Testing Equipment - Questions.

[admin_exported]

Now I am not a technical expert, although I would call myself a techfan with a background in computer design and electronic transmission and I am curious about how u test new pieces of equipment.

- When u replace a component with a new one - for example changing speaker cable, video cables - do u re-calibrate the equipment before testing?

- What background do the reviewers have - apart from journalism and tech enthusiasts?

- How do u compare tv's - is it purely subjective? I've seen some sites produce graphs showing differences between rgb trackin, luminance, gamma levels etc. Are there plans for what-hifi to introduce a more technical slant to the reviews? I know I'd like to see some of that.

- When u test/retest equipment do u always ensure that the lastest firmware release is being used? For example, it is quite likely that reference bits of kit would need updating as time goes by.

 

[Anonymous]

No answers from the WHFI team?

 

[The_Lhc]

TechMad:Now I am not a technical expert,

Really? You certainly talk as if you are.

How do u compare tv's - is it purely subjective? I've seen some sites produce graphs showing differences between rgb trackin, luminance, gamma levels etc. Are there plans for what-hifi to introduce a more technical slant to the reviews? I know I'd like to see some of that.

You and almost nobody else, which is why the magazines that do publish reams of that stuff don't sell in anything like the numbers WHF do, there's a small percentage of the readership that want to see that but the majority of them don't, this has been covered on a number of occasions in the past.

 

[Andrew Everard]

TechMad:No answers from the WHFI team?

Not at 1.30am, no. I suggest a viewing of our How We Test video.

 

[Xanderzdad]

As said earlier in this thread, many less popular magazines publish graphs and data but the reason (I think) that WHF is so successful is because they care about how it sounds.

The subtleties and emotion of music cannot (I think) be conveyed by a graph and many equipment manufacturers show excellent data but fail to deliver on sound.

You can get graphs etc. from the internet and manufacturers sites so no real need to duplicate in WHF, I feel.