HDTV questions

Aaron

I had the parents out today looking at HDTV's. We were looking at tube TV's, because mother dearest will not stand for a big screen in her living room. The main seating position is 10' away from the set (currently an old 27" RCA). The popular size for the tube HD sets seems to be 34" which seems way too small since it's widescreen. Without doing the geometry, I bet that 4:3 material is about the same size on a widescreen 34" set as it is on a regular 27" set. We looked at the following HDTV's: Philips 34PW9817 ($3000), Sony KD-34XBR2 ($4000), and the RCA F38310 ($2500). From what I saw (and I'm no expert on this stuff), the Sony looked the best, then the Philips, and then the RCA. I guess that makes sense when looking at the costs. I know that Panasonic and Toshiba also make 34" HD sets. Has anyone had any experience with any of the mentioned sets?

According to the CC rep, the Sony has an HD decoder, but it only works with on-air broadcasts which I assume means antenna reception. He went on to say that to get HD through the satellite you would still need an external decoder. The Philips doesn't have an HD decoder. The RCA is a 38" tube which looks freakin' huge compared to the others. It's not a flat screen like the Philips and Sony tubes, unfortunately. To its credit it has an HD decoder and a DirecTV satellite receiver with DD optical out built in. I've been doing a little shopping online and the RCA set had be had mad cheaply. For this reason, the built in HD decoder and satellite receiver, and the 38" tube size it seems like a no-brainer decision. I'm not saying the TV is perfect by any means, but for the money I don't think it can be beat. I suppose I will research a bit more, but I'm interested to hear others' comments.

Aaron

Aaron

Now I have questions about getting an HD signal. Apparently there are three ways: antenna, satellite, and digital cable. I understand the satellite HD part, I think. There are only a few channels available and you need to have a dish that's capable of receiving the HD signal. Apparently HD digital cable is pretty rare right now, but in the future it will become quite popular. What is the resolution of typical digital cable and satellite TV? For some reason I'm thinking it's around 400 lines of resolution.

If you switch from cable TV to satellite, how well can you bring in local stations with an antenna? How well do those antennas that go on your dish work?

How well does it work to bring in an HD signal with an antenna? I saw Terk has a cool-looking little HD antenna. What stations are available over the air in HD? I assume this depends on your area, so my family is from Hershey, PA (near Harrisburg, PA). Philadelphia is a little over 100 miles away. Hmm, that's about all I can think of for now. Thanks!

Aaron

Aaron

*bump*

Come on RonP, Mantis, ScottVamp, etc! I know you guys should have something to say.

Aaron

CHRIS

Aaron-DSS servies and digital TV companies are showing the coverage of the Olympics in HD. Hence the bars on some comericals like UPS's. If you have any of these you can watch the Olympics in HD ifyou have he receiver.
As for the snap on antenna for DSS it works well the we found out we were able to get our local channels on DSS for free so no need for the antenna anymore. It brought in the channels clear and no problems though. I have not heard of any HDTV antennas, but Direct TV offers it so I have not looked.
To get HD with Direct TV you need the HDTV enabled box the oval shoed dish and a tripple LNB. Or if your TV has an HD receiver built in you just hook up above said dish. As fare as whats avalible a few movies and sports not really worth the cost yet IMO. If I were to get it I would have it through Drirect TV IMO they have the best setup for brodcasting it. What you would get in HDTV would be like watcing a DVD. When 2006 comes around things will be much different and cheaper.
The cost is to much for the TVs just for HDTV for me to justify getting one yet and not enough channels. I hope I answered some of your questions for you but you will not fully understand until you get rid of your Bose speakers.
With the smaller TVs it will be just like DVDs it will be a very small picture in 16

Ron-P

In 2006 everything is supposed to go digital, but not HDef, correct? That is how I understand it. There just isn't enough now, nor looks like coming down the pike anytime soon to warrent an HDTV, HDready sure. Why waste the money. Get a really nice HD ready set for less then a few years down the road, get the HD decoder.

Sorry Aaron, but I put no effort into the HD thing as I did not want it, nor do I plan on getting it for a long time. I bought my Mits soley for DVD use and nothing else.


Peace Out~:D

Aaron

I agree that it's somewhat frivalous to buy a true HDTV now, but there are a few things to consider in this case. See, mother dearest wants a new entertainment unit to house all of the various A/V components and the TV. The catch is that the TV must be behind doors. That rules out all projection sets. Worse yet, there aren't any home entertainment units with doors that will accomodate a widescreen TV, let alone one that's 43" wide (RCA 38"). So, that means that a custom unit will have to be made. With that being the case, it makes sense to get an HDTV now so the custom entertainment unit is the proper size. If anyone knows of any nice entertainment units fitting the above description, let me know!

Aaron

SPEAKER7

Aaron,


Just wondering if the newer RCA tv' s are reliable......? I have nothing against them but.......just incase(consumer report)... .....my co worker has one by the way.

Also, for a direct view tube .....I personally would go for a flat screen tv because the picture will look sharper from different angles.

However, it would depend on your taste and cost.


dc. just my two bits!


dc.:p

SPEAKER7

Aaron,


Just one more thing I would like to add....just my own personal opinion.

I was comparing the 34" panny/toshiba widescreen to the Panny/Toshiba 36" 4:3.......I first decided to go for the widescreen tv but after looking it over....the price of the the widescreen was either the same or even more than the 36" 4:3 and the 36" screen has the same surface area as the 34" widescreen 33" when watching widescreen dvd's 16:9 programs.....and for regular tv viewing .....you would definitely get more viewing area for the dollar.........


dc.

Aaron

In my opinion, unless you're buying an "inexpensive" set ( < $1000) or planning to upgrade in the near future, I would never consider a 4:3 screen. They're well on their way to obsolescence.

Regarding the RCA, I don't know how their regular tubes are, but this is the best tube TV they make. They apparently did have some problems with it in the earlier versions, but those have been resolved. I will agree with you that a flat screen is better, but this TV is being considered because of its value.

Aaron

presidan

Guys trust me on this one. The Panasonic TAU's give the best picture when it comes to HDTV. They start at 32 inches too. I dont care about HDTV satelllite dish. I got mine to look at DVD's in high definition (progressive scan DVD).
Give them a try