$2,000+ to spend which HDTV

[Ricky]

Hi,Newbie here

Still leaning on the subject of HDTV.I'm looking to buy a HDTV set,I could spend about $2,000+. I've seen projection tv's in displays don't like them compare to a direct view monitor. I've seen this weeken on Circuit City the new Sony 36in xbr800 I'm not sure the model #.Grey case black around the sceen,they also had a 40in.I'm not looking at 16:9 because there are no 36in + screens unless you go projection 34in is to small.This is were you pros come in I need a point in the right direction is this a great tv if not whitch tv. was the difference between the 36in 40in.The 36in is the newer moder i think it has more stuff than the older 40in.
Thank You,for any insight
Ricky

[kevinw]

If you are set on a tube TV and not 16:9, Then DO NOT buy a HD tv. High Def programing is 16:9 so it will all be letterboxed. The same with most DVD's. The square Tv will not be using almost a 3rd of the screen when watching Hd.
Besides at 6 or 7 ft away fom the screen you will not notice a 1k difference in picture, Also analog programing tends to be softer looking on a HD tv.

[Ricky]

Thanx, Kevinw

Thanks for the input but I read alot of feed back on this forum and there are alot of people with 4:3 aspect and they seem to be happy.Including the ones I read that bought the tv's I'm talking about.So you're saying if you want to go hd go 16:9 only.What about all those people in here with 4:3 hd tv's.One more thing woulding hd make Digital Cable look better with or the different resolution.

Thank You for your feedback
Ricky

[kevinw]

Yikes, This is the point when it becomes a 4:3 vs 16:9 war:D

I can't speak for those who bought 4:3 or tube tvs but I can give you my reasons for widescreen and large screen.

Wide screen duplicates the movie theater aspect as well as using your periphereal vision. 4:3 does not. With 4:3 your DVD and HD viewing will be letterboxed-bars on the top. WS tv's are capable of stretching a 4:3 program to fill the screen where as 4:3 tv's can not stretch a 16:9 program.

With traditional large screens you had to sit much farther away from the screen to have a clear picture-no visible scan lines. Hd large screens you can sit much closer duplicating the Theater experience. Hd is made for the widescreen. ALL Hd programming is in 16:9

To me a small tube tv is really a part time/bedroom tv. They just do not give the Theater experience that a correctly adjusted RP gives.
2k for a 34-36 inch tube or 2k for a 48-53in WS.

Digital cable on a small HD will not be any better than a Top line analog monitor such as the WEGA. Unless you are sitting about 12 inches from the tube.

Just my opinion....based on what I own-50 inch Toshiba Ws with a Hd STB to receive OTA hd programming.

[Ricky]

So can you get the clarity brightness crispness from a WS RV than from a HD monitor, and if yes witch one can I afford, don't forget Iwiil use it for all viewing.

[Ratman]

16:9 vs. 4:3 ?

Majority of programming is 4:3 today.
Majority of DVD is 16:9 and will always.
Direction of digital/HD programming is 16:9, no question.

So... pick your poison.

Black/grey bars on the top or sides?

Only thing to keep in mind is with a 16:9 set... you will grow into your TV. With 4:3 set... you will grow out! Simple!

[kevinw]

Absolutely-Panasonic 47-53 inch about 1600-1900
Toshiba 50 in 1800-2200
Hitachi-53-2200
Toshiba 57-2300-2500
Samsung 42-1599


We use our Toshiba 50h81 as a family TV. 3-4 DVD's on the weekend. Primetime programming in HD and regular TV such as A&E, The Cooking Channel,Nickelodeon and Sports.
The TV comes on in the morning for the kids to watch before school and is on when the come home...They play video games(X-Box,Gamecube,PS2) on it, I watch sports/ESPN, the news etc.

The best part is the TV fit in the same spot taken up by our old 27inch in an armoire. One call (http://onecall.com) SEARS (http://www.sears.com/sr/search/featured/featuresearch.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1116993962.1029348456@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccjgadcfmegleflcehgcemgdffmdfim.0&vertical=ELEC&subcat=-1073923599)

[zarlor]

If you are looking for widescreen, I would definitely reccomend an HDTV. They will be brighter and have better clarity than a similarly sized analog set.

I'd actually say the same for a 4:3 set, though, as well. Some sets may not use their full resolution when showing widescreen HD material (since you'll get black bars on the top and bottom, somse sets may have CRTs that can handle a full resolution for that, while others may shortcut it by reducing the top and bottom lines from their resoltion limits.)

Personally I prefer 16:9 sets, but no matter how you look at it I'd still reccomend ANY HDTV set over an anlog set. Enough new programming is coming out that I think if you bought an anlog set today you'd probably be kicking yourself in the next few years and going out to buy "yet another" brand new TV so you can get the HD programming you want to see.

Just my thoughts on it, though. I've loved every minute of HD I've been able to get over the past 2-1/2 years, limited though it was, and it was all worth it for me, especially since at that time I was most defnitely a fairly early adopter. Others may advise differently, though.

[Ricky]

Thanks You guy you been great help a little confuse still maybe i'll go 16:9 check out the Toshiba's I heard go reviews on them.One more thing nobody told me anything about those Sony 40-36 xbr800.So everybody agrees Toshiba good make.
Goin to look at more HDTV's WS and 4:3 still have 2,000+ any other input on what HD's to get or on more information please reply.
You guy are great
The site is great
keep it coming going shopping soon.

[Ricky]

P.S Being that there is not that much 16:9 viewing in tv when it comes out to be standard no time soon woulding the sets of today be old and (WS) and the new ones be cheaper cause it's standard.All i'm saying is it worth buy one know than in the future with so littler programs.
Just wondering.
Buying aHD is a big deal for me
just want everything to be perfect
not looking for disapointments.

[kevinw]

You will never watch 4:3 programming in that mode again. Almost all WS tv's have an option to fill the whole 16:9 screen. Some call it a stretch others call it a zoom with the best being a litle of both combined.
Have you noticed that even commercials are now letterboxed. You will not be disapointed.

Un alterd DVD's are WS-Thats where Ws tvs kick!!!

It took me over a full year of research of brands and aspects before I decided. Of course price helped.:D

[Wooger]

Read this thread too, Ricky:

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?s=&threadid=600

[kevinw]

Do you need a new TV or do you want a new TV. If your ready to buy and you need one go WS. After all this is a 10 year investment. If your happy wait but I think RP Tv prices will not vary much over the next 5-6 years. Analog big screens did not come down untill after Digital Tvs started to fill the market. Digital Tvs did not drop in price untill the manufacturers recouped some of the money spent on R&D.
There are more people who will say" I wish I had bought a Wide Screen" than people who say the opposite. This is one of those times that Fatter is better than taller..4:3 big screens are going the way of the Dinosaur..
I know people say" there is so much OLD programming " but really how many reruns do you watch. I even heard that the owner of HDnet is thinking about re-releasing Hogan's Heros? or something like this in HD.

[zarlor]

I'm also solidy on the 16:9 side. It's the way of the future and more and more programming will show up letterboxed on those 4:3 sets as time goes by.

Relatedly. kevinw, I hadn't heard about the HDNet thing, but it's kind of funny to think that when it comes to reruns the old Star Trek series will actually end up looking better in an HD rerun than the Next Generation will. Simply because the old series was done on film (no resolution or infinite resolution, depedning on how you want to look at it) and can easily be transferred to HD, while Next Gen was filmed on video (640x480i, effectively, although I suppose that might have filmed with the progressive-scanned cameras, I don't really know) and will have to be upconverted.

Also these days I've noticed that some shows are filmed with 4:3 cameras, but framed with the idea that they will be cropped on the top and the bottom for 16:9 sets. I suppose the same could be done with older shows as well, much like widescreen movies are "pan-and-scanned" to fit on 4:3 sets today without letterboxing. You lose some of the picture that way, but so many people seem to hate the idea of black areas on their screen that I'm not sure we can avoid that.

[kevinw]

ER and West Wing are 2 examples of shows filmed in WS then letterboxed for 4:3 televisions.
On an other forum a cameraman for West Wing said that this was because they may eventually start filming in HD and to make it easier to convert reruns to HD.

[calabria]

One can only HOPE that WW and ER will be two of the 11 or so hours NBC has promised in the fall primetime season!

Just to comment on RPTV vs. direct view; again, it really is dependent on what you're going to be watching, where you'll be watching it (room size, viewing distance, and viewing angle), etc. I chose a 34" widescreen because it fit my criteria. To get a RPTV would create problems with "wing chair" viewing through loss of resolution. Plus the room size would make a larger RPTV prohibitive. Personally, I haven't seen a RPTV that can mirror the image of a direct view, especially when viewing analog signals (well, maybe the nice DLPs).

Ricky - My advice would be to consider all the above mentioned, then make an informed decision on what fits YOUR needs and desires. Look for youself. Do lots of research. As Kevin said, it took him a TON of time to finally decide. I was in the same boat (as most of us have been), so be patient, look, look, and look again. Your spending allowance will limit the playing field, but you should be able to buy a decent monitor with your budget.

My $0.02

[Wooger]

BTW, I happened to catch Hogans Heroes on HDNet... I still cannot believe how good it looked for such an old show!

...and how BAD the plots were. Stinkers. God, I hope they don't convert Beverly Hillbillies or Petticoat Junction... I may start having HDConvulsions!

Oh, and btw #2... I used to have to convert old films of shows like Hogans and Hillbillies to video at an old indy TV station in Richmond, VA (WVRN-TV 63 I think it was) WAAAAY back when it was a true indy. The films were all beat up (from being shipped around from station to station and re-threaded and used repeatedly) and looked fantastic to me as the 'master' to the video. Still, it was in 4:3 I think... I wonder how Hogans Heroes can convert (without stretching, I recall) to 16:9... Seriously looked good.

Just wondering.

[Ricky]

Was going on fellas !6:9 is the way to go I got that out the way.Just came back from J&R or they had were Sony's and Samsung's and one Elite.They or look the same the picture looked smash from topo to bottom the people look like midgets (sorry small people) on or the sets. The Elite look the same but Still the best picture.(out of price range) Was up with that calibaration problems i guess.Thats not the picture you guys get home is it,also went to P.C Richards (I know high prices just looking) I so the most amazing picture on a LCD monitor from Panasonic I know way out of my league. They were showing promotional Discovery Channel HD (one of my favorites) my god the insects you could grab them even my girlfriend notice the difference.The clarity was unbelivable thats what I'm talking about can I get that picture on a Toshiba or any RV thats what I want.Coulding find no Toshibas on displays just almost or were Sony's.Toshibas HDX82 has DVI inputs I read on other forums that they just upgradable.Was the difference between the HDX82 HX82 H82.Can a Toshiba give me what I want.Oh I also saw the Sony Grand Wega 60in XBR I don't know if it was'nt set up right the picture sucked $6400 for what no way.I want that 3D picture that LCD had willing to spend $3000-.

Ricky (my god this is addictive)

[Ricky]

P.S no Kevinw I do not need a tv I want a new tv electronic buff. I watch Resident Evil in my 32in and the picture clarity was beautyfull.Look in the back of the DVD is recorded in HD.So I say in a HD tv it must be breathless.
Oh by the way nice to meet you guys.
Ricky, N.Y Manhattan anybody from my way. P.S to tweak your tv do you have to open the back panel.

[calabria]

Woohhh! Hold on there Ricky!! Don't be tinkerin' with something you know nothing about. :eek: Calibrating a TV should be left to the folks that are trained and have the proper equipment (ISF techies). You don't need to open up the back. Every TV has service codes that are accessible via certain remote/front panel controls. Even if you get into the service mode, you'll need all that expensive equipment to do things like gray scale tracking/color temperature, brightness, etc. IF you know what to change, you could modify things like geometry and stuff, but if you put in the wrong settings, you COULD ruin you TV! :(

Did J&R have the new Zenith C34W23? That's the TV I've had for about a month (still trying to decide if I want to keep it). Talk about 3D!!!! HDTV looks stunning on this direct view widescreen (built in tuner). I know they carry it.

[kevinw]

WHEN I said tweaking I mean using an Avia or SV disc....adjusting things with user available controls..I got nervous just doing a 56pt in the service mode...I would get proffesional to do any thing mechanical or otherwise.

[Ricky]

Calabria I never said I was going to open the back panel it's just that when I purshuse my HDTV it would be place were it would be imposible to remove the panel, thats all,Im not that stupid I always leave it to the pros. No they had a Sony 34in nice picture a little grainy no 3D. 34in to small for me. Why you taking back your set.
Ricky

[calabria]

Hey Ricky,
No, it didn't sound like you were ready to open the back of your set, HOWEVER, in the event that it crossed your mind, I thought I'd just mention it. You had mentioned that you were a newbie and I wasn't sure what your knowledge was on the topic. Just FYI:D

Well, I'm actually in the middle of doing a review of the Zenith TV, so once I've completed the review, (and depending on the outcome), I'll decide if I want to purchase it or send it back. Overall I'm very pleased with the set so far, with the exception that it doesn't accept a progressive signal from the DVD component input. I'm still trying to get over this. ;)

[Ricky]

My apology I did'nt mean nothing by it, it sound like a nice job.Have you ever got to review any of the Sony's XBR800's or the Toshibas HDX82 HD82 after the link that Wooger gave me to read im back to sqare one.

[calabria]

I'd love to get my hands on the 34XBR800 to review. Not yet!

[Ricky]

So direct view WS for you no RV It's WS the way to go.

[calabria]

As I had mentioned in a previous post, it really depends on your needs and application. I've got a 50" RPTV (analog) that I use in my home theater room. When I upgrade that TV, it will be a widescreen RPTV, but not anytime soon. A direct view widescreen gives a great HD picture. If you're going to use the TV for mostly movies (DVD), and you've got the room (and the proper viewing distance, and the proper viewing angle), a RPTV may suit you better. Again, it all comes down to your application. A RPTV in my family room would have taken up more space than I can afford.
Ralph

[Ricky]

Ralph you review alot of tv's you can't get that 3D clarity from RV that you get from direct view can you ? . I still can't get to find it from display model.

[calabria]

You have to be careful when viewing TVs on the showroom floor. Most are set WAY too bright (contrast). Also, a lot of showrooms are not showing true HD feeds. Some show DVD loops, some are showing OTA digital SDTV. Best Buys TVs look terrible because of the feed they're given. Even a good HDTV will not look good with a poor signal.

[Mott441]

Why hasn't anybody suggested the Largest 16X9 direct view HD television in the world - The RCAF38? I love this set. You can purchase it for under 2 grand and you won't need to purchase the HD tuner or the satellite tuner because they're both self contained inside of the set(ching ching). You even save more money because you won't need to purchase any of those monster HD cables either(ching ching).

[Ratman]

I agree. The RCA F38310 is the best bang for the buck. Under $2K. built in tuner. 38" Direct View.

Coming out of the gate, she had a mess 'o problems. Today, out of the box, could be some geometry problems. But... there are a TON of resources to help resolve most quirky issues yourself.

[calabria]

Spoken by a proud owner of the F38310! :D If only it had a flat screeen!

[Ricky]

That was my first tv in mind but after all the bad reviews on it out of the question, and no flat screen.