Re: OT: A new "TV" for a Crazy Man? (OG?)

On Mon, 28 May 2007 13:24:42 -0700, LooseCannon <lambchop.LC@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Puddin' Man wrote:

...

He's got $400-600 or so to spend for a new "TV", hopefully to
last, say, 10 years minimum.

Right now theres allot of clearance sales, so thats a realistic amt to
spend on a good HDTV.

Good! :-)

Esp. this weekend where sales are everywhere! If
you find a good deal around $400 for something, the invest the other
$200 in a halfway decent surround sound system.

Thanks, but I'm mentally wed to my ancient stereo gear (if I
can get away with it).

Thats gonna depend on how long the TV is watched daily. If its one that
ppl fall asleep to and leave on, be sure to find one that has some of
the new 'power control' features that'll turn the tv off without some
kinda input after 3 hrs., such as no volume, channel change, and so on..
Some Samsungs have it. Sharp Aquos does too.

I shouda mentioned: 4 hours/day avg. usage. Never leave it on
overnite.

The "Fedral Gummint" has mandated HD in the near future?

Nope, theyve mandated DIGITAL signals only by 2009--not HD signals only.

I'm just catching up to the distinctions ...

One is not the same as the other. So make sure you get a "DTV" marked
television. You dont HAVE to go HD, but hey, its mindblowing, and
actually free thru the air for local channels as long as you get a full
on tv, not just a 'monitor' (and even big arse plasmas can be JUST
monitors...make sure they are true HDTV's not just "HD Ready"!)

So, if I get HDTV with a "tuner", I'll be able to receive local
channels. Without an antenna or cable connection?

At a quick glance, it kinda looks like a good asian LCD/HD TV. Does
this make sense in the context described above? Will such son-of-
a-tube properly render analog reception/playback-from-VCR?

Actually, you can still get CRT TV's in digital and HD. In fact, places
like Best Buy have the HDTV CRT TV's cheap, even tho pixel for pixel,
they are better then LCD. Two weeks ago Best Buy had a one day only
sale on 27" CRT HDTV's for under $300. I bet this weekend they'll meet
it or beat it too.

-That's- sho'ly news to po' me. I knew they still had CRT'S, but ...

Samsungs 30" widescreen CRT HDTV is down to around $500 right now,
widescreen, and actually has the full 1080p pixelization, the top of the
line (1920x1080), and has the best looking replay of both SDTV and HDTV,
plus a longer life then LCD/Plasma. But these weigh a TON, same as
HDTV DLP (projection/rear projection) weight, and they are another low
priced HDTV, but SDTV looks like *** w/em. These are mainly bigger
TV's, 42" and up and are HUGE, so prolly not what yer looking for.

Correct. I've got very limited space.

LCD in HD has a life of around 60,000 hrs. in the average set.

Hmmmm. 60k / 4 hrs/day =~ 41 years. I could live (and maybe die <g>)
with that.

These
kinds of sets weren't made to show SD programs well. If ya get one,
make sure you get one thats got the "pixel shift" built in if your gonna
watch allot of SDTV, cuz the black bars from the lack of the use of the
widescreen will cause burn in otherwise. Prolly the best of the lot
that Ive seen has been the Sharp Aquos, at least thats affordable.
Samsung and Sony are always good, but are waaaaay overpriced. Forget
Westinghouse or generics. Buy the LCD's online for the best prices,
places like Best Buy Plasma (NOT related to Best Buy the B&M store) if
you cant find a good clearance sale in a B&M store this weekend (and a
B&M store is "Brick & Mortar")

OK, but ...

Where I'm losing it is ... what kind of broadcast transmissions
am I targeting? I'm now using Charter cable: what can I expect from
them? Other vendors? Will some offer only HDTV? Others only SDTV? Etc.


Will tuners in such modern "TV"s directly tune cable? Dish?
Anything? <g>

You can buy LCD TVs that have satellite tuner built in for DIrectv, but
they cost hella more then their counterparts without the Directv tuner
built in--almost double. not worth it.

The best you can do if yer gonna be using cable instead of satellite is
to buy a set w/a QAM tuner in it. Toshiba & Sharp have em, but others do
too, and Toshiba can be a hit & miss kinda proposition. QAM tuners can
pick up some HD channels for free that even the cable box will miss.

Via antenna? Are QAM tuners a "mature technology"?


What specs (i.e. pixels) would be necessary for acceptable
display, etc?

Minimum of 720p (1326 x 786 or 1280 x 720) or 1080i (same pixels, but
used differently...not really sold these days as 1080i, just 720p--and
720p looks allot better. These days all the new ones with the pixel
listings above are now 720p in stead of 1080i, but handle both signals.

If you arent going above a 32" widescreen, 720p is all you need for HDTV.

I doubt I would get above 30".

What the flying flog is SDTV (advertised by Kmart, et. al)? :-)

Standard Definition TV (480i). EDTV is an interim kinda tv
(480p)....don't bother! Go HDTV or stay w/SDTV.


What other headaches lurk in "modern TV" equipment?

Cables...HDMI's, especially. DO NOT buy Monster Cables...they are a
ripoff. Let me know if you want the best place to buy cables that
you'll find for $80 and up at Best Buy and other places like HDMI cables
only for 1/10th of the price. The same place can get you other low
priced cables, wall mounts, speaker mounts, etc., for next to nothing at
super low prices. And, NO, I am unreleated to the owners or anything
else about the site.

What kinda cables do they take? I assume not std. co-axial.

Another thing to watch in LCD TV's is the response time in milliseconds.
get NOTHING over 10ms. 6-8ms is what the best LCD's have.
Westinghouse often has sets that are up there like 27ms, and motion
looks like crap on em.

Check.

Finally, contrast ratios on LCD is not regulated. Still the higher, the
better. There are 2 kinds. Standard & Dynamic. The ones you see 800
to 1200:1 are standard. You see 6000:1 or 10,000:1 and those are
"dynamic". Its confusing. But the higher the number, the better blacks
you'll have.

OK.

Also, if you go LCD, buy one of the DVD's that help you set the color
and contrast, etc. The preset levels that LCD's come with are to make
them look good on the showroom floor, and can burn out the pixels faster.

I'm thinkin' maybe 26" LCD HDTV with integral DVD. So just add a
special DVD for configuration of the son-of-tube.


TIA,
Puddin'

Got more questions, let me know. Ive just done all this learning for
myself. Bought myself all new equip. since April. Studied my arse off
before buying too.

I'm starting to understand why. :-)

Looked at allot, read a ton, and returned 3 tv's
before finally finding what I wanted.

To B&M's?

Ifyou buy from a B&M store, make sure ypu find what you want IN ADVANCE
and then find the best price you can and make the store price match.
Generally theyll only price match local competition, but I got Best Buy
to match Target.com's price on my Aquos, even tho Target doesnt sell
much of the electronics on their site in their stores, and when they do,
they do NOT sell at the same as their website. I got Best Buy down from
the $1099 price to $869. Make sure you have the EXACT same model #.
It's worth picking the one you want, coming home and finding the best
price and making them match it. Best Buy will add 10% of the difference
on top if you bring in a better price AFTER the sale instead of just
making them price match.

I've done *some* stuff like that before. I check Slickdeals.com weekly.
May consider Tigerdirect.com if I can *truly* nail down exactly
what I need, 'tho I'm scared of returns to 'em.

Much thanks for your help. 'Tis an -extremely- non-trivial subject
(at least for me).

Puddin'

"Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens!"
-Friedrich Schiller
.

Quantcast