pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 My family has decided to get a new TV. We are looking to spend up to (but no more than) 2,000 dollars. I wanted to know if anyone has any ideas on the best TV in this price range. I also would like to know if rear projection TV's are any good. We like this one so far, let me know what you think... http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11100114&m=1&cat=24&scat=1470 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Well the first thing that popped into my mind with that Sony tv set is that you do realize it is a standard rear projection, not a widescreen right? I did not know if you prefered that. Also, can you be more specific as to what this tv is going to be used for. DVD? Gaming? Digital Cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Rear projection TVs can provide a fantastic picture. Direct View tube TVs are the other option. Plasma and DLP are more expensive with slim format being the primary advantage. This Sony looks like an interesting model if you are primarily watching standard broadcast TV but want HDTV capability and willing to see it in a smaller letter boxed mode. You will need a Set-top-box for receiving HDTV. If the bulk of your viewing is standard TV with some DVDs then this might be a good set for your family. In 2006 or so when HDTV is the norm you'll probably want a wide screen and could upgrade to plasma which should be much cheaper then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 This TV will be used basically to watch tv (captain obvious :-) and for DVD's. Thats about it, not gaming system will be hooked up to it. I will have to think about a widescreen tv. High Definition is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 To get the high definition signal you will indeed have to buy a box for that. I would approximate $300-500 additional for just that. If you are in fact going HDTV, then you should really consider a rear projection widescreen. This is because all HDTV is in 16:9 (widescreen) format. If you just go with a standard rear projection you will see the black bars on the top and bottom of your screen. This will also be the case if you watch widescreen movies. HOWEVER, if you watch full screen movies or will be watching quite a bit of non-HDTV material, you might consider a standard rear projection. That way you can watch your shows with the most screen possible (all of it in the case of this Sony). Do realize that if you go widescreen and watch regular tv shows (non-HDTV) or full screen movies you will either have to zoom in the image to get it to full screen on your widescreen tv, or you will have to deal with the bars on the left and right of your screen. The most important thing is to pick the tv based on how much you are going to use it. If the majority of time will be in the standard 4:3 format, then go with this tv or something similar. The worst thing you can do is cause a burn-in on your tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 Thanks for that great info. I seem to be very underinformed on this HDTV business. I need a box to get it? My standard cable box will not send an HDTV signal? Also, what is a "burn-in"? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Most tv's in retail stores these days are HDTV-capable. Meaning that yes they can produce a high definition image, but you have to get a HDTV decoder to do it. This is the extra thing you would have to buy ($300-500 or more depending on features). TV's that have the decoder already in the tv will be more expensive than those that do not. You will receive the HDTV signal from your cable provider, whomever that is. With the decoder you will be able to view these HDTV images. Burn-in is difficult for me to explain, so let me give you an example. You choose a widescreen rear projection tv. But you spend a majority of your time NOT watching widescreen. Instead you watch mainly "regular" tv shows and full screen movies (all of these are 4:3 format), so you do not use your full widescreen. Thus you will notice the black vertical bars on your left and right sides. If you watch too much 4:3 format material, the black bars are constantly being projected on to the sides of the screen. Then when you go to watch a widescreen movie on your widescreen tv (and utilize every inch of the tv screen), you might notice that the movie is brighter in the center and darker on the sides where the black bars in 4:3 mode used to be. The dark black has been burned-in and you can not reverse this. I hope this makes a little sense...remember it can happen to both widescreen and standard rear projection tvs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manufanatic Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Their are some manufactures that have an on board hdtv tuner (mitsubishi and RCA) Mitsus are OTA tuners while the RCA has Directv HDTV tuner and is OTA as well. If you live near a big city which is broadcasting HD then either get a HD ready set (no onboard tuner) or an RCA/Mitsu with one. ahh Burn in well let me tell you its a reality. My wife who is a great mother to my children let my kids watch a dvd one day. The dvd ended and everyone went on with their day unfortunately for my tv the DVD logo stayed on the tv for hours. Now if i really look I can see that DVD logo staring at me. I should blame the DVD player (panasonic) for not realizing that many people who buy rear projection tvs to use with progressive scan dvd may from time to time leave the machine on. It was a bitter lesson to learn and my wife is still alive because i basically let her off the hook about it. Yes i did explain to her what Burn-in was before this event happened. Anyways be aware that it can happen. Also if you have the room why not consider this option a standard view large screen tv say 36 inch, a da lite screen and a projecter from sony believe it or not this set up is comparable to the cost of a mid grade 50 inch plasma and a premium 42 inch or an elite line RP. 36 inch tv 500 Da lite screen 84 inch hdtv about 400 Sony or similiar make projection system 2100-3000 brings it to about 3k u still would need the HD or seperate tuner (cable box) but you would be sporting true home theater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 I thought about projecting on to a screen, but we simply do not have the room. Thanks for the warning about burn in! I will remember that if we get a projection TV. My cable provider gives out HD boxes for a 30 dollar charge, so I think I will be going with a 50+ inch wide screen HDTV. Any reccomendations on the set to get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 ---------------- Any reccomendations on the set to get? ---------------- I really liked some of the Mitsubishi's. I believe BB had a 43 and a 51 inch of their's, but I think that is in the range of $2500. Might want to look at Panasonic while you are there. I hear they have this technology called APAC that shifts the picture without you noticing, but enough so that all parts of the screen burn at the same rate, thus you don't have to worry about burn-in. I would definitely ask about that, although the BB guys are definitely not the ones to ask questions too. Most are just punk kids who are trying to sell sell sell. Maybe you can get in contact with a rep from either of these 2 companies, but definitely do some research. Maybe go to the AVSFORUM (www.avsforum.com) and go to their section for rear projection tvs. You can do a bit of research (via a search for particular tvs you are looking at) and maybe even post a new topic asking for opinions from the members. This group of people are some of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. This is your money and you want to get the best bang for the buck that you can! Don't rush out and get one: research research research! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 Hey thanks for the info! I always do a ton of research before I buy anything Thanks again for the help everyone, lance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPyro Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 I guess I have a few more questions.... What size of screen are you looking for? What floor area can the unit take? Do you really want/need HD Tuner? (are you in a HD Over-the-Air broadcast area or Sat TV? Now my opinions..... I'm sure anyone looking for a new TV is looking for two things, Future Proof as possible and best viewing for DVDs & HD. Furture Proof- Thou this idea of Future proof is nice, in reality it would be very difficult to actually get something that is Future proof. One of the major reasons is that the Recording Industry are being d*cks about how you use their stuff. They have used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to really prevent us (the consumer) from using the digital info as we wish. I'm not condoning pirating, but I should be able to play a CD in my computer if I wish...stuff like that. We can see how they have messed with the progress of HT when we look as DVD-A and SACD. You can't transmit the high resolution of these formats over digital cuz they are afraid you will copy it. As for TVs, there have been some debates over use of Firewire or DVI as the prefered digital connection. I wouldn't worry about it cuz the debate will go on FOREVER until someone puts the recording industry back in its place or we die...which ever comes first. HD & DVD Viewing- The problem with HD is that there are sooooo many standards and TV makers kinda fudge their specs. For example, some RP tv makers report HD capable (1080i, 720p/i, 480p/i) however, their units can't really display 720 horizontal lines and they don't really tell you what the unit is capable of truely displaying. One of the reasons that Plasmas and LCD are SOOOO cool is their size! Most of us really don't have room for a HUGE 60" RPTV and those untis weight more then I do...so moving them is a b*tch. So I would suggest possibly looking at a front projector system. There are several new projectors LCD & DLP that are in the $2000 that are very good. Plus projectors have better resolution then most TVs (direct view or RP), the newest projectors are in "1/4 HD" format. Its kinda a misleading term, its called that because the native HDTV 1080i signal of 1920x1080 can be compressed exactly 50% in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. So the "1/4 HD" projectors have a native resolution of 960x540., hence it can provide particularly clean scaling of HDTV. The Panasonic PT-L300, InFocus X1, ad Sanyo PLV-Z1 are three projectors that have been recomended by Projector central (www.projectorcentral.com) Just a few thoughts... -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 I do not have room for a projector in my living room (where this will be placed). The room is hard to get dark also because it has windows surrounding 2 sides of it. I would think this would be bad for projection. I just want a good TV for around 2000. I figured I could get the most bang for my buck with a High Def. rear proj tv. I could very well be wrong (hence me posting here ). I was over a the avforum and they are leading me towards a Hitatchi brand RP TV. Wow, I never thought this would be so hard. One more question. When I go to a store and they show me the TV no doubt they will be using a HD signal. If I make them play a DVD on the tv, will it show me what the TV will look like when not using a HD signal from my cable company? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb294 Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 http://www.circuitcity.com/frame1.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1273741165.1043179477@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccefadchgeidjilcfngcfkmdffhdffh.0&upper=head.jsp&lower=frame2.jsp&department=TV+Video+and+Camcorders&category=Projection+TVs&right=productsearch.jsp&left=leftchildcat.jsp I found this Panasonic. Check it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 ---------------- One more question. When I go to a store and they show me the TV no doubt they will be using a HD signal. If I make them play a DVD on the tv, will it show me what the TV will look like when not using a HD signal from my cable company? ---------------- Absolutely NOT. They would likely set it up using component inputs to your tv which would produce one of the best images on your tv. Also, they would likely use a dvd player that has progressive scan. The best way? Turn off the HDTV and turn on any local station you have. And another thing, have them reset the brightness/contrast etc back to original manufacturer settings. Often times in stores they point the tv's in a way that you get the best angle and also they up the brightness/contrast so that the image looks really really good. The problem is is that if you left it at these levels at home you would likely in time have problems with your tv set. Another suggestion is to also move around while looking at this image. Note where the image gets too dark. You will notice that the image is best when you are level with it and looking dead on. If you move a couple feet to the left or right then you will notice a change in the picture (won't be as bright). Consider where everyone in the room will be sitting, etc when you do this so that you can decide on a tv where a good view will be anywhere in the room. One other thing. Hitachi is very good too. I have heard many good things about them and my Circuit City friends rave on em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manufanatic Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 agree the one thing you will realize after purchasing this set is how bad SD tv really is. Its simple numbers thing SD only produces 350,000 colors while HD can generate over 2 million. Im always watching HDNET and HBOHD just to see what my tv can do. But as i said if you live in an area where there is alot of OTA HDTV then you will be satisfied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manufanatic Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Oh and dont buy at BB or CC unless they can give you the absolute best deal. Give ONECALL a try.http://ww2.onecall.com/PID_12734.htm its 2249 delivered but you probably can get them to go lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhimeli@aol.com Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 how's it going guy's, thought i'd jump in here with my vast knowledge. i know enough to be dangerous. i live out in the sticks and currently have direc-tv. i have been thinking about HDTV SAT. does that receiver take the place of the HDTV receiver that you have to get with a HDTV "compatible" tv? also if you get a widescreen tv and you are watching something that is not a HDTV broadcast being that you have a HDTV receiver and dish will you still get bars on the left and right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 ---------------- also if you get a widescreen tv and you are watching something that is not a HDTV broadcast being that you have a HDTV receiver and dish will you still get bars on the left and right? ---------------- Yes, because *most* non-HDTV broadcasts are presented in 4:3, not 16:9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzs22 Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 Thanks for all the tips when I'm at the store. I think I would rather buy at a place like BB or circuit city since I get get a service plan (god forbid something goes wrong lol). I was thinking of a Hitatchi. I have heard nothing but good things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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