Archived Calgarypuck HDTV, LCD, TV, etc. Help/Advice Thread

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by photon

Me too!

On their site you can see the different criteria:

http://www.jdpower.com/electronics/r.../hdtv/37-to-49

Even by display quality, LG is still higher than I would have thought.

Thanks for the info photon. This gives me a bit more information to make a decision with.

burns2002You should look at the replacement warranty. Does it take 1 or 5 dead pixels before you get a replacement. I went with a sony over LG for that reason.

I'll have to check that out. Is it dependent on the place I buy it at? The problem is Sony's are quite a bit more expensive.

[Cerebral]

Erp, wrong forum!

[Vulcan]

Here's a 40" Samsung 1080p for $1698 for your consideration.
http://www.thebrick.com/Application/...2DC9388E596770

Here's a better one for $1798
http://www.thebrick.com/Application/...2DC9388E596770

[Top Shelf]

Originally Posted by simmer2

I'm finally looking at buying a flat screen TV, as prices have come down to a pretty affordable level.

We're going for a 42" TV because the room is a little smaller and I really don't know whether to go with Plasma or LCD. It looks I can get a 1080p LCD for the same price as a regular plasma without the 1080p.

The one that has kind of peaked my interest is the LG 42LB5D 42" 1080p LCD HDTV. It has a refresh rate of 5ms and a 7000:1 contrast ratio, both of which seem quite good. The price is also reasonable at $1699.

I guess these are my questions:

1) Should I go with 1080p LCD if I can, or a plasma that doesn't have 1080p? Plasma's with that technology are getting out of my price range. (Looking to spend around $1700).

2) Does anybody have the LG TV I'm talking about? All the reviews I've read sounded good, except for the CNET one which has me worried.

3) Can anyone recommend something better than what I've found, or at least send me on the right direction? I'm going to be watching movies and sports, that's about it.

My buddy at work is looking at a home theater package and he found what looks like a decent deal at the Brick. It's a pretty sweet TV, and the sound system is almost like a throw-in, check it out.

http://thebrick.com/Application/Cart...Code=KDL40VHTP

I know some people will say negative things about the Home Theater in a Box, but if you're looking for bang for your buck, that deal looks pretty good. For $1998, a decent deal I think.

The Sony Bravia LCD also happens to be at the top of Photon's list

I guess what makes this a deal is if you have an existing sound system.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

I know some people will say negative things about the Home Theater in a Box, but if you're looking for bang for your buck, that deal looks pretty good. For $1998, a decent deal I think.

That same TV is on "sale" for $1999 at Best Buy, so getting the HTiB for free makes it a good deal.

I also echo the choice of the Bravia as well. I borrowed one for Superbowl just prior to getting my TV (A Dell branded Phillips TV) and I found the Sony to be much better.

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

My buddy at work is looking at a home theater package and he found what looks like a decent deal at the Brick. It's a pretty sweet TV, and the sound system is almost like a throw-in, check it out.

http://thebrick.com/Application/Cart...Code=KDL40VHTP

I know some people will say negative things about the Home Theater in a Box, but if you're looking for bang for your buck, that deal looks pretty good. For $1998, a decent deal I think.

The Sony Bravia LCD also happens to be at the top of Photon's list

I guess what makes this a deal is if you have an existing sound system.

Yeah, we do have a sound system at home we're likely going to hook it up to, so I don't know if I'd spring for the boxed deal. It is a pretty good deal, but I'll likely just spend my money on the TV itself. But which one to get...it's a good problem to have I suppose.

[TimSJ]

I am looking at the following package at Futureshop..

Any comments on whether this is a good investment for me. It is on for a price of $2999

Samsung 1080p 46" Widescreen LCD HDTV** (LNT4661F)
Samsung Blu-ray Player (BD-P1400)
Yamaha Speaker Package (NSAP7800PKG)
Yamaha 5.1 Channel A/V Receiver (HTR6030B)

Thanks for the help as always CP

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by photon

There are some others, make sure and get one that's HDMI 1.3a.

Just curious, what is the difference?

I'm guessing better speed which will make a difference as we go towards 1080p and 1440p- is that it?

Just have a buddy who wants me to help him fish some HDMI cable, and he's current balking at the price.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just curious, what is the difference?

I'm guessing better speed which will make a difference as we go towards 1080p and 1440p- is that it?

Just have a buddy who wants me to help him fish some HDMI cable, and he's current balking at the price.

Bandwidth is the main difference. It will allow up to 16bit colourspaces (even though everything HD right now is 8bit). I also allows some Audio improvements to allow things like Dolby-TrueHD to be passed to an external decoder.

So really, all 1.3a does is futureproof yourself.

Here is a good explanation
http://www.audioholics.com/education...g-hdmi-ver-1.3

[ken0042]

Thanks Bobblehead. I'm just trying to talk my buddy out of running component cable and getting HDMI instead.

So would you agree with the following:
Component <<<<<<< HDMI 1.0 << HDMI 1.3a

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Thanks Bobblehead. I'm just trying to talk my buddy out of running component cable and getting HDMI instead.

So would you agree with the following:
Component <<<<<<< HDMI 1.0 << HDMI 1.3a

Well, Component isn't actually that much different (video quality wise) from HDMI. I might only use one <

But if he is wanting to string component through is walls instead of HDMI he is shooting himself in the foot, bigtime. Main reason - Digital Rights Management.

Built into both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD spec is support for the Image Constraint Token (ICT). None of the studios have enabled it YET, but when they do, any HD movie that is not played on a system with a secure datapath will be downgraded to 540p. And a secure data path, as defined in the DRM specifications, mandates HDMI.

So if you buddy installs component right now, in a few years he will only be able to view movies in DVD quality because of the DRM.

[photon]

Agreed. Too bad too because component was so much nicer to run seeing as it's actual coaxial cable, far less worries about run length.

Oh well, my 35' HDMI cable from Monoprice works really well.

[return to the red]

wow so much to know when it comes to all this stuff. I'll have to tap into the vast expanse of knowledge that comes from CP

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Well, Component isn't actually that much different (video quality wise) from HDMI. I might only use one <

But if he is wanting to string component through is walls instead of HDMI he is shooting himself in the foot, bigtime. Main reason - Digital Rights Management.

Built into both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD spec is support for the Image Constraint Token (ICT). None of the studios have enabled it YET, but when they do, any HD movie that is not played on a system with a secure datapath will be downgraded to 540p. And a secure data path, as defined in the DRM specifications, mandates HDMI.

So if you buddy installs component right now, in a few years he will only be able to view movies in DVD quality because of the DRM.

From my reading DRM comes in a number of different versions. Windows, Apple, Sony, etc all have their own versions and maybe one of them mandates HDMI but the generally accepted form by Intel is HDCP which uses DVI and HDMI connections. Where this becomes important is with computers interfacing with your home theater as most computers have only a digital DVI connection. This is why it's important when buying video cards and monitors to have a HDCP enabled DVI connection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP

[Vulcan]

Bell ExpressVu is coming out with their long awaited mpeg 4 HD satellite receiver tomorrow. It is model number 9242 PVR with 30 hrs HD recording time. Not much of an improvement over the 9200 but it is mpeg 4 so it should future proof you when Bell upgrades their system giving them more HD bandwidth for a better picture and more HD channels. The price seems to be $599 but not sure and there should be some sales for the older 9200. Here's a link.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=72348

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Bell ExpressVu is coming out with their long awaited mpeg 4 HD satellite receiver tomorrow. It is model number 9242 PVR with 30 hrs HD recording time. Not much of an improvement over the 9200 but it is mpeg 4 so it should future proof you when Bell upgrades their system giving them more HD bandwidth for a better picture and more HD channels. The price seems to be $599 but not sure and there should be some sales for the older 9200. Here's a link.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=72348

So is Bell a decent option for a cable supplier?

[ken0042]

Bell usually has the best content as far as number of channels available. However their customer service........ well without trying to circumvent the swear filter, I really don't like it.

If you do go with Bell, any time anybody promises you anything, get their name and CSR code, and record that along with the date and time of the call. And when the eventual peeing match starts, tell them that you are recording the phone call for your own records.

[return to the red]

so now that you guys have gone waaaayyy over my head lets dumb it down a bit. Seems how there really are only a few actual manufacturers. Does it really make sense to purchase a Pioneer or Panasonic Plasma over a Toshiba, Samsung, etc.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by photon

That takes a signal and splits it, what you need is an HDMI switcher like Juventus3 was asking about, and a DVI to HDMI cable. Then you can switch between the HDMI sources. You'll have to add audio cables as well.

Ok I so bought a DVI to HDMI cable, and a HDMI switcher, but there is no video on the tv. Is there some setting I have to change on my computer?

[photon]

You'll have to set the proper resolution I think, to the native resolution of your panel. Either 1366x768 or 1920x1080 usually.

Are you using as the primary display, or a secondary display?

EDIT: Sometimes it's not easy getting a video card to display on an LCD TV apparently, sometimes you have to use powerstrip to tweak the settings of the card to get it to work. You might have to search for people with the same video card and see what they did. In the past I just hooked it up and away it went, but apparently I've just been lucky.