3 attributes of an HDTV in order to buy it

[Garet Jax]

Well?

 

[zixxer]

Thin (plasma/lcd sexiness)

true 720p+ (NO EDTV's)

vga in



(I just bought an hp pl4260)

 

[theNEOone]

do you mean, what shows/movies/etc. does one need to see in HD?

if so, my answers would be:
1. any sporting event
2. CSI Miami (great colors and outdoor scenes)
3. 24 (just because it's the only show i watch religiously)


=|

 

[QED]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Well?

Square pixels.

High real-world contrast ratio.

Quality scaler and deinterlacer.

 

[Doboji]

1) HD Porn

2) HD Football

3) Beer

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
do you mean, what shows/movies/etc. does one need to see in HD?

if so, my answers would be:
1. any sporting event
2. CSI Miami (great colors and outdoor scenes)
3. 24 (just because it's the only show i watch religiously)


=|

Actually, I was more looking for attributes of an HDTV that you have to have if you were buying one.

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Actually, I was more looking for attributes of an HDTV that you have to have if you were buying one.

In that case, I can't help because I have absolutely no clue!


=|

 

[zixxer]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: theNEOone
do you mean, what shows/movies/etc. does one need to see in HD?

if so, my answers would be:
1. any sporting event
2. CSI Miami (great colors and outdoor scenes)
3. 24 (just because it's the only show i watch religiously)


=|

Actually, I was more looking for attributes of an HDTV that you have to have if you were buying one.

couple of things to keep in mind:

plasmas: have 'rectangle' pixels, but generally are regarded to have the best picture quality (of dlp and lcd's) even though they tend to have lower resolutions

large lcd's (37+) tend to have horrible backlight leakage. This is what kept me from buying one.

Plasmas DO burn in, it is NOT a myth. The first 100 hours or so you have to be careful with the video games/sports

 

[TheTony]

1) Reliability
2) Picture quality (dark darks, good contrast & adequate sharpness, native 1080p is a bonus)
3) Interface features (# of inputs, menus, etc)

Price would be a 4th attribute that I consider, but the first three take precedence.

 

[Skiddex]

1) input connections. i was looking for at least 2 component and a DVI as i have a htpc hooked up to mine
2) im not sure what the correct term for this is, but i looked for one with a good black picture and good white picture. helps to show how good the contrast is.
3) i wanted thin, so i went LCD as it was cheaper than plasma. also, didnt have to worry about burn in or gas recharging...(not that i really even plan to have it more han 5 years)


i know you didnt ask but...
4) hd tuner built in. this is nice if you want to get OTA(over the air) HD signals. charter cable doesnt broadcast fox in HD but i can pick it up OTA just fine with a decent antenna

 

[QED]

Originally posted by: zixxer

couple of things to keep in mind:

plasmas: have 'rectangle' pixels, but generally are regarded to have the best picture quality (of dlp and lcd's) even though they tend to have lower resolutions

large lcd's (37+) tend to have horrible backlight leakage. This is what kept me from buying one.

Plasmas DO burn in, it is NOT a myth. The first 100 hours or so you have to be careful with the video games/sports

Sorry Zixxer but your statements are full of half-truths.

First of al, it's most just 42 inch plasmas have rectangular pixels--but not even all of them do. I can't think of a 50"+ plasma off the top of my head that has anything but square pixels. It's really easy to find out though-- just take a look at the displays native resolution. If the resolution is in a 6x9 ratio, then it has square pixels. If it is in a 4x3 ratio than it has rectangular pixels.

Secondly, plasma CAN burn in if you are an abuser, not DO. Just like you CAN "burn-in" an LCD if you really, really tried hard. In the first hundred hours with my plasma I watchd almost nothing but football games with the constant banners at the top and tickers at the bottom, or playing HALO on the xbox (sometimes pausing it for a half-hour or so to get a snack or take a break), and suffered not a single side-effect. At all.

 

[QED]

Originally posted by: Skiddex

3) i wanted thin, so i went LCD as it was cheaper than plasma. also, didnt have to worry about burn in or gas recharging...(not that i really even plan to have it more han 5 years)

You know there is no such thing as "gas recharging" for plasmas. Whoever told you that is either pulling your leg, or an idiot.

Plasmas don't lose their gas. Just like CRTs, the phosphors eventually begin to wear and dim after thousands of hours of use. It is this wear that makes plasmas susceptible to "burn-in" (which is really nothing more than uneven phosphor wear). However, modern plasmas now have phosphors with half-lives equivalent to those of standard tube TVs-- so if you're not worried about burn-in on your CRT you shouldn't be worried about burn-in on your plasma.

 

[Abel007]

Inputs (HDMI is almost a must as well as DVI)
Resolution (1920x1080 or bust!)
Image Quality (this is self-explanatory)

 

[Ilmater]

1) At least two component inputs, plus an HDMI or DVI input

2) 720p native would be nice, yes, as most HD programming/games come in that format

3) DLP... No issues with dead pixels or response time (LCD issues), completely immune to burn-in (CRT/plasma issue), fairly slim (CRT issue) doesn't have to be plugged in at all times (plasma issue), and much cheaper for the size than LCDs or plasmas. The whole rainbow effect thing is something maybe 1% of the world actually sees, and 5% say they do because they want to be l33t video-philes.

 

[Skiddex]

Originally posted by: MathMan

Originally posted by: Skiddex

3) i wanted thin, so i went LCD as it was cheaper than plasma. also, didnt have to worry about burn in or gas recharging...(not that i really even plan to have it more han 5 years)

You know there is no such thing as "gas recharging" for plasmas. Whoever told you that is either pulling your leg, or an idiot.

Plasmas don't lose their gas. Just like CRTs, the phosphors eventually begin to wear and dim after thousands of hours of use. It is this wear that makes plasmas susceptible to "burn-in" (which is really nothing more than uneven phosphor wear). However, modern plasmas now have phosphors with half-lives equivalent to those of standard tube TVs-- so if you're not worried about burn-in on your CRT you shouldn't be worried about burn-in on your plasma.

my b, just did some reading on it. thanks for the update

 

[mrSHEiK124]

DVI and Component In
Square Pixels
Good contrast ratio

 

[zixxer]

Originally posted by: MathMan

Originally posted by: zixxer

couple of things to keep in mind:

plasmas: have 'rectangle' pixels, but generally are regarded to have the best picture quality (of dlp and lcd's) even though they tend to have lower resolutions

large lcd's (37+) tend to have horrible backlight leakage. This is what kept me from buying one.

Plasmas DO burn in, it is NOT a myth. The first 100 hours or so you have to be careful with the video games/sports

Sorry Zixxer but your statements are full of half-truths.

First of al, it's most just 42 inch plasmas have rectangular pixels--but not even all of them do. I can't think of a 50"+ plasma off the top of my head that has anything but square pixels. It's really easy to find out though-- just take a look at the displays native resolution. If the resolution is in a 6x9 ratio, then it has square pixels. If it is in a 4x3 ratio than it has rectangular pixels.

Secondly, plasma CAN burn in if you are an abuser, not DO. Just like you CAN "burn-in" an LCD if you really, really tried hard. In the first hundred hours with my plasma I watchd almost nothing but football games with the constant banners at the top and tickers at the bottom, or playing HALO on the xbox (sometimes pausing it for a half-hour or so to get a snack or take a break), and suffered not a single side-effect. At all.

For the 50 inch, I honestly don't know - and should have checked before spewing my 'half truths'.


The second part - even the 'newest practically burn proof plasmas' can burn in EASILY. How's that? I burned in the oblivion health bars into mine after playing the plasma break in dvd for 50 hours STRAIGHT... then played oblivion (on and off, between king of the hill and other 'good for plasma break in cartoons') and it STILL burned in. Best buy let me swap it for another, and I'll break this one in for >100 hours... but it's not like I purposely paused the game... this was what I would consider 'normal viewing'

 

[QED]

Sounds like you had a bad plasma from that start if it would burn in from playing a little Oblivion, unless you played for dozens of hours straight through with your settings in torch mode.

Like I said, I didn't baby my plamsa at all-- pretty much nothing but constant football and Halo games all in the first 100 hours and not the slightest hint of burn-in.

How's your new plasma doing?

 

[GTaudiophile]

For me...

1080P (45-55")
Brand (Reputible Quality)
Price (<$2K)
Thickness (To be determined)

 

[imported_Trippin315]

1. 1080p
2. built in ATSC (HD) tuner
3. DLP
/thread

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
For me...

1080P (45-55")
Brand (Reputible Quality)
Price (<$2K)
Thickness (To be determined)

Aren't

1080P (45-55")
Brand (Reputible Quality)

at odds with

Price (<$2K)?

 

[middlehead]

1. Big
2. Huge
3. Enormous

 

[Suture]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
For me...

1080P (45-55")
Brand (Reputible Quality)
Price (<$2K)
Thickness (To be determined)

Definitely not gonna get a sub $2000 TV with 1080p.

 

[Phoenix86]

How does this one look to you folks?

42" DLP

Selling at frys for $1699. Thinking about picking it up this weekend.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
How does this one look to you folks?

42" DLP

Selling at frys for $1699. Thinking about picking it up this weekend.

I did a quick search and found it priced a little better than that at a lot of vendors. Goto your link and click "Online Retailer" and follow some of their links.