Toshiba lights up massive LED HDTV in Times Square
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jul 15th 2008 9:06PM
posted Jul 15th 2008 9:06PM
posted Jul 15th 2008 9:06PM
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I think that's bigger than my living room... jeez.
thats what she said
but it prolly sucks to play wii sports on. i mean where would you put the motion sensor bar (sadness)
you should know that this is bigger than your living room, not think it is. this display has way more square footage than an entire floor of the average single family home.
"52.5-foot consists if 1280x1248 LEDs"
if?
i want one
Is this the GTA dlc? Nice what they did with the textures.
Time to plug a 360 into it :)
does it have hdmi support?
Wouldn't it be a bitch if it broke lmao.
nah, a whore maybe, but not a bitch
They've ruined Times Square with LED lighting. I understand the point about conserving power, but frankly, the older animated Neon and incandescent lighting from the past was a *lot* easier on the eyes. They have to use such high-power LED lighting to be visible in the daylight for all the crappy animation and video they use now, it's just a shame. There isn't much "art" to LED lighting, so I'm glad I had experienced Neon lighting in Times Square.
I could not agree more.
Virtual pixels are a pretty good idea there. Basically a backwards bayer system (think your point and shoot emitting light rather than capturing it). May create some soft spots, but if it's already 52', it can't get much softer anyway...
exactly what I was thinking too. Sounds like some sort of interpolation system.
Has anyone ever seen real TV projected from these things? In the movies whenever aliens invade, they announce it here. Is that what it takes?
superbowl i think
i preferred the Nissin Cup Noodle sign.
No more cup noodle!?!?!?!?!?!!
If you look at outdoor rental hdtv displays, Toshiba should check out Daktronics. They are in nearly every pro sports stadium whenever anyone installs new video boards.
It's to bad that human eyes can't perceive one billion colors.
It's to bad that human eyes can't perceive one billion colors.
yet they can perceive double posts, unfortunately.
876" TV...wow!
I should connect a HD-DVD to it :)
wow, consumerism to the max... cant believe some of you guys walk that street everyday.
wait you're telling me this displays 1 billion colors but yet all they display is a red toshiba logo? what a waste lol
its actually one billion shades of red and white
/joke
I'm surprised nobody's made a crysis (or however it's spelled) comment about this yet... at least, not that I've read.
Damn... I'd love to play HALO on that... O_O
HOW VIRTUAL PIXELS "WORK"
Virtual pixels are like virtual reality, they're not real. It's a process to share LEDs within each pixel to make extra "virtual pixels."
Each LED pixel comprises of a cluster of red, green, and blue pixels. Example LED pixel configuration:
RG
BR
There are two red, one green, and one blue in this pixel example.
If two LED pixels are side by side you'd get and LED configuration of:
RG RG
BR BR
Still with me?
Here's where the "virtual" comes in. If you look at the 4 LEDs in the center you get the necessary combination of 2 red, 1 green, and 1 blue LEDs used to make one LED pixel:
r GR g
b RB r
So now there are 3 pixels instead of 2? Nope! If you think that, like Toshiba (and many other LED display companies) want you to think, you are mistaken. In order for the combination of R,G,B LEDs to produce an individual pixel color they have to be a specific intensity to collectively create a specific color similar to the RGB slider in Photoshop. So how can the shared LEDs be two different intensities at once? They can't. In fact, in Toshiba's virtual world, each LED has to be part of 4 different pixels at the same time. How you say? Try this. Circle all the combinations of 2 red, 1 green, and 1 blue diodes within these 4 "actual" pixels:
RG RG
BR BR
RG RG
BR BR
Did you get 9 circles?
This might help. Take out a dollar bill. There is a "1" in each corner. Imagine each is a diode. You need a "1" from each corner to make a one dollar bill or "pixel." If you put a second dollar bill next to it, you have two dollars. If you rip each in half, the middle two pieces could make a new 1 dollar bill, but that doesn't mean you have $3. The middle pieces can only be used once. Like the 9 circles in the previous example, if you put 4 dollars in a square, you can't get $9, no matter how many times you cut it up, you can only have $4.
What's all that mean? Virtual gets you more virtual pixels on paper, but not "actual" HD pixels. Toshiba's "Virtual HD" 1280x1248 is probably closer to an "Actual SD" 640x624. I hope they're including a $40 converter box coupon with this display.
Excellant explanation. This makes their 12.5mm "virtual" pixel pitch actually 25mm.
yeah, this is sad. i want the cup noodle sign back NOW. it had steam and a forced perspective that you cant replicate with a TV screen. bullshit.
toshiba sucks. probably worse than sony.