Hi Def TV Question

[427sharpe]

I bought a Phillips plasma, love it. 6 year in house parts and labor warranty included. No burn in problems. Only b*tch is that it (and all plasmas I have seen) get H_O_T! Ours is on most of the day and when I get home I think I could fry an egg on it.

[Wes Tausend]

Ron,

I don't know if the hub-bub is all worth it on the new HD stuff. I've compared pictures at home and in stores and to be honest, it's hard to beat a decent standard TV and standard DVD player for simplicity and near HD enjoyment. Especially a standard 37" size like you already have.

Some of the things that go wrong with network HD are occasional dead-stop glitches in the signal that lock-up sound and pix where old channels might only flicker. I think you will find that a good economical DVD picture appears 95% as good as HD, both much better than VCR on any large screen. And many times, the standard channels (most programs) look sharper on the old standard TVs. The main advantage to LCD is that it is probably the lightest of all TVs to lift and doesn't throw a lot of heat off. I think in the end, it will win the war.

I bought a 51" CRT rear projection TV a few years ago and it works fine, amazing picture and all, but they are obsolete now and very heavy. It uses the same type of tech that your 37" uses but runs three smaller tubes (one for each color) at higher intensity and shines them on the back of a screen to make the picture in front. Supposedly, the higher brightness over-drive of the smaller tubes (that must appear bright enough on the back of the enlarged front screen) makes it susceptable to burn-in, but it hasn't really been a problem since nothing is on the screen that long. The similar-replacement for my heavy TV is usually a DLP (no tubes but a chip) which are slightly smaller in weight and size now. I think that all TV's now are already good enough that even cheap ones work pretty good. Basically all TV's are throw-away now since there are virtually no local repair shops anymore. Local repair might actually consist of a couple of guys coming to pick it up for repair shipment. And no matter what you buy, it will still be somewhat obsolete in a few years in a cost/performance ratio. Something to keep in mind when deciding what to spend.

I bought a cheap Olevia LCD for the bedroom (similar to this, only w/side speakers: Olevia 26" LCD HDTV - 226T : Target ) and that, too, works great and has a very sharp picture, even on standard channels. It has a fast 8ms pixel recovery time which means it doesn't smear the picture. The contrast ratio is claimed to be fairly high at 1600:1 which mostly means the colors appear fairly vivid without appearing washed out. The side speakers left more installation room height-wise. It's easy to lift and runs cool. I noted the flaw with this older Olevia model (my model 427S12) is that the tuner is very slow in changing channels. Check this out before buying any HD-TV in a store if possible. Many early HD tuners were slow but newer better ones are quicker, more like the old channel changing we are used to.


...

[1ntCobra]

DVD players cannot play Blu-ray disks, it is a different color/wavelength laser technology (blue laser?).

Blu-ray players play DVDs and CDs. I've had a blu-ray player for over a year now, it was the cheapest model available at the time, its called a Sony PS3 (which is a game system with harddrive, wireless internet access and uses blu-tooth accessories). It may still be the cheapest and most capable of blu-ray players.

One thing that I would recommend is getting a TV supports 1080p with that as the native resolution (1920x1080). The reason why I say that is the native resolution of all blu-ray discs that I have seen. You will need to get an HDMI cable to get the 1080p signal to the TV.

I think you said you have a vhs/dvd player. Well just use the blu-ray player to play dvds. A standard VHS does not even record standard television resolution. I used to have an S-VHS deck that could. I think there was an obscure variant of VHS called D-VHS that could record high def, but it seems people recording high-def these days use a DVR. I have not used bothered with recording shows in years, but I have a VHS (and beta) hooked up to a normal TV in a different room in case I want to watch an old tape.

I have DirecTv satellite and upgraded to a HD receiver when they first started offering local channels in HD, which may have been over 2 years ago. I got the receiver for -1 dollars after rebate, but had to pay for the installation of a 5 LNB dish. I think it depends on which satellites you need to get your local channels, you may need a 5 LNB dish or multiple dishes. I don't know what the current pricing deal is.

I also recommend getting something to switch between satellite, the blu-ray player, and the VHS (if you want to keep that), which is either a Home Theater Receiver or the TV itself.

I use a Home Theater Receiver for switching (and one of these days I'll buy the additional surround sound speakers, as I'm just using my old stereo speakers for now). And keep in mind for 1080p you'll want something that can switch HDMI (and perhaps convert your satellite (component video in my case) and VHS (composite or S-video) to HMDI.

If you don't think you will want surround sound with your TV, then just make sure your TV has enough inputs on the back for your blu-ray, satellite and VHS. Then you can just use your TV to switch devices. Make sure you have an HDMI for the blu-ray and whatever the best connection type is for satellite and the VHS.

[1ntCobra]

Consumer reports compared LCDs and Plasmas recently. Check it out at your local library.

One thing I think they said was that Plasmas have better blacks, but are not as bright as LCDs. So LCDs will do better in a bright room. I only vaguely remember the article as I don't plan on replacing my antique 1080i 34 inch widescreen CRT HDTV anytime soon. I don't think anyone even makes CRT HD TVs anymore.

[Ron61]

Thanks guys,

Cobra, I already knew about the Blu Ray not being able to play on a standard DVD.I was just waiting until the war was over to see which format won out. I will keep my pretty new VCR/DVD for the movies I have on the old DVDs and get the Blu Ray and just plug it into the TV for future movies that will now come in that format. As for recording I don't use the VCR as I do that on the satellite DVD. The VCR/DVD player I got just to play movies on. As for satellites I get 110 and 119. They told me the dish would have to be changed but that the new one would be just a little larger than this one, but not noticeable from the ground as mine is mounter on the roof. But since I am in no hurry and am just starting to take a serious look at this now that the DVD format war is over, I can talk to them about what options they might make available.

Ron

[Ronbo]

There's one big difference that put plasmas way out in front.

Blacks are the most black on a plasma, I spent the extra and bought the elite, just like I spent the money and got the Kirkham. No regrets.

My old Pioneer big screen died after 15 great years of trouble-free fantastic viewing. So I bought another.

The only plasmas I saw burn in were the same as CRT's, sitting in the lobby of a business displaying the same image for months.

Samsung and Sony are a close second and Pioneer is #1. Has been for 20yrs.

[1ntCobra]

I hear Sony does not make a Plasma, only LEDs now. But Sony is going to start making OLED (orgranic LED) TVs and that is going to be the new killer technology.

[Ronbo]

I looked at one LED set (panasonic I think) but the Pioneer had a better picture. Another trick some mfgs. use is to increase the blue bias to make the picture appear clearer and brighter. Step up close and you'll see the grain though.

As far as I understand it the LED was just an alternate light source for DLP and LCD sets though. Unless this is something new.

Even compairing the old sets tube picture quality always beat every other type except plasma. (which is akin to CRT) Just something about phosphorus that is tough to match.

[Joe Wicked]

Ron,
A BluRay player can play a standard DVD, so long as the BluRay player has the DVD decoder software built into it. A DVD player does not have the Blue Laser and cannot play the BluRay at all. I have a Playstation 3, they are BluRay. Playstation 2 is DVD, The PS3 that had the 80GB hard drive included the software for DVD, so it can play PS2 games as well. You can also use it for a DVD and BluRay player.

[KeithBrown]

Originally Posted by 1ntCobra

I hear Sony does not make a Plasma, only LEDs now. But Sony is going to start making OLED (orgranic LED) TVs and that is going to be the new killer technology.

Actually, Sony doesn't make LCD's either. They do have a JV with Samsung who makes the LCD panels for them. Basically, Sony paid Samsung a whjole bunch of $$, but Samsung is the actual maker.


All of the LCD makers are starting to add LED-based backlight assemblies as an alternative to the CCFL backlights. As with any technologies, this has strengths and weaknesses.

OLED is finally strarting to make some in roads, but it is still relegated to the smaller panel sizes at present. Quite frankly, I have been hearing about how wonderful OLED's (and pick your technology) and about the next killer technology every year. OLED has been slow to roll out and still has a lot of mfg problems (IE: poor yield).

WIth regards to DLP or any other rear projection technology, as someone who use to be in the Direct View CRT and rear projection CRT business, I don't expect any rear projection technology to be around too much longer. Peolple just prefer a flat panel over any rear projection product.

[427 S/O]

I know the ceiling projector style quality is poor, but I would like to see improvement with this option. I wouldn't care to have it mounted on the ceiling, Maybe recessed in the ceiling...I just like the fact it's small, almost like not having another piece of furniture.

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by 427 S/O

I know the ceiling projector style quality is poor, but I would like to see improvement with this option. I wouldn't care to have it mounted on the ceiling, Maybe recessed in the ceiling...I just like the fact it's small, almost like not having another piece of furniture.

I would not say the ceiling project quality is poor. My boss built a media room in his basement and the screen is around 13 foot diagonal. His projector is 720p and the picture looked good to me at his superbowl party.

But I guess you really need a room without windows dedicated to watching tv.