10
this, DVD players have offered a choice between frame pause
or field pause. Frame pause maximizes vertical resolution, but
blurs whatever motion may be present in the image. Field
pause gets rid of motion blur, but sacrifices vertical resolution,
just like a VCR.
Now with the Clear Frame system of Sony’s DVP-S9000ES, you
no longer need to choose. Because the MPEG Image Processor
already has comprehensive motion detection circuitry, the player
already “knows” which portions of a video-originated scene have
motion. So the player applies high-resolution frame pause for all
the motionless areas of your picture, while it applies motion-
stopping field pause to areas of movement. Clear Frame is simple,
automatic and easy to appreciate. It’s a major improvement in
freeze frame technology.
The video equalizer of the DVP-S9000ES enables users to fine-
tune performance to match their monitors and viewing
conditions. The equalizer is controlled via on-screen display and
offers unusually fine adjustment:
Picture
+/- 20 steps
Brightness
+/- 20 steps
Color Balance
+/- 20 steps
High Precision Video Equalizer
Horizontal Sharpness
+/- 20 steps
Vertical Sharpness
+/- 20 steps
Block Noise Reduction
stages 0 to 7
Luminance (Y) Noise Reduction
stages 0 to 7
Chrominance (C
B
, C
R
) Noise Reduction
stages 0 to 7
Chroma Delay
2 stages
The DVD format dictates specific quantization for specific bright-
ness levels. For example, full black corresponds to a quantiza-
tion of 16 while full white corresponds to 235. However, demand
has grown for adjustment that matches the DVD player output to
the characteristics of your display. Direct-view CRTs, plasma
panels, CRT projectors and LCD projectors each have specific
needs. For example, LCD projectors are subject to “black float”
and can benefit from a calibration “below black.” CRT direct
view televisions tend to loose dark detail when viewed in
brightly-lit rooms.
Historically, gamma adjustment has matched the grayscale of a
video camera to the general transfer characteristics of CRTs.
Sony’s Graphical Gamma Adjustment matches the grayscale
performance of the player to the specific transfer characteristics
of your display. Used with a commercially available calibration
disc, the Graphical Gamma Adjustment can achieve ideal
reproduction.
The system enables you to make adjustments to gamma much
like a graphic equalizer adjusts audio frequency response. As
with an audio equalizer, aggressive adjustment can yield
unnatural results. The controls are best used to make gamma
curves that are smooth and subtle. Sony’s control offers eight
points of correction, each with 8-bit precision. And you can
always return the gamma controls to the industry-standard “flat”
state by selecting “RESET” on the on-screen display.
Fig. 11: Graphical Gamma adjustment is like an eight-band graphic equalizer
for grayscale and black level.
Fig. 10: Sony’s Clear Frame system delivers superior still images of video-originated
DVDs. Moving areas, like the car are reproduced in motion-stopping field pause. But
motionless areas, like the stop sign are reproduced in the full resolution of frame pause.
So you see far higher pause mode resolution!
“Below Black” Reproduction with
Graphical Gamma Adjustment
Hue
+/- 20 steps
