in the slight chance that some of you know more than i do :ugh2: just kidding… anyway… tell me about TV’s.
i’m planning on buying a new tv… i would prefer an LCD… thinking 32-42 inches… I am going to steer away from buying some totally random bullshit company named TV like hanns-g or whatever some are… but am not looking to overlook some just based on name recognition.
What is quality… what minimum requirements should i have? i know hd and all that bullshit, but what about resolution… i noticed that most are 720 and some 1080… isn’t 1080 only good for progressive scan dvd? also if i get a widescreen, do all have the autofit feature for non 16:9 tv? i don’t want to watch some distorted crap if i’m just watching regular local channels.
i don’t know much about it all and am doing research before i buy. any advice or experience would be greeaaat.
there is 1080i & 720p
i=interlace p=progressive scan
its debatable which is better.
1080p is the new thing.
the difference is mostly noticable on a CRT.
when its an interlaced format the lines are painted in order…odd number first & then even numbers…within something like 1/30 or 1/40 of a sec.
progressive formats: 1080p, 720p & (480p which is DVD quality) do all the lines in a single pass. makes the image smoother & cleaner.
but with newer displays like LCD, DLP, plasma etc… which are “fixed pixel” TVs… they are progressive in nature so if they get a interlaced signal they convert it to progressive scan
as far as widescreen(16:9)…what you really want is a TV that has the capability of a wide zoom.
when a show is in normal (4:3) some tv with just stretch it across to fit the widescreen, or put black lines on the sides to fill the extra space.
personally i think TVs that have a “widezoom” look the best.
what happens is the TV stretchs the 4:3 to fit the 16:9 screen but it stretch horizontally & vertically so you don’t get a distorted picture. the only drawback is you loose a little @ the top & bottom but its only about the size of a stock ticker…so its no big deal most of the time unless your watching CNBC , ESPN or something like that & you want to see the bar @ the bottom.
that only has to do with normal broadcasts…cause all HD content is in letterbox/widesceen.
my TV is about 3ys old…& i did a lot of research for about 2yrs prior to bying …the best bang for you buck IMO is a Sony LCD or a Samsung DLP.
the new LG’s look good to but i haven’t checked them out much since they got popular after i got mine.
i went with the sony just cause i saved about $400 @ the outlet in grove city.
also get a size that good for your room…when you’re in a best buy, circuit city etc… all the tv’s look small cause the store is so big & has 40 ft ceilings…but when you get it in your house its a whole different ballgame.
i know a guy that bought a 50" & put it in ths small room…looks like shit.
like i’ve said before…check out the sony outlet…they have a decent selection…the store is regular size so you get an better idea of the size of the TV…they sell all the normal/popular models & they sell models that bestbuy & the others don’t carry.
plus you’ll save some coin…can’t hurt for only a 30-40min trip
i’m goign to read through and ask more questions… but yeah, i understand about room sizing… i dont think that we will be much more than 10ft from the tv… so i was going to go with a 32"… but then we got the idea of possibly mounting it on the wall that would add about 5 more feet so that’s the reasoning behind going bigger.
is wide zoom proprietary to a company? could this feature be called something else with other companies? i g uess that was my main concern, as we do have comcast and will have the HD box, but i understand the whole issue regarding that, lack of a total HD programming.
i’ve liked the LG’s and even the westinghouse’s also… sharp looks good as did sony (although some sony floor models look beat on) and HP… I can get deals on HP because we have an in house guy at work.
oh… and thanks shaggy… but i have used the internet before
id say ebay for it… i picked mine up pretty cheap granted its not lcd or plasma. its a slim fit crt. Ebay can save you some serious coin plus most places give you a chance to buy a warranty with it. I got mine for 3 years at 30 bucks. i dont think thats bad.
Like showtime says…sony or Samsung DLP is the best bang for the buck. If spending less than $1500 for an LCD I would advise the last two. 32" LCD s are tiny when you look at them, not even worth the money. To get a nice 36"+ that has even decent quality you will be at $2400+. Showtime recommended the Samsung DLP to me 3 months back. I got it against the word of the salesman after researching it further. I got my Samsung DLP for like $1800 42". Very nice size screen and I hook my laptop up to it all the time. If I was investing $3000+ I would have went with a 36"+ LCD, but to get that type of quality for my price range I needed DLP. Its truley a sick ass TV.
Oh yes, stay away from EBAY for TVs if making a $1500+ purchase. You don’t want the hassle of returns if something goes wrong. Under $1500 may be worth it.
I don’t have any technical specs to back it up, but we’ve been replacing our tube televisions with flat panels at Alioto’s, and the Samsungs are dead sexy. The ONLY complaint I’ve had is that near-whites seem to make a posterized effect, but we ARE running decades-old analog cable to our screens.
why would i cut back on something for a thousand bucks when i’m already spending 2??? price isn’t an object… the right TV is.
i’m going to go ahead and say that i don’t want a DLP. i was only considering plasma or lcd… newer plasma’s are more maintenance free than the older ones, regarding burn in and shit. rear projection is garbage… lcd blows dlp out of the water except for massive sizes and price… i’m not worried about a large tv or pricing (to an extent).
my buddy has a 55" dlp that we sit about 6 ft from… a little too big for me. i think a 32 is small but a 37 is perfect… i dont like BIG tv’s… i have a projector and screen if i want to play movie theater.
i dunno… picture quality??? (not like i even watch tv all that much or care)… old technology??? i can’t stand CRT monitors and woudn’t want to cut short on a TV.
i mean if i really decided against spending the money i would… but i’m all geared up to buy a nice LCD and i feel that the picture side by side will explain itself.
I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma…i LOVE it…the picture is crystal clear, and the colors are very sharp and vivid. if you plan on hooking a Playstation, or other video game console to it, dont get a plasma though. I learned that the hard way. Luckily they replaced it for me. Even though the game itself is moving, if there are any “status bars” or something that stays in the same place on the game, it will burn that image into the plasma tv’s, and pretty quickly too. This is mine:
Panasonic TH-42PX600U
^ newer HP’s (i’m assuming others) have jumping pixels that will move the entire image one or two pixels to avoid any burn in… the TV will be used for sporting events and shit, which i’m assuming could cause a burn in issue… the only reason i’m staying away form plasma… i think that the technology has moved forward to avoid the issues… but its still scary. taht’s why i leaned to LCD.
so showtime… whats the deal… waht minimum do i want? 720p at least… should i strictly look for 1080p? i’m still not sure on what i should be going after.
sonny…get what you can afford & is the best bang for you buck.
i’m not up to date on pricing…i just know ballpark figures…but if 1080p is a lot more then 1080i or 720p then don’t bother…if its only a little more then go for it.
i don’ tthink you’ll see a huge difference when looking @ an HD broadcast
check out the Sears scratch and dent center in lawrenceville. they have a good selection and are MUCH cheaper than just about anywhere. they do offer warrentys too. just make sure you take your nine or gat down with you
techincally yes, but there are debates about which is better.
progressive scan is better but 1080 is higher…
720p is 1280x720 minimum res. where 1080 is 1920x1080 minimum
do a google search on 1080i vs. 720p & you get a ton of pros, cons debates on the subject.
personally id go with the 1080 but thats me…might as well be ahead of the game then regret it 5yrs from now.
& on a side note
i hear that Xbox 360 looks noticable better on 1080
