I'm the HDTV advice guy here. I go to CES every year so I see all the latest. If you want the best TV with picture quality you should get a Sony SXRD TV. This is Sony's version of LCOS(like DLP). its actually 1080p and will accept 1080p sources like BluRay (Who'd figure?) I have an old school Toshiba Cinema Series HDTV. I like it, but it weighs a million pounds. your TV should be based on: 1. do you want to hang it on the wall to save space 2. you have a massive living room and you want a huge tv 3. you play video games and everything else Make sure you have 2 HDMI slots and about 2-3 HD component slots. Also dont blow too much money on the TV because you still have to buy speakers/receiver/entertainment center/connections etc If you like plasma, go panasonic if you like dlp, go samsung, mitsubshi or toshiba sony tvs are excellent avoid RCA
Jay, go to a high end place to see the TVs, best buy etc's picture defaults are crap and people mess with the settings. you need to see the TV in optimal settings and signals. The TV will ALWAYS be bigger in your house than in the store, keep that in mind. Make sure you get the best connections too. I use HDMI for my time warner. sweet as the Dreamshake!
Some current 1080p TVs upconvert 1080i signals to 1080p. New buyers should note that upconversion qualities aren't the same. I do notice the resolution differences, but not enough to care. I notice that a lot of TV actresses has gotten a whole lot uglier in the process. Either their skin is bad or they're caked with makeup to hide it from the higher resolution.
thanks for all the advice...I'll let you know what I end up with, bought a new house and moving in late June...
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Mits...P_Projection_TV,__14244572/skd=1/search=62+tv im waiting for this one to come down. it comes iwth a built in hard drive, so you dont need dvr or tivo. you cant go wrong with hitachi either. ive had a hitachi projection tv for 5 years now and ive had no problems at all. ive also had the sony xsrd for 3 months and thats working great too (knock on wood)
DoD, weren't you the guy who told me about the AVS Forum, when I mentioned somewhere that I was looking to get a new display? (my 16 year old Sony XBR had finally died) Well, you should check this thread out! http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=671471&page=1&pp=30 The title? 1080p matters even without 1080p sources. Very interesting reading.
I've read that thread before. It's all over the place and is about 80% disagreement. That's usually a good indicator that the difference in quality is minimal for the average viewer. Pretty soon (within the next couple of years anyway), pretty much all tv's brought out will be 1080p, so the point is moot. By then hopefully we'll have a good stream of 1080p content as well.
That's my hope. (the good stream of content) I tend to keep TV's until they poop out, so as long as this Westy works for a long time, I should end up being happy with it. The PQ is great, and after I get a Harmony remote, and a good surround system for it (which I'll have to wait a month or so to buy... gotta prep the wife for another purchase, lol!), then I'll be good to go. Of course, I could really use one of these for our bedroom wall...
Deckard. This is $1999 now. Sounds like the best TV for its buck but why is it so much cheaper than the rest. You still happy with it? Also, can someone explain to me why I should go for LCD instead of Plasma or DLP or this new OLED I hear of. I still dont understand the difference. Someone tell me which is the best. Which is the best bang for the buck. Also if I should wait a few more months for a price to drop on a certain kind.
No one can tell you what's best for you. You have to research and view the pics yourself. You have to go to the store and attempt to calibrate the picture on the sets because they're usually jacked up to make you notice them. Each of the technologies has its advantages and disadvantages. Google and www.avsforum.com.
TINMAN, Ok, I bought a sharp aquos 32" lcd a few months back (was at my gf's apt because she can get HD channels). I took it back because the picture just wasn't was I was hoping for (also no PC input) I just picked up a Samsung 32" LN-S3251D HD LCD, Built in ATSC, Video game mode, DNie, 4000:1 contrast ratio, 8mms refresh rate, 2 HDMI, ONE componenet , iPod port, ect ok, right now I can't get HD channels because; 1)my apartment has a deal with this crappy cable company TVMAX and they don't offer HD. 2) I"m facing the wrong side so no direct TV. I'm ok with that because the picture is ok even watch std digital cable. Here in lies my problem. I hooked up my gen 1 xbox with compenent (HD AV Pack) to the tv and the 480p games look ok, 720p (FIFA 06) looks good. However, when I pop in NBA 2K6(480p) I start to see the lag/ghosting effect. It's not bad, but it's noticble to me. Does this happen to all LCD TV's or when or IF I get a xbox360, will this subside? I don't know if I can wait for the ps3, im itching to get the 360 but im hearing rumors of a new 360 with HDMI so im in a dilema (another story) Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!
Weezer, See if the game has a setting you may have to change. I had to do that with Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2 and it worked wonders on my HDTV (old projection Hitachi 53"). I watch HDTV with a HiSense receiver, so no cable here. All I use is an amplified antenna and when there is a lot of rain, all I have to do is reset the receiver and we're back in HD business. Good luck with the seXBOX trouble, man.
grand wega is a combination of technologies, its a projection LCD. suffers from burn in as well, but isn't nearly as heavy or deep as a regular projection/crt.
I got one a few weeks ago too for my bedroom. I'm using it as a TV and a PC monitor. Although I'm paranoid about burn-in, so I don't surf the net for too long before switching over to TV mode or turning it off. It's a great picture(provided you tweak the settings first). I've got a DVI-to-HDMI cable hooked into the HD box, component cables for my DVD player, and I'll be using an HDMI-to-HDMI cable when I receive the HD-DVD player I ordered. Make sure any HDTV set you pick up has at least 2 HDMI(or DVI) inputs. The only real downside to the TV ironically is that the picture is so clear that I can now see things like compression artifacts and edge enhancement that were never really noticable before. Some HD programs have serious artifacting problems, especially action flicks on HBO-HD. Thankfully this shouldn't be an issue with HD-DVDs. Oh, and I'll second what a previous poster said about setting aside some additional funds for completing your home theater setup. The TV didn't cost me too much since I got a great deal for it online, but I ended up also shelling out for a 7.1 surround sound system, speaker stands, the aforementioned HD-DVD player, and multiple video and audio cables.
I didn't think they were. But on the instruction booklet that came with the TV, it warns against leaving any image onscreen for more than 2 hours at a time. I don't play video games and I don't leave Headline News or ESPN on for hours, but I do surf the internet quite a bit(as if my posting here didn't make that obvious), so I'm not gonna take any chances.
