Posted on 10/17/2006 4:01:37 PM PDT by george76
There are many reasons to buy an HDTV now.
1) Your team could be good this year.
2) Theres more stuff on high-definition TV than ever.
3) Prices are dropping.
If youre looking, here are some things you should know:
DLP
Millions of tiny mirrors reflect light to produce a picture. You can recognize DLP (digital light processing) sets in the store: Theyre the big, boxy televisions.
LCD
Electrically charged liquid crystals untwist just enough to let the correct shade of light pass through.
PLASMA
Bits of gas are ignited to produce light.
FAQs
Which is better, LCD or plasma?
Get to the store while its still baseball season, because a baseball game is a perfect test for a television. When the ball is moving, it should look like a solid object, not a blur...
Plasmas die quicker and have burn-in, right?
True, the phosphors in a plasma TV glow less brightly over time. Manufacturers say about 60,000 hours...
Plasmas do suffer burn-in...
After picture quality, whats the most important feature on an HDTV?
A lot of connections. At least two HDMI inputs are good. HDMI stands for high-definition multimedia interface. And at least two component inputs. Youll want to connect a DVD player, maybe a VCR, a cable box, perhaps two video game systems. Get a TV with lots of inputs. In order of video quality, the best inputs are HDMI, component, S-Video and composite.
Whats HD-DVD? Whats Blu-ray?
These are high-definition DVD formats battling for consumers hearts the way VHS and Betamax did in the early days of VCRs...
Instead, go with a DVD upconverter.
Youll get great results watching your current DVDs on a $149 OPPO DV-970HD (or the even-better, $199 DV-971HD) and your HDTV.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
The lighting is much brighter in a showroom than in your home, and bright lighting favors LCDs.
To truly compare, shop in a store with a darkened room full of TVs.
I love my DLP! :)
My Sony XBR CRT gives the best PQ you'll see in a TV.About the only drawback is that they weigh about a half ton.
How does the picture compare to a flat screen ?
Plasma! Still the best.
If I ran mine 24/7, in 6 or 7 years I'll replace it for around $500.
Since the old thread we were on last week I am still leaning towards the 65in Magnovox LPD even though our area Charter cable does not have HDTV.
It has it in the workings. I could go temp dish for the 65in and switch back to cable when it come out with HDTV.
BTW we watch in tv in a dark room since I tend to fall asleep and other still watch and so I did just that was to go to a dark showroom and look at tv from all angles and distances.
just bought the Sony CRT myself last week, What an awesome picture! Thing is frigging HEAVY though!! over 200 pounds i think.
I rather enjoy my two LCD's I got on clearance (both for less 1000 combined), took forever to tune the pictures in good but hey they still look ten times better than SDTV.
Being a greedy capitalist pig does have its advantages. ;-)
The latest breakthrough is the Laser DLP, which offers better resolution at half the price of plasma.
I have been following the Laser DLP...
it seems to be an interesting choice.
I understand it will be in full production, to be deliverable to homes in 2007. It seems worth waiting for, and the other technologies seem to be scrambling to get sales now, before the new technology hits the market.
It seems to make some logic to wait.
I may replace an older small bedroom tv with an lcd flat screen with HDTV to practice.
Then get a bigger one for the den in 2007.
Better...by far.The model I have has the "superfine" picture tube which is,in its HD incarnation,is the finest picture tube ever made.Some of the shows on Discovery HD give a picture which is truly beyond words.
Problem is,Sony isn't making them anymore.
My new Panasonic plasma shows burn-in on hockey games (only shows up on the very white ice of HDTV, not noticeable otherwise.)
The burn-in lasts about 24 hours and then goes away so I am not completely flipping out. But I am careful now not to leave it on one channel for more than an hour if it has one of those dumb lower corner channel signatures.
But sports in HDTV (on the plasma) just blows your mind. Movies and Discovery and PBS documentaries are also amazing.
But I'd buy a Sony LCD next time.
I've been holding out on my old rear projection 61". Still a good picture, great sound system, wood cabinet. I hope they come out with something other than the cold grey plastic models like the recent ones. I would expect Mitsubishi to have a good quality set.
You didn't think television technology stopped at the plasma, did you? It's called SED TV and it's essentially a bunch of miniature CRT's bundled side by side together.
The article does a good job of pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the plasmas and LCD's so it's informative in that regard. (Like how black is still somewhat gray on a plasma since the plasma cell that is trying to be black is still on, emitting light to reduce latency). Cost? Comparable to plasma.
I still have my 10+ year old 35" Mitsubishi tube and if SED plays out, I will have skipped the LCD and plasma generations for this.
Thanks.
The LCD Sony looks good.
I need something that will work above 6000 feet.
apparently plasma is a problem
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.