HDTV Inquiry

[Slormer]

I have recently been investigating various HDTV's, more for gaming than actual television. I just saw THIS (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0770HDS0010075035&catid=) one in the recent flyer. I'm nowhere near close to going out and getting it, but I was just wondering if this is the type I should be looking at, and if there are any major oversights I'm not seeing that make this a bad choice. I see some "No's" in the chart for 3:2 pull down etc... but I don't even know what some of those are or if they are necessary. All I know is that some people say plasma has a high burn in rate, and are a bit more expensive. I think I read on here that I want a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1280x720 because that is the native res of the 360. Thanks in advance to any TV Guru's who reply.

[PerpetualHeaven]

This is a good TV for its money. Best part is I looked up the inputs and it has two HDMI ports. It looks like it's definitely worth it but go to futureshop before you buy it. Hook up your 360 and check how it looks. It has all the inputs and stuff and looks like a solid TV. Test it out before you buy though.

edit: Also, I looked at the customer ratings and it got a 4.4/5. I was reading over the customer reviews themselves. Here are some:

"This is an excellent TV. Picture quality is very good even with regular cable. Has up-conversion built in. You will not be disappointed with performance. Super value."

"I bought this TV after my first big screen TV a 46 AKAI brand, with DLP etc. went Poof after a few months Luckily, I was able to get my money back bought from a members only wholesaler so I shopped around for something with a respectable name brand. This Hitachi fit the bill and WHAT A DIFFERENCE The picture quality is amazing. You can select one of three pre-set video settings Day, Day-Dynamic, and Night each of which can be changed to suit your own preferences. It has none of the wash-out blandness of a cheap TV set no boxiness, blurring, or fuzziness just rich, deep colours and a crisp, clear image. It's not just a case of oh, it looks ok, for a rear-projection TV because the picture quality is actually better than my 4 year old 27 Sony Trinitron, and that's at 480i, since I don't have High Definition programming yet The only down side was I had some difficulty setting up the peripherals. The TV set will not accept a signal via co-axial cable inputs from my digital cable receiver. If you have digital cable, you may have trouble running a the cable from the wall to device A, to device B, to the TV. Make sure you have Component Cables such as Red, White, and Yellow RCA cables or an S-Video cable plus audio cables Red and White. or HDMI, etc. see the details for the TV for a complete list It took a day or two of frustration to get it set up properly, but what a pay-off. I recommend this set very highly."

"Beautiful Design especially with matching stand.Easy to set up , good picture and sound controls. Has Dual HDMI inputs which is nice . Very nice picture and sound . Fan is decently quiet for an LCD projection . A very good TV for the price"

Good reviews. Last thing is left just check it out for yourself. I think it's personally worth the money. Either that or you can save up more for a 1080p TV with 2 HDMI ports so you can future proof entirely. But that's around 700-800 more.

[Slormer]

OK cool. I just didn't know if there was anything big that it was missing. You cleared it up. Thanks.

[KindCandy]

Cooool PerpetualHeaven (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/member.php?u=2002)

[FrothyOmen]

Either that or you can save up more for a 1080p TV with 2 HDMI ports so you can future proof entirely. But that's around 700-800 more.

Well, actually 500 more :p

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Televisions/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12867/N/20012866+20012867+40001426+4590/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do

The first one is what I have (except in 46" instead of 50"), and the second one is a 50" but in 1080p. Since they are DLP, they are incredibly more cost-effective than a Plasma or LCD. You could probably buy 2 40-50" DLPs for the same price as one LCD, and I personally don't see a difference between the two types other than LCD is slim and can be hung on the wall. But go to a store and look for yourself, you may think that DLP (Or LCD Projection, it's basically the same thing, just called somthing different by different companies...) is pure suck and LCD is great, but it's all preference. Words on the internet don't mean a thing, you've gotta see it for yourself to choose, or you may end up regretting your choice.

[richie0331]

hitachi? no thx...i have the 40" sony bravia and it is freakin amazing with my onkyo ht-s790 surround sound

[PerpetualHeaven]

Well, actually 500 more :p

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Televisions/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12867/N/20012866+20012867+40001426+4590/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do

The first one is what I have (except in 46" instead of 50"), and the second one is a 50" but in 1080p. Since they are DLP, they are incredibly more cost-effective than a Plasma or LCD. You could probably buy 2 40-50" DLPs for the same price as one LCD, and I personally don't see a difference between the two types other than LCD is slim and can be hung on the wall. But go to a store and look for yourself, you may think that DLP (Or LCD Projection, it's basically the same thing, just called somthing different by different companies...) is pure suck and LCD is great, but it's all preference. Words on the internet don't mean a thing, you've gotta see it for yourself to choose, or you may end up regretting your choice.

Dude he's canadian not American.

[FrothyOmen]

Dude he's canadian not American.

Wow, his post even has Canadian flags all over it too, I wonder how I missed that :eek:

[Gunstar Chaos]

No keep going I'm American and I'm looking for a new tv. So just put an American flag for the America people and Canadian for the Canada people.

[SteelerXBox360]

No keep going I'm American and I'm looking for a new tv. So just put an American flag for the America people and Canadian for the Canada people.

If I were you I would stick to a budget and buy only what you can either afford now or you could do what I did last year and opened up a Best Buy credit card account and have until 2009 to pay it off...the interest builds up but as long as you pay it off by then you won't have to pay any extra $ and get the TV now...I plan on paying mine when I get my tax check this year...

As far as types of TVs go: LCD is the best for gaming, Plasma for DVDs, I don't know too much about DLP but it seems like a good alternative. I would also stick with a name brand, if all possible and decide how big a room that it is for. I chose a 42" Plasma for my room which is big but I sit closer than most so I didn't want to be scanning the set to watch something...if I were to get a set now though it would be LCD most likely as they are better for gaming and I bought my TV before my 360 which is why I chose Plasma.

But don't worry about burn-in (Plasma) as long as you take care of it and mix up the programming, not watching sports tickers 24x7, etc.

For a medium sized room, 32" - 42" should be plenty big. For a larger room then go 50" or larger...

Also, check for the equipment you own or plan on owning and get the right # of input connections, such as:

Video
-----
HDMI (DVR, HDDVD), DVI (DVD), VGA (360), Component (360, DVR), S-Video (DVD, VCR), Composite (VCR),

Audio
-----
Optical/Tos-link (Receiver) and/or Stereo (Receiver)

Other important factors: Conrast Ratio (3,000:1 or higher), Resolution (1280x720 or higher for 720p HD), Widescreen (16:9 AR), Brightness 1,000 cd/m² or more

One last note: If you don't want a slim TV for space consideration or wall mount, you can probably save a ton of $ on a rear-projection model...

[PerpetualHeaven]

My plan is to just buy a 1080p TV with 2 HDMI ports so that way it's fully futureproofed. One HDMI for blu-ray and/or Hd-dvd and one hdmi for 7.1 surround sound. So for me i'm just saving money up at the moment and waiting for prices to drop. I'll probably buy my TV from America since they're a lot cheaper there.

[SteelerXBox360]

My plan is to just buy a 1080p TV with 2 HDMI ports so that way it's fully futureproofed. One HDMI for blu-ray and/or Hd-dvd and one hdmi for 7.1 surround sound. So for me i'm just saving money up at the moment and waiting for prices to drop. I'll probably buy my TV from America since they're a lot cheaper there.

Good plan. It is always wise to save your $ and get what you really want plus 1080p while all the talk, is not widely used right now. If you are overseas, don't you need your TV to be PAL instead of NTSC?

[PerpetualHeaven]

Good plan. It is always wise to save your $ and get what you really want plus 1080p while all the talk, is not widely used right now. If you are overseas, don't you need your TV to be PAL instead of NTSC?

I'm in Canada :)
But yeah 1080p isn't widely used but it's better just to get it now then have 720p go out of style in 4-5 years. Don't have money coming out of my pockets so i'm just hoping to get something good that will stay good. I may change my mind we'll see what the road paves.