• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Need a New TV. Recommendations?

C

Carbo

Diamond Member
So, the six year old Mitsubishi is starting to show signs of taking a dirt nap. Since I bought it back when, the television industry has evolved tremendously. HDTV, digital, plasma, LCD, etc. WTF?? Where do I start to learn about all this cosmic debris? Can anyone, from personal experience, offer some advice, recommendations, etc?
Muchas gracias, amigos.
 
It probably depends on what you want, need or expect from your viewing experience. For me a cheap 27" TV with 3" stereo speakers is adequate as a "home theater". You sound like you would like more, though.😉
 
Thanks for the specific model recommendations. But, before I select a model I need to learn about the technology. Any advice on where to read up on the latest TV buzz?
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
Thanks for the specific model recommendations. But, before I select a model I need to learn about the technology. Any advice on where to read up on the latest TV buzz?
Click to expand...

Well there are two main divisions

HDTV and Non-HDTV

if you are gonna spend any amount of money over say $500, get an HDTV.

Within the HDTV scope there are 4 main sections

(In order of price)

Rear Projection - CRT- LCD - Plasma

Rear Projections are the tvs with the most bang for your buck

RPTVs have two main categories right now

CRT RPTVs and DLP RPTVs

CRT uses CRT guns Red Green and Blue to make a picture appear, these are the cheapest and have pretty decent quality.

I have a DLP which doesnt use 3 guns but rather a lamp and a color wheel and mirror to project on the screen. It is the same technology used in the new digital movie theaters

DLPs have some key advantages, they dont suffer from burn in. They dont need calibration, they have excellent black levels. They support very high resolutions, they are extremely lite and there is virtually no maintanece.

 
Originally posted by: Ameesh
Originally posted by: Carbo
Thanks for the specific model recommendations. But, before I select a model I need to learn about the technology. Any advice on where to read up on the latest TV buzz?
Click to expand...

Well there are two main divisions

HDTV and Non-HDTV

if you are gonna spend any amount of money over say $500, get an HDTV.

Within the HDTV scope there are 4 main sections

(In order of price)

Rear Projection - CRT- LCD - Plasma

Rear Projections are the tvs with the most bang for your buck

RPTVs have two main categories right now

CRT RPTVs and DLP RPTVs

CRT uses CRT guns Red Green and Blue to make a picture appear, these are the cheapest and have pretty decent quality.

I have a DLP which doesnt use 3 guns but rather a lamp and a color wheel and mirror to project on the screen. It is the same technology used in the new digital movie theaters

DLPs have some key advantages, they dont suffer from burn in. They dont need calibration, they have excellent black levels. They support very high resolutions, they are extremely lite and there is virtually no maintanece.
Click to expand...

You neglected to mention LCD which is probably just as big in RPTVs as DLPs.

These pictures don't do justice to the actual ones.

My former Sony CRT HDTV for comparison. BTW, don't get Sony. They suck! Most unreliable pieces of crap made now.
 
As I continue to research this, I'm finding that the HDTV technology is still in its infancy. So, there isn't a whole lot of television programming available to take advantage of the technology just yet.
If this is so, it seems it would be a good choice to find a quality direct view standard TV, (a good 36" Sony or Panasonic comes to mind). In five years or so, when the broadcast signals are catching up to the technology, then an HDTV might be the way to go.
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
As I continue to research this, I'm finding that the HDTV technology is still in its infancy. So, there isn't a whole lot of television programming available to take advantage of the technology just yet.
If this is so, it seems it would be a good choice to find a quality direct view standard TV, (a good 36" Sony or Panasonic comes to mind). In five years or so, when the broadcast signals are catching up to the technology, then an HDTV might be the way to go.
Click to expand...

I would suggest you reconsider this for a few reasons...

Digital programming will become the standard in a few years. You can always purchase another set in two or three years, true, however I would think that not to be a wise investment. In my area, there was no high def cable service, then POOF! there is was.

Conventional TV signals look better on a HDTV. Any program shown on a DLP (lets say) will look better than what you are considering as an alternative, and that is the most important for me since I like to watch DVD's. To take full advantage of the technology already commonly used, you need a set capable of displaying a 480p signal from todays sets. It is a worthwhile difference in price to go from a non HDTV to a HDTV for me.

In reality, the technology is not in it's infancy, but it's use as a broadcast system is not fully implemented. Viewing conventional source materials on todays sets has distinct advantages from a quality standpoint.

I have a Samsung 32 inch CRT, which is what I could justify a few years ago. This set is comparable to a non HDTV sony in price today, and seriously outperforms it, especially using it as I have described.
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
As I continue to research this, I'm finding that the HDTV technology is still in its infancy. So, there isn't a whole lot of television programming available to take advantage of the technology just yet.
If this is so, it seems it would be a good choice to find a quality direct view standard TV, (a good 36" Sony or Panasonic comes to mind). In five years or so, when the broadcast signals are catching up to the technology, then an HDTV might be the way to go.
Click to expand...

Exactly as WinstonSmith said.

You do not need HDTV programming to take advantage of an HDTV. If you want to watch DVDs in progressive scan, you need to have an HDTV. I can tell you for certain that progressive scan is much better than interlaced. The picture is very sharp.

Also, HDTV is really picking up momentum now. Many shows are broadcast in HDTV not to mention sports programming. We just got a new free channel on Time Warner HDTV just last week, Discovery HD. They seem to be adding new channels regularly now. Plus, for TW in NYC at least, an HDTV decoder box and programming is the same price as regular SDTV.

If you really don't need a new TV, you may want to wait til the 1080p (not 1080i) TVs start rolling out in a year or two. 1080p looks unbelievable. Truly 3 dimensional.

Also, as a former owner of a 2 YO $2700 Sony 36" XBR, don't buy Sony. They are junk. They use cheap parts for their TVs and they don't support their customers.
 
A digital feed is preferred with these new tv's, my folks were about to buy a sony lcd tv. But when i saw a regular analog feed on this tv at a store it made me want to puke, it looked like garbage.
 
Originally posted by: shabby
A digital feed is preferred with these new tv's, my folks were about to buy a sony lcd tv. But when i saw a regular analog feed on this tv at a store it made me want to puke, it looked like garbage.
Click to expand...

On large TVs SD will always look worse because you are blowing the picture up.

I wouldn't go by what one store has though. It could have just been a bad signal or something.
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Originally posted by: shabby
A digital feed is preferred with these new tv's, my folks were about to buy a sony lcd tv. But when i saw a regular analog feed on this tv at a store it made me want to puke, it looked like garbage.
Click to expand...

On large TVs SD will always look worse because you are blowing the picture up.

I wouldn't go by what one store has though. It could have just been a bad signal or something.
Click to expand...

Even a non progressive dvd didnt look that good on the lcd, maybe its just an lcd thing. There was an samsung dlp near by, but i didnt compare it.
 
Originally posted by: shabby
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Originally posted by: shabby
A digital feed is preferred with these new tv's, my folks were about to buy a sony lcd tv. But when i saw a regular analog feed on this tv at a store it made me want to puke, it looked like garbage.
Click to expand...

On large TVs SD will always look worse because you are blowing the picture up.

I wouldn't go by what one store has though. It could have just been a bad signal or something.
Click to expand...

Even a non progressive dvd didnt look that good on the lcd, maybe its just an lcd thing. There was an samsung dlp near by, but i didnt compare it.
Click to expand...

I doubt that its the LCD (you are talking about LCD RPTVs right? Not LCD monitors) since I know for sure my LCD looks great. It was either not configured right, the connectors were bad, the signal was bad or a combination of the 3.

Carbo, if you really want to understand HDTV, I wouldn't recommend Consumer Reports. I would go to a site like avsforum.com and ask there. They know their stuff.

Basically, HDTV is considered 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The i stands for interlaced like regular TV which draws lines on the screen every other time. p stands for progressive scan which draws each line at a time. The number stands for the resolution like 1280x720 or 1920x1080. I consider true HDTV 1080p. If you compare a 1080p picture to a 1080i there is a huge difference. Unfortunately, there aren't many TVs that can do 1080p now. Most LCD and DLPs only do 720p which is upscaled to 1080i. 720p pictures are good for action but a true 1080i picture looks better for still or low action scenes. It will be a while until LCD or DLP can do 1080p. The closest technology that can do it is LCoS, which is even earlier in its infancy than LCD and DLP. I think 2 CRT RPTVs can do 1080p but they are huge and expensive.

Just for the record when people talk about progressive scan DVD it is 480p.
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog

Basically, HDTV is considered 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The i stands for interlaced like regular TV which draws lines on the screen every other time. p stands for progressive scan which draws each line at a time. The number stands for the resolution like 1280x720 or 1920x1080. I consider true HDTV 1080p. If you compare a 1080p picture to a 1080i there is a huge difference. Unfortunately, there aren't many TVs that can do 1080p now. Most LCD and DLPs only do 720p which is upscaled to 1080i. 720p pictures are good for action but a true 1080i picture looks better for still or low action scenes. It will be a while until LCD or DLP can do 1080p. The closest technology that can do it is LCoS, which is even earlier in its infancy than LCD and DLP. I think 2 CRT RPTVs can do 1080p but they are huge and expensive.

Just for the record when people talk about progressive scan DVD it is 480p.
Click to expand...

No CRT RPTV's can output 1080p. The best (Mitsu 9" CRT based) can hit about 1600-1650 or so; 1920 is still out of reach. 2 LCOS units (4 if Toshiba ever gets their 03 line out the door) can display it, but cannot accept 1080p input.
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
As I continue to research this, I'm finding that the HDTV technology is still in its infancy. So, there isn't a whole lot of television programming available to take advantage of the technology just yet.
If this is so, it seems it would be a good choice to find a quality direct view standard TV, (a good 36" Sony or Panasonic comes to mind). In five years or so, when the broadcast signals are catching up to the technology, then an HDTV might be the way to go.
Click to expand...

I still want to bang my head every time someone says this! :|

List of HD channels:

ABC (most of primetime and most sporting/special events)
CBS (most of primetime and most sporting/special events)
NBC (Not as much of their primetime is but they're growing)
FOX (480p on some shows...moving to 720p before too long)
WB (a few shows in HD)
UPN (a few shows in HD)
PBS (Some specials are in HD or 480p)
ESPN HD (Sunday Night NFL and other games)
Bravo HD (if you like opera in HD or the last Olympic games reruns in HD)
HDNet (various specials/sporting events in HD)
HDNet Movies
InHD1
InHD2
HBO HD
Showtime HD
Cinemax HD
The Movie Channel HD
Discovery Channel HD
Starz HD
USA Networks
Hallmark HD
A&E
The Tennis Channel
NFL Network
The Playboy Channel
Fox Sports Net
29HDNetwork

I invite you to read this thread at AVS Forum for more information.
 
I need a new TV, also. My 27" flat screen Sony died today. I need to find something good....for cheap....that can be carried up to a 3rd floor apartment.
 
Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
I need a new TV, also. My 27" flat screen Sony died today. I need to find something good....for cheap....that can be carried up to a 3rd floor apartment.
Click to expand...

Don't tell me. 6 blinking red lights right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top