Buying a TV & EDTV vs. HDTV

[Frequitude]

So I'm moving into my own place and am in the market this weekend for a TV. I went to Future Shop yesterday to do some research and here's what I "learned":

-Only the really really expensive LCD tv's have a fast enough pixel refresh rate to make regular cable not all cloudy
-Plasma TV's are better for sports and regular tv, but poorer for games because the still images (lifemeter, scoreboard, etc.) can burn themselves into the screen after a number of hours.
-Enhanced Definition TV's (EDTV's) are just like High Definition TV's (HDTV's) but have slightly larger pixels, so slightly less resolution.

Anyone have some input on what I "learned", or was it just a sell job? Can someone give me their thoughts on EDTV vs. HDTV. There was a sweet 40" plasma EDTV that is going to be on sale for $1499 this weekend and I would like to buy it.

And finally, can someone recommend a TV based on:
-32" to 40" size
-$1500 budget
-I'll probably watch 30% sports, 30% sports hilights, 20% video games, 10% news and 10% tv shows.
-I will buy an HD box and plan to get the sports HD channels.

[ken0042]

I'll repeat what I said before: Don't waste your money on an EDTV.
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=29465
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=27523

[worth]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy an EDTV either. You don't have to get the HD programming if you buy an HDTV, but it allows you to in the future if you want to.

EDTV is pretty much obsolete because evryone is going to HDTV. I wouldn't want to limit myself.

[underGRADFlame]

I was at Memory Express 2 days ago and stopped and looked at the Acer and Viewsonic LCD's and was pretty impressed. For the price they're a steal (32" starting at 1099 and 37" starting at 1699). I would suggest checking out Soundsurround Sale though.

And I agree with the posts above EDTV is a waste unless all you do is watch DVD movies, its all its good for.

[nfotiu]

I'll repeat what I've said before. If there is a big difference in price, and price is a concern, going with an EDTV in the 42 inch range is not a bad choice, especially if you'll be sitting a good distance away. I'd pick a good 42 inch ED plasma like a Panasonic over a cheap hdtv plasma. The Panasonic will likely have a better contrast ration, better blacks, better colours and other qualities that make for an overall better viewing experience. Personally when it comes to good picture quality that are many other considerations other than resolution, and some of them are more important I'd say.

EDTV is not going to be obsolete. EDTV's do a good job of showing HDTV, just not in its full resolution. Keep in mind that many HDTV's (especially some of the cheaper ones), will only take half the 1080i picture and scale a 540p picture to its native resolution, basically acting like an EDTV anyway.

Plasma burn-in on current models is essentially non-existent unless you are being really abusive.

I don't have any HD/ED biases, I have a 50" HD plasma.

[ken0042]

Just curious; why no bigger than a 40"? I ask because I say it's better to buy a projection HDTV (either LCD or DLP) than it is to buy a plasma EDTV. Forget about "It's cool to hang it on the wall" because that to me is a very silly reason to buy a poorer quality TV.

Nevermind how it can be a PITA to run cables to said wall hung TV.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I agree with Ken.
I bought a 44 inch DLP last year and I couldn't be happier. I got a good deal and got a great TV for $1500.
Good luck getting a plasma for that much.

[shane_c]

I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma EDTV and am very happy with it. I have it connected to my Bell HD receiver. The picture on the HD channels is amazing.

[newts]

I have a 42" Samsung EDTV plasma and have an HD box hooked up...can't even tell the difference from the HDTV counterpart.

[ken0042]

I'm sure it looks great Shane. I know when I had my Bell HD box connected to my SDTV it also looked amazing. Then during SuperBowl I borrowed a true HDTV and left my old SDTV connected as well- trying to give the "sports bar" look to my house. As soon as the better TV was connected the old one looked like crap.

I'm not saying that an EDTV will look like crap. I'm saying an HDTV will look so much better; so instead of buying a EDTV plasma; buy an HDTV LCD and enjoy a better picture.

[Reaper]

I think a lot of people are unnecessarily bashing EDTV's here.

I'm not going to argue that EDTV is better than HDTV or anything crazy like that but EDTV is not the waste that a lot of people are making it out to be. For my wife and I, it was smarter to buy a name brand EDTV plasma as opposed to a Prima or Norcent or "Sorny" HDTV.

For starters, we have a limited budget and we can't afford to buy a quality HDTV plasma and pay for HDTV programming. Since we would be displaying standard definition television and DVD signals it would have been a waste of money to pay 1/3 more money for the HD version of our television. We would wind up with a picture that displays more flaws of the incoming signal due to it's higher definition. In essence, we are making the lower resolution of the EDTV work for us by magnifying fewer source flaws than an HDTV would.

By purchasing a name brand EDTV plasma as opposed to an Off brand HDTV we were able to get more features in our television (number of inputs, picture in picture, better contrast and colour definition). We weighed the possibility of DLP televisions as well but we found that we desired a more consistent view no matter what the angle, the ergonomics of a flat panel television worked better for our needs and that hockey simply looked better on a plasma as opposed to a DLP. For us, buying an HDTV would have been like buying a Ferrari for daily driving on Baffin Island. Sure, it's still a Ferrari but when a snowmobile is more suited to the terrain you drive every day then you're really just paying for the status of saying "I have a Ferrari."

If we could afford to have HDTV programming, an HD-DVD player and a name brand HDTV Plasma we would have gone that route. If that option is viable for you then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. However, I don't feel a need to crap on your choices should the absolute best in television viewing not fit realistically into your life.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by newts

I have a 42" Samsung EDTV plasma and have an HD box hooked up...can't even tell the difference from the HDTV counterpart.

Samsung SPR 4212?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Reaper

For my wife and I, it was smarter to buy a name brand EDTV plasma as opposed to a Prima or Norcent or "Sorny" HDTV.

Reminds me of a SNL skit from the 90's: "I didn't say it had Sony guts. I said it was like Sony guts."

But I do agree with what you said there. Buying a Panasonic plasma EDTV would be better IMHO as well than buying an off brand plasma HDTV. (Way better in fact.)

What I was trying to suggest was (once again IMHO) it is better to go with a Panasonic LCD or DLP Projection than to buy a Panasonic plasma EDTV.

[newts]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Samsung SPR 4212?

yep

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by newts

yep

Great black levels. Excellent for hockey.

[Mightyfire89]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I'll repeat what I've said before. If there is a big difference in price, and price is a concern, going with an EDTV in the 42 inch range is not a bad choice, especially if you'll be sitting a good distance away. I'd pick a good 42 inch ED plasma like a Panasonic over a cheap hdtv plasma. The Panasonic will likely have a better contrast ration, better blacks, better colours and other qualities that make for an overall better viewing experience. Personally when it comes to good picture quality that are many other considerations other than resolution, and some of them are more important I'd say.

EDTV is not going to be obsolete. EDTV's do a good job of showing HDTV, just not in its full resolution. Keep in mind that many HDTV's (especially some of the cheaper ones), will only take half the 1080i picture and scale a 540p picture to its native resolution, basically acting like an EDTV anyway.

Plasma burn-in on current models is essentially non-existent unless you are being really abusive.

I don't have any HD/ED biases, I have a 50" HD plasma.

Well said, and I agree completely. Another factor to consider is in my experience, EDTVs do a better job of displaying non-HD channels (which still is, and will be for quite some time the vast majority of channels) than a full HDTV. I know this because I researched for close to a year before pulling the trigger on an HDTV. I bought a Toshiba 50" DLP. Got it home, set it up, and was horrified by the picture quality of almost all the non-HD channels. I took it back, got my refund and got myself a Panasonic 42" Plasma EDTV...Vast improvement over the DLP on the non-HD channels and the HD channels still look pretty damn sweet (much, much better than a regular TV). I couldn't be happier with my purchase, especially when I go over to friends' places and watch the regular channels on their HDTVs.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the ED vs HD thing. If you find a set you like, and can afford, buy it. By the time ALL channels are HD, you'll likely be ready for another new TV anyway.

Bottom line, I don't feel like I'm missing anything with my EDTV, and likely you wouldn't either.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Reaper

I'm not going to argue that EDTV is better than HDTV or anything crazy like that but EDTV is not the waste that a lot of people are making it out to be. For my wife and I, it was smarter to buy a name brand EDTV plasma as opposed to a Prima or Norcent or "Sorny" HDTV.

Originally Posted by ken0042

Reminds me of a SNL skit from the 90's: "I didn't say it had Sony guts. I said it was like Sony guts."

It was a Simpsons reference from the episode where the tv breaks and they go a far away television shop with such quality names as "Sorny" and "Magnetbox."

[White Doors]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Krack Korn

Well said, and I agree completely. Another factor to consider is in my experience, EDTVs do a better job of displaying non-HD channels (which still is, and will be for quite some time the vast majority of channels) than a full HDTV. I know this because I researched for close to a year before pulling the trigger on an HDTV. I bought a Toshiba 50" DLP. Got it home, set it up, and was horrified by the picture quality of almost all the non-HD channels. I took it back, got my refund and got myself a Panasonic 42" Plasma EDTV...Vast improvement over the DLP on the non-HD channels and the HD channels still look pretty damn sweet (much, much better than a regular TV). I couldn't be happier with my purchase, especially when I go over to friends' places and watch the regular channels on their HDTVs.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the ED vs HD thing. If you find a set you like, and can afford, buy it. By the time ALL channels are HD, you'll likely be ready for another new TV anyway.

Bottom line, I don't feel like I'm missing anything with my EDTV, and likely you wouldn't either.

I have a Toshiba 52" DLP and the regular channels look great. Did you hook via RCA jacks or just with coax? I don't understand why anyone would get an EDTV vs a HDTV, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

[Mightyfire89]

Originally Posted by White Doors

I have a Toshiba 52" DLP and the regular channels look great. Did you hook via RCA jacks or just with coax? I don't understand why anyone would get an EDTV vs a HDTV, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

No, I hooked it up with the component video connection (three different cables -red, green and blue).

Trust me, the picture for the regular channels was absolute garbage on the Toshiba I bought, maybe it was a lemon, I don't know, but I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of returning it if I didn't think it was worth it. Like I said, I don't feel I'm missing anything with my EDTV.

Glad you're happy with your TV though, these things are much too expensive to not be satisfied with what you have.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'm sure it looks great Shane. I know when I had my Bell HD box connected to my SDTV it also looked amazing. Then during SuperBowl I borrowed a true HDTV and left my old SDTV connected as well- trying to give the "sports bar" look to my house. As soon as the better TV was connected the old one looked like crap.

I'm not saying that an EDTV will look like crap. I'm saying an HDTV will look so much better; so instead of buying a EDTV plasma; buy an HDTV LCD and enjoy a better picture.

There is a big, big difference between sending an hd signal to a SDTV and sending it to an EDTV.

For one you are displaying it at 2/3s the resolution of even SDTV, since you are only taking advantage of the middle 2/3s of the picture. You are watching something like 640x350 interlaced. It looks better than regular tv because the feed is so much cleaner. An EDTV will display at 852x480 progressive. That is a huge improvement. No interlace lines for one thing.

The next thing is, you are sending an ATSC signal to an edtv through component cables or HDMI, which takes advantage of the better ATSC colour system. This is going give much better colours and picture, than an HDTV signal downconverted to NTSC. You are getting most of the benefits of HDTV in a good EDTV plasma.

Most people can't tell a difference between the HD and ED 42 inch panasonic plasma fed by hd signals side by side from over about 10 feet away.