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Because I'm tired of having to answer this question: Q: What is 120hz and do I need it or should I want it? A: 120hz technology allows your TV to display 120 frames per second (FPS) unlike most standard TVs that can only display 60 (NTSC) or 50 (PAL) frames per second. This is desirable for a few different reasons. The most technical reason is that movies are encoded at 24 frames per second, so in order to be displayed at 60 FPS, the sequence of frames displayed is first frame twice, second frame thrice, third frame twice, fourth frame thrice, etc. which turns 24 frames into 60 frames (do the math). This is called 2:3 pulldown since the 1:1 frame order of the 24 fps film is "pulled down" into a 2:3 frame order. Since this display of frames is uneven, the picture tends to jump a bit (called "judder") which is especially noticeable in panning shots. 120hz allow each frame of a 24 fps to be displayed an even 5 times. This is called 5:5 pulldown. This sounds marginally useful doesn't it? Well, it isn't even that good. For broadcast television and standard definition DVDs, the 24 frames per second have already been hard transcoded to 2:3 pulldown to 60 FPS. This means that your 120hz TV will still experience judder when watching movies on broadcast TV or SD DVD. HOWEVER, blu ray discs are encoded at 24 FPS which means that a 120hz TV will eliminate judder when watching a blu ray. There is a little added bonus of 120hz sets, though. Well, a bonus to some. Most 120hz sets come with a setting that allows frame interpolation, that is, each frame of a 60 FPS video can be "interpolated" (think of it as averaged) with the next frame causing the illusion of very smooth movement. For example, Samsung calls this setting AMP ("Auto Motion Plus"). This effect is somewhat akin to the apparent smoothness of British soap operas which gives this frame interpolation the nickname "British soap opera effect". Some people love this effect, and even its detractors can appreciate it in something like a sports broadcast. However, many feel that the smoothness causes the video to lose the cinematic effect that people have gotten so used to with 24 fps media and makes the video look too "realistic". It's really just personal preference although its detractors are quite vocal. Some people call this frame interpolation "120hz" for short, but that's not really entirely accurate. You cannot turn off 120hz on a 120hz TV, but you can turn off the frame interpolation. You can also turn on 120hz frame interpolation in video games but this introduces a very large amount of video lag which, depending on the game, can be distracting. For twitch gaming it would not be recommended, but something like a turn-based RPG might not be so bad. PlayStationGayStation fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Mar 24, 2009 |
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Mar 24, 2009 21:04
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