THE FRONT LINE: FEBRUARY 2009
The 10th Annual HDTVexpert.Com Super Bowl HDTV Party
Believe it or not, this party started back in 2000, with ABC’s pioneering HD telecast of Super Bowl 34 from Atlanta. Back then; guests watched it on just two HDTV screens. Nine years later, there were 14 screens and 3D to dazzle everyone’s eyeballs.
February 1st renewed America’s annual obsession with football, clever commercials, and Roman numerals. Yes, it was Super Bowl XLIII (43), and the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a cliff-hanger of a 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals with an amazing touchdown catch by Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes just 35 seconds before the end of the game.
And 70 guests were there to see the fun at my annual Super Bowl HDTV Party, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. I’ve held this party every year since the 2000 Rams — Titans clash was carried by ABC in the 720p HD format. This year’s game was the first HD telecast by NBC and included a knockout halftime concert by Bruce Springsteen, plus a not-so-impressive pair of 3D commercials by Dreamworks and Pepsi SoBe water.
Figure 1. Are you ready for some football?
Figure 2. Vizio’s VF55XVT commanded the living room.
THE HDTVs
That first HDTV Party showcased all of two HD screens — Princeton’s AF3.0HD 30-inch CRT monitor (a heavy brute) coupled to a Panasonic TU-DST51A set-top receiver, and Sony’s VPL-VW10HT 720p 3LCD home theater projector, also driven by a Panasonic set-top box. It was a struggle to lock up WPVI’s digital signal on UHF channel 64 reliably, but it worked just fine throughout the game.
In contrast, 14 HDTVs were up and running for 2009, with Sony’s XEL-1 OLED (MSRP $2,500) taking the prize for the smallest TV screen at 11 inches. (Yeah, I know it’s not a true HDTV at 960x540 resolution. But it’s close enough for government work.) Mitsubishi’s HC6000 3LCD 1080p projector cast the largest image, lighting up a brand new 92-inch Da-Lite Affinity screen, designed and shown by Joe Kane at CES 2009.
Other featured screens included Vizio’s VF55XVT 55-inch LCD (SRP $1,999), Samsung’s PN50A460 50-inch plasma (SRP $1,599), Pioneer’s PRO-111FD 50-inch Kuro plasma (SRP $5,000), Westinghouse Digital’s WD2613 26-inch LCD (SRP $549), Panasonic’s TH42PZ80U 42-inch plasma (SRP $1,299), and a trio of 32-inch LCD sets — LG Electronics’ 32LG30 (SRP $749), RCA’s L32HD32 (SRP $699), and Sharp’s LC32D44 (SRP $699).
Figure 3. LG’s 32LG30 sure beats the heck out of a doorman any day.
Figure 4. RCA’s L32HD31 gathered a crowd in the front hallway.
Figure 5. Now, this is how you do rear projection!
Panasonic’s new 42PF11 42-inch 1080p plasma monitor (SRP $2,500) was pressed into service at the foot of the basement stairs, coupled to a Samsung DTB-H260F DTV receiver. Two complete Dolby Digital 5.1 basement theaters were jammed with guests, and were anchored by the aforementioned Mits HC6000, driven by an LG LST-3410A DTV receiver/DVR, and Sanyo’s new PLV-Z3000 3LCD 1080p projector (SRP $3,295), which took its signals from an LG LST-4200A set-top box.
An older PLV-Z4 720p 3LCD projector, coupled to yet another Samsung DTB-H260F, provided a 60-inch wide rear projection image through the sliding glass doors to my deck, and was as usual a very popular way to watch the game. And a JVC DT-V24L1 24-inch pro LCD monitor served as my “master control” system.
THE SIGNALS
Once again, all RF signal feeds came from antennas. This year, it was Philadelphia NBC station WCAU’s turn to carry the 1080i telecast on UHF channel 67. I distributed this signal with rooftop and attic Channel Master CM2016 VHF/UHF antennas coupled to Titan 2 7777 VHF/UHF preamps. I also put out a temporary, tripod-mounted rear-deck CM4308 UHF yagi antenna with a CM 7775 mast-mounted preamp, and hooked up a pair of Radio Shack 15-1862 indoor UHF/VHF amplified antennas, positioned along the southwest wall of my living room, to feed the Sharp and Samsung sets.
One problem immediately popped up. WCAU’s digital signal isn’t particularly strong at my home, even with the best of antennas. (The signal path to the Roxborough transmitter site is blocked by a hill.) And channel 67 is high enough in the UHF band that small planes passing overhead create enough reflections to cause signal dropout. So, a Blonder-Tongue 30 dB in-line amplifier was pulled out of storage and pressed into service to overcome all of the losses incurred by two-way and three-way splitters from my primary rooftop antenna.
Once again, many of my guests seemed amazed that none of the RF feeds were from cable or satellite drops, and that the HD images were of such high quality. “Aren’t antennas on the way out?” asked one guest. It seems that the concepts of “free” and “high-quality HD programming” are mutually exclusive to the average person these days.
Not surprisingly, many guests wanted to learn more about getting free HDTV after seeing a few minutes of the game, while others considered the amount of work required to turn their basement into a home theater. There were also a few inquiries into the availability of the demo HDTVs on a “cash and carry” basis!
Figure 6. Here’s a view of Theater 2, which also housed the master control area.
Figure 7. Sony’s XEL-1 was the perfect fit for the main bathroom.
Figure 8. Theater 1 was dominated by a 92-inch Da-Lite JKP Affinity projection screen.
THE GAME
While the appearance of the Pittsburgh Steelers in their seventh Super Bowl was no big surprise, the Arizona Cardinals were the decided underdogs. Long the NFL’s doormat, the Cardinals hadn’t won any kind of championship since 1948, when they played in Chicago.
Yet, Arizona really turned it up several notches in the playoffs with a convincing pasting of the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, followed by a close win at home over the resurgent Philadelphia Eagles (always a bridesmaid, never a bride). Over in the AFC, the Steelers rang up points big time on the explosive San Diego Chargers, then used a key interception late in the game to turn back division rival Baltimore and vault past the Ravens into the Super Bowl.
Coming into the game, it was hard to gauge interest in the game. Sure, the Cardinals had 2000 MVP Kurt Warner in the twilight of his career, throwing bombs downfield to highlight-reel receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. The Steelers countered with the scrambling of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the running of Willie Parker, that ferocious “Steelers D” and a few highlight reel catches of their own from receiver Santonio Holmes.
Figure 9. Panasonic’s TH42PZ80U was a crowd pleaser in the family room.
Figure 10. Guests were packed in tight in the living room.
Although the majority of guests were diehard Eagles fans, we decorated the house with plenty of black-and-gold and red-and-white tablecloths, napkins, and other accessories. The teams didn’t disappoint, either: This game featured the longest interception return for a touchdown (100 yards by Steeler James Harrison) in Super Bowl history, followed by some equally dramatic touchdown catches by Fitzgerald.
But it was Holmes’ ballet move and circus catch in the corner of the end zone that brought the crowd to its feet and clinched the win for Pittsburgh. The game was so good; it was a shame that either team had to loose!
Early on, excitement and consternation were both created by a blown circuit breaker that promptly threw the main theater and the kitchen into darkness. (That’s what happens when you run a microwave oven and a rice steamer on the same circuit!) Before the game, an interview with President Obama suffered from quite a few digital “hits” that weren’t caused by any reception problems with WCAU — just the NBC Washington, DC satellite feed. (Phew!)
Once things settled down, the game coverage went off without a hitch. Dreamworks’ PR department was kind enough to send over 70 pairs of 3D glasses to view the two 3D commercials that aired right before halftime. These two commercials, which generated a lot of press and demand for 3D glasses, came over with mixed results, showing up best on the larger flat screens (better on plasma than LCD) and the two theater projectors. Kids “oohed” and “ahhed” as the commercials ran, with the SoBe spot getting higher marks for a 3D experience.
Then it was time for The Boss, and we all wondered just how many songs Bruce Springsteen could play in 12 minutes (yep, that’s all the time anyone gets for the halftime show!). The E-Street Band managed to get four songs in, and Springsteen’s reputation for giving overlong concerts was spoofed when a referee ran up to the stage and tossed a yellow flag at Bruce’s feet for a “delay of game” penalty. Pretty funny!
I’m not a big fan of video concerts, but this was 12 minutes of heaven, particularly in the main theater with the Mitsubishi projector, Affinity screen, a Sony 100 watt DD 5.1 audio system, and Snell 5.1 mk2 speakers all around. We “cranked it” for Bruce!
As halftime started, we raffled off two OPPO DV-981HD upconverting DVD players (value: $229 each), courtesy of Jason Liao at OPPO Digital. The proceeds went to our local church’s upcoming summer outreach mission trip to Georgia, and the donation was greatly appreciated.
Figure 11. The dining room theater, which featured Samsung’s PN50A460,
also had all of the
desserts. Yum!
Figure 12. Decisions, decisions…
THE BUZZ
The XEL-1 got plenty of attention, particularly as it had the “throne room” position this year — located in the main bathroom. Local CBS station KYW-3 came by to shoot a short feature story on the party after halftime, and featured this TV, the LG 32LG30 that was positioned outside the front door to greet guests, and the two surround-sound theaters in its 11 PM newscast.
For some odd reason, the coverage also included the cameraman opening our refrigerator door, then closing it and panning up to show Westinghouse Digital’s W2613 LCD TV, perched high above the proceedings as an “air check” monitor for the kitchen crowd. (You can watch the video at http://cbs3.com/video/?id=73440@kyw.dayport.com)
Samsung was kind enough to also send along a demo of active-shutter 3D, set up on the PN50A460 and viewed with a pair of 3D glasses. Content included Madden NFL 2008 in 3D, plus a few movie clips and game previews. Due to some technical glitches in the setup from the PC to the plasma HDTV, the demo didn’t work most of the time on Sunday, although it performed flawlessly the day before. (Oh well, Murphy’s Law had to kick in at some point…)
As for crowd favorites? Vizio’s 55-incher was very popular, as was the Pioneer 50-inch KURO. All three of the 32-inch LCDs drew favorable comments, and of course the two theaters were jammed for most of the game.
And once again, the rear-projection setup on my rear deck was voted the best display of the bunch. It wasn’t 1080p, and its surface was partially obstructed by the mullions in my sliding deck doors. But this screen still captivated everyone who passed by. (Maybe its location next to the beer, soda, and wine chests had something to do with that?)
