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Careful planning is essential when adding high-definition monitors to your production facility.
In the video industry, connections are everything.
That's easy to forget when considering HDTV, where it's easy to be distracted by elaborate mechanics and futuristic hype. But first things first: HDTV displays only work if you know how to hook them up. Have you thought about how you'll connect high-definition monitors in the context of your facility's signal chain?
This month, as professionals digest the new equipment introduced at NAB, our consumer-oriented colleagues are concluding a six- to eightweek cycle of line showings, where manufacturers unveil products for the 1999 selling season. In the pro-video world, products may be previewed at shows such as NAB, SMPTE, or Montreaux but are randomly released to the marketplace during the year. The consumer-electronics industry follows a more regimented schedule. Because the majority of sales occur in the last 12 to 16 weeks of the year, it is important that new models are shown to dealers and the press, inserted into ad plans, and figured into open-to-buy plans well before the actual selling season starts after Labor Day. At this time of year, most manufacturers will show their new wares so that shelf space will await them in late summer.
Those line showings are an insider's guide to connectivity methods and the HDTV displays that will be available this fall.
Consider consumer sets
First, let's dispense with the obvious: Professionals are resistant to view HDTV images on consumer models. If this sounds like you, you're advised to think different. There will be few directview, broadcast-quality 16:9, 1920x1080 monitors available this year, and perhaps more important, professional models will be very expensive. You might want a professional HDTV set, but it could break your budget.
You probably can't get the real pro-grade monitors in the large sizes you want, as there are still no full HDTV-grade tubes available. Look closely at some of the precision HD monitors now available. Wondering why they appear high for their screen size? They're actually 4:3 tubes masked off to 16:9. Perhaps this will change, but as this issue goes to press, it's too early to tell.
Most consumer sets are rear projection, as they are easier to make in large...