Anyone know about large TVs?

[Cinderelley]

Our TV in the living room has been doing odd things. I would've been happy to just toss it out, but DH was looking at the TVs while we were in Best Buy & Fry's Electronics on Saturday. He wasn't content just looking at the regular TVs. He had to go look at the giant 60" TVs, so I know what's in store in the near future.

Can anyone tell me where I can find reliable info on how to tell which ones are any good? Even though they all had the same pixels, the resolution was pretty bad on some of them. What, besides the pixel count, would do that? Is there anything else I should be paying attention to?

[mook3y]

First thing to consider is that with projection HDTV's, the bulbs do burn out. I have a 52" 1080p Mitsubishi that I just bought in Jan and have already burned out a bulb. We do not watch TV all day long either.

The repair tech basically said that there is no reliable way to say how long a bulb would last on these new tv's. He had seen one burn out in less than 2 weeks.

Granted, it is under warranty for a year. But after warranty is gone, it is over $300 per bulb.

If I had it to do over, I would have spent a little more and went with the LCD flat screens. More money, but the technology is better tested and those bulbs last 10,000+ hours.

[DizneyRox]

There's all sorts of things to look at.

I assume you're looking for a high definition set. You really should look at it from a different angle.

First, start with the size of the room. I have a 57" TV and it's really uncomfortable to look at closer than 11 feet. You end up scanning the screen constantly and your eyes get tired, etc. A 60" TV needs a room around 20 feet long once you take into account the size of the chairs, etc.

Typically, Plasma is a better/cheaper technology at that size, but LCDs have come down in price. Smaller TVs like 36-50" or so, LCD will probably get you more bang for your buck.

Now, I have an older Projection TV and quite honestly, the picture is better than any LCD or Plasma that I've come across. At least with HD programming.

I can do 1080i, 720i, 720p. Those are (in laymans terms) resolutions you might encounter with HD programming. 1080p is out there too, but it's brand new, and you would be hard pressed to find a need to support that right now. The i stands for INTERLACED video which is what you're probably used to watching. The p stands for progressive which is similar to how film movies are projected.

If I were selecting another TV, I would start this process. Find the right size TV for the location, then research the best TV at that size. Mitsubishi may be good at 60+, but Hitachi may be the better TV in the range you're looking at. And also figure out what you need. You probably don't need 1080p, I'd save the money and put it into a surround sound system. The sound is as important as the video if you ask me.

Anyway, that what I would do if I were in the market. Maybe soon, but I don't want to give up my tubes.

BTW - No offense to those with 1080p or Mitsubishi TV (or both), I'm just using examples. Now that I read the prior response, it seems like I disagree with them. That isn't my intention.

[Jasper]

I agree with DizneyRox that you need to start by looking at the size of the room as a starting point and ruling out anything that is too large for the room. Also, go online and Google Warranty rates for the kind of television brands you are considering. I believe that maganizes like Consumer Electronics or (sorry I am having a senior moment here and can't remember the name of the one I am trying to come up with) the one that compares all kinds of different products against one another. Manufacturers are suppose to report how often and what kinds of failures their televisions suffer during their warranty period.

[DizneyRox]

...I believe that maganizes like Consumer Electronics or (sorry I am having a senior moment here and can't remember the name of the one I am trying to come up with) the one that compares all kinds of different products against one another.
Consumare Reports I think. They may do a yearly special edition like they do with cars and such. There are a ton of TVs.

And, as a suggestion, I would stay away from Worst Buy when making a purchase. Their return/exchange policy is probably one of the worst I've seen, Never had anything but problems with them. I haven't stepped inside a store in a few years now and I don't miss them. Fry is pretty good though! :thumbsup:

[mook3y]

BTW - No offense to those with 1080p or Mitsubishi TV (or both), I'm just using examples. Now that I read the prior response, it seems like I disagree with them. That isn't my intention.


LoL none taken!

Far and away... are you happy with the picture! That is what matters most.

And you are so right about 1080p. Only reason I wanted it was for PS3 and blu-ray.

and your made some excellent points on size. If the room isn't large enough, it makes for an uncomfortable viewing experience. (ever sat front row at a theatre?) LOL

[Scott C]

Just bought a 42 in Sharp 1080 LCD at Circuit City. I have been quite pleased. NFL Games look great.

Thanks
Scott C

[magicofdisney]

The DLPs are supposed to be pretty amazing from what I hear. I wanted to chime in on the 1080p discussion. I just read an article in PC Magazine, where a gentleman bought a Mitsubishi 1080p DLP HDTV. After his purchase he discovered the TV's HDMI input won't accept 1080p from other sources like the Blu-ray DVD player. The only way to receive a 1080p signal is through the FireWire input. I can't believe Mitsubishi got away with that one. Anyway, it's something to consider while gathering information.

Right now we have a 52" RCA rear projector HDTV monitor. With that, we need a receiver capable of transmitting a HD signal. We have DirecTV with their HD package and it's awesome. I'm so loving HD right now. BTW, our family room is about 19' long and it seems to be the perfect fit.

GL with your purchase. :)

[Cinderelley]

Thanks sooooo much for the information everyone. I thought I had a couple of weeks to research this. DH just came home about half-an-hour ago and said "Let's go buy that TV that was on sale." I pulled this thread up, and now he has some stuff he should think about.

[DizneyRox]

And you are so right about 1080p. Only reason I wanted it was for PS3 and blu-ray.
I may be mistaken, I honestly have no reason to upgrade to a High Def movie player, but I don't think there are any current movie titles for BluRay in 1080p. It's just the games if I recall correctly.

[mook3y]

I may be mistaken, I honestly have no reason to upgrade to a High Def movie player, but I don't think there are any current movie titles for BluRay in 1080p. It's just the games if I recall correctly.

With in the last 60 days movies have been coming out for BluRay. Our local wal-mart has even started to carry a few (30 maybe). The Disney movie club has started to offoer blu-ray for some of their new releases.

But in general, there are not that many selections.

I was just happy to see what was coming out was on average in the low to mid 20's.

I remember when the first VHS movies came out. The cheap ones were $80 and they went way UP from there!

[DizneyRox]

With in the last 60 days movies have been coming out for BluRay. Our local wal-mart has even started to carry a few (30 maybe). The Disney movie club has started to offoer blu-ray for some of their new releases.

But in general, there are not that many selections.

I was just happy to see what was coming out was on average in the low to mid 20's.

I remember when the first VHS movies came out. The cheap ones were $80 and they went way UP from there!
Yes, there are movies for BluRay, but I'm specifically asking about 1080p. That's a ton of information that needs to stored and processed. I'm thinking that if anything they are 1080i, or 720p, for BluRay or HD-DVD.

PS3 and XBox360 though I think CAN output games in 1080p.

It's an authoring thing, not a capability thing mostly.

[Cinderelley]

PS3 and XBox360 though I think CAN output games in 1080p.

It's an authoring thing, not a capability thing mostly.

Do you know if the Wii can be used on the 1080p TVs? We have the PS3, but the Wii gets used more often. Do you think that eventually everything will catch up to 1080p? The TV that DH was talking about getting is 1080p.

Last night he was measuring the room to see what size TV he should get. :laughing:

[DizneyRox]

Do you know if the Wii can be used on the 1080p TVs? We have the PS3, but the Wii gets used more often. Do you think that eventually everything will catch up to 1080p? The TV that DH was talking about getting is 1080p.

Last night he was measuring the room to see what size TV he should get. :laughing:
Well... The question is a little more detailed than can it be used...

Really, what you need to find out is if the video outputs on the Wii match the video inputs on the TV you are getting.

There are a few different ways of getting video into newer generation TVs. In the beginning, there was COAX cable. That's your basic cable, and it contains both the audio and the video signal. Next up comes a Composite connection. That's what is used with those Yellow/Red/White wires that used to come with VCRs, DVD players, etc. Yellow is video, and red and white is your left and right audio. Next up came S-Video. S-Video only carries video, so you usually still needed a red/white cable much like the composite cable. Actually, many people would just disconnect the yellow wire and use an S-Video cable.

Up to this point, everything has been standard definition video. DVD being probably the best quality device. To get the best picture so far, you would want to use an S-Video cable.

Then along came component video. They use wires similar to the composite cable, HOWEVER the single yellow wire was broken up into three wires, so for full audio/video would would need a 5 wire cable. I think the colors were Red, Blue, and Green for video and two more for audio (usually red and white). Depends on the cable maker.

Next up was DVI, which is like how many computers connect to LCD screens. I think the cable was a little different, but pretty close. The cable would look like a computer cord though, and it was just for video.

Finally, we are using HDMI cables. This is the newest standard.

Component, DVI and HDMI are all capable of HD video. I currently have my DVD player and my Digital cable box hooked up via component cables. I don't have anything that uses DVI to my TV and my TV doesn't support HDMI.

The fun part is to get a TV that has enough of each set of inputs to support all your devices that you want to hook up to it. I don't know what type of output the Wii has. I'm going to guess maybe S-Video and component. It's not really a HD box, so there's no real need for much beyond that.

To answer the question you didn't ask though. I would guess that a TV capable of 1080p would "downgrade" well to 1080i, or 720p, or even SD TV. You're really more concerned with going up than down.

I would be VERY CAREFUL playing video games on a Plasma TV. Plasma is very easy to burn an image on the screen, so be warned. LCD not so much, but it is possible as well. I would never hook up a gaming system to a large screen TV, but maybe that's just me being careful. Nothing is more annoying to watch than TV that's been burned, and it's NOT covered under any warrantee I've seen. .

[magicofdisney]

Something else I just read in PC Magazine; within 10 years, Ultra High Def will replace standard HD (at least that's what they're predicting). ;)

[DizneyRox]

Something else I just read in PC Magazine; within 10 years, Ultra High Def will replace standard HD (at least that's what they're predicting). ;)
A lot of people don't look that good in High Def, never mind Ultra High Def... But I would assume the movie companies will need to re-release their movies in some new format so we all buy them again. Otherwise what would they do?

[Cinderelley]

Well... The question is a little more detailed than can it be used...

Really, what you need to find out is if the video outputs on the Wii match the video inputs on the TV you are getting.

There are a few different ways of getting video into newer generation TVs. In the beginning, there was COAX cable. That's your basic cable, and it contains both the audio and the video signal. Next up comes a Composite connection. That's what is used with those Yellow/Red/White wires that used to come with VCRs, DVD players, etc. Yellow is video, and red and white is your left and right audio. Next up came S-Video. S-Video only carries video, so you usually still needed a red/white cable much like the composite cable. Actually, many people would just disconnect the yellow wire and use an S-Video cable.

Up to this point, everything has been standard definition video. DVD being probably the best quality device. To get the best picture so far, you would want to use an S-Video cable.

Then along came component video. They use wires similar to the composite cable, HOWEVER the single yellow wire was broken up into three wires, so for full audio/video would would need a 5 wire cable. I think the colors were Red, Blue, and Green for video and two more for audio (usually red and white). Depends on the cable maker.

Next up was DVI, which is like how many computers connect to LCD screens. I think the cable was a little different, but pretty close. The cable would look like a computer cord though, and it was just for video.

Finally, we are using HDMI cables. This is the newest standard.

Component, DVI and HDMI are all capable of HD video. I currently have my DVD player and my Digital cable box hooked up via component cables. I don't have anything that uses DVI to my TV and my TV doesn't support HDMI.

The fun part is to get a TV that has enough of each set of inputs to support all your devices that you want to hook up to it. I don't know what type of output the Wii has. I'm going to guess maybe S-Video and component. It's not really a HD box, so there's no real need for much beyond that.

To answer the question you didn't ask though. I would guess that a TV capable of 1080p would "downgrade" well to 1080i, or 720p, or even SD TV. You're really more concerned with going up than down.

I would be VERY CAREFUL playing video games on a Plasma TV. Plasma is very easy to burn an image on the screen, so be warned. LCD not so much, but it is possible as well. I would never hook up a gaming system to a large screen TV, but maybe that's just me being careful. Nothing is more annoying to watch than TV that's been burned, and it's NOT covered under any warrantee I've seen. .

:crazy::faint::dizzy:

The Wii has a cable with different colors that connects to the TV. With all you said, I think it boils down to - I better check and make sure it can handle that.

What is "burn an image on the screen" and how do video games make that happen?

Sorry for all the questions. I really don't watch TV and don't know much about them.

[DizneyRox]

What is "burn an image on the screen" and how do video games make that happen?
Burn in occurs when you are displaying an image on the screen of the TV that doesn't change much. After a while, the screen gets used to the color that is displayed and it "burns" that image on the screen.

For example, say you watch SciFi a lot. On the bottom right corner of the screen is a little logo for SciFi. If that doesn't change that often, it's possible that that logo gets burned onto the screen so no matter what channel you watch, that logo will still be visible. It's not part of the broadcast, it's that section of the screen is no longer capable of displaying anything other than the logo.

It's not something that's going to happen over the course of an hour, or the length of a movie, HOWEVER it could happen in less than a day certainly. This is the exact reason for computer screensavers. The screen changes often enough that the images don't get burned in. Videogames if left on the title screen or something can sometimes cause burn in. Even watching a lot of 4:3 TV (not widescreen) on a widescreen TV can burn the side bars into the screen.

This burn in happens on all TVs, Plasma TVs being the easier to burn in, LCD are probably in the middle with CRTs not far behind.

Correctly adjusting the brightness and contrast of the TV will help reduce the likelyhood of causing burn in. Most TVs come from the factory set at max brightness and contrast which is WAY too high, but helps sell TVs. Putting that bright of a signal on the screen is a sure way insure burn in. Mine came at 100/100 and I think after proper adjustment it's down close to 35/21.

[Camaro305]

I don't believe burn in is a problem with DLP (or other projection TV's though). Correct?

[DizneyRox]

I don't believe burn in is a problem with DLP (or other projection TV's though). Correct?
Yes, I have an older (about 4 years) rear projection TV and burn in is a concern. I'm not positive about DLP, but I'm guessing it is as well, it's sortof a modified rear projection design (in laymans terms).

It's a little harder to burn in an image on tube based TVs than the LCD or Plasma, but it's possible.

[Camaro305]

I was under the impression, through research that LCD or DLP would not suffer burn in.

[DizneyRox]

I was under the impression, through research that LCD or DLP would not suffer burn in.
Much to my disgust I came home after a weekend trip to find my computer LCD on and a nice window displayed in the middle. When I minimized the window, I immediately pulled up newegg.com to order another monitor. LCD absolutely can suffer from burn in.

I'm assuming that DLP can, but I'm really not too sure. You may be right though...

[mook3y]

The TV technician that came out to service my lamp said there is no way that a DLP projection tv can burn in an image. It is simply light reflecting off a mirror onto the screen and that the screen has nothing on it that is effected like a plasma or lcd is.

This is for a mitsubishi DLP projection tv.

No idea if all DLP's are created the same.

[mook3y]

Also, a little trick on Plasma's that suffer burn-in.

Set it in direct sun light for 20 minute increments and the burn in goes away.

This worked on a Plasma TV in 2001 anyways. One of our tech guru's bought a tv that had been used in the lobby of a business and had some major burn-in.

In an hour total time, sitting in the sun, the picture was just fine.

Now.... This was in Southern California on a afternoon that was warm, not hot.

I don't know that I would try this anywhere there was high humidity levels and/or extreme temperatures.

But I saw it work with my own eyes.

[magicofdisney]

Also, a little trick on Plasma's that suffer burn-in.

Set it in direct sun light for 20 minute increments and the burn in goes away.

This worked on a Plasma TV in 2001 anyways. One of our tech guru's bought a tv that had been used in the lobby of a business and had some major burn-in.

In an hour total time, sitting in the sun, the picture was just fine.

Now.... This was in Southern California on a afternoon that was warm, not hot.

I don't know that I would try this anywhere there was high humidity levels and/or extreme temperatures.

But I saw it work with my own eyes.
Can't say I'll ever own a plasma to test this on, but that is cool info to know. :thumbsup:

BTW, it was my understanding as well that DLP wouldn't suffer burn in, which is why I'm leaning towards one for my next set. BUT, I really, really like the slim look of the LCD.

[PirateLover]

Just wanted to add a few thoughts....

Wii has a specific Burn-In reduction feature that you can turn on in the options menu. We own a 60'' Sony SXRD and I sometimes play Wii on it for a few hours at a time and my brother has played PS3 with no issues. We've had ot for about half a year. Not sure if it is 1080i or 1080p... the little sticker just says 1080. I'm imagining it's i....

[Cinderelley]

Thanks soooooo much everyone. I'm off of work the next two nights, so I'm guessing that DH is going to want to go "looking" (as he'll put it) on Saturday. I'll definitely have to have DSs look into the Wii and PS3 stuff while I'm sleeping tomorrow. And I was so looking forward to 2009 when our TVs would just quit working, "sigh". :rolleyes: