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 Brother, Canon, Epson, HP and Lexmark each sent us their entry level, mid-level and high end models. Quality, cost per page and per photo, printing, scanner and copy speeds…We studied every aspects of the 16 models, some being very basic and other including additional functionalities: fax, document loader, Wi-Fi…
> Product review: 16 multi-function printers from 50 to 259 euros
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CPT unveiled an algorithm called Clear Motion, which will be included in screens to improve the sharpness of sequences in movement. The concept is that before an image is displayed, it’s analized to find objects and their curves using opposing contrasts. In a way, first a negative is made of the starting image and then contours on detected objects are enhanced. This resembles Edge Detection in Photoshop.
 This function is permanently activated, calculated in real time, and used to improve images in anticipating defects due to afterglow. While the image is significantly sharper, it is less natural, because edges stand out more. However, under certain conditions, the improvement is quite noticeable:  Panel without Clear Motion
Panel with Clear MotionThis type of improvement, which resembles a post processing and is intended to prepare the image for panel defects in order that they are less visible, could actually be carried out by graphic cards. However, for this to happen, panel manufacturers will have to provide a certain amount of information so that parameters are adapted to each card. If not, then results will not be up to par and images may even be degraded. A little cooperation between screen and graphic card manufacturers could permit an improvement in display quality without a real additional cost. |
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If you thought that you fell for the “top of the top” of TVs with the sublime Full HD screen with 1920 x 1080 pixels, ruling over your living room, well guess again. Here come the TTHD televisions, which means very very High Definition at 3840 x 2160 pixels.
 The real designation of this resolution is QFHD, which stands for Quad Full High Definition. Each panel of this type contains exactly double the number of pixels of a Full HD screen in both height and width. Or in other words, four times the number of dots, 8.3 megapixels in total. Two DVI dual-link inputs are needed to feed such a screen. With good rescaling components, it should display Full HD very satisfactorily. The change in resolution was homothetic, and for this reason we can assume deformation is minimal. Otherwise, photos will be displayed more precisely. Most images coming from compacts and reflexes won’t have to be resized, and in the worst case they will have black borders (on the 7, 6, 5 megapixels and below). Here is a typical image that is worthy of this type of definition:  |
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As planned, yesterday Nvidia launched the GeForce 8400 GS, which is nothing more than a GeForce 8500 GT with a memory bus limited to 64 bits, instead of 128. Frequencies remain identical (450 MHz for the GPU, 900 MHz for calculation units, and 400 MHz for memory), just like the low number of units (32 scalar processors scalaires), which corresponds to four "classic pipelines".
 The video engine destined for HD films is functional and not deactivated, which is the main interest of this graphic card that is offered at a reduced price of 50 to 55€. Performances, of course, are too low for gaming use and DirectX 10 support and 16x antialiasing don’t really have any real utility besides filling up the technical sheets. The release of this card can be seen as Nvidia’s anticipation of AMD’s Radeon HD 2400 Pro, which should offer similar performances. The latter has the advantage of natively supporting HDCP, while Nvidia’s solution needs optional components and thus adds extra costs. |
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We already said it and readers regularly complain about it in the forum: the activation of overdrive in LCD monitors reduces afterglow but sometime introduces a white outline around objects in motion. Some are so annoyed about it that they prefer shutting the overdrive down when possible. It is indeed sometime preferable to have a bit more afterglow rather than strong outlines.
 CMO acknowledges this fact and has developed a slightly more complex but really interesting overdrive. Rather than a blunt over amplification, they cut it into three successive steps in the same period of time: two overvoltages and a third stage where the transistor comes back to a low level voltage. The objective is to avoid the overdrive to go too far. It is also a bit inspired by the introduction of the grey stripes of the Black Data Insertion. Going back quickly to a low level introduces briefly darker shades than the one requested in N+1. Second advantage according to CMO: the afterglow perceived diminishes. This has an impact on the retinal persistence but not on the response time. Also, the very high frequency of this twinkling (2 images, or 120 HZ) isn't perceivable. According to CMO, there is no sensation of flickering. This Overdrive (CMO speaks of a multi overdrive) will be introduced soon in 24" monitors at an unknown date. |
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 Your eyes aren’t decieving you. Damien, still at the Display Taïwan 2007, managed to find the first 20 inch Full HD screen. The first question that comes to mind: Is it a computer or TV screen? Answer: Computer. Its resolution is 1920 x 1200 pixels, just like the 24 inch. Some of its characteristics are a brightness of 300 cd/m², 2 CCFL, 13 watts, and viewing angles of 140°/120°. If you are a regular on our site and LCD articles, you may have guessed that it’s a TN type panel, on which there could be some brightness homogeneity problems. 20 inch screens generally have 4 to 16 CCFL tubes for backlighting. The reason for such a choice is that this Full HD panel is mainly aiming for the notebooks market. |
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Our on-site reporter Damien Triolet, just came back from Taïwan, where he covered the "Display Taïwan 2007" expo. He came back happy...
 The first new product discovered amongst all the booths was a panel by CPT. This manufacturer, fourth in the world for computer panels, has not distinguished itself in monitors for years now. However, they presented the biggest innovation to 22 inch monitors since their initial release with the integration of a system adding an artificial screening to reduce afterglow perceived.  This isn’t the first time that we encounter such a system and BenQ was already the first to do so with a 24 inch, the FP241WZ. For more information on this concept and its actual benefits, take a look at the test of this screen –everything is described in detail.  CPT’s 22 inch is a classic panel at 5 ms with a contrast of 1000:1. They themselves readily admit that: - response time does not change after integrating this technology, even if afterglow is noticeably reduced, - the contrast ratio decreases a bit to 600:1...which is more than enough. At the moment, there is no planned release date for this panel. According to the manufacturer’s website mass production has not yet started, and so it’s difficult to imagine finding such a product in stores before at least the end of 2007.
One last interesting detail and the anecdote of the day : Initially, BenQ spoke of BFI technology (Black Frame Insertion) in its FP241WZ. At the time they sent us some technical documents clearly describing that they didn’t introduce a « sweeping » but the insertion a black image between two colored ones. Our tests showed that instead of black images there were bands, something which BenQ has never officially acknowledged. Nevertheless, right after the article, the BFI designation was abandoned and the technology introduced in the FP241WZ was renamed, “Black Data Insertion”. This is the name of CMO’s technology based on black bands... |
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