Beginning to upgrade. (1 Viewer)

[Will Bla**]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and am considering upgrading my home theater. I was thinking of making a purchase of a new widescreen monitor this weekend. But with some research I determined that I needed to learn a lot more about the newer technologies and the interacting components. Simply put I'm a rank amateur. The type that buys big name products, then plugs them in and pushes play.:b

I have been considering upgrading my TV for a while. I have an excellent JVC 27 in. high resolution set. But it is 16 years old and I am beginning to notice the color is favoring green tones or is it just my imagination?

I am considering a projection DLP TV. I would prefer the DLP, because of burn in issues with the Plasma and LCD models. The older style projection TV produce a dim picture if viewed at an angle.

I was wondering what anyone's opinion is of these widescreen TVs. Is the picture worth it? I have digital cable, but may hold off on HD digital cable. I would be moving all of my old home theatre components over to the new set. Which I don't see as a problem, except my DVD player is not progressive scan. I have also heard of dynamic action issues with the picture not being able to keep up with the video movement. Then I have heard of color tone issues too.

I was looking for some input on widescreen projection TVs. I don't want to give up the nice picture of my conventional set, just for a big wide picture.

As said earlier, I was possibly going to purchase one this weekend in time for the Super bowl. But maybe I should hold off. Several thousand dollars is a lot of money to spend just to be disappointed. I want to know what I'm doing before I spend the money.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SimiA]

Hold off until you can "see" the sets you're interested in.
This is a large amount of $$$ you're seeking to spend!
Once you're actually able to see them for youself, you can make a more infomed choice.
Your understanding of burn-in issues with regards to plasmas should not be a concern, unless you leave a static image on them for hours on end.
Do you play lots of gaming, where the same image can be on the screen for hours???
I've owned 2 plasmas for 2 years now, and burn-in has never been an issue if you take care of your expensive piece of equipment.
The burn-in issue of LCD is practically nonexistent!
You may read something about after images, but that's all they are. After images, that fade with the set being turned off.
If most of your viewing is going to be SD material, I'd suggest an ED model rather than HD.
The reason being, most HD sets do a poor job of rendering an HD signal. If the SD signal is poor, you'll only enhance the deficiencies viewing thru a large HD set.
My preference would be an ED plasma.
It performs well with SD material, and when fed an HD signal, from 8-10 ft away, I find it hard to discern the PQ between them.
I find, that plasma gives a more realistic picture, while LCD panels give a punchier image. More vibrant, but not so 3 dimensional and realistic.
Only your eyes can tell you what is best.
If you can, bring some DVD material to view when inspecting the quality of the picture, and if possible, ask the salesperson to switch between formats (HD, SD, DVD) to give you an accurate representation of what it will look like in your home.
This should give you the best frame of reference in order to be able to judge what "YOU" like best for "your" viewing habits.
Of course, that's just me. YMMV.
PS: Welcome to the forum.
Cheers, Vb

 

[BrettEr]

I agree with the "wait, until you can research it more" philosophy.

I just recently purchased a Mits 62" HD-DLP. I love it so far, but I do wish that I had investigated the other technologies a little more and compared pictures, etc...(I was a wide eyed salesmans dinner. LOL)

To tell you the truth, with today's technology, you probably can't go wrong with much of anything. Good luck.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Welcome to Home Theater Forum, Will.

Since you seem to be asking for specific purchasing advice about an RPTV, I've moved your post to Display Devices. The Basics area is for general discussion at the beginner level.

Best of luck.

 

[Will Bla**]

Thanks all. Excellent advice just what I was looking.

Most of my viewing is prime time network programming provided by digital cable. I watch digital cable movies and DVDs on the weekends. So when it comes to screen size I want the best of both worlds. When watching regular prime time I would use 4:3 ratio. Then I would use 16:9 for DVDs and programs broadcast in widescreen.

For this variety of use I am concerned with burn-in issues. Mainly the black bars on the sides when in 4:3 ratio. I do some gaming but not a lot. I put my playstation 2 back in the box awhile ago. I might play it again, but I will not be upgrading to PS3 unless an out of this world game is produced.

It was burn-in issues that I ruled out plasma. But I always liked the picture they produced. If burn-in on a plasma is not the issue I believe it to be (I hear the networks are broadcasting in widescreen for some shows?) then I may give plasma a second look. Prices seem to be getting better lately as well.

I will see a maximum viewing distance of 7 ft. I think a 50 in. screen would be too much. This means a smaller screen size making a plasma monitor more attractive.

I would like to hear some more insight into burn-in issues on a plasma as a result of 4:3 ratio viewing? Then some feedback on viewing in 16:9 ratio 100% of the time? As in I don't want stretched images while watching my favorite shows.

Oh, and what does RPTV mean?:b Yeah, I'm a green.

 

[Matt^Brown]

RPTV - Rear Projection TV

This is the only thing that I can help with since I am green as well.

 

[Tom#B]

Will,

I will just add my two cents on the 16:9 issue. I bought my first widescreen set a few months ago (a 46" RPTV). I have also now purchased a Dell 17" widescreen LCD TV. I watch mostly TV, and some DVDs. I am extremely satisfied with regular TV on a 16:9 picture. I'm not necessarily talking about the clarity of the picture. I'm talking about the stretching from 4:3 to 16:9. If that were your biggest concern, I'd tell you to absolutely forget about it and get a 16:9 set and simply watch everything stretched. Remember, this is just one person's opinion. Even my wife, who was fairly resistant to getting a widescreen set, has no problems whatsoever with watching regular TV in stretch mode.

Tom

 

[Will Bla**]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I am more informed than I was just a week ago. But just as confused. I realize that LCD and DLP have their drawbacks from CRT. I may go plasma, but I am still afraid of burn-in. The monitor would be my main source to watch network TV and those logos can burn in.

I went to the store to take a look over the weekend. Just a little field trip. Of course the playoffs were on. I noticed that LCDs tend to blur during action play. Then I went to another store where they normally pipe in HD programming. But for the games they had to use a standard antenna The pictures were awful! I don't know if it was just the analog signal or what. I have digital maybe that would be an improvement. But I don't feel like spending 2-3 grand for a picture that's worse than I have right now.

I am also noticing that there maybe some issues with my viewing distance. I have about 7 ft. This close, you can see the picture quality or lack there of. This makes me think that maybe a large widescreen is not in the cards for my space. It is making me consider that maybe a larger CRT HD television would be the way to go.