Too many choices - need help please (1 Viewer)

[Greg_St]

Hi,

I came here a couple years ago to get advice on a DVD player, and have since watched 100's of great movies on DVD, this is a great place for educated opinions, comments, and suggestions! Thanks!

After reading many threads and articles on the new TV's, i think i'm just as confused as before i started the research, maybe more confused!

1) Right now, i'm considering buying a RPTV for the first time. It seems there are atleast 3 types of RPTV for the home?

CRT - the old type? Cathode Ray Tubes?

LCD - i know nothing besides it means Liquid Crystal Display, i thought RPTV's did not include any type of special display surface. Last time i saw a RPTV in a home, it had a plastic clear screen that could easily be removed and cleaned.

DLP - seems to be a good choice for RPTV?

*I currently have a large, heavy CRT, but i am not replacing it, rather i'm adding a "tv-game-dvd" room.

Does LCoS have anything to do with any RPTV? Does Liquid Crystal on Silicon have anything to do with Liquid Crystal Display?

2) 1080p would look the best? Would a typical new DLP RPTV with 1080p also be able to play all other resolutons?

If i understand correctly:

Progressive is always better than interlaced?

480i = most normal older cable channels? i believe my 12 year old 38" CRT is probably 480i? (i'm in BC, Canada)
480p = my current non-HD DVD player, and higher end old CRTs?
720i = low end HD?
1080i = HD
1080p = latest HD resolution?

So i need a TV that atleast plays 480i (cable), 480p (DVD), 720i (some HD channels), and 1080i (some HD channels), correct?

Right now, i'm slightly favouring Toshiba, but simply because Toshiba is what our local furniture dealer offers, and i can probably choose any Toshiba at cost, since i'm also buying alot of living room and bedroom furniture at the same time from them. Any reason to choose another brand?

3) What features and capabilities should i look for, besides resolution?

4) Who is going to win this TV technology war? I assume LCD-LED? Maybe Plasma or RPTV? Right now my plan is to buy a large RPTV that will satisfy my needs for about 5 years, then switch to whatever is best at that time, because whatever it is, i cannot afford it right now.

Am i right in assuming whatever will be the best TV in a couple years, is beyond my price range right now? (around $4k - 60" high res HD)? If so, would buying an RPTV now be a fairly good choice, so i don't spend over $4k right now and still get a decent large TV?

Thanks for your help, as it is greatly appreciated! I look forward to your replies.

 

[John S]

Oh my...

1. Projection mean it is projected from a much smaller display generating device. CRT, LcOS, DLP, and LCD are all used in rear projection technologies.

2. No matter what HDTV you get all the sources you mentioned get scaled to whatever the resolution of the actual panel is. Right now in Digital technology, that gives you effectively two possible outputs, 720p or 1080p. (We won't even get into the sort of odd crop of x768 displays, your head may start to explode)

On digital displays there is no such thing as Interlaced.


3. HDMI / DVI with HDCP is an important feature for the future.

4. I don't think technology will "win" the war. All display technologies have their strengths and weaknesses it is up to the consumer to figure out what best suits themselves.

4.

 

[Greg Patterson]

Greg,
I currently have a 62" Tosh DLP. Its a very nice set with a beautiful picture. However, if you are a tweaker like me and alot of folks on this forum, then you should also take a look at a Mitsubishi DLP. I have heard (but not seen) that the menu system offers more for tweakers. An example of this (I have heard) is that you can adjust each color seperatly. On my Tosh there is only one slider bar that adjusts all colors together. Can any Mitsubishi owners out there confirm this?

Before you drop some serious cash I would look at a few sets and a few display types first to make sure that you get a set that you'll be happy with for several years.
Good luck,
Greg Patterson

 

[Greg_St]

Thanks alot guys. Should i get the 1080p resolution? Is it noticably better over the 720p? I assume 1080p will be the norm after awhile? If you were buying a TV soon, would you get 720p or 1080p?

Will the XBox 360 be able to function properly in 1080p, or can i set the XBox2 and/or the TV to the same resolution? I don't see 1080p it mentioned in their specs at the XBox site... unfortunatley i tried to place the URL here directly to the XBox2 specs but am not allowed.


As long as i have high resolution that isn't outdated in a couple years, and can play 480p and HD/Blu-ray DVD, HDTV, and the new XBox 360, i'll be as happy as can be

Thanks for your help

 

[Greg Patterson]

Greg,
I would certainly get a 1080p set if you can afford it. I wish that I had waited a little longer. I have never seen a 1080p image but I'm sure that it looks astounding. I hear that the current generation of 1080p cannot actually accept a 1080p signal from a source component. I'm told that they only upconvert to 1080p.
As far as Xbox 360 goes, all of the literature that Ive read says that it will output no higher than 720p or 1080i. However it will still work fine and look awesome on a 1080p set because the set will either display it in 720p 1080i or it will upconvert the signal to 1080p. I'm not totaly sure which of those it will do but I'm guessing that it will upconvert to 1080p. I can't wait for Xbox 360 to come out!! I have also read that thte PS3 WILL do 1080p.

If you plan on getting an Xbox 360 I would make sure that your new tv has an RGB input because that will be the 360s best video connection.
Thanks,
Greg Patterson

 

[Allan Jayne]

LCOS -- Works the same way as LCD except that the crystals are on a mirror rather than on a transparency. LCD has always had the problem that the crystals in the "black" condition are not all that opaque so by using LCOS, light has to go through the crystals twice, increasing the absorption for a better black, although not as good a black as CRT can achieve.

All LCD, LCOS and DLP TV's are progressive. All LCD, LCOS, and DLP TV's display at a constant resolution for example 1280x720. Incoming video at any different resolution must be converted to progressive scan and must be scaled up or down to match the quantity of pixels on the display. (Actually it is technically possible to lay the odd scan lines coming in together on the odd rows of pixels and the even scan lines coming in together on the even rows of pixels but no manufacturer does things this way.)

Many CRT HDTV's, both projection and direct view, do not accept 720p but do accept 480i, 480p, and 1080i, and display as 1080i all the time. These TV's rely on an external tuner or cable box to convert 720p shows into 1080i. Some CRT TV's can display at any resolution within limits for example anything from 480p to 768p. They may have an optical stagger to give a true 1080i as opposed to the nearly equivalent 540p in terms of what is actually seen.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Greg_St]

Thanks again guys!

You mentioned "RGB" input, but i'm not sure what that is.

I see at the XBox site, under "the ultimate setup" page, they mention "Component HD AV cable"...so would this be the same as the "RGB"?

Also, i'm looking at a Toshiba DLP RPTV, and looking at it's user manual, it lists 2 inputs as "(2) ColorStream HD™ component video Inputs"....so would these be the "RGB" connections?

The 2 inputs on the Toshiba TV have the following inputs under the "(2) ColorStream HD™ component video Inputs" area:

1) Left
2) Right
3) Y
4) Pb
5) Pr

Are those 2 "ColorStream HD™ component video Inputs" the "RGB" inputs i'm looking for?

Thanks once more

 

[Allan Jayne]

No, the colorstream inputs are not the RGB inputs UNLESS the TV has a manual menu selection to make them accept RGB.

Furthermore only a certain kind of RGB, with the sync. signals combined with the green, can be input. VGA is not that variety and requires a fourth and fifth jack to feed in the sync.

If the XBox has a manual selection for component video output versus RGB output, or has separate jacks labeled Y, Pb, Pr (or Y, Cb, Cr, or Y, U, V), then you can use the Colorstream inputs on the TV.

 

[Greg_St]

Yes, I think the XBox2 has separate jacks labelled Y, Pr, Pb

xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360componenthdcable/

So everything should be fine, unless i'm misunderstanding, or do i still need the TV to have a menu selection to accept RGB?

 

[Greg Patterson]

Greg
The Y,Pr,Pb on the Xbox are the same as the colorstream pro on the Toshiba. You can hook up an Xbox to the Toshiba this way and it will look great, this is how I am going to hook up my Xbox. The RGB that I was talking about is what Xbox calls a VGA HDTV adapter. It is the same kind of 15 pin cable that computer monitors use. If you had a tv that had a "VGA" input, this would be the preferred method of hooking up the Xbox. The picture would probably be a little better (or not, you may not notice a difference) and you would not be tying up a component input on the tv that another source could use. On the Xbox website, where they are talking about the "ultimate set up", they are referring to one of the two Xbox packages that will be released. The ultimate set up comes with the wireless controllers, a remote, a hardrive... If you would like to see the VGA cable that I was talking about on their website find your way to "accessories" and the VGA cable will be there.
Thanks,
Greg Patterson

 

[Allan Jayne]

Using the Y, Pb, Pr connections on the XBox to the Colorstream inputs on your TV, you do not need to have related menu selections on either the TV or the XBox. But if such menu selections exist, set them to Y, Pb, Pr.

 

[Greg_St]

John, Allan, and Greg, thank you for helping me out, i really appreciate it!!

Greg, i noticed that you and i hardly ever post in here, yet you and i signed up here on the very same day, years ago, are you my smarter alter ego?

 

[Greg Patterson]

I also noticed the coincidences with our accounts. Very weird. Both same names and signed up with in 24 hrs of each other. By the way, have you been able to get an XBOX 360 yet? I have had very bad luck and do not have one yet. I even went out at 12am on 11/22 and then went back out again at 5am but was still unable to get one. I wished that I had preordered at the earliest possible time. To make matters worse I even own a 360 game (Perfect Dark Zero) but can only look at the box and drool. I cant wait until I can actually play. Also, did you pick out a tv yet?
Greg.

 

[Greg_St]

No, i've had no luck finding an XBox yet. I don't get my new TV for a couple weeks, since we want it on the same truck as the couch, tables, etc, so i am in not in panic mode yet, but i've looked around and can't find one for sale, not even bundled with everything including a year of Gold. I also can't find out when they are going to ship out more.

Yes, I picked out a TV, i'm getting the Toshiba 56" 1080p DLP RPTV. It's actually the smallest size Toshiba offers in this 1080p RPTV DLP model, so it should be very clear. I wanted a bigger one, but the wife is on my back. I figure 56" and 1080p and widescreen will be enough of an improvement over our 37" CRT 480i

I can't wait to play XBox 360 either, i just spent the day playing my 20yr old Panasonic 3DO, so i can give it away soon hehe