Samsung's
harder better faster "blue phase" (not to copy Blu-ray, just named for the color observed during its development) LCD panel is the first to demonstrate image-driving speed of 240Hz, surpassing current twisted nematic,
in-plane switching or vertical alignment technology. In the quest for smooth
CRT-style motion Samsung follows DLP manufacturers that announced plans to
cross the 240Hz barrier at CES by manufacturing a display that aligns its own layers, simplifying manufacturing and ensuring uniform brightness without the need for an overdrive circuit found in today's merely
expletive-inducing 120Hz LCDs. Don't expect these to hit shelves before 2011, coming first in TVs "that require high-speed video reproduction" -- like the one you'll buy that has a much bigger number than your next door neighbor's latest HDTV. For now, the only place to see the future is this 15-inch model at the Society for Information Display 2008 show in LA May 18.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Loban @ May 14th 2008 9:46AM
This is just getting ridiculous. So now the new industry wide con has gone from up-scaling DVD players to refresh rate in LCDs. Now you can take your 24 to 60 fps source material and uselessly interpolate it up to 240hz. Oh well, they're going to sell alot of TVs to unsuspecting consumers.
Big Wizz @ May 14th 2008 9:46AM
Oh noez! My 61" LED DLP with 60Hz is now obsolete! And I didn't even have 120Hz yet!
(even though I could never detect any flicker/rainbow/video distortion to begin with).
Loban @ May 14th 2008 5:38PM
Can you detect the loss in color and brightness when viewing from the side? Sorry, couldn't resist.
Doc @ May 14th 2008 10:29AM
Finally now I will be able to watch tv with my cyborg eyes, wow I can now officially say goodbye to motion blur! So are they going to need to have camera's that film in a 240hz format to take full advantage of this?
nate011 @ May 14th 2008 11:58AM
Unfortuately those 240hz DLP's arent really 240hz. They are really 120hz displays, which is very misleading. Samsung's DLP's still use "wobulation" and what happens is half of the 1080p resolution is displayed every 60hz. So in the end, when the full 1080p image is displayed it happens in 120 hz(for the 240hz DLP's). This same technique goes for the most recent Samsung LED DLP's that are listed at 120hz at Best Buy, they are 60hz displays because of the "wobulation", very misleading to customers. I would say techinically these samsung lcd's are the first true 240hz displays.
Cole Mitguard @ May 14th 2008 12:09PM
This is going to be the next 1080P isnt it? The Hz rating is going to keep increasing, and the uneducated will insist that there 26" LCD comes with it. Who will also be the same person who will refuse to pay the extra $5 a month to their cable provider to get HD, and wonder why all the people look fat... lol. I like how Panasonic has already jumped on this and started marketing their plasmas as 480Hz. Let the mud fest begin.
Franssu @ May 14th 2008 1:36PM
"In the quest for smooth CRT-style motion..."
Are you drunk ? CRT TVs usually topped at ?)Hz interlaced, and even the 100 or 120Hz ones didin't have motion interpolation.
120 and 240Hz with motion interpolation is yet another image-destroying gimmick to try to sell a new TV to Joe Six-Pack who doesn't know better. Too bad Joe Six-Pack isn't able to tell the difference between SD and HD, and doestn't care one bit.
joe 1-pack @ May 28th 2008 12:50PM
Hey, i resemble that remark!
I just got my $40 x 2 government rebates for digital to analog converter boxes and picked up 2 and paid some tax for them. They give a clear picture on my analog tv (looks like dvd to me). When looking at the hdtvs in the store, they all look ok (the ones that aren't blurry), just like dvd pictures to me. More cycles per second do not impress me. My pc is set at greater than HD resolution - lets go for 2048p on the tv, then i'll be impressed ... I won't care, but I will be impressed :)
Paul Fernandez @ May 15th 2008 2:55PM
Isn't there a limit to what the human eye can percieve anyway, in terms of fast-moviing activity/objects? I thought I read somewhere that it tops off at 60 Hz. If someone knows for sure, that would be great, because the latest 120 Hz Samsung looked smooth enough in the store for me if I ever decided to get one (though it didn't look like traditional film). I just don't feel like sifting through tons of Google-ized misinformation.
greg gustin @ Jun 16th 2008 5:38PM
your comments about how fast the human eye can 'see' is a bit irrelevant . .
while 60 is considered the 'right number', it is NOT from how fast we can see, but how fast the brain process what it does see, vs the latency time that the image is 'stuck' in the chemistry of the eye; humans do not really see 'non-stop' . . especially when the eye is moving, but it takes lots of snapshots that the brain fuses into a apparently continuous flow of input.
The 60hz/120hz issue for electronic displays is the net result of the fact that film was recored at 24 and tv at 30 - so, as you cannot change the source, you must 'adjust' SOMETHING during playback. That adjustment is to repeat some source frames ( as was discussed above) and the eye detects this as stutter during fast action scenes (especially when the camera is panning)