HDTV

[jeffus]

OK, I'm an engineer and I'm pretty much confused on the topic. I've been reading, reading, and reading...

720p, HDMI, QAM, ATSC, PIP, 1080i, 1080p, CableCard.....blah, blah, blah!

So I pretty much know what all the abbreviations mean, but can anybody recommend a decent set-up? Decent TV they've bought and are happy with. Word of mouth is invaluable....

[seattle]

It depends on what source you have and where you want to put the TV. How far would you be from the TV? How much HD would you watch?
My setup is a Sony Wega flat tube TV in the family room with a TiVo. Living room is Panasonic plasma with and a Pioneer TiVo. Bedroom is a HP lcd TV with a Humax TiVo. Other rooms are regular TVs with TiVos. I have cable TV but do not use cable boxes I use the TiVos built-in tuner. I did a lot of reading on AVSforum about the plasma and the Panasonic was rated very good. The HP was rated good too and has a HD tuner built-in.

[Hockeyfan]

I just have a 42 " Sony LCD TV. Picture is bright and HD is great. I have digital cable with HDDVR and its the best thing in the world. Actually had a 52/55 JVC (forget which) and had it set up and wife made me take it back. Said it was "too big". Heard that before :oops: JK. Anyways the room I have it in isn't too large. 12*17 or something. I sit about 12-14 feet from the TV and actually it is very large in appearance. Its not a 60 inch or larger, but actually the 42 inch is plenty big. Hate to say the wife was right, but... So anyways, I was used to a 27 inch TV so this was great. I have other friends with Plasma TVs and very large ones, but I think they are too $$ and have a shorter lifespan. Anyways the SONY also has all of the conections you will want. HDMI and component video and computer and who knows what else. I would stay away from the HDMI connection though (this is audio and video in one connection). Go with component video fibre optic audio. Think thats how it is all set up. The Samsung DLP is a nice looking TV too. Price is super cheap at Best Buy right now I think its a $200 price drop or something. Not sure how big you want to go. FYI. My friend (who lives beside the Head Coach of the US Olympic hockey team) has a 65 inch plasma. The HD is from Sattelite, but the picture is just not sharp. Not like it is on my smaller set. I am sure the smaller TVs have a sharper image. As far as trhe head coach thing, just wanted to put in perspective his income and how expensive his TV was. Just showed me that even though he spend 2-3 times more than me, doesn't mean its better. It is big, but the picture was not impressive. Save your coin.

[Will'sdad]

I've got a Samsung 52" DLP and I love it. The thing I learned, however, is that the TV is only as good as your cable signal. There is not much HD programming out there and you have to get the HDTV package from your cable company to receive it (at least with Comcast). Non-HD programming looks worse on my 52" than on my 32" Sony flat screen CRT. But High-Def kicks ass. Football and baseball games look fantastic when Broadcast in HD. And movies with a DVD player with progressive scan look great. I also have an xbox 360 that I run in 720p. I think it looks better playing than in 1080i. As I understand it, the "p" is better for image quality when in motion (which most everything on a tv is). The new tv's have 1080p and there is a format war brewing between Blu-Ray (backed by Sony) and HD-DVD (backed by Toshiba, I think). I've seen them running in stores and it just dosen't seem worth the price. I think a tv with 720p/1080i will do just fine, at least for me.

[jeffus]

We are pretty much in agreement over the size - 42" is perfect. 50 is too big. We got a 25" console that's about 14 y/o & wouldn't mind seeing it go away. So it'd be a step up.

Comcast cable would be the video 'source'.

As far as sound goes, nothing out there seems to have great sound and seems like most people go with a surround sound system. We would like to pipe that through the stereo which already has a Dolby receiver in it with some kicking Boston Acoustics speakers attached. I guess I would have to get a sub-woofer, center, and rear speakers.

As far as I can tell 1080p is the top of the line, but no cable company or satellite system could possibly supply the bandwidth for that resolution, so the only source would be a new HD-DVD system. At this point, I wouldn't want to buy a Betamax.

Should I even bother with a HD-Tuner or just go with a 'monitor' since Comcast supplies the HD-Digital cable box and DVR?

Any preferences - Plasma or LCD? I'm leaning towards plasma since its supposed to be brighter & faster. LCD's are a tad more rugged but pixels tend to burn out leaving black dots and the picture's response time is a tad slower than plasma......

Choices....choices..... :shrug:

[stretch]

Westinghouse makes* (http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-44-7-42-1080p-monitor.aspx)a very nice, and very well-priced, 42-inch LCD monitor that is about as future-proof as you can get right now. You get true 1080p without paying a premium for it, plus 2 HDMI and 2 DVI inputs to hook up any current or (near) future configuration of display devices.

There is a veeeerrryyy long thread on AVSForums about this set, listing all the pluses and minuses, but for the money (<$2000) little else appears to come close.

* It's not really Westinghouse, as in the venerable US engineering and appliance company, rather some Taiwanese guys who licensed the name to give them a brand-recognition leg-up in the US market. The panels are made by Chi-Mei Optoelectronics, which also makes the hardware for Sharp, Toshiba, Samsung and many other "name" brands.

Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7699163&type=product&id=1138084694260) carries these, so you can get the safety net of their 30-day return policy if you want to try it out.

[Hockeyfan]

Plasma is more money and will go back quicker than LCD. I haven't experienced any issues with my LCD yet and the picture is great. HD is awesome in sports. I will watch anything in HD. Save your money or buy two LCDs instead of the Plasma. Definately get surround sound. Get a receiver that supports DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 (not just dolby digital- this is not surround), and other formats. Get some matching rear surrounds and a good center channel speaker (Crutchfield has great stuff online). Get a sub woofer if you want. Bass is great during movies, although good speakers have a nice bit of bass and depending upon where you live...house/apartment bass may not be good. At least too much. I have Polk floor standing speakers, and center channel and rear surrounds. Then an old sony sub-woofer. Yamaha receiver. Works great. You will be blown away by HD football. As long as your watching the Panthers and not NY (either of them). Good luck. As will'sdad said. The samsung DLP is good too. I don't have any problems as far as speed for my 42 at all. Keeps up fine, even with video games. Plasma may be better though, but not sure if its worth it. If you have the money and don't care then....plasma may be your daddy.

[jeffus]

Budget is around 2k. Hopefully less.... :wink:

Thanks for all the great feedback! Appreciate it!

[vertygo]

Just so you know, there are rumours that Plasma tv's are being phased out by the manufacturers.. to expensive, shipping is a nightmare, etc. New and better LCD technology will replace it.

If you have the space, there's always ceiling projectors.. 780i I *believe* and it looks great on the right background colour.

[jeffus]

There are a lot of options - that's the really confusing part. And a lot of technical details to digest as well, especially for such an expensive item.

I got 2 LCD computer monitors that have stunning graphics, so I'm not "against" LCD's in any way. I'll watch DVD's on the PC, just for the clarity & resolution.

LCD's do seem to enjoy a longer lifespan and it looks like the contrast & brightness levels are getting better.

A lot of things to consider for a freaking TV set! :D

[Don-Dad]

I think I'm partial to DLP's, but you can't mount them yet but they are only about a foot thick. No worries about pixels dying and if you pick the right one you can change the bulbs yourself (well that's what I have read)

I have a crappy toshiba rear projection that already has image burn cause the stupid thing always defaults to the natural setting leaving black lines on the side and it cause image burn. It's about 1 year old. Only uses full screen in HD or if you change the setting on the remote, arghhhh, I hate that tv. I agree about the size your looking for, ours is 46 inch and it's just right, they had no 42'' in rear projectors or I would have bought that instead.

If you want to risk it, you can get some really good deals online on flat model tv's :)

[jeffus]

I appreciate the feedback!

I'm more interested in 'ownership' stories. You spend a pile on this crap (pun?!) and it better damn well make you happy.

You can troll BestBuy or CircuitCity reviews and you can tell which reviews are loaded.

I'd like to hear about what you have, would you buy it again, are you pleased with your 'expensive' purchase?

I'm just guessing Don's not too thrilled with the Toshiba DLP?! :wink:

This is a decision you/me/us will have to live with for a good couple of years.

[seattle]

I appreciate the feedback!

I'm more interested in 'ownership' stories. You spend a pile on this crap (pun?!) and it better damn well make you happy.

You can troll BestBuy or CircuitCity reviews and you can tell which reviews are loaded.

I'd like to hear about what you have, would you buy it again, are you pleased with your 'expensive' purchase?

I'm just guessing Don's not too thrilled with the Toshiba DLP?! :wink:

This is a decision you/me/us will have to live with for a good couple of years.

I bought my Panasonic TH-42PWD7UY plasma tv in March of 2005. I would buy it again. It is the pro model and does not include tuner or speakers. I do not have any burn in problem and it still looks great.

[Don-Dad]

Mines not a DLP :cry: Its a stinkin rear projection, DLP was too much at the time. Actually when I bought the TV it was $1399 and 2 weeks later went on sale for $999 so I went to Best Buy and had them give me the difference back, even bought a f'ing service plan but it does nto cover image burn, got a refund on that too, well 3/4's, fruckers would not give full refund even though I wrote a letter and complained numerous times. Too bad, I used to love Best Buy, have not bought anything in there since the TV and lucky for me Circuit City opened it's first store in the area late last year.

That Westinghouse mentioned gets very good reviews and I saw at bestbuy.com listed $1999 and had a price drop (did not click the link to see the new price) I saw it at Amazon for $1739.

[Hockeyfan]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7298998&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat31800050029&id=1118841724863

I gotz this one. I paid 1800 last year when it was on sale from 2000. Its now only 1400. I would still pay 18 for it, but why eh. No burn as of yet. Image is still great. HD is awe inspiring. Makes me cry sometimes during football and hockey games. It does however give black lines on standard def tv along the sides when viewing 4:3 programming, but you can zoom the pricture with the remote (if you wish) to make it full screen. 16:9 HD feeds fill the TV with sweet goodness. Plenty of conection ability for any receiver setup or for your computer, digital camera, camcorder, xbox and all that. I have used if for all, but the computer and it works great. Sound is good on the TV too, but I only use external speakers through the receiver so it don't really matter. When I move to my new place I actually may buy another one of these for my game room. I didn't know they had dropped in price so much, but I guess even those plasmas are alot cheaper. Good luck with your decision. Wife and I are 100% happy though as are most of the guys in here. I mean once you see HD your hooked!

[stretch]

This won't be much help if you want to buy now, but all indications are that LCD and Plasma prices will be coming down substantially in the nearish future.

Apparently the manufacturers ramped up production to catch an expected sales boost from the World Cup that never materialized, so now there's a major supply glut.

Numbers being thrown around range from 15% - 35% price drop across the board and I've seen some predictions that you might even see 42-inch LCDs close to $1,000 if you can catch a store sale.

[jeffus]

Yeah, I read that too...

That sounds great! Love to capitalize on some poor planning!

[Don-Dad]

I was in Sam's club today and was drooling over some of the plasma, lcd and dlp's :rolleyes:

[jeffus]

Please continue to post your thoughts on this topic. Although I'm in the market....& I absolutely appreciate the input, I didn't intend this to be about me. You can go nuts exploring this stuff :rolleyes:

This is a very complicated, ever-evolving, and technical issue. So please continue to add your input.

[jeffus]

Westinghouse makes* (http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-44-7-42-1080p-monitor.aspx)a very nice, and very well-priced, 42-inch LCD monitor that is about as future-proof as you can get right now. You get true 1080p without paying a premium for it, plus 2 HDMI and 2 DVI inputs to hook up any current or (near) future configuration of display devices.

There is a veeeerrryyy long thread on AVSForums about this set, listing all the pluses and minuses, but for the money (<$2000) little else appears to come close.

* It's not really Westinghouse, as in the venerable US engineering and appliance company, rather some Taiwanese guys who licensed the name to give them a brand-recognition leg-up in the US market. The panels are made by Chi-Mei Optoelectronics, which also makes the hardware for Sharp, Toshiba, Samsung and many other "name" brands.

Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7699163&type=product&id=1138084694260) carries these, so you can get the safety net of their 30-day return policy if you want to try it out.

This is looking like a pretty darn good option! Thanks Stretch!

Comcast digital HD comes with a convertor/DVR that handles the incoming signal, so it looks like there's no good reason to pay for an HD capable set. And the price is now $1800. That's right around the wifey 'nod' price we've discussed.

As I've researched a little more, Plasmas cannot handle 1080p signals at this time. They are due sometime this Fall/Winter.

1080p is the best of the best, but only available (maybe) with the new HD-DVD or Blu-ray formats. These are still in flux even as they've become available to consumers.

[Bollux]

get this, went over to my mothers today as stated in other posts... she bought a high def tv. WTF. did she win the lotto and not tell me? New car new tv.....I dunno midlife crisis?

[jeffus]

My parent's VCR is still flashing "12:00". It's been 20 years now!

[SideShowCecil]

I was doing a little online browsing and the HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV looks interesting. It’s not available until Aug 29.

It has a built in 10/100 wired and 802.11 wireless network adaptors to access media files from a PC.

I think I’ll look into this one a little more.

[jeffus]

Hah! New meaning to the term "Network TV"! ;)

[jeffus]

Westinghouse makes* (http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-44-7-42-1080p-monitor.aspx)a very nice, and very well-priced, 42-inch LCD monitor that is about as future-proof as you can get right now. You get true 1080p without paying a premium for it, plus 2 HDMI and 2 DVI inputs to hook up any current or (near) future configuration of display devices.

There is a veeeerrryyy long thread on AVSForums about this set, listing all the pluses and minuses, but for the money (<$2000) little else appears to come close.

* It's not really Westinghouse, as in the venerable US engineering and appliance company, rather some Taiwanese guys who licensed the name to give them a brand-recognition leg-up in the US market. The panels are made by Chi-Mei Optoelectronics, which also makes the hardware for Sharp, Toshiba, Samsung and many other "name" brands.

Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7699163&type=product&id=1138084694260) carries these, so you can get the safety net of their 30-day return policy if you want to try it out.

I stopped by BestBuy today on a road-trip and checked this set out. It was on a wall with other TV's and I couldn't tell the difference between plasmas and LCD's. Looking like a darn good option!