calling out the high def nerds

/insert jar jar binks voice

mesa maybe be a buyin a hdtv on black friday. isa have a feelin dat bestbuy isa going to have a good deal.

ima goin to buy da psp so no worries about it breakin

what is tha deal wit all of the diffeent high def setups…

hd ready
plasma
lcd
blablabla

i hear that i will need a hd feed from my cable company to get hd channels?

if someone could break it down that would be hot. usually im on top of these things but i’m a little below the curve when it comes to the new hd stuff.

ima assumin that hd ready is the same as “dolby digital ready” was when that came out…

helpa a burtha out a

holla :slight_smile:

Theres two different types of HD TV’s, integrated and monitor. If a TV is HDTV integrated (might say HD tuner, or ATSC tuner) it means it can pick up HD and/or digital signals OTA (over-the-air) via an antenna. OTA signals would be your local channels, 2, 4, 7, etc, etc… If a TV is a HD monitor (no ATSC tuner) it means it needs an external tuner in order to pick up OTA signals…

Now notice I have only been talking about OTA signals… That is the only difference between the two; if you plan on getting HD service from dish or adelphia than it won’t matter if you have an HD integrated or HD monitor television.

As far as plasma’s and LCD’s go both are wall mountable… LCD’s are more meant for smaller displays 32" WS (wide screen), while plasma’s are meant for a larger display, 37" and up. LCD’s are capable of high resolution’s which means a better picture from you. LCD’s do (did) have problems with to much action on the screen, which is more noticeable on cheaper sets. Plasma’s do not have this problem. Plasma’s main problem is that it is possible to burn an image into the screen. Notice how I didn’t say Plasma’s main problem is it’s lifetime… A Plasma TV should last as long as any other TV, however, unlike most other TV’s, once they die, they are gone. But who repairs their TV anymore?

Next you are getting into rear-projection, DLP, LCD rear-projection, CRT rear-projection, DILA, etc… Maybe I will post more on them when my fingers don’t hurt so much from typing…

Plasmas have the BEST blacks out of all of them and the burn in really isnt an issue on the newer sets, since most of them have some sort of conditioning feature, just in case you start seeing some. They are alot less likely to get burn in than they were when they came out, just cut the contrast down, alot of sets recommend 100 hours of viewing to burn it it.

black is the name of the game. plasmas provide the best black level bar none.

dlp has issues with bulbs. lcd to me is a crappy picture. i wouldnt get an lcd for hd…it would be like buying blizzaks for a ferrari.

plasma is also what you pay for of course. another thing to remember is that plasmas do not have a qauntitative lifespan. the chemicals used in plasmas has a half life. this half life depending on the tv is good for 4 hours of tv a day, every day of the week, every week of the year…for over 20 years. important to note that since we are talking half life, this doesnt mean your tv has to be replaced after 20 years, it means that this is when you start to nitcie a significant difference in brightness/contrast output. which is what plasmas are known for. so this means that in 20 years you might have to turn the brightness setting up a tad.

there are also some bad plasmas out there…tv’s that are technially plasma, but the individual cell structure is weaker, or the proccessors arent as capable. in this case a plasma will have a getter picture still frame vs still frame compared to dlp or lcd, but when the motion starts ie race car going by at 150, the picture trails, or skips…the resolution where sharp lines should be falls away and the picture looks incomplete. so even with plasma, you have to spend dough to get your value.

also size is a big factor. me personally i would take a 32 inch loewe plasma over a panasonic 50+…thats just me. i dont need the biggest thing out there, it is about quality for me. with plasmas people dont know that the bigger the screen, the further away the focal point for optimal viewing is. big tv in a little room only gets you bragging material, not the best picture.

if you are looking for a reasonable sized tv ie not HUGE BUFFALO HUUUUGGGEEE!. and have a budget of under 3k. dlp is the way to go. if you want to go bigger, need the extra quality, want to be a baller, plasma. but shop carefully like i said. dlp’s from my research are all about the same.

nothing beats going someplace and SEEING the picture for yourself. you might ever notice the difference between a good plasma and bad one, therefore may never be unsatisfied with a dlp.

my reccomendation if you want to see some great tv’s and get more info than you can handle is to visit the speaker shop on main st across from ub south. right next to the med school bookstore. go in and ask for matt. admit you are a dumbass…say you know me (joe with the s4)…he will call me a dumbass, and proceed to blow your mind with info and examples of everything i just wrote. then you make up your mind, and if you tell him that you might be looking for something cheaper/smaller/less quality, if he wont sell it for the price you can afford he will have no problem helping you find a place you can. he is honest and stand up.

good luck

joe

yeah, also dont go buy best buys inhouse HD feed, it isnt true, id recomend speaker shop also, and as far as plasma life goes, im willing to think after 20 years your in for a new TV anyways :), big TV in a small room sucks ass, for a 42 inch they recommend at LEAST 7-8 feet, the more the better.

My plasma has a High 2300:1 contrast ratio and DNX by Pixelworks video processing technology for crisp, clear images with fast-paced action video. No jaggyness or pixelation with fast scenes, this to me is most important.

Also inputs are important, 2 Component, 3 Composite, 2 S-Video, 2 HDMI and 7 RCA Audio) as well as PC inputs (VGA, DVI-CE and PC Audio). 2 HDMI is important for me only because my DTV reciever is HDMI as is my Upconverting DVD player, with the HDMI i dont have to worry about HDCP copy protection, so i can watch all my dvds in 1080i. Lots to learn about HD, took me forever to read through tons of shit online to finally choose

reading this with interest. :tup:

:word:

Ask for Matt. That man knows more about TVs and stereo equipment then the rest of WNY combined.

Speaker shop is expensive but is the highest quality stuff you can buy.

lol it looks like matt gets around more than i thought. anyone got any juicy funny shit i can bust his balls about when he comes over to the house next week? fucker is always busting my balls…i need something on him

once the best buy scans come out i will post up my options…

there is a “best buy balck friday” ruhmor list out… i dont want to bother posting that info…

:tup: to the guys that helped out

Yeah a couple of years ago he shaved his head like Edward Norton in American History X. I asked him if he had the tattoo also.

Matt used to bust my balls bad years ago when I was in there for car audio stuff. I <3 Speaker Shop.

rofl i was there when hje decided to do it. took the clippers out at the shop, went out back and had jimmy go at it. lol.

i used to spend wayyy too much time there trying to learn everything i could. it is good to know i am not the only one who falls for his bullshit <sarcasm>

another thing about plasmas. there is a rumor that production of plasmas is going HALT. instead of all the companies meeting the exceeding demand for plasma tv’s by building more, instead they are deciding to build less. info comes from a good source, and that why my dad and i ultimately bought the display model off the floor in speaker shop…if we would have placed an order for a new one, the distributor had NO CLUE when their next one was coming in, could be a month, could be 9! just thought i should add that.

joe

I’ve spoken with some ppl who work at BB and CC… basically they already have their Black Friday stock. You aren’t going to get a good quality plasma for cheap. Look to spend about $2500. Right now my store has a JVC, and an Hitachi (I think they are still in stock for that price)
Any plasmas you see on black friday for $900, or $1000 will be Sampo, or Akai, or Some other shitty brand, they’ll probably be ED ready, not HD or HD ready, they will have large pixels, slow refresh rates… and the Akai leaves a purple tint everywhere.

Plasma is a great way to go if you want to spend the money. they will last about 8-10 years till they loose their gas and you need to buy a new tv. burn in is not a large issue, but if you plan to game on it it is, Status bars etc will leave bun in because they are always there… GTA for example… your money, time, and health bars are there almost 100% of the time.

DLP, see previous post, I’mm not a fan of it

HDILA, about 10-15% brighter than the other technologies, and very little screen door effect

LCD Rear Projection. I like the picture a little better, it seems to deal with movement, and I think that the HDILA is over bright… tends to blind me when I’m watching it… but that’s my opinion. LCD tends to have a little better picture on moving images, but I think that between those 2 it’s personal pref.

Any of the Micro display TV’s (DLP, LCD, HDILA) all require a bulb change every 3 years at a cost of abotu $200 done by you… it’s easy to do.

whatever you do… DONT get a large LCD panel (above lets say a 27") the refresh rate even on the JVC’s with the Ginessa chip is terrible, when the camera pans everything gets fuzzy quick.

If you turn the contrast down on plasmas the burn in wil not happen with games, big write up on AVSforum on this exact issue.

burn in is such hype now, its no where nearly as bad as it used to be

Hmmm, how to burn Matt???

He worked at both Darryls’ and Custom! That might be a start!!