Display Electronics: Complex, Yet Critical

摘要

With the expected demise of broadcast TV and the need to allow my wife to tape "her shows" while playing chauffeur for the kids, we finally splurged for some new display electronics. No, not a new display, but a cable set-top box with an integrated DVR function. This, of course, led to a series of machinations reeardine how to run the old (1 year is a long time in this business) 27-in. LCD TV with the newfangled box rather than (actually, while not losing) the ability to also tape with the "old-fangled" VHS. How ironic it was when I was asked to be the guest editor for the Display Electronics issue of Information Display while engaging in my own battles with similar demons. As we all know, electronics affects every facet of display technology. From signal-input receivers (with all their noise and impedance-matching issues), through image processing, such as compression and display quality, to the synchronized symphony of pixel drive and illumination control, display electronics can be complicated. When setting up our new DVR set-top box, I discovered that our TV does not support any of the myriad remote-control codes. This was clearly an unexpected (and unnecessary) addition of complexity to the display processing chain. My wife, who is a self-proclaimed "non-techie," now completely understands how to use the DVR. I, however, remain at a loss as to why my TV doesn't respond to one of the hundreds of already defined codes or why there are hundreds of codes in the first place.