RCA is wobul-ing too
by Kevin C. Tofel 
posted Oct 28th 2005 at 9:42AM
Looks like everyone wants to do that crazy new dance known as
"The Wobulation." RCA has joined the party that HP invited us to when
they invented the wobulation method to display resolutions higher than
a DLP chip is natively capable of. Sound & Vision has a review of the new RCA Scenium that uses wobulation to create a 1280 x 720 resolution.I can see some benefit with the technique because it should smooth out the picture; in fact, the review indicates that it does. The real question is: why buy a 50-inch DLP for $2,300 that basically interpolates 720p, when you can buy a similar sized set that natively outputs 720p for roughly the same price? We've had some good comments on the Wobulation-thingie, so I'm really curious to get some thoughts on this.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason @ Oct 28th 2005 11:12AM
What can you say, other than DLP is a total sham. As if it isn't bad enough that they still employ a color wheel that sends the 3 primary colors to the screen in sequence rather than simulaneously, the quality of the chip sets are going the wrong direction. Just think, with HD2+ we had real 1280x720. Now they use sleight of hand tricks to get you there. If Sony can bring SxRD down to $2500 at some point, DLP is finished. At $2000, rear LCD is done too.
Cecil @ Oct 28th 2005 11:22AM
Yeah, wobulation just turns me off. It was understandable to get 1080 sets out the door, when the yields on the real 1080 chip were still underpar, but to cut costs on the production of a 720 set? Figures RCA would do this. Hope ya like rainbows and headaches. The only way to DLP is a non-wobulation no-color wheel 3-chip config - and that is way too expensive.
I'll buy a Sony SXRD tommarrow if they show me one with at least 3 or 4 HDMI inputs that support 1080p, 3 or 4 component inputs (instead of 2), and a Cablecard 2.0 slot. (As long as someone can tell me that if the cable cos. switch to MPEG-4, I won't have to have a Cablecard 3.0 slot to take the new card - I mean damn, its just a PCMCIA slot, lets allow for TV firmware updates that the user can install)
Usman @ Oct 28th 2005 1:56PM
"...why buy a 50-inch DLP for $2,300 that basically interpolates 720p, when you can buy a similar sized set that natively outputs 720p..."
I dislike the idea of wobulation just as much, but I'd like to point out that both implementations display 720 lines NATIVELY. It is the horizontal resolution that is doubled using wobulation. Why we emphsize only the vertical resolution in this age of digital TV is another discussion.