Projection vs. Tube TV Questions (1 Viewer)

[Bob Ross]

My recent interest in home theater has caused an interest in acquiring a larger TV than I currently own. I am considering projection TVs in the 42 to 51 inch range as well as 32 and 36-inch tube TVs.

Here are some questions I have that maybe someone can assist me with.

1.The projection TVs I have looked at in stores have a program running on them that is made for digital TVs. I have a concern that the picture quality will be considerably less hooked up to my coaxial cable. (I guess that when I run my DVD player through the projection TV, the quality will be similar to what I see in the stores.) Am I correct in my concern and assumption?

2.If someone is too close to a large-screen TV, the picture quality suffers. I will be approximately 8 to 10 feet from the screen. Is this too close for 42 to 51 inch projection TVs?

3.The picture in projection TVs seems a lot darker than in tube TVs. Is this a problem that people with projection TVs notice a lot?

4.The Toshiba tube TVs look real good to me. I may just decide to go with a 36" tube TV. Would there be any particular advantage to getting a 16:9 tube TV instead of a regular tube TV?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brad_V]

The stores generally run High-Definition material on the sets, so of course non-HD material will not look like that. For connections, I think you'll be just fine as long as you don't use an RF cable from your VCR or DVD player. The only thing to read up on is potential problems with an HD set receiving non-HD signals and the line-doubler making it look worse than it would otherwise. Sometimes people have problems with that.

10 feet is great for just about any size, especially around 50". A 60" might be a bit overwhelming at that distance for some people. It's hard to go wrong with a 50-ish". At ten feet, HD or even just VHS, should be no problem. SLP VHS stuff could hurt your eyes a bit, but even SP VHS isn't too bad. And regular non-HD signals through an antenna are much better than VHS and can look very good. Not DVD quality, obviously, but in-between DVD and VHS. A clear antenna (non-HD) signal looks very good on a 50".

A good RPTV can have great contrast and brightness. Just depends on where you put the settings at. I'd say the better RPTVs look every bit as good if not better than a tube TV. Even if they're a little worse, it's hardly noticeable to most people, and you can't get a 50" tube TV anyway.

A 16:9 can do nothing a comparable 4:3 can't except to not have black bars on widescreen material and to look more "theater-like," but will have a smaller screen or have to stretch a 4:3 picture. Consider how much of what format you watch the most and gear your thoughts that way. I watch both full and widescreen, so 4:3 was the obvious choice.

You didn't say if you plan on getting an HD set or not, but either way, I'd get an RPTV. Even the cheap ones look pretty good nowadays, and the better ones look great.

 

[Todd smith]

I think the direct view tv's are of better overall quality from everything I have seen. Even with the best RP tv's the picture fluctuates to much for my tastes depending on where you sit. I am picky though, and I would rather have the slightest edge in quality over quantity. But some people think the rptv's actually look better. I guess it is subjective. Go look for yourself and decide.

 

[Jason Hammerly]

Bob- just my $.02. If you have an American TV in your area, I'd check out the 36" Samsung direct view. It's an analog tv that does the squeeze for dvd's and is $588. I was going to get a vega or similar, but thought I'd give this one a try. Glad I did. It's a great set if your looking for somehting relatively inexpensive. Take care.

Jason