Will there ever be an HDTV Plasma/LCD that gives great SD quality? (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Wishton]

I own the Sony 37xs955 plasma. It is ok on standard tv. By standard tv, I mean ana. and dig. channels.

I was just wondering as technology improves, will there be a very good quality plasma or lcd that will be able to give great quality on these sources? As good as an old set?

I realized after buying a plasma that we still watch SD material way too much. It's just a waste for me to kill of a plasmas life on SD material. But, it's our only tv.

I almost wish I didn't buy it only because of these issues. I mean our old 32 inch ana. tv that broke (cost $379 in 1997) gave much better standard quality and colors.

As would be expected, the tv is fabulous for DVD and HDTV. But, we still watch SD material far more than HDTV material.

Sure, people will say SD is just about dead. But, I heard the same exact same thing 7 years ago in 1998. Here we are with what seems to be the same amount of HDTV programming. Not much.

 

[DanHal]

Ryan,

I believe the answer to your question lies not in the display device, but the content they are receiving. The reason why standard looks rather subpar on these newer displays is simply because as the screen size increase, so do all the little artifacts, noise, etc. On smaller televisions, you just can't see all these things as easily. Granted, some newer televisions will give better picture quality with standard definition television, for many reasons. We are gradually shifting to more and more digital and high definition content, but we are still a few years away from all digital and high definition broadcasts.

Regarding the life of your plasma, aren't they rating for around 60,000 hours? 60,000hrs / 24hrs = 2,500 days. Of course you don't watch your television for 24 hours a day, so I wouldn't worry much about that.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

This is a little bit of an exaggeration. In 1998, there was no (zero, zip, nada) HD content available in my area. Now I have 10 free and 4 premium HD channels, including local and national sports, movies, network shows, concerts, etc., available. I watch HD about 40% of my total viewing and almost 100% of my primetime viewing. In fact, the only primetime show I regularly watch in SD is Survivor, all others are in HD. To say we have "what seems to be the same amount of HDTV programming" as 1998 is just silly.

 

[Arthur S]

Ryan

I wonder about the quality of the feed where you live. I watch a lot of SD on a 65 inch CRT RPTV and on most channels the PQ is pretty good. And that is at a distance of only 11 feet. Now, some channels just are not very good, but on most I have no complaint. I have Comcast cable and I just can't complain overall. You have one of the best plasmas on SD. I think maybe your expectations have been raised by HD and DVD. There is not going to be any inexpensive display technology any time soon that will be a significant improvement on SD. Improved broadcast standards might happen about as quickly as improved displays.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Of course VHS EP also looks okay on the old analog sets too and the difference between VHS and DVD and even downconverted HD tend to all start looking similar. Enough for some to say, what's the big deal?

Interlaced NTSC has a way of looking like that on an SDTV.

SD would actually look better if we could turn off the progressive capability of the current HD era TV sets. By reintroducing interlacing into the image, the brain actually interprets a sharper image as compared to the softer look of progressive. The Panasonic HD RPTV's as late as 2001/2 had the ability to turn off the 480p capability resulting in seemingly sharper images (it was an illusion).

It will be a while before TV sets can magically create new detail into the SD image where there was none. With DVD, you have an image with roughly 350,000 pixels of information. With HDTV ... it's between 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 pixels of information.

With SD ... you have about 220,000 pixels of information. Where are you going to magically create those extra pixels of information from?

Regards

 

[Tyson Wetzel]

I think a better question is when are they gonna turn off NTSC so I don't have to look at that crap anymore?

 

[John MB]

I agree with the first poster about this being an annoyance, albeit inevitable. The thing that kills me is that about 60 to 70% of my viewing time goes to on demand. I catch a wide array of HBO and Showtime series that way, along with free movies. On demand = no HD.



So for all the SD programming that I'll still be watching, maybe I should get a 37" instead of a 42 or 45" ?? (I'm going LCD not plasma)

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Since your referred to "on demand" I assume you have comcast? Instead of getting a smaller tv, you could get the comcast dvr. It records HD. Not as easy as on demand, but it enhances your viewing.

 

[John MB]

Yes, Comcast. And I have the dual tuner DVR. I'll record the HD channels for sure, but on demand (and other similar services offered by other cable companies) needs to upgrade to HD.

 

[John Alvarez]

I don't think they have a dual tuner HD DVR?

 

[Mike S.]

Yes they do, and I have one also. It's really nice to be able to watch one program while taping another, something you can't do with Tivo. It's not nearly as user-friendly as Tivo, but for most of us "tech-savvy" users, it's a piece of cake.
I'm actually thinking of dropping my Tivo's, as each HD DVR is only $9.95 a month, vs. 12.95 for Tivo.

 

[Norm]

I went through this last summer. I ended up getting a Sony kv-32fs120. It all came down to what I watch the most SD. I'm still a year later Jonesing for a HDTV, but until there's enough programming on Direct TV I can't make the move.

 

[Norm]

I can with Direct Tivo.