TV ignorance

Don't buy anything for the time being! The new television technologies and transmission standards are changing everyday. This is a transition period. Wait for about 3 or 4 years if you can until all is settled.

If you can't wait, buy a good'ol CRT (tube) they are dirt cheap now so you can easily upgrade in a few years with minimal financial loss.

This is I am doing anyway. Every time I am at the GoodGuys, I had to fight hard my impulses to upgrade my 12-year-old SONY 32". If you venture into some of the videophile's online forums you'll know what I mean: they are debating new standards, new technologies everyday! it's a mess there. Sit and watch is the best strategy.

Abe

Abe,
I respectfully disagree with sit and watch strategy.

Technology always advances. TV is just like computers, no matter when you buy; it will be obsolete in a few years. Suppose the industry did come out with a totally new standard 3 years from now, it will take at lease a couple more years for the new technology to become mature and affordable.

If I see something I really like and is within my budget, I would rather buy it now, enjoy it for the next five years, and make upgrade decision when the new standard did come. Life is too short to wait.

I'll agree with Lej1447, the Panasonic stuff is always ahead of the curve when it comes to video reproduction. Even their cheap Dvd players offer stunning progressive scan picture quality IMO.

Dave

Sidssp, you are absolutely right in saying 'life ...' that is my motto as well. But that does not apply for TV/video technology at current time. This is a _transition_ time. Buying a TV in 1985 ro in 1995 doesn't make much difference, but _today_ it does.

To elaborate this topic will be too long to post in this thread, I will just give you one example: the movie industry has been hesitatig to release movies beyond 480p (DVD) for many reasons, but the market has been pushing them to go higher so there will be 1080p fomat videos but 95% of HDTV sold until today do not have this capability. I am not sure whether it is upgradable for all HDTV sets.

I will still hold off _big_ investments in TV/video for the time being. There are many "videophile" forums that you can check out and see yourself what you have being experiencing. A loss of more than 70% of initial purchase within 1 to 1.5 years is very very common, which means a $2000 paid one year ago worth less than $600 today, ouch!

Abe

Abe; This is why I went for a front projector. My prjector operates more as a monitor and the 1080i comes with it. the unit senses what is coming and adjusts accordingly.