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HD 101: Overscan and why all TVs do it
The concept of overscan seems particularly difficult for geeks to comprehend -- normal people usually don't care to even understand it -- and some even get down right confrontational when they first learn that all TVs do it. But the fact is that even the latest LCDs and plasmas don't show all 2 million pixels of a 1080p signal out of the box. Instead about 3 percent of 'em are cropped off the edges (as illustrated by the red line in the image above) and the remaining pixels are scaled to fill in all the pixels of your HDTV. The real kick in the head is that the reason isn't a good one, especially when you consider the advanced technology that's available today. So in this HD 101 we're going to cover what overscan is, why it's there, and finally how to "fix" it. Other HD 101 goodness: What is ATSC, PSIP, QAM, and 8-VSB? How to use Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD with your PS3 Why there are black bars on HDTVs
Sharp Aquos LC-46D62U 1080p LCD reviewed
1080p LCDs are taking over this fall, and CNET quickly grabbed Sharp's new Aquos LC-46D62U to review. They had a lot of good to say, particularly when it came to the advertised 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, saying that the screen reproduced a deeper level of black than any non-CRT screen they have ever tested, plasma and RPTVs included. From the glossy black frame to off-angle viewing, praise is in abundance. The D62 series was also noted for its Dot-by-Dot mode to enable pixel perfect mapping of 1080-line sources without overscan. The only negatives came in the areas of color accuracy, as well as the lack of a dedicated PC-input and merely average scaling of 480i sources. CNET also mentioned the reports of banding issues with the D62 series, but had no problems with their review unit. Still, for the price, resolution and plasma-fighting black levels, it doesn't seem to get much better than this.
