LG readies 480Hz LCD TVs for late 2009
Picture interpolation plus flashing backlight
LG is to released LCD TVs with a whopping 480Hz refresh rate, thanks to a clever flashing backlight.
The company's panel uses standard 240Hz interpolation technology, which seeks to eliminate the juddery look of old LCD TVs by creating extra picture fields and frames on the fly.
The upshot is smoother motion with no ghosting. Now LG's added a backlight that's rapidly turned on and off, which, the company claimed, delivers an effective 480Hz frame rate.
The technology "eliminates motion blurring for fast moving images and enabling a realistic, crystal clear picture".
The intensity of the backlight - when on - is adjusted according to the picture, reducing its overall energy consumption, LG said.
The 480Hz tellies are due in H2.
COMMENTS
@AC
Historically, absolutely - though it's more political than technical now. Screens long ago lost their physical dependence on mains frequency. I can remember using a 50Hz monitor, but thankfully haven't had to for years.
But because TV in this country is always shackled by backwards compatibility and politics*, there will likely always be a 50Hz root, and that will suck when resampled to a non-integer multiple.
* Without said shackles, digital should have been done as multiplexed UDP-like streams per programme (yes, per programme), and the licence fee should have been replaced by a subscription, but those are other rants for other days.
@David Gosnell
"or is there some fiendish plan afoot to get the whole world on to the same frequency"
The choice of 50Hz in the UK with PAL is based on the frequency of the mains supply, getting the world to adopt 60HZ will be quite a challenge !
Bad multiples
Surely these new screens with non-integer multiples of 50Hz aren't going to be very nice for PAL viewing - or is there some fiendish plan afoot to get the whole world on to the same frequency? Multiples of 120 are, after all, potentially rather good for film as well as yankee TV.
