HDTV? Widescreen? MANY QUESTIONS! It's so damn confusing!!!

there is a website called " what is" www.whatis.com i think. it will explain things in both tech and laymans terms to make more sense. i think i am going to get a toshiba or samsung 55 something inch in the next few weeks. PS2 games rock on the bigger screens!!!!!! i would answer your questions but its been a few years since i was "up" on all that stuff. the tv's i am looking at i think are HDTV capable but dont have it. thats why they are so cheap. i only have basic cable to use the broadband internet. i have little time to watch anything on a regular basis so my purchase will be for dvd's and games. i think MR NIBBLESWORTH is up to date on this stuff , perhaps he can help you.good luck.

 

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I would ask myself, do I view more 4:3 or 16:9 footage?
And Is HD originated footage available in my area?

US TV stations have to have a digital signal up by date x for their location, but they don't have to originate in High Definition.
For example, I have spoken to the engineers at the local TV stations in my market, and yes they will all have a digital signal by date x, but only one is tooling up to originate in HD.
All of the other stations will just up-convert their current signal to the new digital format for broadcast, because of the tremendous cost to re-equip a TV station for HD.
The Fed was also pretty broad allowing many formats of "Digital" TV, no single standard.

As for me, I'll wait.

 

It is confusing with all the choices out there right now. If you can afford to wait, I would hold off buying right now and see who the dominate player is next year.

 

Karma,

I will try my hand at your questions.

1. 1080i/720p is considered the resolution for a HD broadcast. This is the maximum resolution "most" CRT based rear projection TVs can achieve due to limited tube size (most use 7inch CRT's). In some higher end home theaters, people are using 9inch CRT based front projection systems that can achieve a 1080P resolution (Greater then HD) I have watched the Masters golf tournement in 960P and I was 2 feet away from an 8 ft wide screen and could not see the pixels. Was AMAZING!

2. The viewing format for HDTV is widescreen so fomr what I am told you will NOT see a 4:3 HD program.

3. The 2006 date was the goal, It's still 2 years away so hard to tell if will happen.

4: Distortion issue: I was told it this way "Feed it sh*t and you will get sh*t". The larger the TV you get the more you will see imperfections.

5. A TV that can not produce a 1080i/720P resolution is NOT a HDTV. This is a SDTV that can produce a 480P resoution like a lot of the Gateway Plasmas they are selling for cheap money.

6. High Definition DVD's are being discussed but nothing in concrete yet.

7. Viewing distance. The standard is 1.5 times the picture height. How small of a room are we talking?

I was recently at the home of my girlfriend's friend and they had a 57inch Hitachi widescreen. We were sitting about 13-14 feet from the screen and the picture size seemed perfect from where we were sitting.

Of the technologies I would consider if I were buying a widescreen set. I would ONLY buy a DLP based TV. The picture is much crisper then a CRT/LCD system and MOST important. The viewing angle is twice/three times that of a CRT system. Ever looked at a rear projection TV from the side and the picture gets dim? CRT systems have a 30 degree viewing angle. DLP's are 60+ degrees. Look at the Samsumg DLP HDTV's. GORGEOUS picture!

I hope this helps!

Mike

 

Karmavore
DO NOT buy any wide screen tv without viewing regular (4:3) broadcasts. The stretch modes in some tvs cause extreme distortion. If you've noticed, dealers usually have a dvd movie playing in all the tvs.

DVI is important. I would not buy a tv without.

I owned a Samsung DLP. Great picture. Terrible stretch modes. And a VERY loud fan noise. If you are sitting close or in a small room, the fan noise could be a problem.

 

What is DVI?

 

According to the manufactures, DLP and LCD are not prone to " burn in". So you can watch 4:3 tv programs and connect your XBox or PS2 without the worry of "burn in". But in the owners' manual it still warns about "burn in". I have owned palsma, lcd, and dlp. Only the plasma had trouble with "burn in"

 

yes, DLP is rear projection. If you prefer the 34" tv, check out the Sony XBR model. It's kind of expensive but has a gorgeous picture and has a nice anti glare finish on the screen.

 

I would say that if you are going to be watching mostly 4:3 TV then I would not bother getting a widescreen TV. Like the other posters, the stretch mode will distort the pictures and this may become bothersome after a while. I would prefer you get a 32inch HDTV for normal TV and this will still allow you to use a pprogressive dvd player and get a really good picture while watching dvd's.

Since you are limited to such a small TV I would avoid a widescreen TV. Then again, Sony does make a sweet 37inch widescreen plasma (or LCD) that you can hang on the wall and increase your viewing distance.

My parents have a 17in Phillips LCD HDTV in their kitchen and it's a pretty good picture with normal cable (non hd)

 

You can get some real bargains going with 4:3 HD sets. Going widescreen ups the price a bit. FWIW, I've got a 36" Sony Vega XBR. Nice picture. It's mated to a Samsung HD OTA/DirecTV box (don't forget to budget $400-$700 for a decoder unless you rent from the cable company). The box supports any resolution in and out, but the TV only takes in 480p/1080i. Everyone but ABC uses 480p/1080i. ABC likes 720p. In 480p, the image from HD programming uses a smaller box in the screen. Imagine taking the 4:3 picture, going widescreen, and putting the 4:3 image in the widescreen - it's bordered on all 4 sides. You can zoom and the picture is pretty much free of distortion. DVDs look fine in 4:3, 16:9, or 2.35:1 modes. No burn in issues after a year, and this includes plenty of letterbox viewing, gaming (Xbox, PS2, etc).

One thing is make sure your components, etc match up with the TV. My folks have a 50" plasma and only have a few HD channels. They look spectacular, but they get their locals through DirecTV. They totally suck! My $40 Radio Shack exterior antenna hooked up to my $600 box and $1400 TV looks better than their $10k+ system.

For Xbox, if you want HD support you'll have to get the component cables. I run through A/V and it's good enough for me.

 

No, I can still watch ABC. The box upconverts the 720p to 1080i or downconverts to 480p. The only complaint I have is that the toggle for the resolution is on the back of the box rather than a remote control button.

Regarding the 4:3 in a smaller window, don't know. I imagine because HD is widescreen, and so the programming wants to stick that 4:3 program in the 16:9 window, making it smaller. DirecTV automatically fills the entire screen unless I toggle the output on the box to 1080i.

Even though the set isn't HD, enjoy it. There's not much HD programming on now anyway. Football and hockey look spectacular in HD though!