HD-ready TV questions

burdette

Here is the TV that we have:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AAAO1/psxextreme

We don't have cable or satellite, just what we can get over the air here in KC.


I need to replace our DVD player, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money on one right now.

Many of the new ones have the HDMI output. This TV does NOT have that input. I'm using component video inputs from our current player.

I'm really not very up to speed on HDTV, so I have a few questions.

Without that HDMI input, is there any reason for me to buy one of the new up-converting DVD players?

Is there any way for me to use this TV any 'better' than I am with the equipment I have... in other words, with my 'regular' DVD player (or a new up-converting one) and component inputs, is that as good as I can do?

Finally - I know this model TV has some known problems. For example, it often slightly 'hour glasses' the picture. Something else it does, and I don't know if this is due to a problem with the set, or some setting I need to change, or just the nature of the beast (?)... is... I can change aspect ratios from 4:3 to 14:9, and get a bigger picture, essentially centered on the screen, but with at least some black bars all the way around. If I change from 14:9 to 16:9, the picture gets bigger overall and goes all the way from side to side, but it also shifts position on the screen (drops) so that the bottom portion of the picture is cut off (it drops below the bottom edge of the screen). I can also switch to other settings like "superwide", "subtitle wide", etc, and all have some sort of stretching or distorting of the image ratios (sort of like when a standard 4:3 picture is stretched to widescreen). As a result, we watch widescreen DVDs at 14:9, which is still a 'big' picture, but certainly not using all the screen. I can't get a 'full screen' image like shown in the picture at the link.

Our current DVD player - the one I'm replacing - is a relatively old Apex (new in probably 2000 or 2001). It has served very well, but it is getting picky on discs it will read, sometimes not even recognizing commercial disks. Could the player have anything to do with where the TV is placing the image??

We're not getting cable or satellite... what should I do to get the most from this TV?

Thanks for any help.

jakelm

Without having DVI or HDMI, and your not getting HD cable or HD Sat, your stuck. Not going to get any better for you with that TV. DVD over component only is not worth it. The only option is to get a "hackable" dvd player (like the Oppo971). But thats really not worth it either. Tweaking the Tv is limited to what you have already tried./


In short, buy a new Tv.

burdette

jakelm wrote: »

In short, buy a new Tv.

Thanks for the information.