Akai 30" 16:9 Wide Flatscreen TV $499 & change @ Sam's B&M

[lzpoof]

Originally posted by: WebDude
Does anyone know if this set can handle 480p? If not, is there any good reason why it has component input? (I checked the pdf document and it says nothing that isn't on the web site -- very sparse info indeed.)

WebDude

Component input has little to do with 480p. Component inputs are just as functional on a interlaced screen. The only sets that can handle progressive scan are hdtv ready.

 

[winston9t4]

They used to have sets that could do 480p, but not 1080i or 720p. I think they call them Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Are they still available, and in widescreen format?

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: AznRyda
That sand in your vagina is making you cranky!

EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

 

[kimchee411]

Originally posted by: WebDude
Does anyone know if this set can handle 480p? If not, is there any good reason why it has component input? (I checked the pdf document and it says nothing that isn't on the web site -- very sparse info indeed.)

WebDude

Component input will produce a sharper, more defined picture with excellent color distinction and richness with minimal interference (not sure if that's the right word... you know, the white haziness you see when the screen is black using composite video). It's the same reason you'd upgrade from composite to s-video. From an eyeball comparison I find that 480p gives a smoother looking image - kind of like anti-aliasing for TV. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ZeRoSKiLL]

I bought this tv........DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, IT SUCKS. Don't want to crap a thread, but the tv I got had blueish area of discoloration on the top right corner of the screen. I bought this in Pensacola. Went to another Sam's in Orlando while on vacation and saw the one they had on display there had the same problem. Also after watching tv on it for 2-3 hours, I heard a loud flickering sounds (like a crt burning out) and suddenly I had no picture but sound was still on, although slightly lower in volume. I turned it off and 5 minutes later it was fine again. The point I'm trying to make is, there are serious Q.A. issues with this tv, hope whoever bought one got a good one.

It has 3 modes, 4:3, Widescreen (the whole picture is stretched), and Panoramic. Panoramic looks like crap because the center of the screen is not stretched but the left and right edges are, so when the camera pans from left to right, you can see "fat" people on the right side of the screen turning "skinny" when they get to the center. Really annoying especially when watching football.

DVD component quality was pretty good though, 1.85:1 widescreen dvd's fill up the screen which is nice. 2.35:1 still has black bars on the top and bottom because there is no Zoom mode on it.

I returned it a day later (btw it's a heavy bastard). I figure if I'm going to invest $500 on a widescreen tv, it may as well be on a HDTV.

 

[ZeRoSKiLL]

oops dp

 

[jep8821]

I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

 

[soundforbjt]

Originally posted by: ZeRoSKiLL
I bought this tv........DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, IT SUCKS. Don't want to crap a thread, but the tv I got had blueish area of discoloration on the top right corner of the screen. I bought this in Pensacola. Went to another Sam's in Orlando while on vacation and saw the one they had on display there had the same problem. Also after watching tv on it for 2-3 hours, I heard a loud flickering sounds (like a crt burning out) and suddenly I had no picture but sound was still on, although slightly lower in volume. I turned it off and 5 minutes later it was fine again. The point I'm trying to make is, there are serious Q.A. issues with this tv, hope whoever bought one got a good one.

It has 3 modes, 4:3, Widescreen (the whole picture is stretched), and Panoramic. Panoramic looks like crap because the center of the screen is not stretched but the left and right edges are, so when the camera pans from left to right, you can see "fat" people on the right side of the screen turning "skinny" when they get to the center. Really annoying especially when watching football.

DVD component quality was pretty good though, 1.85:1 widescreen dvd's fill up the screen which is nice. 2.35:1 still has black bars on the top and bottom because there is no Zoom mode on it.

I returned it a day later (btw it's a heavy bastard). I figure if I'm going to invest $500 on a widescreen tv, it may as well be on a HDTV.

Sorry you got a bad one and that's all they had in Fla. I got one of these in Tn. and it is awesome! DVD's in widescreen is the only way to go.

 

[kimchee411]

Can anyone who bought this TV verify that it accepts a 480p signal from a progressive scan source?

Also, here is a review on another (higher end) wide screen tube from Akai:

Link.

Looks good.

 

[joburnet]

That review is from 98, little out of date.

 

[Wolverine27]

Originally posted by: jep8821
I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

So do you have a progressive scan DVD player to confirm this?

Thanks.

 

[LurkingInNC]

"I bought this tv........DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, IT SUCKS. Don't want to crap a thread, but the tv I got had blueish area of discoloration on the top right corner of the screen."

ZeRoSKill- a couple of years ago I bought a 27" tv that ws delivered by UPS. TV had clearly been dropped (cracked case even) and it had the same symptom as you described. The problem might be more likely rough handling at your local store (or by someone in the delivery chain there) than quality issues with the TV itself...

 

[oLLie]

Originally posted by: Wolverine27

Originally posted by: jep8821
I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

So do you have a progressive scan DVD player to confirm this?

Thanks.

Somebody find out!

 

[Wolverine27]

Originally posted by: oLLie

Originally posted by: Wolverine27

Originally posted by: jep8821
I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

So do you have a progressive scan DVD player to confirm this?

Thanks.

Somebody find out!

Man! What oLLie said! If this accepts a progressive scan signal as stated in the manual, I'm all over it...but I have my doubts...

 

[Wolverine27]

Originally posted by: jep8821
I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

Bump^ to see if anyone can confirm 480p compatibility.

 

[oLLie]

Originally posted by: Wolverine27

Originally posted by: jep8821
I just got one of these today. It does show hooking up a 480p set-top box using the component Video jacks. Its on page 21 of the manual.

Thanks,

Jason

Bump^ to see if anyone can confirm 480p compatibility.

Anyone?

 

[soundforbjt]

Sorry, I don't have a progressive scan dvd player, but I will confirm it is in the manual.

 

[jep8821]

I don't have access to a progressive scan device, but here is the page from the manual.

www.ponyexpress.net/~cyberrad/JEP8821/480p.jpg

Thanks,

Jason

 

[lzpoof]

Originally posted by: jep8821
I don't have access to a progressive scan device, but here is the page from the manual.

www.ponyexpress.net/~cyberrad/JEP8821/480p.jpg

Thanks,

Jason

I think the 480p is a misprint and they meant 480i since the page is headed with '480p only' and yet includes instructions involving coax cable. Does seem weird to include a specification either i or p if the TV is non HDTV but maybe akai makes a lot of HDTVs.

 

[LurkingInNC]

Originally posted by: aldamon
Here are two tools I found useful for computing and comparing TV dimensions:

http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi?KeohiHDTV

http://www.slagfarm.demon.co.uk/Widescreen.html

Using the tools above, wouldn't most people be better off with a 32" 12:9 format tv than a 30" widescreen tv? For a letterbox signal they provide a similar viewing picture size (25.6"x14.4" for the 32" normal vs. 26.1"x14.7" for the 30" widescreen ). But viewing a normal signal, the 32" normal is significantly bigger (25.6"x19.2" for the 32"normal vs. 19.6"x14.7" for the 30" widescreen). A 36" 12:9 format tv would yield viewing sizes of 28.8"x16.2" for a widescreen signal and 28.8"x21.6" for a normal signal.

Not trying to thread crap (I realize that there are other issues than picture size, including the 'bars' issue), just trying to clarify in my mind the implications of the actual viewing dimensions for the two formats...

 

[Infinity]

Can anyone tell me the dimmensions (L x W x H) of this tv, not sure if it will fit in my entertainment center...

 

[jjo]

I must say, from the first time I saw this on display here at the Pittsburgh Sam's last week, I couldn't stop thinking about it ... a widescreen for $500. Have prices finally come down to the average person's level? I hate watching The Osbournes and seeing $5000 flat 16:9 plasma screens in every room -- and they probably don't even care about the resolution or dimension. They probably only got them because "its the thing to do."

Well, I can't afford a plasma 16:9, but a tube 16:9? That's more like it.

So I went to see it in person (again) at Sam's today at lunch. I wanted to see the remote and manual, and when I asked, the guy looked at me like I was talking Greek. All I wanted was to see the display model's manual and remote. I wanted to actually "use" the tv before I bought it -- rather than just "looking" at the display model. I wanted to go into the menus and see what I was getting. My Sam's had their display TVs up on a 5 foot shelf -- just out of reach. I couldn't use the buttons on the TV.

After some persuasion, the guy finally went back to locate the manual and remote. I mostly wanted the manual to get the actual dimensions of the set. On the price tag, it said it was 38"W, 26"H, 25"D (and the AkaiUSA website is no help with specs). But right next to it was a Panasonic 4:3 that, too, was 26"H, and it looked A LOT taller, so I must assume one of the tags was wrong. Unfortunately, the manual's dimensions were in millimeters, and not living in Canada, they meant nothing to me. (The headroom where I was to put it was 25".)

And to top it off, the remote had no batteries, so that, too, was worthless. (And so was the Sam's employee, for that matter.)

I finally decided not to get the unit. I need to do some more research before I get a TV, and just not get the one that caught my eye on display.

There was an Akai 4:3 27" TV right next to this Akai 16:9. That unit's remote was out and had batteries, so I fooled with it while the sales guy was out back looking for the 16:9's manual and remote. It had a 16:9 mode, and 800 lines of resolution (not sure of the model number). It was only $350.

I began thinking ... the only reason I liked the 16:9 set was because it was 16:9. It really had no "frills" (but not getting to use the remote, I can't know this for sure). The 27" seemed to have more bells and whistles, for $150 less. Sure, it wasn't a "cool" 16:9, but it had a "16:9" mode (and it didn't seem to weigh a ton like the 16:9 set -- I would have had to draft 2 of my friends just to get that set out of my Jeep.)

So, I walked out empty handed and $500 richer. But I'll continue to research what I want.

Any suggestions for a 30" or smaller set on a budget of under $500?

 

[kimchee411]

For < $500 your options are either a 27" 4:3 or that 30" 16:9. This is the only 16:9 NTSC non-HDTV tube that I know of, and the HD models start at $1k. Yeah, this one is very simple (the 27" is apparently a Samsung rebadge so that's probably why it has all of those options). There is also the 27" Philips for $349 at Costco B&M and the 27" Toshiba for $319 AR at Best Buy. These 3 are the best options in your price range (as far as I know). A 32" 4:3 will run you well over $500. I believe the Akai 27" is the only one with V-compression. It all depends on how much you value that true 16:9 screen (it's beautiful, isn't it?).

 

[xwave558]

a cute deal

 

[jjo]

Thanks for the response.

BTW, here's that $350 Akai set I was referring to:

http://www.akaiusa.com/products/cf2791.htm

Question: on either a "true" 16:9 set, or a 4:3 with a 16:9 mode, can you watch TV shows that are starting to broadcast in widescreen? (i.e., "Enterprise," and some CBS sit coms, and I think Letterman). Are those "true" widescreen, or are they just letterboxed to give the widescreen look? If you can watch them in widescreen on a 16:9 set, will the set "know", or will you have to set it accordingly? If if you set it, will it just "zoom" the picture up to fill the screen, or will it do some better calculations to get a better-looking image?

Are there any TV shows now that are "true" widescreen (if there is such a thing)?