The big "How do I choose an HDTV?" thread.

Tyrian wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Legion the latest Sharp series of LCD's has pretty much the best black levels going (in terms of LCD).. I was close to getting the 52" one.. but for $1000 less the Pioneer 50" Plasma just has superior Picture Quality at less price.. and 1080P native seems so pointless.

edit

Just read your edit.. so nm.. but perhaps look at the Sharp series..

My dad picked up the 46" version of that TV. I have to say, I was pretty impressed by the PQ.

Why would you say native 1080p is pointless, GG? If you're in the market for a new TV at this point, doesn't it make sense to get one that supports the highest quality resolution? Granted, nothing broadcasts in 1080p at this point, but it does give you a nice resolution when you hook up a computer to the device.

heh.. you should know this by now.. by the time any 1080P content is prevalent current TV technology will seem quaint. But yes if your predominant goal is to connect a PC to your TV then for sure a 1080P LCD TV is your best bet.. since LCD technology of the current big 4 TV technologies is the best for displaying PC "content".

My biggest beef is that by far LCD is still the lowest in terms if picture quality of all the current TV technologies...especially for movies or content with a great deal of Black in it.

sure a 1080P Plasma is the best in terms of resolution and PQ but the prices are really high.. and to me anything over $4K for a TV set is excessive given how fast the technology changes.

TheGameguru wrote:

heh.. you should know this by now.. by the time any 1080P content is prevalent current TV technology will seem quaint. But yes if your predominant goal is to connect a PC to your TV then for sure a 1080P LCD TV is your best bet.. since LCD technology of the current big 4 TV technologies is the best for displaying PC "content".

My biggest beef is that by far LCD is still the lowest in terms if picture quality of all the current TV technologies...especially for movies or content with a great deal of Black in it.

sure a 1080P Plasma is the best in terms of resolution and PQ but the prices are really high.. and to me anything over $4K for a TV set is excessive given how fast the technology changes.

Sure, I hear you on the whole "buy currently useless top-end feature, pay premium, feel sad when tech passes you by" thing.

I have to say LCDs have come a long way since the original generation, though. The black levels are far superior to what they used to be. Plasmas sure are nice, though.

I have to say LCDs have come a long way since the original generation, though. The black levels are far superior to what they used to be. Plasmas sure are nice, though.

very true.. the fact that I came so close to buying that 52" Sharp shows that.. I'm sure they'll get better and better.. but I suspect there will need to be a fundamentally step away from how LCD's are current "light" to really break the Black Level issue.

I'm keeping the Vizio for now, and after I start a job and can spend a few hundred more dollars, I'll take advantage of Costco's liberal return policy and get an upgrade.

If you're gaming on a PC, remember that 1080P is 1920x1080. Unless you've got a nuclear reactor for a video card, you probably won't get acceptable frame rates. Higher resolution is good for 2D (web pages, docs, etc...), but that high a resolution isn't so great for gaming if you want acceptable performance.

My work laptop I got last September runs at 1920x1200 and WoW is amazing. So is GuildWars, and everything else I throw at it. It's got a GeForce 7900GS 256Meg in it, which is pretty current, but I wouldn't call it a nuclear reactor.

Hemidal wrote:

If you're gaming on a PC, remember that 1080P is 1920x1080. Unless you've got a nuclear reactor for a video card, you probably won't get acceptable frame rates. Higher resolution is good for 2D (web pages, docs, etc...), but that high a resolution isn't so great for gaming if you want acceptable performance.

Thanks, Hemidal - that makes sense. The people on some video forums act as if anything less than TRUE 1080P is like watching a fuzzy black and white '50s TV set through mud-smeared goggles.

Well Ive been reading this thread and not really knowing what to do. I havent bought a new TV in 5 years... and one of my concerns is where it will be going (my bedroom where I have picture inserts built into the wall. I only have exactly 38.2" of horizontal space to fit a flat screen in).

Anyway... I went with the Dell W3707C. I did a lot of looking around and this TV pretty much fits exactly what I am looking for and thus far the reviews are good. I have 3 other widescreen LCDs from Dell (2x2005WFP and 1x2405WFP and all of them still work fantastically) that I have been using for my home office and I absolutley love them. All of them still work w/out any hiccups of any kind so my personal track record w/ Dell LCDs is pretty good.

We'll see.. like I said I havent bought a new TV in a long time so Im a little giddy about this

PAR

duckilama wrote:
If you're gaming on a PC, remember that 1080P is 1920x1080. Unless you've got a nuclear reactor for a video card, you probably won't get acceptable frame rates. Higher resolution is good for 2D (web pages, docs, etc...), but that high a resolution isn't so great for gaming if you want acceptable performance.

My work laptop I got last September runs at 1920x1200 and WoW is amazing. So is GuildWars, and everything else I throw at it. It's got a GeForce 7900GS 256Meg in it, which is pretty current, but I wouldn't call it a nuclear reactor.

WoW and Guild Wars aren't that taxing. Try F.E.A.R, Oblivion, Battlefield 2142, etc.. Those will be slide shows at those resolutions.

If you only have a couple of games that you're looking to play and you know they run fine at that resolution on your hardware, go for it. If you play shooters and high framerates matter a lot to you, you might want to run at a lower rez. So, a 720P set would probably work out better.

I'm keeping the Vizio for now, and after I start a job and can spend a few hundred more dollars, I'll take advantage of Costco's liberal return policy and get an upgrade.

Isn't Costco changing their return policy for big-ticket electronic items to 90 days? I thought I remembered seeing something about that on AVSForum about that.

Minase wrote:

Isn't Costco changing their return policy for big-ticket electronic items to 90 days? I thought I remembered seeing something about that on AVSForum about that.

There was a lot of talk about a potential change in policy, but it did not happen. TVs are still covered under a lifetime satisfaction return policy.

Computers, however, are limited to a six month return policy.

Edwin wrote:

Oh snap!

IMAGE(http://www.spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/nss8/images/explosion.jpg)

Looks like the new Directv 11 satellite is going to be delayed for its launch.

AP says damage was "limited" but the investigation won't be, and delays are likely.

Just get it up before football season, I need to get back to DirecTV by September!

I think I've finally found some middle ground settings on the Vizio where I get SOME black detail without washing out the picture. Yay!

Hemidal wrote:

WoW and Guild Wars aren't that taxing. Try F.E.A.R, Oblivion, Battlefield 2142, etc.. Those will be slide shows at those resolutions.

If you only have a couple of games that you're looking to play and you know they run fine at that resolution on your hardware, go for it. If you play shooters and high framerates matter a lot to you, you might want to run at a lower rez. So, a 720P set would probably work out better.

My 8800 does not agree with you. It's twin will argue with you too when it arrives in 3 or 4 months

But seriously. A 720p set really does work well. I hooked my 32" samsung set up to my computer a few weeks ago and it was beautiful in games, but I get input lag when using it on my PC that's not there when I use it with my 360, both over the VGA input.

Could this be a side affect of my videocards not actually having a VGA output and having to use one of those adapters to hook it up? I was really kind of confused by why I get it on the VGA input in one situation but not the other. Maybe I'll try one of those DVI-HDMI cables and hook it up that way and see what happens.

No worries Legion as only DirecTV 11 will be delayed. DTV 10 was going to be launched by another company. If they stick with Sea Launch for DTV 11 they do have a land based launch pad at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. If anything happens to DTV 10/11, Boeing is almost done with DTV 12 as a backup.

IMAGE(http://www.boeing.com/special/sea-launch/land-launch/images/facilities-baikonur.jpg)

Sure wish there was an indication as to what service these satellites would be providing where. Can't wait to be back on DirecTV (even if the HD DVR is crappy - hey, so's Comcast's! At least until they roll out that TiVo powered update, which will be right in time for me to switch away, no doubt)

They are national, not spot ones. They are moving away from those. MPEG4 and all that good stuff.

Oblivion, Battlefield 2142, etc.. Those will be slide shows at those resolutions.

Those also looked great and ran great. BF2 as well. I simply used WoW and GW as that was what I had actively played lately and recalled thinking "Wow! that looks f-ing awesome!"

Edwin wrote:

They are national, not spot ones. They are moving away from those. MPEG4 and all that good stuff.

They've said that part of this year's satellite launches is increasing HD locals (which is massively important to them because it's where cable is kicking their ass - markets where cable has HD locals and DTV doesn't). Which sat dat be?

All of them. The satellites are nothing more than big routers to be dumb. They just provide more bandwidth which they lack right now.

Some excellent info in this thread.

One question: If you want to watch HD-DVDs, wouldn't you want a 1080p TV?

Fedaykin98 wrote:

If you want to watch HD-DVDs, wouldn't you want a 1080p TV?

The answer to that question is as much as factor of screen size and viewing distance (and budget) as any other source content.

Another question: how come I can't seem to find any 42-46" plasmas in 1080p? The best looking TV that I've seen in someone's actual home was a plasma, so I'm a little biased towards them at the moment, but I'm not seeing any in 1080p.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Another question: how come I can't seem to find any 42-46" plasmas in 1080p? The best looking TV that I've seen in someone's actual home was a plasma, so I'm a little biased towards them at the moment, but I'm not seeing any in 1080p.

I believe Pioneer is doing a 42" 1080P native plasma sometime later this year.. (July?) Its just that much more difficult to get that high resolution in a small plasma screen.. its a limitation of Plasma Technology.

So much so in fact that only Panasonic (I believe) makes a 37" HD Plasma.. most are only making 42"+

I totally forgot about the Tech forum. Fedaykin said I should post this link of this dude that tested various HDTVs to see how they were processing HD signals. Also, being a "filthy" skimmer, I don't know if y'all have talked about SED, so here's that link too.

Tests: http://www.hometheatermag.com/hookme...
SED: http://gear.ign.com/articles/679/679...

I wouldnt hold your breath on SED anytime soon.. production issues currently plague this technology and it could be a LONG wait to see them generally available in retail.

A much more exciting and closer to available technology for LCD's is LED which will give LCD's a huge boost in Picture Quality. Look for sets from Samsung, Sony and others later this year.

The link that Fletch just posted about the tests on HDTVs was pretty frightening to me - anyone have any thoughts?

Link

Fedaykin98 wrote:

The link that Fletch just posted about the tests on HDTVs was pretty frightening to me - anyone have any thoughts?

Link

Yeah.. Pioneer is without a doubt the best HDTV maker today.

And much of this is pretty much hoopla.. since in the eyes of the beholder as long as your satisfied with your Picture Quality on your HDTV does it really matter if your set passed some benchmark test?

On Friday morning, WFAA became the first station to broadcast high-definition news in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, and the 28th station nationwide to offer HD newscasts.

The Belo station and ABC affiliate is now producing 5.5 hours of news each weekday, and 2.5 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, using its new "Victory Park" high-definition studio located outside the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and NHL's Dallas Stars. The new facility, which went on air last month, features a glass-enclosed street-level studio and is connected via fiber to a control room at WFAA's main facility a few miles away.

WFAA's weekday HD news programming includes Daybreak, a two-hour morning show that leads in ABC' hi-def Good Morning America; the one-hour Good Morning Texas at 9 a.m.; a one-hour noon news; and 30-minute newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 pm.

The decision to tackle HD news was based on recent CEA research on HDTV set sales as well as "all the people calling me directly" about WFAA's HD plans, says president and GM Kathy Clements.

"It's a lot," says Clements, who says she has also been trading many emails with eager HD viewers.

WFAA spent millions on the HD upgrade, says Clements, including upgrading its helicopter to HD and installing robotically-controlled HD "tower cams" in different downtown locations; one provides a shot from the W Hotel across the street looking down at the Lincoln Park studio. Live shots from the field are produced in standard-definition widescreen and upconverted, a practice that WFAA will continue for the foreseeable future due to the high cost of upgrading HD field operations. WFAA will have a few "floating" HD cameras in the field to produce special taped segments, adds Clements.

The shots from the helicopter camera during WFAA's inaugural 5 a.m. HD newscast were particularly impressive on a wintry morning in Dallas, says Clements.

"There was a little bit of ice and snow on the ground, and it was absolutely beautiful."

I was over at my uncle's last night, and they had Discovery HD on in the background. It was awesome looking.

I've been watching prices on the Westinghouse 42w2 for awhile now... is $1299 at Fred Meyer a good price point, or do you think prices will fall in the future?