opinions on what HDTV to buy. (1 Viewer)

[Mike Kemp]

I'm looking to buy a new hd television. I have about 1400-1500 to spend. I would like 16x9 and dvi. I'm also considering an hdtv ready projector instead. Any advice of opinions would be appreciated. Good Brands, models, etc...

 

[Aaron F]

Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sony, and Toshiba seem to be the 'brands of choice'.


I'm looking at the Mitsubishi 48" WS-a48 and the Toshiba 50" 50h82. Both of these run $1999... I'm going to do my best to get one of these in the $1799 range.

I'm not sure which ones have a DVI input. I'm going to try and stop by BestBuy today. I'll look and let you know.

 

[Mike Kemp]

thanks

 

[Aaron F]

Guy at BestBuy told me today that none of the HDTV's on the market have DVI... this will not be offered until around October. He did tell me that Mitsubishi promises an upgrade for all previously purchased tv's... no word on what the others will do.

( Home theater junkies: this info correct?!?)

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

The BB guy lied (or may simply be clueless). There are HDTVs w/ DVI and more importantly DVI/HDCP in the current crop. Of the brands mentioned, at least some models of Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba come w/ DVI/HDCP.

The Tosh 50H82 is DVI/HDCP upgradable, but that means extra $$$. I'm not too sure, but the Mits should be upgradable too, but the upgrade sounds very expensive from what little I heard. Unless you're considering HDTVs that won't support DVI/HDCP at all, these options are not good as far as DVI/HDCP goes. Still, it's better to be upgradeable than not if all else are equal, which seldom are.

If you want a Tosh and must have DVI/HDCP, get one from the HX82 series. You won't find one at Best Buy or Circuit City though. Also, I would not want a Mits from BB since they are specially made for BB w/ fewer features than the normal Mits.

If you can wait until late summer, your choices of HDTVs w/ DVI/HDCP will increase, especially given your budget. The new Panny's will have DVI/HDCP, and I believe the new Mits will also. Pretty much all the major players will do DVI/HDCP w/ the upcoming new TVs.

And remember, you want DVI/HDCP, not just DVI.

Me? I recently bought a Panny 53" w/out DVI. For the price and the uncertainties of the future, I decided the extra $$$ needed to get DVI/HDCP just wasn't worth it. The Panny's are good RPTVs and can compete w/ many that cost much more. Their main weaknesses compared to some other TVs are build quality and PQ for regular 4x3 TV viewing and non-16x9 letterboxed DVDs. The differences are not necessarily night-and-day though, especially given budget constraints. If you consider them, definitely checkout these weaknesses for yourself.

FWIW, if you live near a Sam's Club, someone recently posted that you can get the Tosh 50H82 for $1700(?). Check here for that thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...29#post1324529
And then check here for locations near you: http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_clublocator.jsp

Of course, if you live near a BJ's, you can also get the Panny 47wx42 for just $1200!! At that price, who cares about DVI/HDCP?! The wx42 models don't come w/ screen shields though, so if you have kids and/or pets, that could be bad. Check here for locations: http://www.bjswholesale.com/locations/index.html

_Man_

 

[Joey_R]

Tell the guy at Best Buy to clean his crackpipe! Then, tell him to look on the back of the JVC AV-48WP30 sitting on his display floor. You will find this 48" widescreen HD-RPTV has a DVI/HDCP input just waiting for an HD signal. Excellent performing RPTV for the money and within your price contraints with a little shopping.

 

[Mike Kemp]

yeah that best buy guy must be clueless. Thanks for all the responses so for. I'm leaning toward the JVC Av 48wp30. Still looking though. anyone have opinions on direct view vs rear projection?

 

[mike_frontier]

I have the Samsung 42" from Bestbuy and it really nice for the price 1499.00 I compared it the the Toshiba 42" for 1599.00 and for that 100.00 diff the Samsung was an keeper!! The cool this is that this bad boy weights just a little over 100 lbs. User menu is really easy to use. I love how I can select a movie is any view that I perfer on TV from settings: wide, paanorama, DVD, zoom, 4:3 and Cinema. Color calibrating was easy by using the Sound And Vision Tune up (dvd).
Only thing is I dunno how Samsung CS is yet. I e-mailed them twice about some questions and never even got a reply back. :frowning: - but other then that its great. I also purchased the X-tended BestBuy warrenty for 299.00 (additional) I highly recommend you get this with an purchase of an RPTV.

Good Luck!

 

[Ottis Fletcher]

My TV has DVI/HDTV. Whats the difference between DVI, DVI/HDCP, and DVI/HDTV?

 

[Scott McC.]

DVI is a standard that is was originally used for computers. It carries a purely digital video signal that is highly desirable because you can have an all digital signal path from player -> projector -> screen (if you use DLP, LCoS, plasma, or LCD) DVI/HDCP is basically DVI with MPAA pixie crack on it. It cripples your ability to tape videos or play ripped DVD's from a computer. If you want DVI, I would highly recommend not supporting HDCP, if only for the philosophical side of it, don't support technologies that take away our fair use rights.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Mike, are you really recommending a Best Buy extended service plan? Ever visited BestBuySux? I hate to be a "you shouldn't have..." kind of guy, but others should know what kind of scam these extended service plans are...

http://www.bestbuysux.org/cust.html

 

[Ottis Fletcher]

The bestbuysux.org is a pretty cool site. I know what those people mean by no one wanting to help you. But there a few people out there that a great. I met this one guy that works there and we talked for about 2 hours on everything home theater.

 

[Mike Kemp]

I think I've narrowed it down to three sets.

1. Toshiba 42h82 kinda small but has all the features plus 720p

2. Panasonic pt-47wx42 bigger screen size all the other features except 720p

3. Samsung HCM422W doesn't have split screen pip but seems to have crisper picture.


The Panny is the cheapest, but they are all fairly close.

Any thoughts on these three? Still open to other ideas.

Thanks again

 

[Joey_R]

Mike:

Why the concern with 720p? Without getting into a format war, 720p is clearly trailing 1080i as a digital broadcast format. And, I noticed you are from Texas. If you are in the DFW area, ABC (WFAA-DT, Ch. 9) does not even broadcast in 720p anyway...they broadcast in 1080i.

As for, "to DVI or not to DVI", ask yourself if YOU want to be part the "anti-DVI" holy war. Personally, I've got it and hope I never have to use it. If DVI/HDCP does come to pass, I'll have it if I need it.

 

[Mike Kemp]

well my thinking is: I would would be nice to have if I ever need it plus i know several x-box games are planning to use it. It would just be a nice feature to have "just in case" same thing goes on the dvi feature.

 

[Joey_R]

While I am certainly subject to being corrected, I think with most consumer monitors, you are looking at an either/or proposition. If you have 1080i native resolution monitor, the 720p signal it recieves will be "rescaled" to 1080i. Likewise, a 1080i signal will be rescaled to 720p on the 720p native resolution monitor.

However, either native resolution monitor will be capable of displaying both 720p and 1080i signals. Some argue that additional "artifacts" are induced by the rescaling process, but that is the nature of the beast in this multi-format environment hobby we have chosen. Some televisions arguably rescale better than others.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Actually, not all will rescale for you. AFAIK, the Panny will not rescale 720p to 1080i for you. OTOH, unless all else is equal, it's not really worth hinging your decision on this issue since the typical STB will be able to do the rescaling to 1080i for you--some don't even give you a choice(!) and just forces 1080i upconversion of everything.

There will probably be more 720p content coming, especially on the sports side since the non-interlaced, high frame-rate capability is desirable for high action images. Also, as was pointed out in the Joe Kane thread recently, 720p is more efficient w/ the limited bandwidth that broadcasters have. From what little HD content I've seen so far, this seems to ring true since MPEG artifacts are indeed quite apparent in many high action scenes I've seen from my 1080i cable feed. OTOH, I haven't seen any 720p content w/out upconversion (not on my TV anyway), so who knows...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

BTW, if you plan to get the extended warranty, make sure to get them to knock off some extra $$$ from the TV price.

_Man_

 

[Joey_R]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I think how any HD content is delivered to the consumer is a decision of the broadcaster and NOT the content.

For example, as mentioned earlier, ABC delivers thier network feed to thier affiliate WFAA-DT in Dallas in 720p. WFAA-DT is part of Belo Broadcasting, which has made a corporate decision to broadcast in 1080i at all of thier DT affiliates. So, as I understand it, the 720p signal is rescaled at the broadcaster's level (WFAA-DT) and delivered to me at 1080i (All this assumes an HD broadcast). A 720p/1080i format change may require a hardware change at the broadcaster's level.

Does anyone know if a broadcaster can change delivery format (1080i v 720p) at the "flip of a switch?"

 

[John Royster]

The ability to take 720p is an absolute requirement if you want xbox high-definition games.

If you have an xbox I would mark any tv, no matter what, that won't accept 720p off your list immediately.