Video Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on May 11, 2004 at 14:36:57

In Reply to: Re: suggestion posted by Emil Capozzi on May 10, 2004 at 16:58:10:

Quality on my Brighthouse digital cable varies. Generally, the premium channels usually look the best (HBO) and the analog pass through look the worst. The HD cable content varies from very good to excellent. You'll get occassional artifacts depending on the provider and content, but usually it's a minor annoyance.

Since the content I care about the most - movies, Discovery, sports, PBS - looks good, I've learned to live with the rest. (I don't care if QVC looks bad.) On the whole,I'm pleased, and I woudln't fret too much over SD on a 50" DLP. Even the analogue should be tolerable.

BTW, I'm a very picky person about my picture quality but I don't see rainbows on the 50" DLP sets. Murph is right, take a DVD to test - but don't take Finding Nemo or Monsters Inc - digital animation looks great on every digital display I've ever seen. Take a movie with a lot of movement, strong diagonal lines and dark scenes like The Two Towers or Master & Commander. These are all areas where a display (or a DVD player) can let you down. Also ask to see a prgram through a local cable feed if possible. This may tell you if you can tolerate the set's standard definition capabilites.

Keep inmind, most big box stores (CC,BB et al) do not have their sets properly set up. Be prepared to do some adjusting with the remote before evaluating each contender.

I like the latest LCD rear projectors better than Murph, but it's true the shadow detail and deepest blacks aren't as good as the DLPS. (I absolutely hated earlier LCD models and couldn't understand why anyone would buy one. The lastest ones from Sony and Hitachi are very watchable for me, although the Panny is till too blue.)

I bought my current (CRT) widescreen HDTV over the internet and was totally happy, but read up before you do this with a plasma or DLP. I wouldn't worry about scammers necesarily - many of these companies are very good to deal with - but these complex displays can be temperamental. It's much easier to call up Ciricuit City and have 'em replace your set than it is to ship a defective one halfway across the country.

One thing you may have picked up on - the recs are all fixed pixel displays: plasma, DLP, LCD.

I've found the most useful info at avsforum, as long as you heed Murph's caveat about owner bias vs "other" technologies. There is no perfect display yet, but there's plenty to enjoy in the meatime.

Finally, invst in at least a digital Video Essentials calibration disc, or a professional ISF calibration at best.