Tv Help!!!

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:18 am

Yea, you should see the contrast on the new SXRD sony sets, though. They actually have an iris to control the blackness level.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:35 am

so does my mitsubishi CRT RP set from circa 2001.
To be honest though, those irises suck. Have the set ISF calibrated and then don't mess with it. That's the best way to get accurate color representation on NTSC sets.
My concern here was that he wants a big TV for under two grand, and that's a damned tight budget for a decent TV.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:32 am

I haven't heard of a tv having an iris before I started looking recently, I assumed they were relatively new on tv's. Whether the iris helps or not, I like the picture of the tv.

I'm going to need to find some ISF diy stuff if I can.

There are a few projection sets just under $2k that are 50"+. None of which will be above 720p or even have high def though. I don't think anyone should buy a tv without high definition today. If it lasts more than 5 years, you better hope that your cable company isn't entirely high def by then! I know that all air broadcast will be.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:43 pm

not really going to get ISF DIY.. ISF tuning is done by an ISF trained professional.
http://www.imagingscience.com/

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:08 am

William from NOLA wrote:DLP is no longer the best, it's been beaten out by LCOS. Sony has their version called SXRD.
Flatscreen LCD's have an expected lifespan of about 15 years. Plasmas have an expected lifespan of about 60,000 hours or around 8 years. Of course those are optimisic, but I don't think 3 years is accurate for the current ones.

I'm still seeing flat screens die within 3 months, and I'm feeling 3yrs is being optimistic. However, I'm not talking $2000+ sets, mostly 13" to 20" which may be using old technology to reach a low price point. I hate the fact that pixels die, and theres no way to avoid it... and Plasma's picture fades. It just seems like inherent technology issues make the investment unwise.

In addition, when shopping for televisions, all LCDs I looked at (watching Sabres hockey) felt like I was watching a blur. The puck blurred, the players blurred, I think it could give you motion sickness. Even the best set the particular showroom had, a Sony, was not very pleasing. This was a pretty big turn off for me. DLP seemed to do better in that regard.

Back to my Samsung:

Anyways, I got my HDTV digital cable box yesterday, so more appropriate viewing material ... the Samsung does quite well with HDTV channels. I can say this, black is VERY black, wow.

I also find the new cable box an improvement with Fox News or other non-HD channels. True that you can see more flaws, if present, but this is not a distraction... it's really only there if you look for it. Non-HD movie channels look great, even with old movies.

This cable box has component outputs, last box offered only composite or S-video. My DVD player (en route) will give me HDMI, for comparison. I hear component video connection can result in a little darker picture, but it remains to be seen, could just be a myth. My calibration is done via DVD, and since the HD player isn't here yet, the TV has not been calibrated yet.

I think dollar for dollar, this TV offers alot of bang for the buck. I felt uncomfortable getting into (other than CRT) technology which is still evolving, and still quite expensive. Even HDTV itself is still evolving. By going this route, if I want to upgrade in 5 years, it won't be such a big deal.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 5:01 am

_gonz_ wrote:I'm still seeing flat screens die within 3 months, and I'm feeling 3yrs is being optimistic. However, I'm not talking $2000+ sets, mostly 13" to 20" which may be using old technology to reach a low price point. I hate the fact that pixels die, and theres no way to avoid it... and Plasma's picture fades. It just seems like inherent technology issues make the investment unwise.
In addition, when shopping for televisions, all LCDs I looked at (watching Sabres hockey) felt like I was watching a blur. The puck blurred, the players blurred, I think it could give you motion sickness. Even the best set the particular showroom had, a Sony, was not very pleasing. This was a pretty big turn off for me. DLP seemed to do better in that regard.

Ahh yea, cheaper LCD's do have smearing and all. Just look for one with the lowest delay on it. The lowest I've seen in computer monitors was 2 ms.

Don't forget that showrooms usually have their signal split quite a few ways and that local cable companies have pretty compressed HD formats too.

k0rnyfr33k · Post by **k0rnyfr33k** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:29 pm

so stay away from lcd tvs... i take it... well a 32" is what i want...

Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:36 pm

just stay away from LCD's with a high refresh number (I think that's what it's called) The higher the number the more blurry the picture tends to be.

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Tue May 02, 2006 3:25 am

The Samsung Slimfit is 32" diagonal (by CRT standards) and 30" wide (by widescreen standards). It's a 4:3 / 16:9 switchable aspect ratio TV capable of 1080i resolution, by way of component cable input (x2) or HDMI cable (x1)

I know you can't beat it pricewise, featurewise it even has a built-in HDTV tuner. CRT is viewable at any angle, and you can count on it lasting a long time. Plus, CircuitCity delivers if necessary.

The more I use it, the more I like this set.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Tue May 02, 2006 11:00 am

CRT with a built in HD tuner, sounds like a winner! CRT will give you the best picture usually. They are just soo heavy and too small for me :)