HDTV's - about to take the plunge

[modhatter]

Been fighting it for some time now, but my old large screen TV is showing signs of age, so I think I'm going to do it. Only, I'm not sure what to buy. I have looked mostly in Costo's. The thin Plasma's don't seem so much more $ than the other type now. I really liked the picture on a Panasonic they had, but it was only 42". Don't know much about them and what to look for. Was trying to find some "Good" information and reviews online, but getting mostly places more interested in selling than informing. I want a set that will work with Direct TV, if that matters.

Anyone out there oozing with good current information, or at least know a good sorce for me to look at on line to read up on the latest. Also, any recommendations on best place to buy?

 

[REWahoo]

I agree with CT when it comes to plasma TV's. Those babies run hot.

One place you might look for info. and reviews is CNet.

 

[starboardtack]

Rather than start in with aspect ratios, HD ready vs. integrated, plasma vs. LCD, etc., the link attached below for the Crutchfield Electronics site will provide probably more honest techie info than you wanted to know.  Free shipping and no state sales tax are significant $$ saving bonuses for online purchase through this and other reputable  dealers and could be applied to professional installation services (recommended if wall mount and home theater integration are important considerations).  Prices are dropping rapidly almost as rapidly as the technology is increasing.  Consumer Reports chose the 42" Panasonic TH-42PX25U/P as best buy on the plasma side and Sony Wega on the LCD side.  My personal choice was 50" Sharp Aquos LCD, 1080p, w/DCR (no box, digital cable card).   Good Luck.

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/S-Zu6hzmrTaFR/learningcenter/home/tv_hdtv.html

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

On LCD's, the sharp Aquos is about the best. On plasmas, panasonic usually takes the nod. Samsungs products seem to do well on the DLP microdisplay side of things. Sony's for the lcd microdisplays.

If you're going cheap, make sure you're actually getting high definition resolution and not an "edtv" that downscales. Make sure what you buy has a good contrast ratio, at least 1000:1 and preferably 2000:1 or higher, although the stat can and is fiddled with.

Last thing you want is a low resolution 450:1 contrast cheapo plasma.

I'll third the heat. Had one in my bedroom in my mcmansion and I had to chuck a small window air conditioner in that room to keep it cool on the hottest summer days. Nice and toasty in the winter though. Had to make sure I didnt vacuum at the same time the tv was on and the ac compressor cycled or the breaker for that room would pop.

Also if you have the room and setup, some very nice deals can be had on lcd and dlp projectors. You can throw the picture right onto a wall with surprisingly decent results. A high lumen projector looks pretty good even in the daytime, and stunning at night. Can take up a lot less room than a regular tv, throw a larger picture, and you can put it away or take it with you. Nothing like bringing a 120 inch "tv" with you to the superbowl party...

 

[Alex]

dont buy a tv - buy an HDTV projector and free yourself from any size limitations. My 'screen' is now 11 feet wide and 6'tall. Beats the heck out of any plasma and cost me about a bit morethan $2500 for everything. I purchased a custom pull dwon screen from DA-Lite but you can simply paint the wall with GOOP - a special paint that is designed for this use for less than a hundred bucks. http://www.projectorpeople.com/hometheater/projdtls.asp?itemid=20229&itmname=Panasonic+PT-AE900U

 

[cube_rat]

I'm sure glad I selected the LCD instead the blazing hot plasmas.

 

[eryx]

So how do you like the Panasonic 900 projector? Been doing a lot of research on it and it seems like the best for me...my only concern is having what seems to be a relatively long throw distance of 17', and still wanting a 100"+ diagonal screen.

 

[Craig]

Check out Dell as well ... we're happy with ours, reasonably priced, great picture.

 

[modhatter]

Alex,

I'd like to hear a little more about your Panasonic HDTV Projector. How far is it sitting back from your screen. Did you set it up yourself or have it done. Do you have room very dark or just normal room? How is pictuture quality. How could you hook up a Tivo or DVD recorder or speakers to this, or can't you?

 

[Alex]

I have the porjector mounted on the ceiling with a special ceiling mount kit that I paid about 50 bucks for. . I ran an HDMI cable (for the hdtv cable) and 3 RBG cables (for the VCR/DVD) through the wall and ceiling and then into the projector. I did it myself and had the wall and ceiling patched and painted afterwards. oh yeah, i also had an electrician come and wire an outlet - so I could power the projecter from the ceiling. Regarding sound - I have a full dolby surround sound system with 5 speakers and a subwoofer all conected through the stereo - it was super easy to connect all of this stuff. And the cable box has a DVR just like TIVO. BUT, the best part is the picture! All I can say is WOW. I watch the NBA games and feel like I am on the court. It is better than anything I have ever seen. DVD's are terrific too. THe projector is about 14 feet from the screen. I have some roman shades that I use to darken the room during the day. If you have a very bright room the picture may not be very good during daytime hours - thats why I have the shades. For me its not that big of a deal though, I rarely watch TV or movies in the daytime. BTW, the projector has a 'dynamic' setting for bright rooms. I have had a good friend over for movies a couple of months ago - he never said a word about how nice the picture was etc.... My wife grumbled a bit about how nonchalant he was about our projector set up. After he left my house he bought the same systems within a few weeks. I guess that was better than any compliment! I purchased my unit from 'Projector People' online, and they were extremely helpful. I must've called a hundred times - they were patient and made sure I had all the right stuff. I highly recommend them.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I went cheap. $795 for an infocus X1 (about the 12x10x5", 5-6lbs), put it on a table, s-video cable that ran under a rug from the tivo, threw the 110" picture on a textured white flat painted wall, no special screen or paint. Needed the room fairly dark due to low lumens in the projector, but it worked fine during the day with the drapes pulled. For a good period of time had a laptop connected via progressive scan/rgb connection with a large hard drive and lots of ripped dvd's. If you can hook up a tv and get an s-video cable run to where you're dropping the projector, no special help involved.

My old mcmansion setup was a different story...80lb three gun crt projector mounted on the ceiling. That took half a day to align and converge the three guns to get it to look right. Professional help probably needed for most people. The newer lcd/dlp single lens projectors dont need any of that funny business. Just set the focus by turning the lens, make a few menu choices to set aspect ratio and the usual "tv" settings of contrast, brightness, color and tint. Voila.

 

[JB]

I want a set that will work with Direct TV, if that matters.

Check w/ DirectTV on what content you will receive in HD. You might be in for a surprise, more expensive subscription, or an ATSC antenna installation (if you're around a metro area). In the last case you may want an HD tuner in the TV.

 

[justin]

I'm in the market for a new standard def or HD tv and I was wondering if anyone knows of a good internet primer I can read. I don't want surround sound and don't really care about bells and whistles. I was thinking a $300 32" standard definition tv was the least I'd get, and I might pay up to $600 for some form of HD/widescreen. I saw a 27" 4:3 hdtv (crt I think) for ~$300. Is it a piece of junk?

I'm looking for something to tell me the pros/cons for lcd/dlp/plasma/crt, etc. and all the 480/720/1080 i p things.

I don't even know if I need HD since I only plan on having basic analog cable and watching the occasional dvd and some computer recorded stuff over an Svideo cable (of varying resolution - usually divx stuff ~350 MB per 40 minutes). I'm going to be sitting ~8 ft from the tv, so I can't get any of the monster 50+" tvs. I am satisfied with my current SD tv of 27".

 

[REWahoo]

Check w/ DirectTV on what content you will receive in HD. You might be in for a surprise, more expensive subscription, or an ATSC antenna installation (if you're around a metro area). In the last case you may want an HD tuner in the TV.

What JB said. I get over-the-air HD via an old fashioned antenna located in my attic. Here is a neat link that will provide information on the directional location and distance of all TV transmitters in your area (you put in your street location). Also advice on what type of antenna you will need based your distance from the towers.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I third it. Whats available for content on directv and digital cable is not much. Some PPV's, some sports packages, a couple of premium channels and a couple of other ones like discovery channel are in HD. A lot of 'local channels' and the regular 'cable fare' are not only not in HD, they're not even digital.

 

[mathjak107]

PERFECT VISION magazine did a test of cheaper dlp sets and found that even the high def sets used a cheaper chip that actually split the hi def image in 2 putting half on at a time really only displaying at any given moment 1/2 the lines of resolution that they should be....all samsung sets did it that way and samsung is a market leader in dlp....toshiba did it correctly and sony and panasonic varied model to model. with more expensive models doing it correctly ...while the cheaper sets looked ok on there own it was avery noticable when compared to a set that didnt split the lines of resolution in 1/2.....
by the way most displays in the larger retailers ala circuit city,best buy,pc richard are not hooked up to display hi def images on the sets in the store...they have no high def image distribution systems because they are generally unaffordable so they have no way enabling the stores to split a hi def signal to so many sets at one time

 

[Arif]

Alex,
What is the dimensions of the room you installed the projector in? We are the process of building our house and I would love a set up like you have. Also, how did you decide on the size of the screen in relation to the size of the room? Is there a formula?

 

[Alex]

my room is 12.5 ft wide and 18 feet long. As far as the the screen size - I called projector people and they walked me through the whole process. I told them I wanted the MAXIMUM screen size and they hooked me up with a custom size screen from DA-Lite. I cant remember the guys name that helped me(if I remember I will post it for you). but he was very very knowledgable and helpful.