I don't see it . . . (1 Viewer)

[ncstatesman]

As a person looking to perhaps get his first HDTV, I have to question why people would want to pay $3K or more for these TVs given how bad the PQ is when viewing std def programming and that so much of the avaialble progamming is still in this format? How can someone pay so much money for a TV, rave about the HD PQ and at the same time put up with poor std def PQ? Shouldn't these sets match the std def sets in PQ when viewing std def? Do I need to keep 2 tv's - one for std def viewing and another for viewing HD content and upconverted DVD's?

Yesterday I went by CC to look at LCD and Plasma TV's and I asked the salesguy to show me the these sets with std def feed - I have to say that all the sets looked terrible (Panny's, Sonys, Sammy's, 40" to 50" sets). DItto at Best Buys. What's even more disconcerting is that many of the online review sites and CR gave the panny excellent marks for std def viewing, but based on what I saw yesterday, I question the value of any online or magazine review and whether HDTV is just not a reasonable option yet and whether I should wait a few more years?

I like watch alot of college football, basketball, history channel, and channel surf until I find something intersting to watch, and the majority just so happens to be in std def. I also like DVD's, but don't have much time to watch movies on a consistant basis. I venture that if most people's viewing habits are like mine then maybe its not a good time to be buying one of these TVs.

Am I the only one feeling this way? Are peopel just ignoring this issue? I would love to hear everyones thoughts or advice.

Thanks

 

[Steve_Wingman]

Hi Ncstatesman,
I agree, that's why I bought an EDTV (even though I have had problems with it being defective). EDTV looks aceptable at 480i/p all though can be grainy on some stations and is very good with dvd and with HDMI can be upsampled depending on the TV/DVD. I also was looking at HD sets on display that were receiving HD signal but the program running was origanally in 480i and looked very bad. The biggest issue I have is getting use to is wide screen scaling on regular 4:3 TV programs that use handy cams and have cameramen that jump around and spin like they are maxed out on coffee and failed the class on smooth pans (most TLC some Discovery ch stuff). Some of the camera work is so bad that if you have a weak gut, lay off the popcorn.
-Steve

 

[Bob_Chase]

As I understand it, HD will become the defacto standard. Each new season sees the addition of new programming in the HD format. The majority of sports from the big networks are shown in HD. ESPN and ESPN2 are in HD as is Discovery. I think that as early adopters we'll have to put up with the SD issue for a bit, but as I said it IS changing.

That being said, I do have a regular TV for ordinary channel surfing of SD programming. But big-network prime-time is done on the HD display (projector screen which is hidden out of sight when not in use).

Just out of curiosity, was the SD content at CC and BB "stretched" to fill the screen? That will certainly put a hurtin' on PQ.

 

[Alon Goldberg]

See this FAQ over at Digital Home:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=18580

 

[ncstatesman]

hi all, thanks for the feedback - some of the sd content was in 4:3 and some in 16:9, none of them looked good at all. I stoped by BB during my lunch break today, and they did have a couple few plasmas where they were able to show me SD content and this time these looked much better than the local CC feeds I saw yesterday, so I am more encouraged now. Also, the sales guy said that many of the sets on diplay were stright out of the box and not calibrated although occasionally, mfg reps will come and tweak these. I really want to get HDTV, gosh, some of these sets look really nice, I'm sorta of on the fence on whether to get one and I am in no hurry as time is on my side as far a prices dropping - I'm looking at the pano TH-50PX60U (or 40") as my first choice

Alon, thanks for the link you provided, that helps answer some questions.

 

[Jack Briggs]

No one seems to be telling you the obvious: HD-capable displays, with their superior optics (and superior everything else), simply show the flaws in standard-def programming much more clearly. Your standard-def display simply works within the limits of 480i programming.

As was stated earlier, everything -- everything -- is moving over to HD.

 

[Mort Corey]

Another thing to consider is viewing distance. When you're in a store the sets are usually only a couple of feet (at most) away......and I know of nobody (over the age of 5) that sits that close. If your normal viewing distance is seven feet or so, try viewing in the store from around that distance.

My PDP, hooked into an HD cable box, has excellent PQ on the higher (above 90) stations and is quite good on the lower channels as well.....except for one or two dogs.

Mort

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The other thing nobody has seemed to mention is that you simply cannot judge picture quality by looking at display models at places like Best Buy and Circuit City. All of those sets are using the factory default settings for brightness, contrast, "sharpness", etc., all of which kill PQ and all of which particularly make SD content look like crap on HD sets. Also the source makes a difference. If the cable or satellite feed they're getting is heavily compressed or goes through a bunch of splitters for distribution to multiple sets, PQ is going to take another hit.

The only way to see how a set is really going to look with SD and HD material is to see one that is properly adjusted set. (At least with the consumer settings adjusted with Digital Video Essentials or Avia Guide to Home Theater, preferably professionally calibrated by an ISF technician.) And you're not going to find one of those at a big box store. You'll need to at least window shop at a higher-end shop if there's one in your area.

Regards,

Joe

 

[ncstatesman]

Thanks everyone for your input - some really good points were made. I think I'll seriously consider the Panasonic 50" Plasma (TH-50PX60U), or maybe the 42 incher. Originally I wanted to get the Sony 34" crt hdtv, but after seeing the large plasmas in HD mode, 34" was just not going to do it for me!