So, how long have HD tvs been out? Awhile, yes? To be honest, I have never really looked at one, if you can believe that. Our tv is a big screen, but is about six years old, and not exceptionally clear. On top of that, there is no Circuit City, Best Buy, er even a mall in my town. Anyway, I was in Fred Meyer today buying myself the latest expansion pack to F.E.A.R. and Crysis for my PC, and I actually looked at an HD, or plasma, or whatever the **** it was. They were playing "Pirates of the Caribbean" on it...HOLY ****!!!! I can't believe how amazing that tv looked. Where have I been? I am missing out! I have to get one, but I want a really big one, and I want to see the blackheads on actors faces. Do you guys have any suggestions. Don't think I can afford $1500, though. Foxy, and the rest of you tech dudes...help me out. Jeezum, thattv was amazing, and it was probably acrap one.

 

It is stupid.

But if you get an HD tv, you need an HD DVD player (blue ray, etc) and an HD hookup to your TV provider (whether cable or sat) so channels avail in HD are in HD and movies are that clear. It's nice, but in the next few years, it will drop in price even more. Just wait a little while if you can't do it now.

 

First off, don't buy Plasma. The only ones worth buying are thousands upon thousands of dollars (like Pioneer Elites and Kuro displays).......and even these are built for people who drop $10,000 into their surround sound system alone. And cheap plasma's are crap, they get really hot, consume 3 times the amount of power than an LCD, and is NOT video game safe. (meaning, if anything like a news logo or video game is on the screen for too long, you'll get "burn-in" that sometimes will not go away.) Kind of like those old computer monitors with text burned into them.

So I would recommend an LCD television......

How big do you want it? You can get a really nice one, around the 40" size for about the $1000 mark. You can get real high end 32" and 37" models for $700-800.

But, the picture was probably even more impressive because they were playing a Blu-ray or HD DVD movie on the High definition TV. Even an HDTV will look like crap if you feed it a crap signal (like basic cable). HDTV's need an HD picture to look as good as you were seeing it. For movies, you have Blu-ray or HD DVD. HD DVD players start off at about $150-200. Blu-ray players usually hover around the $350-500 mark. If you want to get HD cable or satellite, it's usually another $10 a month if you already have digital cable.

Here are the brands to stick with.........

- Sony (great, but usually expensive)
- Toshiba (great all around)
- Samsung (except for their "shiny-screen" LCD's)
- Philips (not bad, but a little on the low end side)

Brands to stay away from......

- Vizio (okay picture, but for the price, you can do much better.)
- Westinghouse (just no.)
- Insignia (stands for s**t.)
- Dynex (also stands for s**t.)

Ask me more questions and I'll give you all the information I have. I've been in the Home Theater business for a long time now, and know this stuff inside and out.

 

IMO, HD is meh.

Too many variables like sixhundred has already mentioned.

You need an HD cable signal, HD hardware and HD anything that's going to make a picture on that fancy-assed TV.

Yes, the clarity is phenominal but is it really worth it to you to buy all new stuff to fully support what that TV offers?

On a side note: My brother's convinvced HD is from the devil. He told me he was playing his 360 in HD and it burned an image into his retinas for a day.

 

WTF Voodoo you hermit. Yes, they've been out for a while now .. and no you don't need HD DVD player but it'll look better with one. Even a standard DVD player looks a gazillion times better on HDTV than a standard one. Even if you live in BFE, you do have access to the vast internets ... Walmart, Costco, Sams, Circuit City, Best Buys et. al. all run specials on HDTVs all the time with low delivery charges and you can get 40"+ ones as low as $700 now. Once you get one you'll wonder how you ever lived without one and you'll cream your pants (even more than they are right now). The only thing negative is that most cable companies only offer about 15 or so HD channels (but they're all going HD soon anyway) so if you watch standard channels on HDTV they actually look worse than watching on an HDTV. But that tradeoff is well worth it for the clarity you get on HD channels and DVD.

p.s. BF may be an expert but I have to respectfully disagree; I'll take plasma over lcd anyday:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/fea...-round-ii.html

Make sure to get a "full 1080p" one ... I got the 50" Vizio plasma and love it. Todays plasmas are not anything like your dads plasmas. My plasma connected with HDMI connector to comcast digital cable looks beautiful and even though you don't need HD-DVD players, Costco sells them for as little as $60 now!

 

It does seem all or nothing--there's not much point in HD 'in between'--if you're going to do it, you might as well get 1080p, an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player, Science channel HD, all new HD movies, a decent 5.1, and play the love out of your 360.

This link is across the pond but covers a lot of the same models, plus has fairly critical reviews:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/

Maybe find one that suits you--preferably also sold nearby (nothing beats on-sight assessment), then buy it from Newegg for the absolute best price, even with shipping.

Pioneer only makes plasma--they believe the tech is superior--and their new, ninth generation plasma tech (Kuro, Jap for 'black') will truly gratify you like nothing else, entry is around 3k...but it's so worth it

 

Okay, so here's what I got (Zenith...what do you think?). Since it is HD capable (I think), am I to understand I just need a Blue-ray and some sweet *** HD satellite lovin' to enjoy that great picture?

 

Holmes!!! That's some crucial info you left out of your initial post.
Yes that's all you need .. except the HDMI cable (which I think they provide with the box).
Since it's using 6 year old technology, it ain't gonna look anywhere near as crisp a picture as what you saw in the store but it'll look a million times better than what you're looking at now.
What lpi is it? Does it have HDMI connection?
If it has a built-in tuner you can pull most HD stations for free off the airwaves with a HD antenna.



That's what I meant. When you view standard stations on an HDTV it actually looks worse than standard tv.

 

yeah the hd is great i got a 70" lcd payed almost 10 grand for it its well worth it

 

dam, voo you have to do some catch up with technology. you playing those fancy games on an CRT?
HD is old news right now, 4d tv are already out.