HD TV help needed.

[collins8]

I was at Circuit City today looking at Sony TV's and I was close to buying a KV36HS500, 36"HDTV tube, for $1569, but then the salesman told me I should buy the Sony 34" wide screen HDTV for $1900.
He said by 2006 all brodcasts will be HD and in the widescreen format. He said the KV36HS500 will have blacked out areas in the top and bottom of the screen for the HD network broadcasts.
Is all of this true??
Should I get the widescreen model??

Thanks
Rob

[57U]

Rob, Welcome to the forum. What he said is mostly true. What he says about the black bars above & below HD programmes on 4:3 TVs is also correct. All programming will not be HD (16:9) but much of it will be and once you've seen HD, you won't watch much SD unless you have to..

A year ago, there was some argument about whether you should go 4:3 or 16:9 when buying an HDTV, but today the answer is usually pretty clear that you should go 16:9.

There are almost no 4:3 HDTVs in sizes greater than 40" available, where HDTV comes to the fore. Almost every 2003 model is 16:9.

For $2k, if you have the room, you should consider an RPTV (40" and up) instead of a direct view (tube)

Go to the FAQ section on the home page (2 pages) see the posts:

4:3 vs Widescreen
Which HDTV to buy
How large an HDTV to buy
What you need to do to your new HDTV
Etc.

[collins8]

Thanks for the info.
I was primarily looking at the tubes because the picture quality was very good. Can you recommend a RP that has almost the same picture quality?? I have been told the tubes will always have the best picture quality but for increased screen size I will give up some quality.

Rob

[Wooger]

ALL RPTVs nowadays are near-tube quality. You will not be disappointed with a RPTV. You definitely get the most bang for the buck with them, size AND quality-wise.

As far as the 4:3 argument, I still feel that, if you watch 4:3 programming primarily, ie: OTA and non-HD, then you should get a GOOD 4:3 TV, one that displays 16:9 well... most that are HD ready do. I say this for a couple of reasons, all of which you can read in the above mentioned FAQ. In a nutshell, 4:3s are cheaper (usually closeouts lately) and again, if you are watching 4:3 programming on a 16:9 TV, you lose MORE real-estate than someone who watches 16:9 on a 4:3. Mathematically.

But if it is RPTV vs Tube, most here would suggest the RPTV. They are beautiful. Very close to Tube quality. And miles and miles better for the bigscreen factor!

[57U]

Rob, the only reason people think that tubes are "clearer" than RPTVs is because a smaller image looks "sharper". RPTVs tend to be large. If you were to look at an image that it exactly the same size (ie back away from an RPTV until the image is the same size as on the Direct View) you would actually notice that the RPTV is sharper.

Most RPTVs have 1200+ lines (specification - actual measurement 1000-1100) of horizontal resolution, while DV sets simply cannot do more than 1000, probably actually closer to 800.

As you increase screen size, it's like putting a magnifying glass to a newspaper, you'll see more detail (including the imperfections). The larger RPTVs do supply a more "theater-like" experience, so if you have the room, an RPTV is certainly recommended.

Almost all the brands have some RPTV around 40", so do some research, read the FAQs, especially - "If only I'd have known".

As you start looking at RPTVs, you will not find very many 4:3 sets left...