HDTV vs Analog
 

Do you think the price diference between the two is worth it at this point in time.

I am currently using cable due to a nice deal between my cable with internet and have no plans to change any time soon.

I know that HDTV makes DVD look so much better but is the extra 800 dollars for an HDTV worth the difference?


Thanks,

Art

Art.

I work for a brodcast TV company.

Right now our engineer is looking into ways of brodcasting HDTV, however we are running into a standardization problem with different systems, signals, and of course, cables.

It would be my reccomendation that you wait at least a year before buying a HDTV tuner / HDTV.

Hopefully in that time sony, rca, phillips and everone else will set some standard that will be easy to follow.

If you would like more advice, let me know.

~Fox

(oh and in a year, prices will come down as well.)

00

Thanks for your answers.

So basically I will just a 36" analog and then in a couple of years I will trade one of my smaller TV's out and get the big screen HDTV.

Thanks

Art

although if you're really loaded, then don't even worry about standard and just buy the damned thing :-)

I'd wait a year or so to buy it too, as the prices are bound to come down. I wouldn't wait too long though. Alot of the public doesnt realize that the signal is going to change from NTSC to HDTV in 2005, so I think as the time draws near the price is going to go way up as the supply gets smaller and the demand grows larger.

I disagree Bigjay. The prices on HDTV aren't going to go up. They are likely to go down. The technology isn't new anymore. When sales start to pick up and they are able to mass produce HDTV like they do analog tvs the prices will drop as they have been doing for the last few years

I recently returned my 52 inch widescreen HD because it was blurry in the upper right of the screen. they couldn't see it so I traded it in for the cheaper 61" :/ I liked the HD but I'll wait until they come with HDTV tuners already installed.

I'd wait for the reasons mentioned above.

I too would hold out.

In a year or so, HDTV will become more common (and supported by more providers), so there will be more reason to buy one.

And as mentioned above, HDTVs should be less expensive as time goes on, as they aren't "new and cool" anymore.

Not me-

You just have to know how to work the machines. Honestly, they are like classic cars. Of course they take much more work and polish to run right, but when they do, by GOD it is worth it.

And honestly, I fear that most companies wont offer worth wild machines in the next couple years. I know that may sound stupid, but honestly, companies are trying to offer cheaper machines which means less quality. Mostly because consumers don't know the difference.

I have a 57 inch Hitachi twx. An HDTV tuner is only about $300 but I don't bother just yet. DVD is amazing. But Hitachi is discontinuing these models in favor of cheaper ones.

A properly calibrated(isf), settings ajusted, good HDTV will blow most people away. They just never get to see them.

If you want more info on this just go to hometheaterspot.com They have all that info there-

If this link is against the rules, I am sorry, and please erase it. I just don't think anyone would mind since I'm not affiliated with HTS, only enjoy there stuff, and it wouldn't pull any users away from here.

I've got bad news for you alpha, there are 18 different standards included in the ATSC guidlines, and this is not likely to change anytime soon. What might happen is that one standards will be used more than the others but the rest will still be there.
But non of this is really matters, because every Tv I have ever seen or heard of supports all of the HDTV standards avalible. so it really dosent matter when buying a TV. The only thing that matters is the quality of the projection system that the TV has. and /or how many inputs and adjustments the unit has. My personal favorites are Sony, Mitsubishi.

The really clear DVD play back isn't high def, it's Professive Scan, it's 480p, it's not interlaced like 480i so that's why it looks so great. I bought a Mitsu 55inch Wide Screen projection with out a High Def encoder but it can support 1080i for a little under three grand. A high def cable box is $500 but it decodes it all for you so you don't need to buy tuner, if you invest in a really expensive cable box you get a picture that will leave you breathless. Stuff like High-Def DVD if that ever comes out will probably include a tuner so making a built in tuner worthless.

I'd get the cheapest biggest rear-projection analog. That way, you get to enjoy a big screen for a couple of years. After that, go HDTV.

I'm never willing to pay premium for early adoption... IMHO I'd wait.

I too work for a media company and we aren't even really playing with it too much...and the hipsters that would.. well they can't afford it either.

Just to be clear.

A DVD player will only output 480p IF the DVD player supports progressive playback. Not all dvd players support 480p, the only ones that do are generally those that cost more than $150.

So my TV crapped out yesterday and as far as searching for HDTV on tfp this thread was about it. So how have views on this changed in three years. I was wanting to upgrade my boobtube at some point but now I find the task thrust upon me.

What I am finding is that there are LCD and Plasma TVs. What really are the differences?

My last set was 10 years old and I'd really linke to get at least that kind of mileage out of this one given the prices of these new sets. What do I need to be on the lookout for these days. I don't watch a lot of TV, I subscribe to cable (not digital cable) and most of my viewing will be DVDs (cheap DVD player).

I'd not be opposed to a new DVD player some day. Is this blue ray business something I need to consider when purchasing this set? And I'd likely not be against digital cable if I could get what I believed were straight, honest answers from Cox on what the true costs were.

i have a 1080i 30 inch wide screen, but there is no HD content available in my area, so i have a computer hooked up to it with a DVI to HDMI cable. i love it and would never go back. my biggest joy is not having that annoying high pitched whine you get from an old tv.

I own a Phillips 42 inch wide screen HD plasma TV and I had to get the HD box from Charter Communications in order to see the HD channels. I do notice the difference between the regular analog channels and the hd channels.

IMO, now is as good a time as ever to go HD. Regular 720p or 1080i HDTV's are now the norm and the "new" cool, more expensive stuff is the 1080p. That being said I just bought a 55" Sony Rear Projection DLP a couple months ago and I couldn't be happier. The difference between regular digital cable and HDTV is mind boggling.

As far as the LCD vs. Plasma and all that, I would say that unless you really want to hang your TV on the wall or are REALLY cramped on space, then get a rear projection DLP. They are not as big as big screens used to be and only weigh 80-90 pounds for a 55". They are about 14" deep in the back.

As far as the DVD players are concerned, I have just a regular 480p progressive scan and it does the job. I would wait until maybe next year to look at Blu-Ray or anything like that.

I couldn't even work up the urge to go TV shopping this weekend. I browsed online and found something I liked at Circuit City but I'm the kind of person that has to see something like this to buy it.

I figure I got until football season starts to get serious.

well its august - what are you waiting for!?! only 30 days now.

I would suggest a rear projection DLP as well. If you want something around 50" DLP is the way to go for size & price. also colors don't shift overtime on a DLP set like they will on an LCD screen.

If I was buying something smaller, like 24" I would go with an LCD tv.

I want something about 27 inches. I really don't watch enough to justify an enormous set. But it seems that the 27 inch range is the one with so many options and decisions to make.

remember if you are getting a widescreen, 27 inches is mroe like 22 inches for normal 4:3 resolution programs.

Yeah that's another issue that is causing me to put this off. I was looking at some online the other day (32 inch I believe) and the overall width of them is going to mean that in addition to a television, I'll need a new entertainment center.

I'm pretty sure this reluctance to TV shop due to the new technologies is a sign that I'm getting old.

Well, you could justify a 55" screen as "quality over quantity" since you don't watch much, when you do it will be huge. But then again "quality" is not measured by the size of the screen so I'm wrong.

Depending on the number of movies you watch - and anything else in widescreen, you might just want to go with the "old fasioned set" not the bubble screen, but a flat/semi-concave screen. If you don't have digital cable and aren't trying to watch ESPNHD then it would surely meet your needs. It would be cheaper and you could spend that extra grand on going to a couple games this season instead of watching them on the TV...

my entertainment center is made from cinderblocks, a piece of plywood, and a beach towel.

I could do just fine with the blocks and plywood. My wife however...

Here's the major rundown on HDTV's. There are two main types: Flat Panel and Micro-display.

Sub-categories:
Flat-Panel: Plasma, LCD
Micro-display: DLP,LCD,LCOS
There are also some HD CRT tv's, and there are still some of the CRT rear-projections as well.

Flat-Panel Rundown:All flat panels can be wall mounted. However, they are much more expensive per screen inch than other tv's. Brand name's tend to have a 60,000 hour half-life(refers to brightness), off brands can have as low as 15,000 hour half lifes. Also contrast ratios and colors are worse with off-brand tv's. Off-brands may seem like a great buy because you can get a 32" for under $1,000, but they have a much worse picture and quality than the more expensive brand names. When looking, pay attention to the blacks on the screen, avoid tv's that have "grey" looking blacks. Get a surge protecter, these tv's are expensive to repair.

Plasma- A great TV to get if you watch a lot of movies.
Pros: Great color and contrast. These tv's offer some of the best pictures on the market with great detail in dark areas.
Cons: Burn-in. If you play video games or watch news and sports for hours on end, don't get a plasma. Glare. Plasma's have a glassy front, if the room has a lot of lights or windows, they can reflect off the front.
Myths-Needs the plasma refilled every few years. FALSE, the gas in the tv doesn't leak out or need replacement. Can't be leaned on its side or tilted much. FALSE, you can hang the tv upside down if you wanted to, the plasma is contained in tiny sub-pixel compartments and can't move around. Can't be moved once its hooked up. FALSE, Unless it was fully installed with cables run through the wall, in which case it can still be moved, but it takes a lot more effort. The plasma can explode. False, the gasses used in plasma tv's are Neon and Xenon, both are non-reactive(chemically) noble gases.

LCD(Liquid Crystal Display)-Great television for a brightly lit room.
Pros: No glare, much better suited for a high light environment than a plasma. Has a brighter picture than a plasma. No Burn-in.
Cons: Contrast. LCD's have a much lower contrast ratio than Plasmas, a good LCD has a 3-4,000:1 ratio. A good Plasma has 10,000:1. This cause LCD's to have less detail in really dark scenes.
Myths- none that i've heard of.

Micro-Display Rundown - Cannot be wall-mounted, however these tv's are much less expensive per screen inch than a flat panel and have comparable picture qualities. Becareful of how far you sit from the tv when getting one, if you sit too close, the picture will look like shit. Lamps last for 6-8,000 hours, and can be replaced. When looking, pay attention to the whites on the screen, try to find one with a nice brilliant white, as opposed to a dimmed yellowish white. Also, get a battery backup for these tv's, they prevent the lamp from being damaged if the power goes out.

DLP(Digital Light Processing)- These tv's have wonderfull pictures that are bright and full of color. There is no grid pattern on the screen blocking light. Work great most rooms, if the room is large enough to accomidate 42" or larger.
Pros: No grid pattern on screen, allows for a brighter picture. No burn-in.
Cons: Rainbow effect, affects only 1% of the population. Most noticeable with white text, if you don't see it in the store, you won't see it at home.

LCD(Liquid Crystal Display)- Not to be confused with the flat panel LCD. Have great color. Picture is not as bright as DLP, has the grid pattern on the screen. Tend to be used on mid-low model lines.
Pros- No rainbow effect. No burn-in.
Cons- Grid pattern blocks light, results in a dimmer picture than a DLP.

LCOS(Liquid Crystal On Silicon)- Pretty much just an LCD with a mirror on the back of the chip. Has a somewhat brighter screen.


So now that you know some stuff about the tv's, heres what you need to get the picture out of them that you see in the store.

First off, Cables. YOU NEED GOOD CABLES! A HDTV with a coax cable is going to look like shit. The minimum cable to get is Component. Thats the Red-Blue-Green cable, it is the minimum quality cable that carries HD. The best cable to get is HDMI(High Definition Multimedia Interface). And yes, these cables can be expensive. We sell $200 cables at the store I work at. If you've just spent a few thousand on a tv, don't skimp out on another couple hundred for cables, you need good cables to get a good picture. Plan on spending at least another $100 to get the cables you need to hook everything up to the tv.

Second, Programming. Contact your cable or satellite provider and get HD service. There is no point in having a HDTV if you aren't watching HD on it. I have no idea how much this will cost you, as it varies by area, provider, and service plan.

Hopefully after having read all of this, you should have a better idea of what you want, if you don't feel free to PM me or post questions. I hope you're not as confused as I think your likely to be.