Let's see, I can go rent the movie-and return it- or I can watch it in better quality for free. It is not like I haven't been watching commercial television for years. Maybe they should charge you "and" show commercials for the quality you can't get anywhere else to make it seem valuable to you...
Most RPTVs today are so bright that a loss of even 50% will not matter because one can simply turn up the settings which are no where near max to begin with. I'd say a minimum of 7 years of great quality picture from RPTVs. After 7 years there has been such an improvement in the new sets one...
If a 46" 16x9 is big enough, check out the RCA 52" HD 4x3 set- d52120 and d52130. Squeezes to 16x9 on demand on any source and auto converges (two great features) with a line doubler also. You can get one of these and an HD STB (DTC-100 for example) for about $2500 or less.
Is it HD capable? If it is, it probably only squeezes a 1080i signal. Make sure the new Mits or another brand HD-STB is compatible with it. Yes you probably won't be able to display anamorphic DVDs on it with out setting the DVD player to letterbox on 4x3 sets and losing 33% of the resolution.
I don't call a 120 degree viewing angle or more from RPTVs limiting. If you want more resolution and can fit a larger screen then you should go with an RPTV. I did a side by side comparison of RCA's 38" and their squeezable 4x3 52" both displaying HD and the RPTV obviously had more resolution.
Luis M,
My set doesn't have this problem with a non progressive DVD player. It also doesn't show it on any NTSC source. The line doublers in sets vary. The same set as mine the next model year exhibited what you are talking about on all NTSC sources. You may want to check out different sets to...
Check how many horizontal lines of resolution it does. Most direct views are only 800 lines. Good enough for DVD but extremely lacking for HD. 1200 lines should be the minimum to consider. However it will produce a picture with far better color quality for SD/HDtv.
[Edited last by Bill_M on...
A digital tv will line double- a big improvement. The best picture will be an HD-STB receiver with an HDTV. At 13-15' away I would go with a 65" widescreen. The 4x3 on it will be 53".
[Edited last by Bill_M on August 06, 2001 at 05:07 PM]
By the time you have waited "one more year" to get HDTV, I will have been enjoying it for four years. Sets with firewire are coming out shortly if you want it. I am not afraid my equipment is going to be obsolete. If the MPAA doesn't want me to watch its movies in HD, I'll watch the other...
There is a big difference between DVD component and HD component in the color quality on my set. It probably has a lot to do with the DVD player also. Color when watching DVDs on my computer is HD like.
[Edited last by Bill_M on July 16, 2001 at 03:36 AM]
How much are you looking to spend? I recommend an HD TV set for more than one person viewing. The distance away will dictate the size. A 21" monitor won't cut it. Besides my HD TV has a better picture than my 21" monitor for TV viewing. I have compared the two with HD.
This was very watchable in HD. The nuances of color and shading were beautiful in HD. Watching it in NTSC made it worse than it is. I couldn't watch it in NTSC. I haven't seen the DVD but needless to say HD must be better.