Posted on 11/29/2005 11:24:04 PM PST by This Just In
I'll be watching this thread. I have the same questions.
We want to build a media room in the basement.
I've considered big ol' flat screen TV's, and projector TV's.
I have NO idea what to do.
Maybe I should do as Ralph Cramden once did: Wait for 3-D television.
That sounds alot like what we want to do in our basement.
I'm not as impressed by the projector TV's as I once was. I'm told that a real good one costs $10K +.
YIKES!
bookmark... thanks.
No blood for televisions.
Great question. I am going to wait until January (the best time to buy TVs btw) but I was wondering about all this stuff.
I will sit back and watch the FReeper Geeks help you (and me) out for this one.
"the liquid is plasma extracted from the human body."
Aaaaaaarrrrrggghh!
:0))
I've noticed that there's one aspect to TV shopping that is often neglected...that is the TV's contrast ratio. This aspect is really critical when it comes to watching DVDs of any movie shot on film. Film has a wide latitude when it comes to showing both shadow details and highlight details. The greater the TV's contrast ratio the better you'll see those rich shadow details without the washed out highlight areas. To my eyes, LCDs fail or perform poorly in this regard. Plasmas are better, but regular picture-tube technology still offers the best on balance: sharpness, contrast ratio, life span, etc.
I just read that Popular Science says picture-tube TVs are still the gold standard...and mentioned that a flat-screen picture-tube TV, called an SED, will be in the market next year. SEDs will have better contrast and better color than either LCDs or plasmas, consume less power, and will cost less then plasmas.
As an aside, I think its self-defeating when people buy a large screen TV and spend a lot of money to get that movie theater feel....and then sit so far back from the screen they've negated that viewing distance to screen size ratio you get in the theater. Sitting closer though magnifies the quality differences between one TV technology and the other.
I don't really watch TV, so I cannot offer any advice for them.
:(
I am a technological philistine!
:_)
What is a Plasma television
"Plasma from the human body?!!!--My, television technology has come a long way."
The hidious secret is that it slowly sucks your plasma out via low frequency osmosis while you watch unaware that it is happening.
Gas in the plasma state is used to react with phosphors in each sub pixel to produce colored light (red, green, or blue).
This might seem like heresy, but if I had a couple grand to throw at a TV, I would spend a few weeks actually looking at them in a lot of different stores. The flat panel TVs I see are all so different from each other that I wouldn't even recommend one brand over another.
For my taste the really good LCD TVs look better than plasma, but are smaller. I'd rather have a sharp and bright picture than really big. Projection TVs look dim and washed out to me.
There are some new rear projection TVs that have video projectors hidden away. These look good, but you are looking at several hundred dollars for bulb replacement avery couple thousand hours. This could get expensive if you leave the thing on all day.
That is the best explanation I have ever read.
LOL!
They are probably still usable 5 years out, so I won't dispute your comments. By that point, with heavy use, however, I would suspect that there would be a marked deterioration in the screen quality, and likely some screen burn from network logos.
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.