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Just recently started researching the purchase of an HDTV set. This is something i am more than willing to do, i just want to be sure it is the right time to do this and i want to be sure it will be a worthy venture. I'm not rolling in the dough by any means so a 2K investment in such a thing as a tv is something i must consider seriously.
I currently have a 25" CRT TV with a Scientifc Atlantic DVR cable box(Charter Communications-FW, TX). I am looking at a set between 35-40"...either plasma or LCD. I saw a JVC LCD LT40X667 that looked nice, for $1800.
My concern is...how many true HDTV channels will i have access to and what will the quality of said channels be. I assume i will either upgrade to the Charter HDTV tuner or Direct TV or Dish Network. I would go to Direct TV as a lst resort. I would like to refrain from lining the pockets of Murdoch if at all possible.
Now, concerning these cable/satellite services...is the picture true HD...or will the Showtimes and HBOs and ESPNs and CNNs of the world that proclaim to broadcast in HDTV come across as some kind of compressed bastard child of true HDTV. They may offer 720 or 1080 resolution but won't there be compression artifacts out the wazzou?
And...would Direct TV or Dish Network offer better picture quality than what a Cable company could provide? It seems logical that there would be more bandwidth in a satellite signal that a digital fiber optic signal...which is what Charter is.
Also...isn't there a way where i could use a regular TV antenna on my house to bypass the cable box and receive my local HDTV channels more clearly?
I guess what i'm asking is what is the most i can expect out of HDTV programming now and, say, in the next 6 months?
Oh, and what reasons are there to go for a 1080P as opposed to a 720P set? Is it just a matter of picture quality or are there compatibility issues with other equipment, ie. blue-ray/DVDHD, etc. Most all of the sets i can afford are 720P...should i wait for 1080Ps to come down?
thanks
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Watching sports is like sitting front row as opposed to upper deck.
Watching movies is to see every detail and tiny features you didn't notice.
Watching great tv series like Rome, The Wire or Deadwood is to be blown away by the clarity of vision.Other than that, not much.
nt
If you want a large screen, an HD set will take advantage of improved resolution some cable channels seem to have, and make SD watchable. But most SD looks fuzzy on large screens and the 4:3 format is problematic. Actually, I think the prime benefit of HDTV is going to be making the same old SD crap look OK on 60" screens.DVDs on a big screen TV look a lot better on if its a HD set. Network sports in HD can look great. If you really like snakes and fish in HD, Discovery and PBS HD is great.
Otherwise, HDTV isn't really worth the rather substantial investment; the HD material is scarce and the tv producers don't seem to have a clue how to exploit it. The longer you hold out, the cheaper and better the technology will be. If it weren't for our DVD viewing (and Netflix), I'd probably regret buying an HD TV set.
nt
Best thing to do is go to the site below and see if there is a local users group for your town.They will be able to tell you what is available, whether or not you can easily get free OTA HD, etc. There is a lot more High Def out there now, than there was when I first got my set.
Get the biggest screen you can afford. If you're into football, man, you're in for a treat.
I love it when my relatives/friends come over and I can give them the ole A/B...standard def. football vs HD football.
There are sevaral reasons to go HD. The first is size. Bigger screens really do require higher def-I'm not sure you can even buy an SD TV that's 42" or higher anymore. If you can swing it, get a 1080p set.As far as Sat. Vs. cable, that will depend on where you are and the gear used. I've talked to people who have gone from cable to sat and been happy, but there are people who went the other direction saying cable had a better picture. Real HD, as apposed to upscaled SD will look very good. About 1/3 to 1/2 of prime time network shows are true HD, depending on your locaion, and can look pretty good. I've found that OTA actually make them look the best.
Jack
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The larger the screen the more likely you are to benefit from HDTV. 30" minimum was my guestimate as to the threshold to make HD worthwhile.I switched from Charter (FW) to Dishnetwork because of folks who swore even Charter digital cable was inferior to Dish. I didn't see that big a difference but that may have been because of an older Dish box and my easy-to-please eyes. What Dishnetwork did provide was more HD channels, something I really craved given my screen size. DirectTV might be a better choice if you are big NFL football fanatic.
The closest to "true" high definition usually is provided on HDNet and Discovery channel. MOst of the other stuff on Network TV, HBO, SHowcase, is upsampled from not-quite-HD source material. I've been impressed with some of Sports broadcast on FOx, ABC, and ESPN but again a lot of it dependents on how good the cameras are. The VOOM channels are better than standard definition but usually not quite as good as your typical HDNet broadcasts.
My previous Dish HD box had an OTA tuner, reception was spotty but that may have been for geographic reasons (my house is sitting in a bowl on the wrong side of the hill WRT to transmission towers). THe new HD box includes broadcast HD via the satellite feed; I need to check if they'll ever get channel 13 in HD, something I could only get OTA once in a blue moon.
My next display will be a 65+" 1080p to back up the primary display (front projector). I'm waiting for price drops, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD winner, and spending money (it's all going to pay electrical bills nowadays).
I occasionally canvass the neighborhood for SOTA displays. When I do, the primary locales include Marvin Electronics, and the Home Theater Stores (e.g. S. Arlington, Colleyville). But even the 1080p displays at Best Buy can look quite stunning when fed an HD DVD 1080p source.
I am considering a Blu-Ray player to feed 720p to my display but evidently they are still having growing pains. I might consider the Playstation 3 when it appears because it would be multiple use (gaming, Blu-Ray, SACD?) and priced to sell (probably below production costs). I don't really want to pay way too steep a price to be an early adopter. And with an ongoing format war....
thanks for the tips. I refuse to go to Marvin's. I went in there with the wrong brand of shoe laces and was consequentally treated like a POS. I will have to check the other stores. I have only looked at Best Buy cause they offer 3 yrs. no interest.
I still am unclear about 1080P vs 720P. Is better quality the issue...not compatibility or anyting else?
If you have expectations of keeping the display for 10 years or more, it's probably worth it to get a 1080p display. I've seen a 1080p King Kong HD-DVD demo it looked pretty awesome. OTOH, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are still in the middle of a format war so one or both might die out in a few years; I wouldn't spend a great deal of money on either until it's clear one or both formats are here to stay. HD-DVD has a better start, but Blu-ray is the technically better solution; but only if Sony gets their act together.If I take baby steps with HD players, I'll make sure the player can feed a decent 720p or 1080i digital signal to my 720p-native display. My current Universal player and also the display processor will upsample any source to 720p (only).
I haven't had the opportunity yet to compare 720p vs 1080p sources on either a 720p or 1080p display. And maybe that's just as well; I'm not in a big rush to replace my 720p display or give it decent competition.
Marvin's does have good equipment and I've bought enough from them (though not lately) that everyone knows me. OTOH, I agree they won't give you the time of day unless you look like a money spender. I'll wander in there occasionally just to see what they've got, but I try not to waste the saleman's time unless they have something worth considering.
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