Know anything about TVs??

Ok my income tax is about to come in and my old 32 in sanyo isnt very good so im about to get a new tv and im thinking about getting a 30inch widescreen. but I dont know anything about how the size will be. And what should I look for I have 800 but could get my hands on around 950 by the time it comes in. Or would another 32inch hdtv in standerd size be better.

 

I have a 36" Widescreen Plasma and its the best picture I have ever seen on a TV. Its goes thru a BOSE 5 speaker surround and sounds perfect! I also have a 27" widescreen flat panel in my office and its real "heavy" haha but it takes up deep space. For $900 here you could buy a 37" widescreen flat panel and it would look great but be kinda big. I love anything widescreen with a flat panel or plasma screen so its mainly what your looking for because when it comes to flat and plasma screens, you pay for what you get.

 

i would not get a plasma because in 5 years the picture will be no good and if you want to pay 900 for something that will be no good in 5 years go right ahead but i would go get a tv that will last over 25 years i have a sanyo tv thats 25years old and it still has the best picture i have ever seen just my ($0.02)

 

not much for plasma myself,I gave once it hurt never again. . .

I have two Magnavox (9yrs and 5 yrs) a little darker in contrast
and my "13 never is turned off(9)
and a Sanyo (2yrs and broken) good pic but cant watch cable

 

Back when CRT tube TVs were made available to the public (1947/48), the experts predicted they would only last five years also. It's a little early in the game to be calling it over.

 

I guess my 15 + old Luxor of unknown year of birth is a little out of league...

It is a great TV though! Picture is nice and it does what a TV is supposed to do. It doesn't cook though... Only problem with it is I rarely watch anything... Lack of time and interest! It's not the TV's fault that the programs suck!

 

My dad has a 42" 4:3 plasma panel (technically not a TV, its an industrial display), the picture is really rather poor due to the compression on the cable box outputs. It gets really hot.

Personally I prefer CRTs for watching TV, but thats probably just because I'm used to it.
£0.02.

 

Only advice I can give is DO NOT BUY A DAEWOO!!!

Remember that problem i was having a few months back? I asked everyone to proof read my letter the them? Well its still going on!



cooked

 

Since HDTV is still a LONG way from universal, I'd still go with a standard format 4x3 screen, not the wide screen, as the wide screen will have a very small picture with standard programming. You either get black stripes at top & bottom with wide format on a standard screen, or black blocks on either side of your wide screen with standard formatting. Since width is the deciding factor for most installations, go tall to get the most picture for your money considering the two formats. A 32" widescreen has a smaller picture than a 27" standard TV with old-style content.

NTSC is the old standard. ED is "extended definition", basically DVD quality, which is better than NTSC, but lower resolution & quality than HD. HD is true high definition. Higher prices at each step, but ED TVs are often mixed in with the HD sets; make sure you know what you're getting for your money.

Plasma displays have about a 1200 hour lifespan, then the plasma elements start fading. And plasma does NOT equal HD; lots of them are lower resolution formats. And they're expensive for the screen size you get.

LCD is cheaper than plasma, doesn't die after 1200 hours, but is not quite as bright as the best CRTs, and has a narrow viewing angle. If you need a wide viewing angle, stay away from LCD.

Modern CRTs, in HD, have as good a picture as anything out there, and are still cheaper than either the plasma or LCD sets. They still have the deep cabinets, but that's really the only downside to them.

For the price range Drakeskull is shooting for, I'd go for a large 4x3 CRT "HDTV-Ready" set that has the great picture tube, but does NOT have the internal HD decoder for broadcast TV. If you either have or will have cable or satellite service, they will have their own HD decoder if you get their HD service; save your money on the decoder (4-500 bucks).

HD is in transition, and it will still be some years before all 4x3 content disappears. Save the wide-screen purchase for then.

 

Thanks G.T. exactly what I was looking for.

 

G.T. Seem's like ya know what your talking about, nice post.
I've been thinking about new TV, thinking BiG, but dont want to waste a bunch of cash.


Anywho,
I thought I read or heard somewhere that in the USA by 2007 all TV broadcast would be in HD format?

 

That's the latest buzz, but the initial plan was to have all broadcast stations converted by the start of the millenium, which didn't happen. Too few people bought HDTV sets to make it possible.

Even today, there are too few sets to force a complete conversion, most folks are still buying the cheaper NTSC sets, and too little content broadcast to justify it. Everything from the camera to the broadcast antennas are different for HD, and the home sets are NOT compatible like the transition from black & white to color was. Even your antenna must be changed for broadcast HD. If the FCC mandated a total change, forcing the majority of the public to throw away their current sets, or ante up 4-500 bucks for an HD converter, many of them for brand new sets, the public would burn down Washington.

 

LOL when i was in school back in the stone ages (the 70's) we were supposed to go totally metric by sometime in the mid 80's... just bought a new TV too. got a conventional 32in flatscreen.. love it. just my $0.02

extra $0.02... buy a theater sound system with the money you save.. i got on of those too.. I LOVE IT!

 

There IS some value to upgrading at least the picture tube to the HD standard today, even ignoring being halfway ready for the HD conversion, which WILL happen at some time. If DVD movies mean a lot to you, they will look a lot better on an HD screen, which can display them at their max resolution. But most buyers aren't that picky, or aren't willing to pay more for it at least.

 

When we got a new 28" Toshiba widescreen, we went crazy and got skyplus too. Think the box has a built in hard drive somewhere for storing recorded programs. Have always wondered how it does work, any input ??

 

Probably much like TIVO. It's basically a special purpose computer, programmed to do just one thing; recording/playback. IIRC, TIVO is LINUX based.

 

once again you've supplied great advice GT

i've been doing my research on TV's the past month or so and have come to the conclusion that if space and heavy lifting are not a concern, CRT TV's are the way to go (at least for my budget).... they have excellent picture quality, are cost effective, and don't require expensive maintainence due to hardware burn out...

My budget when I was initially browsing TV's was much the same as Drakeskull's (around $800-$900)... However I saw a TV at Best Buy that simply blew me away... it was the:

Sony KD-36XS955 36" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan TV with Integrated HDTV Tuner

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00067AXYU.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg



granted this TV has a hefty $1600 price tag and an HD Integrated Tuner (I wanted HD Ready to save cost), this TV's picture simply looked impeccable compared to the other CRT HDTV's sitting right next to it (also Sony models as well as Toshiba and Samsung)... i'm not sure what exactly accounts for the improved HD picture quality on this TV but i think it's the, "Super Fine Pitch CRT provides better image detail with HD sources, improved picture quality and better edge detail for both moving and still images"....

none of the other TV descriptions had that Super Fine Pitch technology so i'm guessing that was the distinguishing factor among the sets... even when this set is in wide screen mode, you notice the black portions of the screen have a almost mirror like reflection to them, compared to the noticably darker and less reflective screens on the other sets...

i'm in no rush to buy a TV so i'm either doing to wait until the price on this unit drops considerably, or until Sony manufactures more TV's utilizing this technology because I've spoiled my eyes with this set's stunning picture quality and won't settle for anything less now =] it's kind of analogous to the air conditioner scenario... if you've never experienced air conditioning, you don't know what you're missing so living without AC is bearable... but once you experience it you can't stand living witout it!

right now i'm sporting a 27" Sanyo TV (10 years old)... picture quality is still good and no problems with it... i'm not very picky when it comes to TV's but if this new Hi-Definition signal is going to drastically improve our viewing experience, i want to have the right equipment for the job, because i'll be honest, I watch a good amount of TV.... some of the pictures on these HD sets, it looks like you could reach into the screen and grab the objects or touch the people, the images are so life-like!

 

Another source to look at are the DLP TVs out now. they give HDTV quality pictures better than the LCD TVs. You can get them with or without HDTV tuners, they have a better contrast ratio as well as 160+ degree viewing angles. they are still a rear projection TV but with the DLP processor they are thinner than a traditional CRT and not near as big and bulky as the older style rear projection TVs. They have a depth of about 16" and do not have the huge base usually associated with older Projection TVs.You can get a 40" for around 1K. they usually weigh less that 100 lbs (Thats for a 56") and the quality and picture are fantastic. The bulb life is around 8000 hours and they have user replaceable bulbs. Per CNET they review them and place them slightly higher on the scale than the new LCD screens. traditionally the LCD screens have not had very good black levels but on the newest models they have made great improvements in the contrast levels. However the Gen3 & 4 DLP processors for the DLP screens have fantastic pictures and are better than more expencive LCD screens and by far better lifespans than Plasma.

 

For the larger sets, the new crop of DLPs do look LOTS better than the older rear-projection sets, but Drakeskull was looking smaller than that. Under 40" I still like the CRTs... as long as I've got someone to help me carry the thing.