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How do you shop for a TV these days???

GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
I mean, all the terminology you've got...

How do you buy a TV that you simply connect to your Comcast digital cable line and get the HD content you want in 2-3 years???

You've got...

480i/SDTV/480p/EDTV/HD-Ready/HD-Compatible/HDTV/720p/1080i/1080p/DCR/ATSC/QAM/CableCard/CRT/LCD/DLP/Plasma/HDMI/HDCP

The list goes on and on.

It seems it's near impossible to find an LCD TV with both built-in ATSC/QAM/CableCard features. Of course HDMI with HDCP is necessary. And 720P would be the minimum desired resolution on a 26-40" screen.

FVCKING INDUSTRY HAS TOO MANY DAMNED REQUIREMENTS AND NO STANDARDIZATION!

Now of course bring on the whole HD-DVD and Blu-Ray war! And we're not even getting into the DVD players vs. DVD recorders/DVD recorders with HDD!

GAAAHHHH!!!!
 
You need to seperate them.

480, 720, and 1080 are resolutions
i and p are interlaced and non interlaced
HDTV monitor/ready means that it doesn't have an HDTV tuner built in
ATSC is the over the air HDTV standard
LCD, DLP, SED, Plasma, RP, CRT are all display types
Component, DVI, HDMI are connection types (as is compsite and S-vid for non-HD content)
EDTV isn't basically a TV that can run 480p
HDCP is just another form of DRM

Make your decisions one step at a time.
 
So, ATSC is only for obtaining HD content over the air/antenna. WTF!

What about getting cable HDTV content without the set-top box?
 
Looking into it, QAM appears to be the encoding method used by cable companies (equivilent to ATSC), and a Cablecard is used to decode the encrypted signals used by cable companies for HD content removing the need for the set top box.
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
So, ATSC is only for obtaining HD content over the air/antenna. WTF!

What about getting cable HDTV content without the set-top box?
Click to expand...

A cable box would be the HD turner so there'd be no need for ATSC tuner (just think of it as a built in HD tuner that can only get over the air) built into the TV if thats the route you want to go and this will usually be cheaper also.

At that point your HDTV is acting like a monitor basically with speakers, it's allowing the Cable box do the decoding of the HD signal and all it's doing is displaying it, as long as your TV is say 720p capable and so is your cable box then just set both to that resolution output and you'll be set.

 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Looking into it, QAM appears to be the encoding method used by cable companies (equivilent to ATSC), and a Cablecard is used to decode the encrypted signals used by cable companies for HD content removing the need for the set top box.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just read that too. Seems to be a new feature so only the really expensive units come so equiped.
 
One important question is "What type of service does your cable company offer, and what type of service are you wanting to get?"

That, in itself, can elimate some of the options.

Also, listing your price requirements can eliminate options.

 
I just went to Costco and bought a cheap SDTV. I don't feel like I need HDTV yet. Hopefully by the time I do it will be more standardized.
 
For me, my school is a tech budget with a replacement cycle... I can purchase 32inch Sony Wegas for $75 this week. They're in perfect condition.
I don't need one though.
 
QAM stands for Quadature Amplitude Modulation. It's how most digital cable providers get signal down to their subscribers.
 
The 26" and 32" have the same resolution, covering a larger area in the 32" case. Wouldn't that give the 32" a worse picture quality?
 
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