Any Advice on an HDTV?

[Adam West]

My wife finally is bought into the idea of purchasing an HDTV. We are probably going to buy something in the 50 inch range with 1060i but we aren't sure whether or not to go with plasma or LCD.

The tv will be sitting in our family room which does get quite a bit of natural light during the day. We are planning on upgrading to digital cable but I have too many regular dvd's and don't plan on upgrading to blue ray.

We won't be using it for gaming...strictly television and dvd viewing. Any thoughts?

Also, does anyone have a good website resource that is pretty reliable and objective in their ratings....cnet.com perhaps?

I can see the pros and cons of both but am really at a loss at this point.

Thanks

[z3zep]

Try this site for info.

http://www.audioholics.com/education...ila-crt-page-3

I have a 37 inch LCD and love it, but with the 50 inch you might want to go plasma. Also, any reason you want 1080i and not 1080 p -- cost?

In my area you have to get digital cable in order to get HD channels, in addition, note that analog channels look worse on an hdtv that on an old tube tv. So, not everything will look fabulous, but the HD channels and shows are just amazing. Especially if you like sports and/or nature shows.

maureen

[Adam West]

Thanks, I'll check it out. I meant to say 1080p not 1060i, I can't keep up with the technology these days.

It doesn't have to be a 50 inch TV but I definitely would like something between 45-50.

Since my room gets a lot of ambient lighting, my initial thought is leaning more toward an LCD. It looks like the Sony KDL-46XBR4 seems to be highly rated albeit expensive. I'm not one to upgrade tv's with the latest trends so I don't mind paying a little more knowing that I'll keep it until it dies.

I'm just curious how analog TV and regular DVD's will appear on this. Keep the suggestions coming since I am not convinced one way or the other just yet.

All I know is that my wife has given me the small window of opportunity so I know I need to pounce soon before the window closes.

[Sideshow Spock]

We recently purchased a 46" Sony LCD 1080p KDL-46V3000 and got digital HD cable hooked up. Like z3zep said, the regular channels look decent at best. And there are a LOT of regular channels. We only get about 30-40 channels in HD, and they seem to vary in quality. There are no current broadcasts in 1080p, so to fully enjoy a 1080p TV, you need to watch an HD DVD I think. Many of the HD stations are in 1080i, and they look very good, but nowhere near 1080p. The best the networks currently offer is 720p, which still looks pretty amazing. Football games in particular are a pleasure to watch.

The TV itself we're very happy with, but I can't help the feeling that it's currently under-utilized. We have yet to get an HDDVD player or even an upconverter, so we haven't been able to enjoy any of those yet.

[highquality]

I run a store which sells HDTVS. Here's a few models I think would work for you. I ranked them in order of which I think would work best:

1.) 50" 1080P Panasonic TH50PZ77U Plasma. Panasonic is the industry leader in plasma. At last count it held 65% of the market share, which is incredible. The TH50PZ77U is not only Panasonic's first series of 1080P plamas, they're also the first to use an Ant-Glare shield on the screen. A few things I've noticed about plasmas over lcd: 1. They handle fast motion MUCH better than most lcds. 2. They don't have backlights like lcds, so they're able to achieve better contrast and black levels. 3. You get bigger sizes for the money.

2.) 46" 1080P Sony KDL46W3000. Sony has some of the most impressive lcd displays I've seen. This model is the next step up from Histrionic Spock's KDL46V3000. Spock's TV offers an impressive 16,000:1 Dynamic contrast ratio, while this model offers 24,000:1. It also comes with a titanium colored brushed metal bezel which is sure to turn a few heads. You should get XBR performance out of this one without the XBR price tag.

3.) 46" 788P Sony KDL46S3000. This model fools most people in my store. EVERYONE thinks it's a 1080P resolution. While all HDTV broadcasts are either 720P or 1080i, this model should perform well within those ranges without the huge expense of 1080P. It also got huge ratings with Consumer Reports.

4.) 47" 1080P Toshiba 47HL167. This model utilizes Toshiba's super high speed 14 bit video processor. I believe even the best of Sony's are 10 bit. Toshiba is really poised to be the best selling lcd flat panel over the next few years.

[JPkempo]

Plasma is cheaper than LCD. They both have their good and bad points you need to look at them to see what you like. The inputs are important. What are you attaching to it? If you have cable, HD-DVD and Blu-ray you would want 3 hdmi inputs, not all units have this. You can get around that if your surround sound amp has the inputs.
I have a 50-inch Vizio 720p. If you look at the charts the average person cannot see the difference between 720 and 1080 when sitting at a normal distance for any thing below a 50-inch. As far as 1080i or 1080p there is nothing out there that has a frame rate that high so there really is no viewing difference.

You will want to get a DVR from your cable co this is one of the only ways to record in HD.

As far as Blu-ray or HD-DVD you need both. Each side says there winning but it's all BS. I lke the HD-DVD format better but There are more titles out on Blu-ray. Blu-ray was winning but 2 companys jumped ship and are now only putting out on HD-DVD. Good news is there is no regional coding on the discs so you can get them from any place and they will play. The porn industry says that blu-ray wont put out there titles because of Disney, Many think this will push up the HD-DVD sales and they will win.

[Hulk]

Can someone tell me how either works for using it as a monitor for a PC or Laptop? Maybe not regularly, but perhaps when you want to share something such as a video or pictures, or even surfing the web? It seems like it would be a logical choice because of the price to size differential between them and computer monitors, but I am guessing there is some sort of gap that prevents them being used that way as a primary source.

[Mikey]

I know nothing about these but I remember hearing a news story on these a few years ago.

I forgot which one they were talking about--- LCD, Plasma or whatever....

But the story said one of them can't be repaired if it ever breaks-- and it has a limited lifetime.

Maybe check up on that before you buy.

m

[Zemo]

I'm sure all that HQ says is on the money, but he is around electronics all the time and surley is geeked up about the latest toys and absoulty best features and pic. WHich with big names and top of the line equipment comes way to high prices.

The pictures on these lcds and plasmas in hdtv is so brillant, that you go with lesser known brands and save a lot of mego money and still have a great picture. You certainly don't need to buy one that is 1080p this is a waste of money 720p is just fine and you will save a ton of money. Your not going to be watching anything in 1080p.

Plasmas are way to heavy. lcds are super light and don't need a wall mount that has to be constructed to hold the Statue of Liberty.

I think the best way to read reviews is a circuit citys site. The reveiws are wriiten by users. Can't get more real than that.

Look at this Polaroid for 1100 bucks, somthing like this is the way to go. I think Best Buy sells westinghouse. I have atheir 32" in my bedroom and love it.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Custo...do#custRatings


Hulk I think Oveido makes 26" tv that has split screen. So you can watch tv on half and surf the net on the other.

[JPkempo]

Hulk I attached my laptop to my 50" and it looked great. Just big. You would need to buy the correct VGA connector. I had one don't know where I got it from.

[Surfsup]

I know Samsumg have got some great LCD models that have been getting great reviews:

Samsung LE46F86BD
Samsung LE52M87BD
Samsung LE46F71B

[Adam West]

Well, I completed some research and visited a local Circuit City to check out some of the LCD and Plasma models I was interested in.

Based on the amount of light I get in my family room, it appears that an LCD would work better for me. I looked at the Panasonic model with the anti-glare screen and it still didn't look like it would do the job.

Now there is another whole host of questions I have which is leaning towards just waiting it out for another year until the cable systems go all digital.

Here were some of things I asked the person at the store who didn't give me an answer I was comfortable with.

1. I inquired about what an analog signal would look like on an HDTV and he said pretty bad. I checked with my local cable company (which is Comcast) and the only channels they offer in HD are the main stations (NBC, ABC, CBS, ESPN) and couple of other ones but not many. I could switch to Satellite which has much more HD options but I have a cable tv and internet bundle and don't want to spend the extra money to split up the two services
2. I also asked about viewing regular DVD's through the LCD. Again, the answer was that it would look bad unless I purchased an upconverter which I think was a little over $100 or purchasing a Blue Ray player which will play regular discs. He did show me what a normal DVD would look like using an upconverter and it was adequate but still had a lot of graininess to it. I have a pretty large library of DVD's and I'm not about to start buying Blue Ray discs at $30 a pop.
3. I then looked a little into Comcast's digital cable and it looks like you have to purchase digital cable boxes for all of your analog TV's

I know how excellent it is to watch a sports program or other program broadcast in HD but it doesn't seem like my cable company has the offering I was hoping for. Once I added in all of the additional costs, it just didn't seem to me like it was worth it at this point.

I wanted to confirm my doubts and determine wheter or not most of my issues were valid concerns and things those of you who have converted have had to contend with.

Thanks again for everyone's insight since this is fairly expensive investment and I want to make sure I do it right the first time.

[cjefferys]

On my TV (60" Sony SXRD 1080p), standard def TV looks ok at best. Nothing amazing but certainly watchable. Right now I only watch HD television using an over the air antenna and the picture is stunning. After seeing an HD signal, it is hard to go back to watching standard television, but right now the choice in HD channels is limited (especially here in Canada). As for standard DVDs, it can really depend. Many televisions do a good job of upconverting themselves, but it does depend on the TV. You may or may not need an upconverting player. I've done tests with and without and have seen no real difference on my TV. Also it really depends on the transfer on the DVD itself. I think that some look great, but other transfers really show their limitations when blown up on a big HD screen, so your experience will vary from disc to disc.

If you have a room with a lot of ambiant light, LCD might be better than plasma due to a less reflective screen. Shopping for a HDTV these days can be frustrating, due to all the different kinds available. There is never one clear winner, they all have positives and negatives.

[MegoSteve]

The info they gave you at Circuit City is good, but not entirely accurate.

1. Regular standard definition TV does look pretty crummy on an HD set, especially at bigger sizes. You may want to upgrade your cable, but in many cases, you can attach an antenna and pull local HD stations through the air like in the old days. I tried this and did okay, but eventually upgraded to digital cable because over-the-air just wasn't reliable and I couldn't get all of the local stations I wanted.

2. Regular DVDs look fine on an HDTV set... not as good as an HDTV signal, but they aren't as bad as standard definition TV. I play DVDs on my Xbox 360 which is connected through component cables and it upconverts the picture on the DVD to 480p (I think that's the res...), which is perfectly acceptable for me. If I had a digital connection, they'd convert up even further. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that upconversion was limited by the studios when you are using analog TV connections. To get the full upconversion, you need to use a digital connection (in my case for the 360, either a VGA cable or HDMI).

3. I don't think you'd be obligated to get converter boxes for every analog TV unless you want to watch those digital stations on your old sets.

I have Comcast cable and I really like the HD offerings so far. I get the regular broadcast networks, plus maybe a dozen or two other HD channels. I may end up dropping digital, because I mostly stick to local broadcast networks, but some of the channels are quite nice, like the National Geographic channel. I'm not a huge sports nut, but it's really hard to beat watching U.S. Open Tennis or the World Series in HDTV.

The model I have is a Samsung LNT4053H. I'm really happy with the picture, but I do notice a lag when I'm playing high speed games. (I was once the #3 player in the world at Pac-Man C.E., but now I'm barely in the top 20 because of the lag issue.) I probably wouldn't buy it again if I knew then what I know now. I leafed through my parent's Consumer Reports over Thanksgiving and the Toshiba Regza line is ranked really high in terms of bang for your buck. I'd probably look into that or the new Samsungs that just came out that have a plasma-like contrast ratio.

You might also want to take a gander at AVS Forum if you have time.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily trust customer-posted online reviews; I wrote a review of my HDTV and the company where I bought from didn't post it, probably because it wasn't 4 or 5 stars.

[PCofmisfittoys]

TV's are like cars to me , they get me from point A to point B .

but on the other hand , get to know all the Local store manager in your area and get a great discount on one Then come to my Bass Pro to buy outdoor stuff when the BONBONs hit your waistline...LOL