Sony wega HDTV 34'' tube (1 Viewer)

[PJ Martinez]

I am looking to buy a affordable but quality HDTV.I have been to Circuit City
and Best Buy and have gotten confusing info on HD tubes vs. HD projections.
For instance a salesmen told me the Sony Wega HDTV is only 480 and not as
good of a picture as a LCD Sony rear projection HDTV that has 720. Is this
true? I always thought tubes were the best for picture accuracy. Does the
Sony Wega Trinitron 34'' HDTV have as good of a HD picture compared to other high end HD flatscreens?

 

[Brian Harnish]

That is true, actually. What the salesperson is talking about is that 720 lines of progressive resolution is better than 480 progressive. However, there are a few things to take into consideration:

1. Does the TV upconvert the resolution from say 430 to 480? This is a process of adding additional picture information where there isn't any to provide the illusion of a better picture. Sometimes this can introduce artifacts into the picture and doesn't always result in a great picture. Mitsubishi is an example of a company that doesn't upconvert, and their pictures are always stunning.

2. Don't always go by what the salesperson says, and even by the display setups in the store. This is because TV sets are always on "torch" mode on the showroom floor as a possible selling point for unsavvy viewers of TV. See if you can setup a ballpark accurate figure of brightness/contrast/color settings and see what you like.

3. While the tubes vs. projection debate has always favored the former in earlier years, the latter (projection) has gained a great following and has improved picture quality immensely. Rear Projection can be far superior to CRTs in terms of quality on a bigger screen. You'll just have to use your own judgment and find the set that you like with the best possible picture that you like.

 

[turkeylord]

What model are you looking at?

the Sony KD-34XBR970 is a 1080i display, if that's what you're looking at..