|
I've read through this thread, and some other stuff, but I need some personal advice. I need an HDTV for my Xbox360, but am a total newbie when it comes to the world of HD. I'm looking for some suggestions of what to get. Money is an issue, so I'd like to spend as little as possible (under $1000 for sure). I guess maybe a CRT or something, as long as it's HD, would be a pretty good bet. Unless anyone knows of a decent sized plasma or LCD under $1000. I just want a decent sized TV that I can use to play my 360 in HD. Any suggestions?
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2007 21:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 19:16 |
|
|
Does anyone have anything abd to say about Vizio TVs? Sams has a 42 inch that says it does 1080p(i?) for just under a grand (link). The display model has nice enough color to suit me and Guitar Hero (360 version) seems to play OK*, but the guy who worked there told me the PS2 version had less lag. I assumed that was because the 360 was on digital input while the PS2 would have been analog. I even went up and asked the service desk and they told me that unnacceptable letency would be a valid reason to return a TV absent any other problems. Of course, if I actually drop that much on a TV, I'm going to get that in writing  I swear the box says 1080p on it, but the web site stops at 1080i. I dunno. Also, it's 720 native :\ Site doesn't say if it downconverts 1080 to EDTV or 720 :\ * 2. Is there some way to check before I buy? Did I get the wrong impression and that's not really the way it works? *Not a Guitar Hero expert. I have never played it untill I walked into Sams the other day.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2007 23:19
|
|
|
My parents are looking into getting an HDTV and my dad thinks a 40" will be enough, my mom wants the 46". This is where I come in, I've found this link: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html to try and solve the problem of 'What size?' but I can't seem to figure it out, I want to put in the viewing distance (~13 feet) and find out what size they should get. I'm coming out with huge sizes, like 95" am I doing this wrong?
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 00:18
|
|
|
grafixforlife posted:My parents are looking into getting an HDTV and my dad thinks a 40" will be enough, my mom wants the 46". This is where I come in, I've found this link: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html to try and solve the problem of 'What size?' but I can't seem to figure it out, I want to put in the viewing distance (~13 feet) and find out what size they should get. I'm coming out with huge sizes, like 95" am I doing this wrong? Your only option is to buy a 95" tv and report back to us.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 00:23
|
|
|
grafixforlife posted:My parents are looking into getting an HDTV and my dad thinks a 40" will be enough, my mom wants the 46". This is where I come in, I've found this link: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html to try and solve the problem of 'What size?' but I can't seem to figure it out, I want to put in the viewing distance (~13 feet) and find out what size they should get. I'm coming out with huge sizes, like 95" am I doing this wrong? That's a really far viewing distance. Easily front projection territory. They better get the biggest TV they can afford or they're going to be wishing they had when the thing shrinks after a couple of weeks. SD and HD would look pretty much identical on a 40" set at 13', only because of the different aspect ratios would you notice. http://www.carltonbale.com/wp-content/uploads/resolution_chart.png .Nathan. fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Apr 28, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 01:28
|
|
|
Munkeymon posted:Does anyone have anything abd to say about Vizio TVs? Sams has a 42 inch that says it does 1080p(i?) for just under a grand (link). The display model has nice enough color to suit me and Guitar Hero (360 version) seems to play OK*, but the guy who worked there told me the PS2 version had less lag. I assumed that was because the 360 was on digital input while the PS2 would have been analog. I'm certainly not an expert on it because I only picked up a 32" Vizio LCD today, but there was noticeable lag playing Guitar Hero on the 360. Fortunately there's an option to calibrate the lag, and that really helped a lot. I haven't really played it much today, so I don't know for sure if that completely fixed it but it was definitely a lot better after calibrating it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 02:32
|
|
|
What's a good screen to build an entertainment center (all three new consoles plus a PC) around? Are those low-end Westinghouse 1080p panels really that bad? I kind of like them because with an HDMI, two DVIs, a VGA, and some components I can have all three consoles and a PC and maybe even hook up a cable STB if I wanted to and not have to go behind the TV to change anything. I hate having to swap devices. I guess what I'm looking for is the best TV with a shitload of inputs at a $1000 limit.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 02:53
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:That's a really far viewing distance. Easily front projection territory. They better get the biggest TV they can afford or they're going to be wishing they had when the thing shrinks after a couple of weeks. SD and HD would look pretty much identical on a 40" set at 13', only because of the different aspect ratios would you notice. http://www.carltonbale.com/wp-content/uploads/resolution_chart.png Do you have any other resources or info I can show them? I'm starting to realize the fact and need to somehow convince them to go big.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 03:05
|
|
|
grafixforlife posted:Do you have any other resources or info I can show them? I'm starting to realize the fact and need to somehow convince them to go big. Have them go to the store and look at a 40" TV from 13' away. It will be the least immersive viewing experience ever. http://www.carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/ http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/tv_faq.html A  for "viewing distance chart" will give you hundreds of links.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 03:18
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:Have them go to the store and look at a 40" TV from 13' away. It will be the least immersive viewing experience ever. Many thanks, I will do more and present them with a flurry of info in the morning!
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 03:23
|
|
|
Gumball Dad posted:I've read through this thread, and some other stuff, but I need some personal advice. I need an HDTV for my Xbox360, but am a total newbie when it comes to the world of HD. I'm looking for some suggestions of what to get. Money is an issue, so I'd like to spend as little as possible (under $1000 for sure). I guess maybe a CRT or something, as long as it's HD, would be a pretty good bet. Unless anyone knows of a decent sized plasma or LCD under $1000. Are you a member to Sams Club by chance? They have crazy deals all the time. Wal-mart itself is blowing away all the competition these days in the TV market with their ridiculous prices on HD LCD and Plasma sets. I won't shop there myself, but if you're looking for a good deal, it's the place to be. They are killing CC, BB, and all major retailers; putting them in a real hurt. Just saying, if you're willing to spend up to a grand on a new HDTV, get the most bang for your buck. Get something you'll use for a while and not a bulky CRT you'll want to replace soon. poo poo, even CC has decent 37" HD flat screens under a grand.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 03:52
|
|
|
Spork Fetish posted:Thanks for the advice. I never thought to check Sams Club, I definitely will. I'll post again after I've narrowed my selection down a bit.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 06:08
|
|
|
Spork Fetish posted:Are you a member to Sams Club by chance? They have crazy deals all the time. Wal-mart itself is blowing away all the competition these days in the TV market with their ridiculous prices on HD LCD and Plasma sets. I won't shop there myself, but if you're looking for a good deal, it's the place to be. They are killing CC, BB, and all major retailers; putting them in a real hurt. I ask, because I've heard that some companies will make Wal-Mart exclusive SKU's. They do this because they couldn't sell their regular model at the price Wal-Mart demands, so they drop down the build quality/delete features/whatever to meet the price and get it in the store. On the surface they may look exactly the same. Usually a slightly different model number is the only clue (other than possible missing features). Maybe that practice isn't as widespread as I've heard.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 12:54
|
|
|
Well...I showed them the information and my dad still won't budge. He insists that he "does not want the living room to become a home theatre and have the tv be the center of attention" I can only hope they'll at least go with the 46" one. I just remeasured and the viewiing distance is more like 9 or 10 ft. so maybe it won't be so bad. :: shrug ::
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 14:44
|
|
|
LordOfThePants posted:Are the Wal-Mart/Sams club models the same as what you'd buy at CC/BB/etc? This is interesting. To add to this, I was browsing the Wal-mart website yesterday and almost all of the lcd's were budget brands. I ran across a few samsungs that had a model number that was specific to wal-mart. I couldn't find out any information about them. Then, after looking closely at the picture of the TV, instead of the word "Samsung" being displayed where the brand name is usually displayed, it says something like "PVAV". Sooo confusing, like totally for sure. Also, on an unrelated note, is clouding something that can change from set to set? I've heard of people exchanging TVs because of light bleed problems and getting the same exact model/brand without any light bleed. Note that I'm only talking about LCD's, not any other kinds of tv's. I'm asking because it seems like a lot of people complain about clouding on th LG 37lc7d, but not on the 42lcd at all (which is the same TV, just a different size). Since many tv's have some clouding, is it just a normal thing for lcd sets? pickitup13 fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Apr 28, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 17:57
|
|
|
Inside Outside posted:I'm certainly not an expert on it because I only picked up a 32" Vizio LCD today, but there was noticeable lag playing Guitar Hero on the 360. Fortunately there's an option to calibrate the lag, and that really helped a lot. I haven't really played it much today, so I don't know for sure if that completely fixed it but it was definitely a lot better after calibrating it. I know about the lag caibration from seeing my friends play on a different LCD flat panel (a Sony that was really quite nice, but sill had enough of a delay to scre with their GH playing) and I'm way more worried about playing shooters online and downsampling 1080 to EDTV, since I don't really care for GH and enjoy movies. Munkeymon fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Apr 28, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 19:32
|
|
|
LordOfThePants posted:Are the Wal-Mart/Sams club models the same as what you'd buy at CC/BB/etc? When I was researching for a TV for myself I did come across some articles that mentioned this practice. I do believe it's true. Just do your homework, as you should anyways. Know the terminology, know the different features and what they do. It's what makes a good TV different from the great-priced not so good TV. *edit Target and Meijer (if you have Meijer) also have some sets to look at and consider. Spork Fetish fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Apr 28, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 22:15
|
|
|
Munkeymon posted:I know about the lag caibration from seeing my friends play on a different LCD flat panel (a Sony that was really quite nice, but sill had enough of a delay to scre with their GH playing) and I'm way more worried about playing shooters online and downsampling 1080 to EDTV, since I don't really care for GH and enjoy movies. What is this GH you speak of? And "scre"? I can't unscramble that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 22:19
|
|
|
Is there any way to not make SD look like complete rear end on an HDTV?
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 22:49
|
|
|
hooah posted:What is this GH you speak of? And "scre"? I can't unscramble that. "...screw with their Guitar Hero playing."
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2007 23:01
|
|
|
Thanks Gromit. My typing has been hosed up for months because I can't feel the outer half of my left hand and I jammed my left index finger this week, which has made it worse 
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 01:41
|
|
|
Munkeymon posted:Thanks Gromit. My typing has been hosed up for months because I can't feel the outer half of my left hand and I jammed my left index finger this week, which has made it worse Ahhh, get well soon. And I didn't notice your custom title before - hilarious.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 02:18
|
|
|
Spork Fetish posted:When I was researching for a TV for myself I did come across some articles that mentioned this practice. I do believe it's true. Keep in mind that some stores do this as a sort of loophole for price matching. Best Buy for instance sells the Pioneer PDP-5071HD which is exactly the same as the PDP-5070HD aside from the name. By doing this Best Buy doesn't have to worry about matching the 5070 price if it's lower in nearby stores. Similarly the 5016 sold at Tweeter is nearly identical to the 5070 sans features like a CableCard slot, EPG, and a few picture tweaks. It shouldn't take too much research to figure out if the set you see in large stores is simply a renamed set, or different altogether. And even if it is different, it might be missing features that you never needed or wanted in the first place. furushotakeru posted:Is there any way to not make SD look like complete rear end on an HDTV? Buy a plasma.  Other than that make sure sharpness is down and try not to watch it stretched if you can stand the pillar bars. You could also pick up an external video processor, but decent ones easily cost >$1k. Edit: Since i'm trying my hardest to avoid writing a speech for class i'm going to put a high contrast static image on my screen and then take pictures of any image retention left after 30 minutes or so. Depending on how daring i'm feeling i might leave a black and white checkerboard pattern on overnight, but that remains to be seen. .Nathan. fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Apr 29, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 02:37
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:
What is so special about a plasma? At this point I am seriously considering returning my 50" for something smaller, it looks that terrible.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 02:41
|
|
|
furushotakeru posted:What is so special about a plasma? At this point I am seriously considering returning my 50" for something smaller, it looks that terrible. What kind of TV do you have? Plasmas just have a reputation of being better at upscaling. I don't know why exactly, but really any decent Keep in mind that watching SD on a giant HD set is never going to look good, but decent-enough should be achievable. Most people try and compare the SD on a large TV to what they used to see on their small CRT, but due to the screen increase this isn't a fair comparison as flaws become much, much more apparent. Also remember that DVDs are considered SD and need to be scaled quite a bit if you don't have an upconverting player. DVDs probably don't look horrible on your TV, do they? Basically SD TV signals are the worst things ever and shouldn't be used to judge a TV's performance. Edit: Didn't mean to say any decent LCD should do fine, since DLP and LCoS should be fine as well. .Nathan. fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Apr 29, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 02:53
|
|
|
furushotakeru posted:What is so special about a plasma? At this point I am seriously considering returning my 50" for something smaller, it looks that terrible. I'm personally an LCD type of guy, but I'll admit that plasmas look way better with SD signals than lcd's do. Honestly, if you're going to be doing a lot of SD watching, get a plasma.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 03:31
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:Edit: Since i'm trying my hardest to avoid writing a speech for class i'm going to put a high contrast static image on my screen and then take pictures of any image retention left after 30 minutes or so. drat. I spent 2.5 hours working on this experiment only to find out my camera sucks and can't detect the difference between an all white screen and the image retention. Anyway, it was interesting none-the-less. I opened up MS Paint and made a pattern consisting of solid black and solid white shapes next to each other. I then left it on my screen for a little more than an hour. I left a pure white screen up for about 30 seconds after closing paint and in that time the image retention faded by roughly 50%. On light content such as a really light blue sky or a solid white screen i could faintly see the outline of where the white and black shapes were touching. I then played a video for 1 minute and went back to the white screen to take more pictures and check for IR. The video lessened the IR even more, and i'm pretty sure at this point no one would have noticed it had they not been looking for it. I then played more video for about 5 minutes and repeated the process of checking for IR. It had lessened considerably again and i had to look really close to notice it. I repeated the process one more time leaving video on for 15 minutes and after rechecking i couldn't see any noticeable IR. While watching video all 3 times the IR was never noticeable, even on fairly light content. I should also note that this IR was far worse than anything i've gotten from playing video games or TV station logos, even when the game or logo was on my screen for 5+ hours. I was pretty impressed at how quick the IR faded since pure black on pure white is definitely the worst thing possible for a plasma. Sorry my camera couldn't get the job done, i'll have to try the different settings on it and see if i can make it take decent pictures. I guess it's a fairly good sign that a camera couldn't pick up any IR, though, shows how minor it really was.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 05:49
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:What kind of TV do you have? Plasmas just have a reputation of being better at upscaling. I don't know why exactly, but really any decent It is a samsung 50" DLP. I realize that it won't ever look great, but I have a satelite signal coming over HDMI, and I was hoping that it would at least be mostly watchable. Right now my wife is bitching at me because regular TV looks so bad and I can't say that I blame her that much 
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 05:55
|
|
|
Is there a consensus on the best HD Antenna to buy? My HDTV is currently nowhere near a cable source and will be leaving with me in a few months to a place where I may or may not have cable, so I want to try my hand at seeing how OTA stuff works, but I'm at a loss for what sort of antenna to buy and don't want to do so blindly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 19:30
|
|
|
I just spent quite a while finding a decent 42" and then it hit me... why am I paying for integrated speakers and a tuner when I'm not going to ever use them anyway. Seems to me that a monitor is a much better way to go. Is there anything wrong with this logic? Can anyone save me some scouring time by telling me what 42" monitor to get (main criteria being best bang for a buck)?
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 20:58
|
|
|
furushotakeru posted:It is a samsung 50" DLP. I realize that it won't ever look great, but I have a satelite signal coming over HDMI, and I was hoping that it would at least be mostly watchable. Right now my wife is bitching at me because regular TV looks so bad and I can't say that I blame her that much I have a 50" Samsung DLP, probably the same one. How long have you had the TV? I have to admit the first week or so of watching SD channels was extremely painful. I actually just refused to watch it. Then as time went buy I started noticing it less and less, and now it's to the point where while I can still tell it's SD, it really doesn't bother me all that much. The only thing I still won't do is watch movies in SD, just because all I do is picture how much better they would look in HD. Everything else though I've gotten used to.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2007 21:06
|
|
|
I found a pretty decent rear projection tv by the side of the road. Mitsubishi VS-60805. But we have a problem. I didn't expect it to work well, as it was actually someone's garbage, but here's what's up.    I tried playing with the convergence settings with no results. The odd angle that it warps at makes me think it's just totally shot and will need some kind of part replacing, but can anyone tell me what the heck is going on with this set? I don't know much at all about this.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 00:11
|
|
|
HELLSHARK posted:I just spent quite a while finding a decent 42" and then it hit me... why am I paying for integrated speakers and a tuner when I'm not going to ever use them anyway. Seems to me that a monitor is a much better way to go. Is there anything wrong with this logic? Can anyone save me some scouring time by telling me what 42" monitor to get (main criteria being best bang for a buck)? Monitors also usually come without a stand and with far fewer inputs. Not many 42" monitors out there. Pioneer and Panasonic both make a nice 42" monitor, but they're barely cheaper than the consumer models and more expensive once you factor in a stand and input card.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 03:51
|
|
|
I just got a Toshiba 57" DLP (57HM167) and i've got my computer hooked up through DVI -> HDMI but when it runs @ 1920x1080, it cuts off the edge of the screen all the way around. What the gently caress, this is the TV's native resolution, why is it cropping parts out
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 04:28
|
|
|
kltpzyxm* posted:I just got a Toshiba 57" DLP (57HM167) and i've got my computer hooked up through DVI -> HDMI but when it runs @ 1920x1080, it cuts off the edge of the screen all the way around. What the gently caress, this is the TV's native resolution, why is it cropping parts out HDMI inputs are set to overscan. You're going to have to set a custom resolution to compensate. If your video card won't allow you to do this you can try a program called Powerstrip. It's a trial and error process but you'll be able to get it to work.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 04:47
|
|
|
During the weekend, I decided to take some time to calibrate my father's new Panasonic plasma 42" that he exchanged his semi-broken Sony 3LCD for. Earlier in the thread, I said it was a 77u. I meant 600u. I said 77u because I just remember it being a big number on that year's model. Anyway, I set it up with Avia, connected some Sony upconverting DVD player with HDMI, and connected the Verizon FiOS HD box. It looks great, the picture comes out really nicely. I played around with it, and image retention didn't seem to be there either (but didn't play long enough to really experience). Overall, it seems to be an excellent TV.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 05:05
|
|
|
furushotakeru posted:It is a samsung 50" DLP. I realize that it won't ever look great, but I have a satelite signal coming over HDMI, and I was hoping that it would at least be mostly watchable. Right now my wife is bitching at me because regular TV looks so bad and I can't say that I blame her that much I guess you don't need to be told this but 50" + DLP + SD = oh dear. I would personally trade it in for a 40-46" panel, LCD if you watch a lot of HD, plasma if mostly SD.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 13:43
|
|
|
Quidnose posted:Is there a consensus on the best HD Antenna to buy? My HDTV is currently nowhere near a cable source and will be leaving with me in a few months to a place where I may or may not have cable, so I want to try my hand at seeing how OTA stuff works, but I'm at a loss for what sort of antenna to buy and don't want to do so blindly. One that goes outside your house on a pole or roof top if at all possible...I live between 35 and 40 miles from the broadcast towers and using an antenna I picked up for free from Freecycle (kind of like a crappy craigslist) I get all of the local broadcast stations perfectly...with rabbit ears I get a couple of channels, and with an amplified indoor "HD" antenna, I get worse reception than with the rabbit ears. How far away are you from the broadcast towers? http://www.antennaweb.org/ is a very useful site
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 14:54
|
|
|
I skimmed the thread and didn't see an answer to my question. I'm looking at this TV from Circuit City: http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=173636 The description says it's a 720p tv. Now, normally in other listings it may be listed as a 720p tv, but in the specs they also list 1080i. I've looked at a few other listings for this tv, and none of those mentioned 1080i either. Will this set do 1080i or what?
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 16:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 19:16 |
|
|
bradzilla posted:I skimmed the thread and didn't see an answer to my question. I do not see 1080i in the specs anywhere. In other reviews and sites it says 720p, so it probably does 720p max.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2007 16:53
|
|
