14 DAY TRIAL // The new 120Hz technology for LCD HDTVs is said to help movies and video content look better than ever. Wait a second. Is this supposed to mean that LCD HDTVs don't really provide a sharp looking image and improved overall quality? Well, sort of. All those HDTVs out there feature a 60Hz refresh rate. Couple this with the 24 frames/s standard for movies and you end up with some subtle problems that might ruin the HD quality in time.
That 24 fps standard was the approximation of what was defined in the early20th century by hand crank film cameras. Nowadays, most of the movie discs you can buy are encoded in this somewhat ancient format. This is to say that not only DVD films, but also HD DVDs and Blu-rays have to be encoded at 24 fps. Present-day HDTVs display video content at 30 frames per second, so they have to fit that 24-frame source onto a 30-frame default setting. You can't really divide 24 by 30 without filling in the gaps with some subtle video artifacts. These artifacts cause stuttering in the video, a phenomenon that's particularly noticeable when the camera pans across a scene.
Let us see how this information relate to an all-new 120Hz HDTV, working at 120 frames per second. Elementary math reveals that 120 is a multiple of 24, because 24 x 5 = 120. These new HDTVs avoid awkward 3:2 pull-down processes altogether by changing their frame rate to something that's a multiple of 24 by using either frame doubling or interpolation. This trick allows the sped-up playback to be as close to native 24 fps playback as you can get.
JVC is the first to support the new 120Hz feature with its latest 1,366x768 models available in 42-inch, 37-inch. The 32-inch LT-32LC95 and 37-inch LT-37LC95 models will roll out in Japan late next month for $1889 and $2381 respectively, while the 42-inch LT-42LC95 screen will be available in March for $3038. Unfortunately, these models can't deal with 1080p resolutions and this is where Sharp comes in with the upcoming 42-incher that will be available in April for not much more money: $3500.