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Having seen a difference between a cheapy came-with-the-player HDMI and a basic decent one I can acknowledge the possibility of a fancy HDMI cable making a difference.
Curious: Why use a cartoon to evaluate the cables?
It was something I'm familiar with that I was able to access in High Definition. I'm sure I'll have some other things to watch down the road. But Pixar does make extremely good looking films that are animated.
"Curious: Why use a cartoon to evaluate the cables?"
As a professional 3D animator I take offence to that statement! What, is the only appropriate evaluation to be Citizen Kane?
Actually, any decent digital movie will have the same levels of dynamic range in value and saturation as a standard movie would, so it shouldn't make a difference. Watching a movie with a lot of value gradations and dark scenes is a good test for playback as this is usually a week point for a system. Actually, Citizen Kane IS a good movie for playback testing!
As a big fan of Miyazaki, I meant no offense to animated films - but I think you knew that already.
I am serious with my question. I am curious as to whether animated films (especially if in HD) allow one to see problems more readily than "regular" movies.
As to black/dark scenes: I think of these as the video equivalent of a low noise floor and ability to retrieve detail - true?
Computer animation is often used to sell HDTV, primarily because it is rendered so crisply and with such vibrant colors. This would certainly be useful for evaluating the sharpness of a display.
It probably would not be good for determining how faithful color reproduction if that is what matters to you.
Yes- what Iondot says is true. You see more in an animation in some ways because there is so much controll over what's on screen. Good for selling a TV or DVD player since it's looks so clean and colorful. On the other hand I'd actually rather evaluate something a little more subtle, say something like Children of Men, The Matrix, There Will be Blood- all films with either a very wide color/light range or a lot of textural detail and very dark ares that are expecially hard to display correctly.
Try the opening sequence to "The Lion King" for color rendition and accuracy. Once you've seen the colors displayed on a top notch set you can tell when color accuracy is off simply because you'll loose so much of the sky colors at sunrise in the jungle. Deep blacks and nearly pure white is there for absolutes.
I use Columbo and Rockford Files to ensure my television is performing properly.
Yup, Jimbo's Firebird looks gold, alright.
I use Jenna Jameson's "Dirrrrrty Nurrrrse."
Oops, wrong forum.
The HDMI Cable is still doing great! I'm going to have to order two more some time in the near future. The Silver shadow and Red Dawns are also sounding great. I just updated my speaker cable to Linn K-20 till I can afford the Nordost speaker cable. However, I think speakers are the next thing on the agenda.