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An audiophile who know NOTHING about TV

Well, I've been thinking of buying a new TV and holy crap, is this one confusing subject! First, what technology should I get: Plasma, DLP, LCD, etc. 16:9, 1080. I don't know what any of this stuff means. The funny thing is that i'm scanning consumer reports and others like it to see what is the "best" LOL. I don't think I found my SME 30 or Aesthetix IO there! I would be aghast at anyone who told me they were buying a high end piece of audio equipment like that, but here I was doing the same thing. Looking to see which had the best specs. I stopped by a best buy today and actually found someone who seemed to know what he was talking about. He asked the right questions (from what I read): What do you watch, how far do you sit, etc. I answered his questions. Not interested in surround sound at all. Mostly watch broadcast TV and lots of sports (I use dish network as my source), sit about 10 feet from the screen (need to measure, i'm just guessing), watch an occasional DVD.

So, we're moving along and he seemd to be steering me towards DLP (Samsung) but there was a Pioneer Plasma that looked great. Then he mentions that "regular" TV broadcasts look terrible!!?? You won't be able to use the whole screen? What the hell, I can't have that. Isn't most TV non High-Def? Why would you buy Plasma/DLP if this is the case? I know we are headed to high-def, but unless i'm missing something I would think I should wait before I buy. I guess I can go RP CRT but isn't that "old" technology? That's funny, coming from a guy who listens to records and has an all tube-based system LOL.

I just want the best picture and biggest picture that makes sense in my room.

Oh, the room has a lot of natural light during the day, but most watching is done at night.
cte500
reubent
6,942 posts
 
One note of caution regarding my Panasonic Plasma recommedation: My Panny (current gen) has significant glare. If you are unable to control light in your environment, the glare might be an issue for you. For me it is not an issue because I can easily control the background lighting. However, if you have a big window behind your seating position, you will likely see that on the plasma display when watching(reflection).

If curious, go to BB or CC and look at their plasmas (and other TVs). Some are better than others at preventing glare/reflections.

Enjoy,

TIC
(Tom In Cincinnati)
cte500 OP
13 posts
 
Wow! Thanks for everyone's response. I'm glad to see i'm not the only one confused by this! I did check out AVSforum a few days ago and my head is still spinning! I will definitely take the advice of asking the store to display in SD.

Of the major networks, what % of programming is in HD?
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Well 'we' are becoming a little like avsforum;aren't we.--I bought a JVC hd-ila set. In the store it looked great--on their demo loop. It looked fine at home till you watch a 'dark scene' movie.--Drove me crazy. I sold it and lost big-time--I then bought a Mits.65813.-(9in guns)--big,--huge--bulky-- but does black well.--- Don't expect a night -day dif. between component/ dvd-d and hdmi--(My Sim2 has hdmi)--If you're starting out--dvi and hdmi cables give the same pq---but at a lower cost.
cte500 OP
13 posts
 
Well, just went to a couple of stores. One was a local home theater store. Like most "boutique" retail stores, you get better service, might pay more, but less selection. I looked at a 50" Pioneer Elite Plasma(1120 I think). Price quoted was $7,100 free installation. They also had a 43" Sharp LCD that was playing a DVD ("Finding Nemo"). The LCD playing DVD looked amazing. I did as some suggested here and had him switch between HD and SD. The SD did not look terrible. The one question I had that he couldn't/wouldn't answer was how come some of the SD channels were taking up the whole screen, while others were "shrunk"? Is it the way they are broadcast?

From there I went to a best buy. Obvioulsy lots of choices. Does Best Buy not carry "Elite"? They had a Pioneer, but It was not the same. They also had a Sharp 43-45" LCD that looked great. Maybe a little better than the 50" Pioneer that was right next to it. I was a little disappointed in the SAmsung DLP. It seemed you really needed to be in the sweet spot for this to look good. It looked very dark as you moved from standing to bending over a little bit.

Still not any closer to making a decision LOL
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
One can not assume what you see is the best---I swear to God. You go in one store and a particular set may be the best looking.---Then you go to another store and the set you thought was hot;is not.--(Fact bassed)--- With regards to sd and it filling the screen, to full 16x9--I would assume the sales guy hit the button for it to stretch. Most displays will do it. Stretching HD material that is 4.3---some sets do that as well.--If you want Twiggy to look like Mama Cass.
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