30" 16:9 vs 32" 4:3 (1 Viewer)

[Tyler_B]

After looking at nice, high end 27" analog TVs for around $600, I decided I may as well save up for 2 or 3 more months (being only 16 I don't have much in the way of income) and get a larger HDTV set that would last me much longer. I've finally narrowed it down to 2 Samsung TVs: the 30" 'Neo' model and the 32" 'Neo' model. I can get either for around $999 online, and if I do a price match at Sears I can knock the price down to about 875 before tax.

What diagonal size would a 16:9 image be in the 32" television? A friend of mine said it would be almost the same size as the 30" widescreen, but I'm not so sure. Any geometry people wanna help me out here? Also, what diagonal size would a 4:3 image be in the 16:9 set? If the 32" could display a widescreen picture about the same size as the 30", then would there be any benefit at all to getting the widescreen? I should probably mention the tv will be used for 60% games (Xbox, PS2) and 40% dvds; I will also be hooking my computer up to it through the S-Video input for Warcraft 3 .

One FINAL question, I promise: Is an HDTV direct-view like this more susceptible to phosphor burn-in than an analog direct-view? I plan to use this quite a bit for games with static images and such. Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[Joshua_Y]

Since your gonna play 60% games I would go for the 32"...

 

[Rick Mach]

To compare the sizes of the TV's, this is a good site to use:

http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi?KeohiHDTV

You type in the two TV sizes (4:3 & 16:9) and it will give you the comparison for various aspect ratio material. This shows a 16:9 image on the 32" set will be 29.4" which is just .6" smaller than the 16:9 set. I would go with the 32" as well since it has the 16:9 squeeze mode and you can get full resolution out of your DVDs and you do 60% 4:3 gaming. Best Buy has that set for $899 with free shipping or in store pickup:

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=24&scat=1470

I'm not sure about the burn-in but I would think it would be similar to an analog TV since the technology is the same, just the resolution is improved. I would recommend before playing any games or even watching the set you go into the setup and turn down the brightness and picture settings to about 30% maximum. Let the set warm up for at least 30 minutes and then calibrate it with a calibration DVD like Avia or Video Essentials. They are well worth the money spent on the DVDs as you will get a much nicer picture out of the set. Hope this helps!

 

[Joshua_Y]

Thanks...thats a great site...

 

[Tyler_B]

VERY NICE site Thanks a bunch for the info, looks like I'll be going with the 32" after all. For calibration, is there some kind of red push setting in the service menu to turn off? I want the picture to be as accurate as possible.

 

[John-Miles]

for the best picture without getting it ISF calibrated try picking up Avia, it has everything you need to improve your picture and sound quite a bit.

 

[JasonRH]

Tylor,
The service menu item to fix red push for the current Samsung 27 inch HDTV is Col Axis (or color axis). It's likely that it will be the same parameter in most models. Good luck.