Using Internet Appliances with a 2-Year-Old Television
In the January 2001 issue of AccessWorld, we looked at three Internet appliances that connect to a television: WebTV, Sega Dreamcast, and AOLTV. We used a 12-year-old television to test the appliances. Since resolution, contrast, and overall picture clarity were disappointing, we retested the appliances on a 2-year-old ViewSonic television.
One possible benefit of using newer televisions is that they offer an improved means of connection called Super Video (S-Video). The S-Video cable sends two separate video signals to the television, one for brightness and one for color. To use S-Video the television must have an S-Video input jack, and the appliance must have an S-Video output jack. You also need an S-Video cable. WebTV comes with this cable, but since the other appliances do not, we purchased one for $15.
We first tried the appliances without S-Video. Resolution, crispness, and overall picture quality improved dramatically, compared to the 12-year-old television we had previously used. AOLTV did not improve with S-Video, and S-Video added only slightly better resolution in WebTV and Sega Dreamcast. We concluded that a newer television helps, but S-Video doesn't do much.
Now if only these devices would get rid of difficult-to-see color combinations like blue text on a blue background! Although they are not quite there yet, they are getting closer.
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