TV Display Technology and Video Processing

Abstract

Video processing demands are strongly influenced by the display device. The revolution in television displays from the Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) to modern flat panel displays, like the Plasma Display Panel (PDP) and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), has accelerated the innovation in video processing. The larger screen sizes and increased brightness, but also the increased diversity in content quality, along with the transition to High Definition television (HDTV) and beyond, has profoundly increased our picture quality expectations. New challenges had to be overcome with video processing, as the new display technologies have some very good, but often also some unfavorable properties. Therefore, new video processing algorithms were necessary to provide adequate solutions. It is fair to say that the display revolution along with the advances in video sources has made video processing an interesting field for many researchers during the last few decades. This chapter briefly reviews the characteristics of the Human Visual System that impact the system design, followed by a review of a number of modern display technologies. Some of the characteristics that negatively affect our perception will be discussed. It will appear that none of the modern displays is ideal for rendering video, and video processing technologies which alleviate the impact from these flaws will be presented.