HDTV Questions and Answers Thread

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Too bad a lot of the sammy DLP's have gaming issues & lip sync problems.. I viewed a 50inch Sammy & a 50inch Sony LCD RP HDTV at my job.. Both were 'calibrated', & both recived the same HD feed.. The Sony's picture was noticablly sharper & displayed richer colors.. Either set had a advantage.. I guess it'sa all based on opinions..

The lag on the Samsung DLP's is only for games not running at 720p. For the 360, since every game is output at that level, there should be no noticeable lag (I'll test this weekend once my bundle arrives). Also, the recent models have a "Game" mode, something that I just found out about today...which decreases the lag on non-720p sources (and it also happened to be the reason why I DID have lag on the 720p MVP 2005 for Xbox).

Ultimately though, just go with your eyes. I prefer DLP because of the blacks, high contrast, and the lack of motion blur/screen door effect. Watching "Sin City" last night, I was AGAIN in awe of how damn good the picture looks!

To each his own, but for those w/o an HDTV...you don't know what you are missing!

*I should also add that most of the movie lag is due to the splitting of the signal to a receiver and the TV. If your receiver has a delay function, it's a simple fix (with a standard 480p DVD player). With an upconverting player, outputting at 720p, there is no delay. They even have external audio delay devices that can be adjusted if it is that much of a problem. There is no audio delay when watching regular TV through the TV's speakers.*

[mjb2124]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Too bad a lot of the sammy DLP's have gaming issues & lip sync problems..

I know I've said this before to you, but I've never seen lag or lip sync issues on any source on my Sammy DLP. Not for gaming (Xbox and now 360), not for DVD's, not for HDTV....nothing. I know some people have complained about it, but I don't see it and I've TRIED to see it.

It's personal opinion like I said before. I haven't seen an LCD that can come close to the picture quality on my DLP. Not one.

[koolbubbaice]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

I know I've said this before to you, but I've never seen lag or lip sync issues on any source on my Sammy DLP. Not for gaming (Xbox and now 360), not for DVD's, not for HDTV....nothing. I know some people have complained about it, but I don't see it and I've TRIED to see it.

It's personal opinion like I said before. I haven't seen an LCD that can come close to the picture quality on my DLP. Not one.

Not all Sammy DLP's do.. But enough to cause many unhappy owners.. AVS has a huge thread about this problem.

[wayne23]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Can somebody who has the Samsung HL-R4266W DLP tell me if I can use PIP if I have satellite? And please just say yes or no. I've had this TV since Nov.11 and I've been to different HD websites as well as talked to Samsung's worthless technical support and still I have nothing. I've been told "maybe this will work", maybe that will work... All I want to know is IF I can use my PIP feature for this television. Everytime I hit the dam PIP button on my remote, I get a message saying " NOT AVAILABLE IN EXTERNAL INPUT" What in the hell does this mean?

Sorry about the rant, but this is frustrating.

Thanks.

[deeman11747]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Can someone help me? I know absolutely next to nothing about HDTV's and I'm looking to buy one. Here what I got so far.

I want a 60 inch at a reasonable price so the Best Buy guy suggested a 60 inch Sony Grand WEGA SXD High Definition TV. Its $4100 and its 1920x 1080.

Would this be good to play on with a 360/PS3. I was told it displays in 1080i and although its considered 1080p able... it won't broadcast in that so that made no sense to me.

Could someone help me?

Thanks.

[RailStone]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

I live in an apartment with my wife, (newly married) we have limited space and I was looking into the hdtv market. However, I oly have room for around a 27 inch. My question is this still possible to enter the hdtv market with that size, and if so, is it still worth it?

[cable guy]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Does anybody know if playing, say X-Box, will damage a Plasma TV?

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

I live in an apartment with my wife, (newly married) we have limited space and I was looking into the hdtv market. However, I oly have room for around a 27 inch. My question is this still possible to enter the hdtv market with that size, and if so, is it still worth it?

You can definitely get an HDTV at 26-27 inches. CRTs and LCDs come in that size. I could be wrong but I think plasmas start in the 34 or 37 inch range.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Does anybody know if playing, say X-Box, will damage a Plasma TV?

The burn-in issue has been WAY overstated on several forums. You should not have any problem playing your Xbox or any game console on a rear projection CRT or Plasma if you follow a few basic, idiot-proof steps:

1)Do not leave your game or any program paused for several hours at a time. The static image can then "burn-in".

2)Do not leave your TV on one of the damn scrolling news channels (CNN, Fox News) for hours at a time.

3)Do not leave your TV on one of the stations with a station logo for hours at a time.

Turn your TV off in the above situations.

and most important...

4)TURN DOWN THE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST IN YOUR USER PICTURE SETTINGS!!!!

The last thing is vital since every TV comes out of the box with very high brightness and contrast. The reason is that retailers need the picture to be visible with bright flourescent floor lighting.

Your best bet would be to purchase either the "Avia Guide to Home Theater" or "Digital Video Essentials" on DVD. These will both walk you through some proper picture calibration steps, which will help with setting the proper levels of brightness and contrast. Another option is to use one of the THX Optimizers on several DVD's (the Episode II Optimizer is generally considered accurate for regular TV and DVD viewing...others are catered to the specific movie).

It's really a simple fix, and you should still be able to get a great picture with brightness and contrast turned down. The major issue is for those with the two settings very high, where in those situations watching CSI (a dark show) with the CBS logo (which will stick out with high contrast whites) will cause the residual "burned in" image.

Good luck! And let us know how you like your TV.

I live in an apartment with my wife, (newly married) we have limited space and I was looking into the hdtv market. However, I oly have room for around a 27 inch. My question is this still possible to enter the hdtv market with that size, and if so, is it still worth it?

It's DEFINATELY worth it to enter the HDTV market. If your aren't looking at a super budget HDTV, I would suggest the Sharp Aquous LCD sets. For about $1200, you can get a 26" widescreen which is absolutely gorgeous (three hundred more for a 32"). These sets are the top of the line for flat panel LCD's.

Another option are the Samsung Dynaflat screens. These are also 16:9 and are much more affordable...plus you get the benefits of the CRT black levels (just don't expect mind blowing HDTV images).

Can someone help me? I know absolutely next to nothing about HDTV's and I'm looking to buy one. Here what I got so far.

I want a 60 inch at a reasonable price so the Best Buy guy suggested a 60 inch Sony Grand WEGA SXD High Definition TV. Its $4100 and its 1920x 1080.

Would this be good to play on with a 360/PS3. I was told it displays in 1080i and although its considered 1080p able... it won't broadcast in that so that made no sense to me.

Could someone help me?

Thanks.

The SXRD's are the one of the most highly rated sets on the market now. They are one of the few that can do 1080p. The problem, as you mentioned, is that nothing is broadcast in 1080p. The most peformance-wise you can expect is for the TV to scale all of your 1080i HD broadcasts to 1080p (which will be an improvement).

For PS3, since it's rumored that it will display native 1080p images (and Blu-Ray DVD's), the set is ideal, though a native 720p set will still display PS3 and Blu-Ray (and 720p is the native resolution for Xbox 360).

My suggestion would be to wait at least a year, when the cost should drop at least $500. If you are looking at a TV, and it's affordable to go 1080p, do it. Just don't expect a lot of support broadcast and resolution wise for a very long time. Hell, only a third of all TV's in the country are HD now, and most are the scaled 1080i CRT's. Even with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, I imagine that most will only output 720p and 1080i (and each player will probably have it's own native resolution output).

If you want a TV now, you can't go wrong buying a native 720p DLP or LCD for $2500 and getting a nice upconverting DVD player or sound system for the same cost as your 1080p set (if not a larger set).

[cable guy]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

The burn-in issue has been WAY overstated on several forums. You should not have any problem playing your Xbox or any game console on a rear projection CRT or Plasma if you follow a few basic, idiot-proof steps:

1)Do not leave your game or any program paused for several hours at a time. The static image can then "burn-in".

2)Do not leave your TV on one of the damn scrolling news channels (CNN, Fox News) for hours at a time.

3)Do not leave your TV on one of the stations with a station logo for hours at a time.

Turn your TV off in the above situations.

and most important...

4)TURN DOWN THE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST IN YOUR USER PICTURE SETTINGS!!!!

The last thing is vital since every TV comes out of the box with very high brightness and contrast. The reason is that retailers need the picture to be visible with bright flourescent floor lighting.

Your best bet would be to purchase either the "Avia Guide to Home Theater" or "Digital Video Essentials" on DVD. These will both walk you through some proper picture calibration steps, which will help with setting the proper levels of brightness and contrast. Another option is to use one of the THX Optimizers on several DVD's (the Episode II Optimizer is generally considered accurate for regular TV and DVD viewing...others are catered to the specific movie).

It's really a simple fix, and you should still be able to get a great picture with brightness and contrast turned down. The major issue is for those with the two settings very high, where in those situations watching CSI (a dark show) with the CBS logo (which will stick out with high contrast whites) will cause the residual "burned in" image.

Good luck! And let us know how you like your TV.



It's DEFINATELY worth it to enter the HDTV market. If your aren't looking at a super budget HDTV, I would suggest the Sharp Aquous LCD sets. For about $1200, you can get a 26" widescreen which is absolutely gorgeous (three hundred more for a 32"). These sets are the top of the line for flat panel LCD's.

Another option are the Samsung Dynaflat screens. These are also 16:9 and are much more affordable...plus you get the benefits of the CRT black levels (just don't expect mind blowing HDTV images).

Thankyou very much!

I printed out your reply.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Thankyou very much!

I printed out your reply.

No problem, glad to help. As long as someone is smart, there shouldn't be a problem with any burn-in. Check avsforum.com as well. They have much more knowledge on the issue. A lot of technological advancements have nearly eliminated the burn-in problem for all current sets, regardless of display type (CRT or Plasma). Mostly the burn-in issue is used as a scare tactic. It CAN still be an issue, but only if you are careless with your viewing. Before you calibrate, be sure to turn the contrast down first...some of the test patterns are pure white on black.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

Can somebody who has the Samsung HL-R4266W DLP tell me if I can use PIP if I have satellite? And please just say yes or no. I've had this TV since Nov.11 and I've been to different HD websites as well as talked to Samsung's worthless technical support and still I have nothing. I've been told "maybe this will work", maybe that will work... All I want to know is IF I can use my PIP feature for this television. Everytime I hit the dam PIP button on my remote, I get a message saying " NOT AVAILABLE IN EXTERNAL INPUT" What in the hell does this mean?

Sorry about the rant, but this is frustrating.

Thanks.

As far as I know, you can only use the PIP feature if you are using the cable card and built-in HD tuner. You could always route the coaxial from the satellite box into the TV, which might solve the PIP problem.

I know it's frustrating, as I like the PIP during football Sunday's. I'm not willing to give up my DVR though for the feature (I have a HL-R5067W by the way).

[deeman11747]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

The SXRD's are the one of the most highly rated sets on the market now. They are one of the few that can do 1080p. The problem, as you mentioned, is that nothing is broadcast in 1080p. The most peformance-wise you can expect is for the TV to scale all of your 1080i HD broadcasts to 1080p (which will be an improvement).

For PS3, since it's rumored that it will display native 1080p images (and Blu-Ray DVD's), the set is ideal, though a native 720p set will still display PS3 and Blu-Ray (and 720p is the native resolution for Xbox 360).

My suggestion would be to wait at least a year, when the cost should drop at least $500. If you are looking at a TV, and it's affordable to go 1080p, do it. Just don't expect a lot of support broadcast and resolution wise for a very long time. Hell, only a third of all TV's in the country are HD now, and most are the scaled 1080i CRT's. Even with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, I imagine that most will only output 720p and 1080i (and each player will probably have it's own native resolution output).

If you want a TV now, you can't go wrong buying a native 720p DLP or LCD for $2500 and getting a nice upconverting DVD player or sound system for the same cost as your 1080p set (if not a larger set).

Thanks a lot.

[Blzer]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

JtS, would you ever recommend a refurbished 30" CRT for $400? I mean... I can give you the specs and everything, but sources say that it's a terrific TV. I'm just wondering if going refurbished would be okay (considering price is a heavily emphasized option [damn parents]).

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: HDTV Questions and Answer Thread

JtS, would you ever recommend a refurbished 30" CRT for $400? I mean... I can give you the specs and everything, but sources say that it's a terrific TV. I'm just wondering if going refurbished would be okay (considering price is a heavily emphasized option [damn parents]).

You probably won't have a problem with a refurbished set as long as it was done by a reputable company and they offer some sort of return policy. If not buyer beware. I'll glance at the specs but I'm not sure what I can tell you. But if the price is right...

I envy you kids when a 30" TV is a problem with parents. I didn't even have a TV in my room until my freshman year of college, when I was playing PS1 on a 13" tube. Now six years later I can enjoy them on my 50" DLP, but man, 30" or larger in your room? That would have been sweet! Some of you kids have it so good.