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CNET's HDTV World
xerid writes "CNET.com has a collection of articles and videos on HDTV and related technologies. It looks like a good starting point for anyone interested in buying an HDTV in the near future. They also include Editors' Top HDTV picks. For top flat-panel HDTV plasma: Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY." From their Ultimate TV Buying Guide: "Since the first HDTVs appeared in 1998, high-definition television has been on the mind of every TV buyer. The big question is whether now is the time to pay a few hundred to a few thousand dollars more and take the plunge on an HDTV set. We can't answer that question for you, but we can provide some basic information that may help you decide."
I assume you're referring to front projection, as most HDTVs are projection in some form (DLP and CRT rear-projection). Anyway, front projection has its pros and cons, and you still have the same hoops to jump through. Do you go CRT, which is cheaper, but also bulkier and requires periodic calibration? Do you go with DLP and risk rainbow effects from color wheels? Do you go LCD and risk screendoor effects? Prices aren't too bad, in line with rear projection TVs (generally a bit cheaper), but you're not done once you've bought the projector.
Before you even consider front projection, you need to look at your viewing area. Is it sufficiently dark? Front projectors wash out very easily with very little ambient lighting. If your viewing area isn't dark enough (or can't be made dark enough), don't bother with front projection. Do you have the room for a projector? Theoretically, the size of the image is limitless (within the bounds of the projector's focusing ability and your ability to ignore huge pixels), but if you don't have enough space you're not going to get any larger size that what you could get with a cheaper rear-projection CRT. Did you budget for a good screen? A flat, white wall is a start, but most walls aren't that flat (go look at your walls -- chances are they have some amount of texture, which will cause weird shadowing) and a wall will never be as good as a purpose-built screen. How do you plan to mount everything? If you mount the projector to the ceiling it's no longer easily portable, but if you don't then it's susceptible to vibrations and the image can easily be blocked depending on where you place it.
When it's all said and done, unless you're really hardcore and plan on building a full home theater or portability is a huge priority and you don't care about sacrificing image quality to get it, you're better off with something else. What that something else might be will depend on your budget and the research you do (e.g. even if you can afford it, you probably don't want to buy a plasma TV since plasma is very susceptible to burn-in and has a relatively short lifespan compared to other technologies and can't be extended with a simple bulb change).
Ignoring all of that, front projection isn't any better or less hassle-free than rear-projection or flat-panel technologies. You're still going to have to do your homework on display technology (LCD, CRT, DLP, or plasma), you're still going to have to deal with idiot manufacturers configuring their sets to push red because it's more eye catching in the showroom (good sets let you calibrate that out, bad sets don't), and you'll still want to have your set professionally calibrated after a break-in period (I'd give it about 6 months based on my own viewing habits), and every year or two thereafter.
It's a rookie mistake. People buy a projector because of its "limitless" size, and then maximize the distance between it and the screen without adjusting their normal seating position. They do the same thing with other TVs as well. Consider that the optimal seating position for a 50" TV is somewhere around 10 feet away from the screen, and then see what most people do -- they replace their old 25" CRT with a screen twice as large or larger, and then sit in the same position. Then they complain that SD content now looks like crap, even though the signal itself hasn't changed. Duh. The image would've looked just as bad if you stuck your nose up to your old 25".
You still need a relatively dark room. And moving the projector closer to the screen negates one of the prime reasons for buying a projector in the first place :) (come on, you know everybody wants to have a 100" image!).
I noticed the LCD TV claimed to have a 1000:1 contrast ratio. The picture didn't look any better than last time I looked at LCD TVs, but back then they only claimed 400:1 ratios. Did they just start lying, or what? Do any LCD TVs out there actually have a decent black level and actual good contrast ratio, or is the tech just not there yet?
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The hard part was finding the product at a reasonable price, with reasonable shipping (I live in Hawaii) from a respectable source. I had read numerous accounts of ppl who tried to order their Plasma TV from sites that advertised lower prices only to have "problems" with their oder, requiring them to call customer support, at which time they would be pressured into buying a different/bigger product or buying accessories.
Indeed this is what happened to me. I placed an order with LCDTVS.com and recieved a message saying "There was a problem with your credit card." . I immediately canceled the order and decided to bite the bullet on a higher price and get it from Amazon.com ... Well I guess they farmed it out to TigerDirect.com which turned out great for me, because for whatever reason, the shipping, which was guessed to be at around $300, ended up being only $78 vs the $430 that LCDTVs was going to charge... So even though I paid more for the TV, I saved about $100 on the total expense.
Another hard part was worrying if I had chosen the wrong time to buy...The *7UY is an older model. I wasn't able to verify if an *8UY was on its way, but I got freaked out because the tiger direct page for my product was "page not available" right after I bought mine.
TD didn't have a problem with the credit card, but they did mess up the order tracking, so I never knew for sure where my TV was.
Also it took a month to arrive, so the anticipation was killing me!
It was a lot of stress but like I said, I could not be happier with the product.
-D
Cube On! (http://stores.ebay.com/PuzzleProz)
Not true. In 1080i you tend to find out more about stretch marks and anal hair than you really want to know.
I don't know if there any Firewire ,PCIMCIA or USB2 HDTV cards . but for a PCI card the specs for example that the ATI -HDTV wonder requires are--
System Requirements:
Intel® Pentium® 4, Celeron(TM), AMD Athlon® or compatible, operating at 1.3GHz or greater
256MB of system memory
Available PCI slot for HDTV WONDER(TM) card
Graphics card with 64MB or greater of frame buffer and Microsoft DirectX 9.0 support
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
Interactive Program guide requires Internet connection for listing updates
Remote Control receiver requires available USB port
Sound card with speakers
Problem with that one is no Linux drivers , but it gives you an idea of the required specs
The pcHDTV HD3000 has linux drivers I believe and MythTV supports it
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
It is a neat camcorder, but before anyone buys one thinking their home movies are going to suddenly rival the video quality of network HDTV, know that the HDR-HC1's actual measured resolution is closer to 656x480: http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-HCR-HC1- Review.htm
To be fair this is better than any DV camcorder but set your expectations properly.
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
It's a Catch-22 situation at the moment... Crappy Picture at a Low price, or Great Picture at a High Price.
If you go with a Plasma or LCD, you can "get digital" but you get an image that looks worse and worse the larger the screen size gets. To my eye, I get the screen door effect with anything above 30 inches. However, prices are relatively cheap at this end of the spectrum.
Here's the Catch, DLP, has a *far* superior picture, the screen door effect is lessened greatly, if even seen at all. However, it is quite expensive, there is occasional Rainbow effects on the single mirror models, and they have some serious maintenance issues.
Let me explain the maintenance issues. I researched the purchase of a 1080p DLP TV for a few weeks. I spoke to salesmen at "large box" and independent stores , repair guys, and read every review on the planet. DLP is the superior picture, but it has a tendency to burn through the bulbs quite quickly. That is the nature of the beast. Problem is, when somebody buys it at a "large box" store, they are rarely told about the lamp, that it burns out, and that it has to be replaced. In addition, they are never told to monitor the fans that keep the lamps cool. If those fans get clogged with dust (look in your computer, same thing) or stop working, the lamps won't last more than 120 hours before burning out. Consumers get frustrated at the constant repairs that are quite expensive since they always happen outside of the warranty.
So... Go DLP, have a spare bulb sitting by in your closet, and at least every 6 months, unplug the TV and clean out those fans.
If you want to know what content is actually HD, one option is CheckHD.
I don't watch much TV at home, but I'm guessing that SDTV suffers similarly -- even when you think you're watching something in analog, the fiber or satellite transmission from the event to the broadcast stations may well be digitally encoded rather than analog, which would theoretically produce the same effect, depending on how heavily they compress it.
That said, I wonder if your problem is more a function of the overcompression that cable and subscription satellite TV companies do to squeeze more channels in to their systems. If you watch anything these days on cable and DirectTV, you're likely to see some compression artifacts and colors jumping around like you describe.
Anyway, I suppose to sum up what I'm saying, it's really not the Hi-Def that's doing that, it's the compression they're using somewhere along the signal path..could be at the last couple of hops before it gets to you, or it could be before leaving the broadcast compound at the football field...but somewhere along the way they're pushing the compression just a little too much. Which -- I agree with you 100% -- bugs the heck out of me.
The value option comes in as the Sony XBR tubes have aroudn 50% more resolution than any other Direct View CRT out there, and are universally reviewed as the best CRT's ever developed. Sure, a RPTV CRT can be larger, but it has the problems of RPTV CRT (bad viewing angles, convergence issues, also very heavy), I think the value comes in terms versus plasma in the same size, which will have far less resolution, worse contrast, etc... If you want the single best picture of almost any set, buy the XBR. Of course, if you want the absolute best picture, try to track down a Sony Qualia 006 before they stop selling them.
All is not lost. In fact, you situation is much better than you think. In regards to your HD setup I envy you and wish I had it. (I recently moved from Phoenix to a basically dark area.) In fact I percieve that the OtA HD broadcasts are of better quality than what DTV broadcasts. (I attribute this to the mpeg2 encoding DTV does to their video)
Phoenix metro broadcasts (iirc) everything major network in HD OtA (over the air), free.
So, being the super fan that you are I will assume that you have the DirecTivo. If that's the case you're golden. Simply buy a cheapie antenna from radio shack or bestbuy ($30-$40) plug it in (to the tivo box) and tell Tivo you have it. It'll add the channels right in-line with your regular DTV channels. It's a really slick set up.
If you don't have DirecTivo, I'm not sure exactly what you can do (but it can be done you'll just need to do some research), but you probably needs to start buy purchasing an OtA HD decoder. I recommend forgetting about all the hassles and just buying a DirecTivo. Though it's my understanding that DTV will be obsoleting the DirecTivo (which does mpeg2 HD) in favor of a unit that does H.264 HD. So take your tech chances there... I did.
When you get the antenna all you need to do is point it towards South Mountain (that's where all the networks broadcast from.) If you have an attic simply put the antenna in there, you can lay it down on the flooring if you like. (thats what I did, yeah it was ugly, but who goes into the attic/crawlspace?)
I don't know what kind of HOA rules you have to deal with or anything, but there are tons of different ways for you to solve your problem.
Hope this info helps get you started...
Perhaps your cable box has a IEEE1394 port. If so, you might be able to record the digital signal using VirtualDVHS
That would be one of the key factors to which HDTV to buy, for any geek, I would think.
Here are a couple of reasons why the Panasonic "commercial" displays like the 7UY mentioned in the summary make good "geek" sets.
Panasonic makes two lines of plasma displays. The consumer line is what you buy at places like Best Buy, and they feature what you'd expect in a "television": built-in speakers, tuners, inputs, and a decent remote control. The commercial line is technically a "monitor": there are no built-in speakers or tuners, and the remote control is bare bones.
So here's what's good about them:
HDMI, by the way, is just DVI+digital audio on one cable. HDMI also will handle signals with HDCP, but for backwards-compatibility, doesn't require it. So, to answer one of your questions, the sets themselves will usually handle (HDCP) DRM, but the presence of DRM depends on the source (and the connection).
Radioshack has a close-out tuner on sale for $89, a lot of stores are out so call around before you drive.
There are many options for HDTV DVR.
- Get it from your cable company, for $5 to $10 more per month. The simplest solution.
- MythTV works great with HDTV. I have two HD receiver cards plugged into my cable TV system, so I can record two shows while watching a third that was recorded previously. It's not the easiest thing to set up, and it takes some decent horsepower to do HDTV display. But, once it's set up it's great.
- MythTV can connect to the firewire port on your cable box and record shows that way. I've not done this, but others are using it. The advantage is, it offloads display work to your cable box.
- Commercial DVRs. DirecTV has an HD Tivo, LG sells a standalone HD DVR, I think there are a few more that Google would turn up.
- Windows Solutions. Microsoft XP Media Center Edition supports HD, SageTV and a few other PVR apps have some HD support, PCI cards are available with standalone software apps for HD viewing (e.g. MyHD MDP-130).
Try the Sony DHG-HDD250. It actually replaces your cable box.
DLP was perfect for me though, as I wanted a front projection system, and only for movies, which is to say about 6 hours a week. For under $1200 I was able to get a DLP projecter that puts up a 76" image, which is only limited by my small room :)
The other disadvantage is the rainbow effect. For those that don't know, DLP throws up an all-red image, then all-green, then all-blue. In these fractions of a second, if there is movement on the screen, you can sometimes see the seperation, and the edges become multicolored. But this usually happens on high-contrast areas with only fast movement. Plus, they're working on a new wheel that displays 1/3 red, 1/3 green, and 1/3 blue for 1/3 of the pixels on the screen (evenly spaced) and then get the other two thirds on the other two light flashes, which should solve the problem.
To see this, check out the old-and-busted color wheel: traditional color wheel
and the new hotness: SCR wheel
Why they haven't got to using all SCR all the time is beyond me. Maybe the math involved as to which pixels get turned at which time) is too tough :)