Recommendation (1 Viewer)

[weaver4]

I have a room where I need a big screen TV, mainly for the kids. I have a directv-Tivo (standard resolution) box that I don't want to replace. So I am looking for a 4:3 flat screen, 44-52 inches with standard resolution. All of the LCD, DLP TVs that I have seen look really bad at standard resoluton. I had a standard (400 lb) mitibishi rear projection, but it is going out on me.


Any suggestions on what I should get?

 

[Jim Mcc]

Are you saying you want an analog set? If so, I don't think you'll even find one with a flat screen in that size.

 

[weaver4]

I don't know if it needs to be analog or not. I know some of the Plasma screens have reduced resolution so I did not know if they would look better.

I know that if I take a standard 640x352 avi file on my computer and tell it go to full screen it looks great. But if II try to show a standard TV picture and tell it to use as much of the HD picture as possible on a HD screen it looks awful. So I guess I don't understand why they can't do a better job on a HD screen of showing a standard resolution picture. Seems like a $10 video DSP could do the job.

 

[TicoTVA]

Most newer TV's are HDTV format. Virtually all FLat screens over 40" are 16:9
There are some LCD in the 15" size that are 4:3

That said a projector or flat screen 16:9 have settings for 4:3 but you 'll see black bars on the side of the screen.
ticotva
[email protected]

 

[Nick:G]

And that's the huge dilemma everyone has with digital TVs, which is why products like HD upconverting DVD players and outboard video scalers have surfaced.

If you're too annoyed by this, try finding a place that might have some NOS (new old stock) Mitsubishi or Pioneer Elite CRT rear-pro TVs. Not only do they display SD material much better, but they also are far more color accurate (CRTs can change their pixel scan rates, all-digital TVs can't).

As far as the 4:3 thing goes, you're going to have a really hard time finding one that displays HD in that size these days.

 

[Arthur S]

Best Buy and Circuit City still carry a 52 inch RCA CRT RPTV. When it is on sale, it is about $800. I would get an extended warranty for it though. Not an SD set, but that is near impossible. And since it is for the kids, it might be sufficient.
Nicks suggestion makes sense if you want a higher quality set for probably twice the money.