While receiver shopping this weekend, I found Best Buy had two Sony 27" Wegas next to each other, each connected to a Sony DVD, playing Fantasia 2000.
Turns out, these were to show the 'value' of better cabling: On was generic RCA cable for composite output; the other was Monster Cables for component (and the misleading nature of that comparison is another issue).
So I did some simple tests: Set both TVs to the Neutral color mode, and the color settings were both about the same, near the middle. Turned SVM off.
Running both 4:3 TV & DVD mode (normal letterboxing), to my surprise, I could not tell any difference between the pictures, without pausing them and scrutinizing. Perhaps this is indicative of the quality of Sony's composite signal filter. But I expected a far more significant difference between composite and component.
Then I set one to 16:9 (DVD output) with the anamorphic squeeze on. Wow! Big difference! Side by side, the 'squeezed' image was distinctly more film-like; a smoother image. It just looked better.
Finally, I put both in the anamorphic mode and compared the colors and edges. (So it was composite v. component compare). The differences were even more subtle, hard to see even when looking at a paused image.
There were some slight color differences between the two sets. It was likely the cabling, but it could have been differences in the TV setups.
My conclusion: 'squeeze' feature is a must-have for my next set. But I didn't see much improvement between composite and component inputs. (And consequently, that Monster Cable was of little value of cheaped RCA cabling.) Of course, this was all done under the harsh warehouse-lighting of a retail store, which could account for part of it.
Other thoughts?
Turns out, these were to show the 'value' of better cabling: On was generic RCA cable for composite output; the other was Monster Cables for component (and the misleading nature of that comparison is another issue).
So I did some simple tests: Set both TVs to the Neutral color mode, and the color settings were both about the same, near the middle. Turned SVM off.
Running both 4:3 TV & DVD mode (normal letterboxing), to my surprise, I could not tell any difference between the pictures, without pausing them and scrutinizing. Perhaps this is indicative of the quality of Sony's composite signal filter. But I expected a far more significant difference between composite and component.
Then I set one to 16:9 (DVD output) with the anamorphic squeeze on. Wow! Big difference! Side by side, the 'squeezed' image was distinctly more film-like; a smoother image. It just looked better.
Finally, I put both in the anamorphic mode and compared the colors and edges. (So it was composite v. component compare). The differences were even more subtle, hard to see even when looking at a paused image.
There were some slight color differences between the two sets. It was likely the cabling, but it could have been differences in the TV setups.
My conclusion: 'squeeze' feature is a must-have for my next set. But I didn't see much improvement between composite and component inputs. (And consequently, that Monster Cable was of little value of cheaped RCA cabling.) Of course, this was all done under the harsh warehouse-lighting of a retail store, which could account for part of it.
Other thoughts?
