*HOT* 27" and 32" Samsung TXN FlatScreen TVs - HDTV (1080i)free! 27"-$450, 32"-$650 +10% CC Giftcard & 2.2% cashback!

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LoneShadow

Member
Dec 8, 2001
126
0
0
Originally posted by: Wag
Walmart sells two true 32" 4:3 CRT based HDTVs, a Sanyo for $649 and a Philips for $749. The Philips is a true flat screen. Nice monitor. But then if I was spending that much I'd go $100 more and get a 30" 16:9 one.

COSTCO has the Philips widescreen 30inch TV for 899-100 off coupon = $799. Not sure how good this TV is, wish it was a panasonic instead :p

LS
 

Wag

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2000
8,288
8
81
Which Philips is that? I know they have a new one with DVI. It's not a Sony, but on AVSForum people are having lots of problems with Sonys. The new superfine pitch tube Sony uses costs $500-$1000 more than their standard models. I'm a little annoyed none of them support 720p, since this is where CRTs excel over RPTVs and fixed pixel displays.
 

Saulbadguy

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2003
5,573
12
81
Just picked up the 27" today. Haven't played with it much, but the bouncing happens a bit when I play playstation. Haven't noticed bouncing when watching normal cable tv. Haven't hooked up a DVD player or anything like that yet..but I will update with any new findings.

UPDATE: Out of the box, this tv has terrible overscanning/blooming/bounce problems. My advice...don't use any of the preset picture options, go to custom, and immediately turn the contrast down..I reccomend anything below 40. This pretty much fixes it. I wouldn't use the preset sound options either. I've been playing playstation on it for awhile now, and it looks pretty good. Im going to hook up the PS s-video next, and see how it goes. I will also try the gamecube w/ progressive scan turned on and see how that does. Sorry, I can't test anything with the 1080i..as I do not have an x-box, or an HD receiver.
 

Staples

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2001
4,953
119
106
Pretty good deal but remember, the Samsung 4:3 HDTVs do not cost all that much, this is over 50% of what you can find them for, the HDTV models that is. I am dying to buy a HDTV but it seems I will be spending $2000 on a 34" widescreen CRT.
 

memepost

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2003
7
0
0
Originally posted by: Wag
Which Philips is that? I know they have a new one with DVI. It's not a Sony, but on AVSForum people are having lots of problems with Sonys. The new superfine pitch tube Sony uses costs $500-$1000 more than their standard models. I'm a little annoyed none of them support 720p, since this is where CRTs excel over RPTVs and fixed pixel displays.

The Costco 30" Flat Widescreen HDTV sale model is Philips 30PW850H. Normally $899, but $100 off with coupon from August 11 through August 17. You can find the coupon with a cashier or at the customer service counter.
 

JameyF

Senior member
Oct 5, 2001
845
0
76
Originally posted by: LoneShadow
Originally posted by: Wag
Walmart sells two true 32" 4:3 CRT based HDTVs, a Sanyo for $649 and a Philips for $749. The Philips is a true flat screen. Nice monitor. But then if I was spending that much I'd go $100 more and get a 30" 16:9 one.

COSTCO has the Philips widescreen 30inch TV for 899-100 off coupon = $799. Not sure how good this TV is, wish it was a panasonic instead :p

LS

What is the model that cosco has? BB and CC sells one. They are similar, but different model numbers with slightly different features.

 
Oct 16, 1999
10,490
4
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Isn't the actual viewable difference between a letterboxed 16:9 image on a 32" 4:3 vs. the same image on a 30" 16:9 like .1"? All else being equal I'd be inclined to get the 4:3 so I didn't have to monkey with images still in that ratio.
 

sk3tch

Senior member
Mar 14, 2003
584
0
0
Picked one of these up last night (27" model). We're moving next month, so I'm just leaving it in the box. But I can't wait. :)

Thank you for posting this deal, Skaven - I was able to enable 1080i at the store and I showed the sales guy your post and he photocopied it cuz he was totally psyched about the 1080i hack. :)
 

Saulbadguy

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2003
5,573
12
81
Can anyone verify the functionality of the set (27 or 32) under 1080i mode with 1080i material? I am interested to see how well it performs. Make sure you do the proper tweaking first, however. I fixed the red push, disabled SVM, got contrast/brightness/color just right. I still need to tweak the geometry and convergence though.
 

Skaven

Senior member
Oct 18, 1999
835
0
0
Picked up the 27" from Circuit City yesterday. They had the 32" version of this TV hooked up to a 1080i source. When I switched to Component-1 it looked like an encoded cable channel in green. The guy said "this TV won't take the HD signal which is why it looks like that" Little does he know! Muahahaha!

So after he left me alone - I "fixed" the TV and then switched to Component-1 and saw 1080i in all of its glory! DAMN did it look good! After drooling over that image for a while - I switched the TV back to normal mode and took the 27" home with me.

Out of the box I was pretty dissapointed with the image. I have since done lots of tweaking and it looks BETTER... but not as good as I had hoped. Our main source is our DirecTiVo - which only has s-video out. Compression artifacts and jaggies are more than apparent. This set really shows the limitations of lower resoultion sources!
 

superflysocal

Senior member
Nov 4, 2000
411
0
0
Okay,

what is everybody's obsession with widescreen? Is it just the aesthetics? Use the ratio calculator above and you will see the marginal difference in size.

For example, watching 16:9 material (dvd, hdtv) , 30 widescreen gives you only 4 % increase viewing area over a 32" 4:3 tv.

However, if you are watching 4:3 material (regular non-HD tv), the 32 tv gives you 70% increase viewing area over the 30 in widescreen!!

Think of the 30 widescreen as a 32 in tv that they have chopped off the black bars for you...not exactly but similar.

Not convinced, go to the store and bring a tape measure. Have them play a 16:9 movie on a 32 in tv with the black bars. Measure the actual viewing area without the black bars. Then measure the viewing area on a 30 in widescreen with the same movie. It comes out pretty close.
 

memepost

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2003
7
0
0
Originally posted by: conjur
Wider is better.

'nuff said.

Not when you're watching non-HDTV 4:3 tv. I can get *maybe* 9 HDTV channels right now from Comcast, so a 32" 4:3 tv works better for me than a 30" widescreen.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
DVDs. And...it's the future. More HD channels coming more frequently (the major networks, HBO, Showtime, Discovery, ESPN, Bravo, Cinemax, I think Starz, too). That's quite a bit of programming out there in HD. Yes, 4:3 will be smaller but why a 30" 16:9 set? There's only 2 made that I know of. Get a 42" 16:9 RPTV for under $1500 and you have double the viewing area on 16:9 material over that 32" set.
 

memepost

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2003
7
0
0
Conjur, btw, are you recording HDTV on your HTPC? I'm planning to build a HTPC running MythTV and I don't think Myth supports HDTV yet. But out of curiousity, how much hard drive space does 1 hour of HDTV occupy? I understand that if I use a WinTV 350 card, it encodes MPEG-2 at roughly 2 Gigs an hour. Thanks.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
An hour of recorded HD can be up to 10GB, I believe. I've not tried yet, though.

From here:

Q. How much hard disk space is required to record HDTV?
A. ATSC signals require 8.7GB per hour.
 

Saulbadguy

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2003
5,573
12
81
Originally posted by: superflysocal
Okay,

what is everybody's obsession with widescreen? Is it just the aesthetics? Use the ratio calculator above and you will see the marginal difference in size.

For example, watching 16:9 material (dvd, hdtv) , 30 widescreen gives you only 4 % increase viewing area over a 32" 4:3 tv.

However, if you are watching 4:3 material (regular non-HD tv), the 32 tv gives you 70% increase viewing area over the 30 in widescreen!!

Think of the 30 widescreen as a 32 in tv that they have chopped off the black bars for you...not exactly but similar.

Not convinced, go to the store and bring a tape measure. Have them play a 16:9 movie on a 32 in tv with the black bars. Measure the actual viewing area without the black bars. Then measure the viewing area on a 30 in widescreen with the same movie. It comes out pretty close.

I don't know why people keep obsessing about it , in this thread. IMO watching a 30" or even 34" widescreen is pointless. If you are going to go HDTV, and widescreen..why not get something BIG? I bought the 27" set for a 2nd tv. I won't be watching much widescreen material on it. I have a 47" Widescreen in the living room, that I mostly watch DVD's on and play games on. 4:3 material doesnt bother me too much on the 47", as I use the "just" mode, and there isnt too much noticeable distortion. I understand widescreen is the future..but its going to be quite a few years until all the channels are broadcasting in 16:9 1080i. And we all know we are upgrade freaks, and will probably upgrade our tv's at least once by then. :eek:
 

superflysocal

Senior member
Nov 4, 2000
411
0
0
Wider is better.

That's just it. Widescreen is not necessarily that much wider. It's really shorter.

DVDs. And...it's the future. More HD channels coming more frequently (the major networks, HBO, Showtime, Discovery, ESPN, Bravo, Cinemax, I think Starz, too). That's quite a bit of programming out there in HD. Yes, 4:3 will be smaller but why a 30" 16:9 set? There's only 2 made that I know of. Get a 42" 16:9 RPTV for under $1500 and you have double the viewing area on 16:9 material over that 32" set.

I brought up 30" widescreen because people brought up the philips 30" at costco. The 30" is the comparable widescreen of a 32" tv, as the 34" is a widescreen version of a 36". You cannot even bring up the 42" RPTV, that's comparing apples and oranges. RPTV will never even touch the picture quality of a tube HDTV. Besides you are talking about spending under $1500 when the rest of us are talking about spending under $700-800. Are you even reading this thread? Heck, if we are goin gto stray off topic and into a different price range, for hdtv, get a 50" plasma that will beat the pants out of any rptv for $7000-10,000.
 

Wag

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2000
8,288
8
81
I hear you. 4yrs ago I purchased a 30" 16:9 set used and it already had significant burn in on the sides.

I'd go for a nice big 4:3 tube if it supported 720p. It really annoys me that most CRTs don't support it, because that's just where it excels over any other display. Now that ABC, ESPN-HD and FOX all use 720p, it's a must.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Originally posted by: superflysocal
Wider is better.

That's just it. Widescreen is not necessarily that much wider. It's really shorter.

DVDs. And...it's the future. More HD channels coming more frequently (the major networks, HBO, Showtime, Discovery, ESPN, Bravo, Cinemax, I think Starz, too). That's quite a bit of programming out there in HD. Yes, 4:3 will be smaller but why a 30" 16:9 set? There's only 2 made that I know of. Get a 42" 16:9 RPTV for under $1500 and you have double the viewing area on 16:9 material over that 32" set.

I brought up 30" widescreen because people brought up the philips 30" at costco. The 30" is the comparable widescreen of a 32" tv, as the 34" is a widescreen version of a 36". You cannot even bring up the 42" RPTV, that's comparing apples and oranges. RPTV will never even touch the picture quality of a tube HDTV. Besides you are talking about spending under $1500 when the rest of us are talking about spending under $700-800. Are you even reading this thread? Heck, if we are goin gto stray off topic and into a different price range, for hdtv, get a 50" plasma that will beat the pants out of any rptv for $7000-10,000.

Au contraire!! RPTV is considered the top-of-the-line right now for the masses. CRT Front Project being the best. I, and any other home video enthusiast, would take an RPTV over a direct-view ANY day. For one, the sheer size of of RPTVs over direct-view is a HUGE benefit.

And, typically, when people compare 16:9 to 4:3, they consider what 16:9 would it require to match the size of a 4:3 for 4:3 material (at least what I've read on other forums). That would get you a wider 16:9 set and an even bigger benefit when viewing 16:9 (or wider) material.

And, yeah...this thread has drifted off-topic. I said earlier, that set is a good deal...but I wouldn't look to use it as a primary HDTV ;)