Richard Paul
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
- Messages
- 246
My father has been thinking about replacing an aging 32" direct view with either a new direct view or a HDTV rear projection, and though I would like to recommend the HDTV rear projection, would it be the right choice? Though a rear projection easily beats out direct view sets in size the dreaded burn in along with changing connection standards, and lack of affordable prerecorded HDTV (currently only D-Theater D-VHS) seems to me to weigh against a HDTV rear projection. Though a Sony KP-57WV600 would be a sight to behold, so is its MSRP $3,300 and since your image is only as good as the source a HDTV's true potential can only come from a HDTV source. In other words no matter the scaling or what progressive DVD player you use a DVD movie will never look like a 1080i or 720p HDTV movie. On the other hand a Sony KV-36FV300, which is nowhere near the size of the rear projection, would show a DVD in its full resolution and because of it's 16:9 vertical compression it will even take advantage of anamorphic DVD's. Though its MSRP is $1500 that’s still half what a good HDTV with a DVI-HDCP input currently costs.
Here are 3 simple reasons why I think a NTSC direct view is the better choice.
1. Though 1080i 16:9 may be the future, the majority of what the television would be used for is cable, which is all in 480i 4:3. Many shows, tapes, and DVDs he owns is 4:3 including the first 4 seasons of Star Trek TNG. Also neither he or I finds the idea of stretching 4:3 to 16:9 an appealing option which has been recommended by some who are pro-OAR (how can someone recommend stretching and say there pro-OAR?) because the gray bars can burn in.
2. Burn in are two dreaded words I heard from reading over a hundred posts (all 100+ from about 4 individual topics) and though I see much information on decreasing it I have several siblings as young as 9 that would want to use the TV. Besides guarding the television from any still images such as from games, there's also the dreaded network logo's that are on almost every cable channel I can think of (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, USA, Discover, Cartoon Network, History, etc...). To put it bluntly it seems to be a great hassle to constantly worry over whether the TV has been on to long a channel with a logo or not being able to have the brightness on a good level. I know direct view TVs can burn in but it’s a lot harder to do and the television will mainly be used for 4:3 content.
3. Firewire, DVI-HDCP, HDMI (basically a variant of DVI-HDCP with the addition of audio which they say will be backward compatible with DVI-HDCP), and whatever’s cooked up next shows that the studios want to use a "secured" system to protect their content. To put it bluntly which cable will win? Firewire to me seems the best but the studios are banking on DVI-HDCP this year and HDMI next year.
One last thing is he will buy a HDTV in the future, but from what I've read for what’s needed now a direct view would be better. In 5 or 6 years he could then buy a 1080p HDTV that’s a Organic-LCD or some other technology that’s immune or at least very hard to burn in with all the future HDTV connections and prerecorded formats figured out. Any suggestions are would be appreciated but remember that I'm only asking for the best choice in this situation and I know how great a rear projection HDTV can look.
Here are 3 simple reasons why I think a NTSC direct view is the better choice.
1. Though 1080i 16:9 may be the future, the majority of what the television would be used for is cable, which is all in 480i 4:3. Many shows, tapes, and DVDs he owns is 4:3 including the first 4 seasons of Star Trek TNG. Also neither he or I finds the idea of stretching 4:3 to 16:9 an appealing option which has been recommended by some who are pro-OAR (how can someone recommend stretching and say there pro-OAR?) because the gray bars can burn in.
2. Burn in are two dreaded words I heard from reading over a hundred posts (all 100+ from about 4 individual topics) and though I see much information on decreasing it I have several siblings as young as 9 that would want to use the TV. Besides guarding the television from any still images such as from games, there's also the dreaded network logo's that are on almost every cable channel I can think of (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, USA, Discover, Cartoon Network, History, etc...). To put it bluntly it seems to be a great hassle to constantly worry over whether the TV has been on to long a channel with a logo or not being able to have the brightness on a good level. I know direct view TVs can burn in but it’s a lot harder to do and the television will mainly be used for 4:3 content.
3. Firewire, DVI-HDCP, HDMI (basically a variant of DVI-HDCP with the addition of audio which they say will be backward compatible with DVI-HDCP), and whatever’s cooked up next shows that the studios want to use a "secured" system to protect their content. To put it bluntly which cable will win? Firewire to me seems the best but the studios are banking on DVI-HDCP this year and HDMI next year.
One last thing is he will buy a HDTV in the future, but from what I've read for what’s needed now a direct view would be better. In 5 or 6 years he could then buy a 1080p HDTV that’s a Organic-LCD or some other technology that’s immune or at least very hard to burn in with all the future HDTV connections and prerecorded formats figured out. Any suggestions are would be appreciated but remember that I'm only asking for the best choice in this situation and I know how great a rear projection HDTV can look.