Completely Overwhelmed by Choices and Such (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

Looking at some of the TVs in BJs that appear to be showing non-HD source, the picture looks decidedly unimpressive. Looking at TVs with HD-source in Myer Emco looked very impressive recently. Then I saw one there showing a non-HD DVD and it looked really bad until I was standing what I felt was quite far away. The person there said the problem was the TV needed a "line conditioner."

I am wondering whether going into HD is a good idea or not, if I am going to be using mostly SD sources. Will the picture in general looks worse than on our SD set (27" Panasonic CT-27SF26) I'm watching on at the present time? Will some upconversion DVD player make it look just as good or better? What about the "enhanced for widescreen" feature of DVDs - does that help matters? What about regular cable or satellite signals (Dish Network)? How bad will they look? I'd hate it if I went off and spent all this money for a TV set that makes everything look worse than it does already. Would an LCD or Plasma set be best in this situation? Any particular brands?

Our couch is about 7.5 to 8 feet away from the screen. What size screen should I be thinking about?

What are the best pages or threads that discuss this type of thing?

Thanks,

Neil

 

[SethH]

What size TVs are you looking at?

Regarding whether an HD set will look better than your current TV when watching SD material, I'll say this: if you buy an HDTV that is also 27" and is a good quality set then it should look at least the same and probably better.

If you're planning to buy a 60" HDTV and watch SD material on it, then there's a good chance that it will look worse than your current set unless you can move further away.

 

[NeilO]

I'm pretty sure we would want something bigger than 27". If it is a thin TV, then we might be able to increase the distance, but probably by not more than a foot. I was thinking of something between 40" and 50", but really have no idea what would be best in our situation - given that we will be about 8' away.

Neil

 

[LS1 Sounds]

I'm sitting 8' away from a Hitachi 57" RPTV, and it looks fine with digital cable in SD. It's GREAT with HD!