their evolution.
So let’s get into the budget tech review and explanation to help you select a good flat screen monitor. I will make this simple as possible. Bring the Flat Screen Monitor into an easy way to shop. After this you might as well upgrade your television. You can use this review when making that choice also. I just don’t believe the resolutions or image quality will be near as crisp as what you will see with your new monitor.
Here are 4 very important things to look at , Resolution, Scan Types and Contrast ratio and of course the one that isn’t listed on any boxes or manuals: blackness (black levels), view degree, light reflection.
Now to explain these qualities. I will use my best “Redneck definitions”. Well. In a sense.

Resolution
How many pixels across the top by how many pixels down the side. Screen size is not defined by resolution but a key ingredient in image quality is. You can have a monitor that is eleven inches across the top and six inches down the side (small wide screen)(not the right way to measure a monitor, but should be). The resolution for this flat screen monitor example could be 1440×900.
Then you look at a monitor that is 32 inches across the top and 17 inches down the side. This larger monitor could have the exact same resolution of 1440×900.
In this case, bigger is not better. Not at all. a monitor at that size would have to have a resolution of “4320×2700” to even compare. Kinda unachievable. but who wants tiny monitor ?
720p is better than 1080i.

Scans
Progressive scan and interlaced scan.
Progressive is the latest and newest higher quality. you are better off getting Progressive. Some videos and 3d programs still use interlacing so you may want to look into what kind of deinterlacing is used on the monitor or hope it is handled well with your video card.. Think of Progressive as very fast stacked lines to make an image.
Interlaced was dropped for the most part. Think of Interlaced as as static you would see on your old television. Every other pixel or so flashes while the next one is loading. Kinda

Most people can not see the difference between the two flat screen monitors. Unless they use both types of monitors for a while and then switch between them after long use. After using progressive scan, I get a headache when I use interlaced now.

Contrast ratio
There are two terms that get mentioned when talking about Contrast. Static and Dynamic
Static is very important, dynamic is bonus points.
Static is the Native settings fixed contrast.
Dynamic is your contrasts fluctuation range.
The higher the static, the better
If the dynamic contrast ratio is the only thing listed and it says something along the lines of 200,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, it might sound a bit fishy. but I would surely grab that monitor before I would even walk near a flat screen monitor with a 2000:1 static contrast ratio. Typically the static is 75%-90% of the dynamic. Usually. Good luck with that?
My monitor 10,000:1 . Does not list if it’s dynamic or static. I am assuming the static is atleast 8000. While the flat screen monitor in my office is 800:1. poor quality at work.

unorthodox but important, blackness, Viewing Angle, light reflection
If you turn the monitor on while a light is on in the room and the screen goes all white while you are looking at a Yin/Yang Symbol. Well the black levels on that flat screen monitor/ flat panel monitor are crummy
Light Reflection is what you see when you turn a light on and the glass (if it’s glass) reflects back at you so much that you can’t see the display.
Viewangle, stand dead in front of the monitor at a comfortable distance (3-4 feet), step once to the left and twice to the right and see if the imaging gets hard to see, watch the edges and the corners for a looming growing shadow as you move. People who stand dead beside the monitor to check it….. um…. you really have no idea how to use the monitor do you? really, why in the heck would you want to stand next to it while you use it ? but you do want to know it looks good when your loved one looks over your shoulder as you watch a video together.

So.. What is 720p 1080p and all that stuff about?
Easily said by today’s basic standards for a monitor’s design, look at the resolution for the side and round down to the nearest res.
So if the resolution of your monitor is 1440×900. Then you have a 720(look at the 900. yep that simple). It didnt use to work like that but pretty much all flat screen monitor companies use the same standards these days. You have a 95% chance of that being correct.

TLDR -(to long didn’t read) Summary below
My flat screen monitor tech specs.
Contrast Ratio 10000:1 (the ratio of the luminance of the brightest color (white) to that of the darkest color (black) that the system is capable of producing)
Brightness 300 Nit (Candela per square meter)
Maximum Response Time 2ms
Aspect Ratio 4:3 (The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension)
Horizontal Viewing Angle 170°
Product Type LCD Monitor
Vertical Viewing Angle 170° (viewing angle is the maximum angle at which a display can be viewed with acceptable visual performance)

I hope this helps you select a good flat screen monitor in your future.

The Breath of Blu-ray

Posted onAuthorTruXter1 Comment

 [tags]blu-ray, blue ray, definition, detail, flat screen, hidef, high, high def, investment, lcd, liquid crystal, online investment, plasma, progressive, Resolution, share holder, sony, stock, stock market, xbox[/tags]

Looks as if Sony has taken its deep breath and sucked the last stitch of life out of HD platform disks and media. This makes HD players a soon forgotten, obsolete, useless media, much like what happened to Sony years ago with the beta max.

The Death Blow.

NetFlix went exclusively Blu-ray. Anyone with pre-ordered HD NetFlix will be getting regular dvd’s. Best Buy will exclusively recommend Blu-ray. (Thanks, Andrew McCaskey from Slash Dot Review). If you want more detail on this listen to the episode of 2/11/08

My question is, “If you people see this like I do, then why have you not invested in Sony as I have?” I mean, you guys do realize that Blu-ray is Sony.. Right? Now, is the time to move as much of your stocks over to Sony, because the Goliath of a machine they have for a gaming platform (that is the most convenient form of Blu-ray player). As of right now, it is the one gaming console with the least amount of games. There is just three months before it explodes, ending its typical first quarter with a mess load of games. This, of course, will bring even more people into purchasing Sony’s games & company stock.

Now that huge, high definition televisions are holding down the carpet in your house is about to become a greater resource as the video standards start sliding towards Blu-ray’s quality. Your 52″ HDTV with it’s 1080p resolution is about to become typical and common place, but you do not get there without selling a few million first.

The moment you know it’s way to late, is when Microsoft announces “Yeah, we are releasing a Blu-ray drive for the XBOX 360.”

You do have to realize that every kid is going to want to drop their current console because they want be ‘like the rich kid’ and get the more expensive one. Kids are that way, ‘the rich kid’ always gets the stuff no one can afford and brags to everyone how cool it is. Then when everyone has it, he drops it and gets something more expensive. Well, there is no console more expensive than the Sony Blu-ray. The rich kid and poor kid will soon have the same thing and they can actually play the same game online. Although, online games are free with Sony and you have to pay monthly fees for XBOX Live. Maybe, if the timing is just right, Microsoft will release the 360 Blu-ray with 300 gig hard disk and a more expensive version of XBOX Live to give the rich kids something to run to when all the other kids convert. Of course, that means Microsoft will have to pay Sony for rights to use the Blu-ray format. :-) Do you get what I am saying here?

Watch the dang stock!

Blu-Ray Umd For a Blu-Ray PSP ? Rumor?

Where did that start?

[tags]high def, definition, HDTV, high, Resolution, lcd, plasma, xbox, sony, blue ray, blu-ray, liquid crystal, flat screen, progressive, hidef, detail[/tags]