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FEATURE
HEAD
VCR AND TV -- NINETY THREE
INTRO
In the first of this two-part investigation
into the latest televisions and video recorders we look at some of the
technological advances going on behind the screen, and tape loading hatch...
COPY 1.
TELEVISIONS
You may not have realised it yet but 1993
could turn out to be one of the most important years in the history of
television. The future direction of television is being decided right now, and
the likely outcome is that by the turn of the century the TV in the corner of your
living room will look, sound and work in a quite different way to the one you
are watching now...
Television, like most other home
entertainment technologies is now committed to a digital future, where visual
and audio information is conveyed to the TV as a series of numbers. Digital
transmission and processing systems in television suffer less from the quality
degrading effects of noise and interference, they use the broadcast bands more
efficiently, moreover it paves the way for high-definition television, and even
global compatibility! It's going to happen, the technology exists, the biggest
hurdles now are economic and political, and they're going to take a while to
resolve.
In the meantime analogue television
technology is far from dead and in some quarters is still evolving. In the
short term the biggest change is going to be the gradual change in the shape,
or aspect ratio, of the TV screen, from the present 4:3 (i.e. 4-units wide by
3-units deep), to the 16:9 widescreen, similar in proportion to a cinema
screen. You may already have seen widescreen TVs in the shops, and you will
probably be aware of the increasing number of programmes and films shown on TV
with black borders at the top and bottom of the screen. Widescreen sets can
electronically enlarge so-called 'letterboxed' pictures to their full width,
they can even stretch 4:3 pictures to fill a widescreen display, though slices
at the top and/or bottom of the picture are lost in the enlargement process.
WIDE OF THE MARK?
Closer to home there are several camcorders
with a widescreen facility. Most of them, notably machines manufactured by JVC
have a pseudo 'cinema' mode with superimposes black borders on the picture.
However, when these recordings are enlarged on a widescreen set there is a
significant reduction in picture quality. Other machines, including several
made by Hitachi use 'anamorphic' compression, to electronically squeeze a
widescreen picture into the space occupied by a 4:3 recording. When shown on a
normal TV the picture looks squashed, with everything appearing much taller and
thinner than it actually is, however, when the picture is 'stretched' on a 16:9 TV, it fills the whole
screen area, with minimal loss of quality.
The BBC and a number of European broadcasters
are currently evaluating a system known as PAL Plus, which allows widescreen
films and programmes to be broadcast using existing 625-line transmitters, the
pictures would appear almost normal on 4:3 aspect ratio TVs, but additional
picture information contained in the signal would enable suitable 16:9 sets to
reconstruct the whole widescreen picture. There is also a lot of interest in
widescreen movies recorded on video tape and disc, already a number of classic
movies are available in letterboxed form, and the technology exists to compress
widescreen movies onto normal tape, in fact quite a few VCRs built within the
last two or three years are widescreen-compatible, though the supply of 16:9
software has been very poor in the UK.
THE CORRECT DEFINITION
It is important not to confuse widescreen TV
with high-definition TV (HDTV), there's a world of difference between the two
but vested interests have not always made the distinctions clear. Several HDTV
systems have been developed, both analogue and digital, but in spite of the
technical differences they all produce a picture with around twice as many
lines as today's 525 and 625-line systems. This means a clearer, sharper
picture, more akin to movie film than TV. Some of the confusion has arisen as a
result of various attempts to increase the picture quality of existing
PAL and NTSC systems and within the last five years we have see IDTV
(improved definition TV) EDTV (enhanced definition TV), line-doubling
(increasing the number of lines displayed on the TV screen), 100Hz displays
(reducing the flicker of a TV picture), even 'digital' scanning, but the fact
remains that regular HDTV broadcasts are still some way off, and it's unlikely
to be an option for the average UK viewer for at least another five years; it
will take at least that long for the broadcasters to adapt their studios and
transmitters, let alone develop commercially viable TVs for the home.
Everyone hopes that there will be one world
standard for HDTV, it is possible, even though the Japanese have gone ahead
with their Hi-Vision system, developed during the early 1980's, well before
digital HDTV was a prospect. The Europeans, fearful of having to adopt Japanese
technology opted for an evolutionary approach based on the MAC transmission system,
originally conceived for satellite broadcasting. HD-MAC was developed by a
consortium of European electronics manufacturers with the help of EC funding
but that has since dried up and its future remains unclear. In the wake of
recent advances in digital HDTV both systems now look as though they may have
been blind alleys. The Americans took a more pragmatic approach and wisely
waited for digital technology to mature, before coming to a decision. Even as
we speak they are now setting out the final detailed specifications for their
digital HDTV system which could be the final nail in HD-MAC's coffin.
The implications and possibilities of digital
television go far beyond high-definition and widescreen. Perhaps the most
interesting, or worrying, depending on your point of view, is the potential to
increase in the number of channels. The UHF band can only accomodate a limited
number of channels within any given area, due to the threat of intereference
from distant and adjacent transmitters. Digital transmissions are largely
immune to this problem and where four or five analogue channels can co-exist
now, there could be dozens of digital TV broadcasts How these channels would be
funded, what they would show and whether or not anyone would bother to watch them
is another question...
THE SMALL PICTURE
Not all of the most recent developments have
been on the grand scale and small but worthwhile refinements to picture and
sound quality are happening all the time. On the picture front TV screens
continue to get flatter and squarer, to the point where it has created a new
set of problems for the designers, not least an increase in unwanted
reflections from windows and lights. Part of the solution has been to make the
screens darker, and give them non reflective coatings, but even that has its
limits and on the latest 'superflat' screens more drastic measures have been
adopted. Both Ferguson and Mitsubishi have revived an old idea from the early
days of TV, and their latest models have sensors to measure the ambient
lighting conditions, which in turn automatically varies the screen's contrast
and brightness.
In case you were wondering, we're still
waiting for flat hang-on-the-wall TVs;
it's true to say that flat screens are getting bigger and better all the time,
and there's talk of a 15-inch flat screen TV sometime this year, but don't be
too surprised if it costs between three and five times as much as an
equivalent-sized tube TV. There's been
some progress in projection TVs and they're getting a lot cheaper, especially
the ones that use single LCD picture elements, but to be honest picture quality
is still a bit grainy on anything costing less than £5,000, and unless you
shell out half as much again for a special screen you will also need to watch
it a semi-darkened room.
The audio side of television has been
improving in leaps and bounds since the introduction of NICAM stereo a couple
of years ago. Now, at last set designers are starting to take TV sound systems
seriously, and some of then almost (but not quite) qualify for hi-fi status,
but there are still far too many stereo sets with small, close-set speakers
beneath the screen. Such models cannot possibly project a credible stereo image
more than a foot or two in front of the screen.
NICAM has been a powerful catalyst for the
home cinema concept, which has been slow to take off in this country. An
increasing number of stereo TVs, notably those made by Toshiba and most
recently, Hitachi, now feature Dolby Pro-Logic decoders, and come with the
necessary extra speakers to fully resolve the surround-sound information
contained in the soundtracks of many movies on video, as well as a growing
number of films and TV programmes broadcast from terrestrial and satellite
stations. Quite a few stereo sets also have pseudo surround systems, and this
can have a beneficial spin-off for home video-movie makers, giving home video
movies a dramatic cinema-style sound.
BOX-COPY 1
FEATURES TO LOOK FOR
A front AV terminal, preferably with S-Video
and stereo audio inputs (as well as composite video) should be at the top of
every camcorder-owners list, unless of course you enjoy shifting heavy weights,
and scrabbling around the back of TVs, looking for socket holes... Don't let
anyone kid you, size isn't important, you should buy the biggest set you and
your living-room can accommodate. If you're only looking for a second set, or a
TV for the bedroom you should still look for one with a front AV terminal, but
at the very least make sure it has AV socketry on the back, a surprising number
of TVs with screens 16-inches or less do not.
If you're buying a NICAM stereo TV-- and
you'd be mad not to, unless you're a partially deaf hermit living in a weak signal area -- then think seriously about one with Dolby Surround, it's the
simplest way of getting a home cinema system together, and it doesn't add
significantly to the price. Even if you haven't got a stereo VCR or camcorder
now you will at least be ready for the time when you do. When you're looking at
stereo TVs pay particular attention to the position of the speakers, if they're
detachable so much the better, but they should be as far apart as possible, and
preferably with provision to connect a set of external speakers, or your hi-fi
system. There's no point in paying extra for a stereo TV if you can't hear it properly.
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COPY 2. VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDERS
The VHS format is coming up to its sixteenth
birthday, which makes it positively old hat. It's a mature technology
approaching the end of its life-cycle so radical new developments are few and
far between. That doesn't mean the format is standing still, far from it,
there's still a constant trickle of picture and sound enhancements, though the
system has been close to its theoretical performance limits for some time and
nowadays engineers concentrate on improving or updating convenience features,
and styling, rather than making fundamental changes to the recording
technology.
VHS is certainly not going to disappear
overnight, decks and tapes will be with us well into the 21st century and JVC
who originated the system are definitely not giving up without a fight. They
recently announced son-of-VHS, or W-VHS (the W stands for 'wide', amongst other
things). W-VHS video recorders are backwards compatible, so they can replay
normal VHS recordings, but they key difference is that they can record
high-definition TV signals, or, two seperate 525/625-line TV signals
simultaneously, now there's a facility worth having! Some see W-VHS as a format
in waiting, to take over from VHS when it reaches retirement age, though the
smart money is on a purely digital system and we expect to see the first wholly
digital domestic VCRs within a year or two.
VIDEO PLUS
Back in the here and now there has been one
very clear trend in VCR design over the last year or so and that is Video Plus,
the foolproof (well, nearly...) timer programming system. There's no messing
about with start and stop times, dates or channels on Video Plus VCRs, just tap
in the numerical code, printed alongside the program you wish to record, in
newspapers and TV listings magazines. The code is the key to a computer
algorithmn that tells the VCR what to do and when to do it. Video Plus has been
a runaway success both here and abroad and VCRs manufacturers now ignore it at
their peril; even the mighty Panasonic who struggled bravely for years with
their barcode programming system have finally admitted defeat. Thus far most of
the major companies have adopted the system, including Ferguson, Goldstar,
Grundig, Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony
and Toshiba.
One of the other success stories has been the
mid-mount deck and most new VCRs now have the casssette flap in the middle of
the fascia, (or look as though they do....). These days it's purely cosmetic,
though it started out as a performance feature on the premise that picture
quality would benefit from the seperation of power supply and video processing
circuits, either side of the deck mechanism, and that mid-mount decks would be
inherently more stable. No one makes those kinds of claims any more, doubtless
mid-mount decks will make way for the next fad in due course. That may be
closer at hand than you think as anonymous square-shaped boxes are gradually
being replaced by more rounded cabinets and fascias; if you stare at some of
the latest machines hard enough you might also detect a whiff of Art Deco, that
would fit in with the current penchant for retro-styling in top-end hi-fi, which
seems to be working its way back through the 50s, at the moment.
However, it's what goes on inside the box
that really counts, and in addition to the sound and picture tweaks
manufacturers have found a number of new ways to drum up interest in their
products. The ideas we most welcome are automatic head cleaners, which give the
head drum a quick wipe over every so often; energy efficient switched-mode
power supplies; labelled parts for easier recycling; and improved on-screen
menu control systems that cut down on the number of buttons and switches;
designers used to go to a lot of trouble to hide them behind little hinged
flaps, to avoid frightening grannies and technophobes.
There's not been so many gadgets and gimmicks
lately but a couple of convenience features have caught our eye recently. The
first is Mitsubishi's 'Rental IP' facility. It's fitted to three of their 1993
VCRs (M18, M48 and M58), and it works when the machine is used to replay rental
tapes. Pressing the button rewinds the tape, then fast-forwards to the start of
the soundtrack, skipping past all the boring stuff, like copyright warnings.
Picture quality is automatically optimised for worn or noisy recordings, and
when the recording has ended, the VCR rewinds the tape, and ejects it.
The second of those new features is fitted to
the Ferguson FV74 which comes with a multi-brand satellite TV control system.
It works in conjunction with the machine's Video Plus timer, which controls a
set of infra-red emitters built into the deck. These send out IR control
commands, to switch on a nearby STV
receiver, select the correct channel, and then turn it off again when the
program has been recorded.
Sadly there's been little to excite the
camcorder owner, in fact it seems as though fewer machines are being fitted
with the kind of facilities we consider to be the minimum qualifications for an
edit deck, like a front-mounted AV
terminal, audio dub and insert edit, though we have noticed a welcome increase
in the number of machines with jog/shuttle dials and multi-speed replay. Most
worrying of all is the absence of 5-pin
editing terminals on Panasonic's latest 'Super Drive' VCRs, and if they
don't support it, who will? The
unexpected answer is Philips, who, we have learned, are considering putting a
5-pin edit terminal, and a Control L socket on a top-end VCR scheduled for
launch early next year. As far as we can see the only VCR launched this year
that is aimed directely at the camcorder owner is the Goldstar R-DD101 dual
8mm/VHS deck, you'll find a full review of this machine on page XX.
BOX 2 -- FEATURES TO LOOK FOR
VCR manufacturers know only too well that the
first thing a British VCR buyer looks at is the price tag, which is why we're
presently knee deep in boring budget machines, and many of the more interesting
models are not launched here, or are sold in very small numbers. It's a
different story in many other countries, where performance and facilities come
first. However, there's still a few machines on the market to tickle the fancy
of home video movie-makers, looking for a decent edit deck, and we'll be
looking at them in more detail next month. In the meantime here's a list of the
features we consider to be most useful. A front mounted AV terminal is a very
promising sign, suggesting the designer has at least half an eye on using the
machine with a camcorder. Audio dub is another near essential, if you take
editing and post-production seriously, and we're always glad to see insert
edit, this usually means the deck in question has a flying erase head, which
will ensure crisp, glitch free joins between scenes. The jog/shuttle dial is a
very convenient way of finding you way around a recording and is especially
useful when the VCR in question is being used as a source deck in an editing
set-up.
VCRs with
stereo sound systems, and NICAM decoders cost only a little more than budget
models, even if you haven't got a stereo TV they're still worth having as you
can connect the VCRs audio output to your hi-fi systen, with the speakers
placed either side of the screen. If you've got friends of relatives living in
North America, or the Far East it's well worth considering any machine with
NTSC replay, this facility works with any reasonably modern TV. f course, you
could always get a machine with an on-board standards converter, there's one or
two around, but we have found that the quality on the cheaper models leaves a
lot to be desired and unless you have a real need for this facility, and are
prepared to spend a couple of thousand pounds on a machine like the Panasonic
NV-W1, it's probably not worth it. Several machines also have quasi S-VHS
replay, which could come in handy if you want or need to occasionally replay
Super VHS recordings, but if you have a high-band camcorder then you really
should be thinking about a Super VHS VCR as well, and don't forget you'll need
a TV with an S-Video input, if you want to get the full benefit from the
system.
---end---
R.Maybury 1993 1208
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