Widescreen HDTV ?? (1 Viewer)

I have a price range of $1400-$1900 at Best Buy and was hoping someone might direct me to the best possible purchase. I have read SOOOO much about these HDTVs that it is very confusing to understand what exactly I should be looking for. I already have what I think is a pretty good sound system, I enjoy it but the visual side of things are getting sadder by the minute. PLEASE HELP. Thank you. 8-27-03

Well there are basically two types of HDTV's that you might be looking at. An HDTV-upgradeable and an HDTV-ready. The difference is the upgradeable is able to display the picture but the decoder is not installed (usually an extra $300-400) and with the ready it is already installed on the TV.

I am assuming you are looking for a normal rear-projection TV as well. I highly recommend Mitsubishi. I have owned several of there TV's and never had a problem. My main TV is a 50" Mitsubishi right now as well.

I would definantly look for an HDTV-ready TV and wouldn't settle for less than that.

As for the modes, such as 420p and 1080i and such... to explain it simple. What happens with a normal TV (non-HDTV, regular Analog) the picture is sent in two frames. Odd and even and is refreshed a total of 60 times. The odd frames are shown 30 times and the even are then shown 30 times, flickering back and forth so you see a full image.

1080i is basically that but is an improved version of a normal analog interlaced TV which usually only does about 480i lines.

As for progessive. It takes that image and instead of doing the odds and evens it just displays the whole image and refreshes that whole image a total of 30 times so it will result in better quality, progessive-scan DVD players are usually ran at 420p when in progessive mode.

Either way wether the HDTV is 1080i or 420p the image is still better than a normal analog TV. So when you are watching your digital cable in 1080i it will look about 2x to 3x better than on a normal TV because of the increase amount of lines in the picture assuming the signal handles 1080i and is using it, and on a DVD in 420p it will look better because you are displaying the whole image at one time instead of flickering between the odd's and evens.

I hope this helps, there are other things to cover but those are the basics. I hope it makes sense to you.

Thanks guys for the replies. I was also wondering if there is anything about the HDTVs regarding the ,say next 6-12 months time that would make any purchase now obsolete. I see how the price of DVD players, and recorders for that matter, are dropping very quickly. I would hate to spend $1900 on a widescreen HDTV and then it would'nt be up to snuff on account of some new "Thing" on the market. I know computer Technology improves every 6 months. So again if anyone could shed some light on this. By the way BB has a Panasonic 47" widescreen {PT-47WX53} for $1400, how does this model stack up against others in the same field? thanks again, chris 9-1-03

The Panasonic is very popular here at HTF.

As for waiting for price drops, they already have plummeted significantly. Remember, when HD-capable sets were first released in the U.S. late in 1998, the minimum price of entry was $8,000.

Also, "HD-ready," "HD-upgradable" = same thing.

In the last 2 years, prices of good 50-57 inch widescreen HD-ready sets have dropped from the low to mid 3k range to around 1700-2100. I wouldn't look for any huge further reductions in the near future.

You still aren't going to find a DLP or LCD based set for 2k, but there are lots of very good crt sets at BB in that range. The Mits sold by BB are specific models for BB only and lack a few features like user defeatable Scan Velocity Modulation, last I heard.

Thanks for the continued replies I am mostly interested in RP-HDTV,not so much the DLP or LCD, not that I wouldn't like to have one but my pockets aren't that deep. I would just like to make sure that which ever I do decide on has all the "necessary" bells and whistles on it. I am not all concerned about PIP or "Stereo Sound" since I won't need it. I have been reading some of the posts over and there are some concerns. For one I will not only be watching DVD/Broadcast TV on it but also playing my PS2 with it. Someone I know mentioned that video games can damage certain TVs. Also about this "burn in", what should I be careful of. Sales people want to sell a TV no matter what, they'll tell me what ever I need to hear to buy it. Just want to have my head on straight before I slap down the plastic. Thanks again Chris 9-1-03 10:52pm EST

The TV needs 3:2 pulldown and DVI inputs. DLP is the way to go, pay now or pay later. The picture quality does not degrade over time and the contrast is double that of a CRT. It is money well spent. There is a new RCA Scenium DLP out that will give the Sammy some price restructuring. The RCA has Windows CE built in along with an ethernet port, it also has a price of about 1,000.00 less than the Sammy.

Well Chris, I have been playing video games, watching lots of 16:9 broadcasts on my 50" Mitsubishi 4:3 TV and I have not seen one sign of burn in as of yet. Just treat your TV with the proper care and make sure that you don't ALWAYS play games on it... but I don't think it will be a problem.

I know a lot of people are ape on the Panasonics, but I personally have not seen the goods. Two good display models I've seen drop red and green gun levels within two months, giving an ugly blue hue to everything. Do they look better than last year's? Yes, they still do. But plunk down a few hundred more and go with a Toshiba 51".

These look best in consumer-level, that I've seen. The Mitsis are a little more reliable (a LITTLE), but don't seem as vibrant.

Don't like the Scenium. I think DLP needs to jog a little further before it's really ready, though. Besides, if a TV has a Microsoft product built inside, I wouldn't trust it in my house.

Whether you need DVI depends on whether you're gonna have a hard-on for this vaporous, copy-controlled digital content we're all supposed to get REAL SOON. I doubt you'll need it over the life of your TV.

Hitachi makes the guns for a lof of sets. The S series has 7" guns.

I've not seen any CRT RPTV that looked anywhere near as good as a DLP set. What are you waiting for? It has double the contrast of any RPTV and the picture blows RPTV away. The rainbow effect has been all but elimated with some tweaks, it looks great, it does not have burn in, and the RCA costs about the same as a high end RPTV and external tuner.

The BB here in Dayton, Oh had the Toshiba 57 inch this weekend for $1800.00.Thats a heck of a deal on a nice TV with DVI and 3:2.They also are offering 18 month financing. IMO this is a much better than Panny.