Need help choosing TV...Pros/Cons of Direct View, RP, and LCD (1 Viewer)

[David J Wang]

I'm looking for a TV that is HD capable so I'd assume that would mean it would have to be widescreen 16:9 format. Here's a list of questions if anyone could help me out

1) What are the pros and cons between a Direct View, Rear Projection, and LCD display?

2) What's best for DVDs (picture quality)?

3) What's best for videogames (picture quality)? (ie Xbox, Gamecube)

4) Can all of them display 4:3 material (4:3 games, Cable or DSS feeds) correctly?

5) Any brands people could recommend for HD Direct Views, RP and LCDs?

6) If the TV is HD-ready then I can still play say an Xbox game that supports 1080i on my TV and it will be played in 1080i if the TV supports that resolution correct? And HD-ready means you just have to add an HD receiver or antenna to get HD feeds?

7) I've looked through this forum on TVs and there's more than enough information but are there any other sites anyone could recommend for TVs and specifically any site that does reviews on TVs?

I know these are a lot of questions to ask but I want to make the right decision when I'm going to spend thousands of dollars on something.

 

[David J Wang]

Oh also, assume that all are ISF calibrated and I have no preference for front projector and one more question.

8) What's best for TV feeds ie cable, digital cable, DirecTV, HD DirecTv?

 

[Micheal]

The biggest question is... what's your budget?

 

[David J Wang]

Budget would be $5000

 

[Jeff Brown]

Same questions ... under 2000?

 

[BradZ]

first, HD-ready does not necessitate 16:9. There are many HD-ready 4:3 sets out there. If you go with one of these make sure it has an anamorphic squeeze function to get the most out of dvd's and hi-def programming.

second, if video games are a priority I'd stick with a direct view set. With video games, RPTV's run a very high risk of burn-in. Too many static images like life bars and dash boards are very bad for tv's, more so on rear projectors.

Since you have a relatively high budget for a direct view set, I'd look at Loewe, Princeton, and the Sony XBR series.

whatever you decide, good luck