Think Big, Real Big!

If you haven't walked through a TV showroom lately, your mental picture may need adjusting. First, touch the buttons marked Lots Bigger, Much Brighter and Far Sharper. Then turn up the sound. Not the old volume control; forget that. We're talking high-powered, bass-anchored, digital surround sound. The thunder of jet engines swells behind you. It's Top Gun coming in low, headed straight for that bobbing carrier.

Welcome to the world of home theater. You are now tuned in to impact television.

Just be careful how you refer to it: The new big-screen, high-resolution televisions are not "TV sets." They are "video monitors" (if there's a hookup to a hi-fi system and other video components) (continued on page 138)Think Big(continued from page 112) or "monitor/receivers" (if there's a built-in station selector and amplifier for sound).

Now that you have the definitions down, stand back and take in the visual spectacle that is TV today. It comes in several forms: direct view, meaning the conventional format of an image seen on a picture tube; rear projection, which uses a scheme of lenses and mirrors to enlarge and display the image; and front projection, which works like a movie setup of screen and opposing projector. Although the two projection formats can deliver much larger pictures--the accepted starting point for serious big-screen viewing is 31 inches-- recent breakthroughs in picture-tube design have made possible high-grade direct-view screens as large as 35 inches, measured diagonally.

The critical problem solved by the best large direct-view TVs is the basic one of picture resolution. That's the technical name for sharpness and detail, and it's usually evaluated in terms of so many lines of horizontal resolution. The greater the number of lines making up a TV image, the finer the detail. Current TV broadcast maximum is about 325 lines of horizontal resolution, and standard VHS tape has only about 240 lines. So big-screen TV that can accommodate upwards of 400 lines of resolution are equipped with a technology that far surpasses the quality of TV signals.

Why buy a TV that will accept more lines of resolution than are being broadcast? Because other, superior sources of video entertainment have emerged--including Super-VHS tape, Extended Definition Beta and laser video discs--that boast images that are in the 400-to-500-line range. In fact, the line count on some big-screen TVs can go as high as 800. Owning a TV with that kind of high-resolution capability equips you for the just-around-the-corner advancements that are sure to come in video-tape and laser-disc technology.

If 31 inches marks the starting point of big-screen TV, the magic number for really big projection TV is 46 inches. Magnavox' rear-projection RL 8548AK ($3695), for example, offers a 46-inch screen complemented by six amplifiers, eight speakers and Dolby Pro-Logic processing and a cluster of audio/video connectors that includes the sine qua non of high-performance monitors, S-video inputs.

Also known as Y/C inputs, these four-prong connectors accept special cables that keep the luminance (black and white) and chrominance (color) elements of the video signal separated as they travel from any high-resolution source (an S-VHS tape deck or a laser-disc player) to your monitor. If the luminance and chrominance components are not permitted to bleed into each other, there is less interference.

But no other single aspect of the new rear-projection TVs makes a more striking impression than their brightness. Sony claims that its 46-inch KPR-46CX10 ($4000) rivals direct-view televisions in picture quality. And it doesn't matter where you sit, either. Thanks to reflector screens, the image remains sharp from almost any angle. Pioneer's 50-inch Pro-93 ($4400), for example, lets you sit anywhere in a 140-degree arc.

Although most big-screen models fall in the 46-inch-to-52-inch range, viewers with grander vision can choose from a handful of larger rear-projection designs, most bearing the Mitsubishi insignia. In late 1989, Mitsubishi began shipping the high-performance 70-inch rear-projection TV. The new model for the 70-inch is the VS-7004R ($6399). (They also make the 60-inch VS-6021R that sells for about $4600.) But now Mitsubishi has redefined big with its 120-inch VS-12001. If you're thinking Holy cow! or words to that effect, you have the idea. A screen 120 inches on the diagonal measures eight feet across and six feet high. Not only could you get an entire squadron of Top Gun hot dogs into a picture that size, you could frame the combined screens of most of the televisions in your neighborhood.

That may sound like it will occupy most of a wall, but it will also take up a good chunk of a room: The TV's screen-and-mirror system requires six and a half feet of depth for installation. That and about $20,000. Mitsubishi doesn't expect to sell a lot of them. They're a statement.

Projection television--most of which is the freestanding, all-in-one type of rear-projection unit--accounts for just over one percent of total TV sales now. Front-projection systems, however, have some solid points in their favor. Since the projector stands opposite the screen, there is no massive television housing to deal with. All sources are plugged into the projector, which may be mounted on a table or affixed to the ceiling. Only the viewing screen takes up wall space, and it can be rolled up.

Front-projection systems, such as the tube-type Vidikron TGS-1 DP100 ($4995), typically deliver a picture in the 100-inch-diagonal range. The Vidikron uses three-beam projection to create a bright picture with 470 lines of horizontal resolution and it retains a sharp image through a viewing range of 140 degrees. The big picture from an LCD projector--Sharp's XV-100 sells for $5200, complete with a 100-inch screen--can be made as small as 20 inches at the twist of a lens without refocusing. The drawbacks? You do have to park the projector somewhere, and walking between the projector and the screen disrupts the picture.

Beyond the boundaries of such high-resolution television lies another big-screen breed: improved-definition TV, or IDTV. Not to be confused with HDTV, IDTV applies digital technology to remove the visible scanning lines created when a conventional TV reproduces an image from any source. Using hefty computer resources and infinitesimal time delay, IDTV fills the scan-line "blanks." While IDTV has met with mixed critical reaction (notably, complaints of a jumpy image), NEC's 52-inch ID3 ($6499) is worth a serious look.

But the very look, sound, shape and feel of television are about to undergo changes more profound than IDTV. The name given to this coming technology, as you may already know, is high-definition television (HDTV). It promises nothing less than a picture approaching 35mm movies, with digital sound, to boot. What's more, the HDTV picture will also look more like a theater screen; that is, its proportions (or aspect ratio) will be adjusted from the 4:3 width -- height ratio of today's TV to a more panoramic 16:9. But all of this implies a virtual rebuilding of broadcast facilities and, of course, new televisions capable of receiving that restructured signal.

By most estimates, HDTV is a good decade down the road. But a simplified version is much nearer at hand. Earlier this year, a consortium of U.S. electronics interests announced plans to develop an advanced form of television that may be implemented as early as 1993. The four companies involved--Thomson Consumer Electronics, Philips Consumer Electronics, NBC and the David Sarnoff Research Center--say this advanced compatible television (ACTV) would be only an interim step toward their ultimate goal: an HDTV system that would be compatible with existing TV technology, like the compatibility between color and black-and-white, or stereo sound and mono.

ACTV, its advocates say, would bring broadcast picture quality up to the level of laser discs and S-VHS tape, while adding digital sound and introducing the 16:9 image screen. The starting price for the new TVs is expected to be $1200 to $1500.

Current big-screen models, no matter how large, would continue to display a 4:3 image, not only because of their shape but because of their lack of electronics needed to receive a 16:9 picture. To avoid rendering all present TVs instantly obsolete, however, ACTV broadcasts would incorporate a fully compatible signal.

The convergence in our living rooms of high, wide and handsome TV and digital surround sound also excites big-screen buffs. Jim Davies of Barco, whose Barcovision 600C front-projector ($7995) is said to be HDTV-ready, claims, "Now you can get sound at home that equals or surpasses anything you hear at a local theater. Add projection and you can just stay home. With high-definition TV on the horizon, I would not want to own a movie theater." That's something to think about, Bunky.

Big Sights, Big Sounds

When it comes to big-screen TVs, improved sound is part of the picture. Proton's 31-inch direct-view VT-331 (about $2500) features a sound-enhancement circuit called the Aural Exciter. Its purpose is to heighten clarity and presence, thus making the sound as vibrant as the image, which boasts a horizontal resolution of 600 lines.

Sony offers another approach to sharper sound in its 32-inch KV-32HSR10 ($2299), with the Sound Retrieval System developed by Hughes Aircraft Company. Its goal is to give the listener a wider and more detailed field of stereo excellence.

Mitsubishi's 35-inch CS-3521R ($2799) offers an exceptionally potent sound system. The set's stereo amplifier is rated at a comparatively hefty ten watts per channel. Visually, it delivers about 650 lines of horizontal resolution. JVC's 800-line 35-inch AV-3589S ($3299) incorporates not only a surround-sound decoder but also a four-channel amplifier. The rear speakers, however, must be supplied by the purchaser.

You may not be prepared for the sonic fireworks that accompany rear-projection TV. Zenith's 46-inch ZB4685T ($3295) touts a built-in Bose Acoustimass sound system, while Toshiba's 52-inch TP5288J ($3800) combines Carver's Sonic Holography with Precognition Matrix, which "improves the ambience spread and stereo imaging while improving dialog voices." Of course, you can bypass any built-in sound and connect the monitor's audio outputs to the auxiliary inputs on your preamplifier or receiver for full stereo sound.

You can even run the audio portion through a digital signal processor to revel in the electric charge of surround sound, which is ideal for viewing an action movie such as Top Gun, where the jets peel off and swoop in low. When you have surround sound and a 50-inch picture, you're in the front row of fighter school.

Like a middle linebacker with a dancer's grace, Panasonic's broad-shouldered PTK-5196S ($3599) carries its imposing frame with trim ease. To preserve a lean line for this 51-inch rear-projection TV, Panasonic has dropped the main speaker system into the support pedestal. But the sound doesn't end there. A Dolby Surround processor lets you listen in 360-degree stereo. The television's big picture is touted for its sharpness, brightness and natural tint.

"The problem solved by the best large direct-view TVs is the basic one of picture resolution."