i was looking in the sunday ads for a hdtv. some say dlp projection what is that i thought projection tvs were the old tvs? what is sxrd? anything thing i should now when looking for hdtv? please help!

 

DLP TVs are projection TVs that utilize (in conjunction with) DLP technology. DLP TVs have come a long way since their introduction, and offer pretty amazing picture for the price. The downside so DLP is that the viewing angles are not so great. My brother has a brand new Samsung (leader in DLP) 53 inch (I believe) DLP and although it can look pretty amazing straight on, side angles (from kitchen in his case) are considerably darker. You will also notice this up and down as well.

The other main problem with DLP is that it can struggle with fast movement (ie sports). I believe Samsung utilizes a technology called DniE (or close) that is supposed to help with that, but it isn't perfect. I did notice some type of blurring/blocking occurring during fast cuts of quick action football (Ie Tomlinson juking people out of their jocks).

For the average consumer, however, it's a pretty great TV.

"Projection" TVs still in use also include projection LCD hybrids without DLP, which are similar in price (cheap) and quality. They have a blend between old school deep TVs and new thinner sets, and average roughly 13-17 inches of depth.

SXRD is the flagship TV offered by Sony, which IMO is over rated. There is a MASSIVE problem with these TVs that is incredibly widespread, and has been a problem for a few generations of these TVs:the green blob. It's a problem that polls on avsforums.com put WAY up there in terms of how common it is, I want to say depending on the side it was around 18-30% of buyers suffering from the appearance of a green blob on their TVs. The major problem? Sony doesn't have a fix, and they usually won't replace the TV.

Hope that helps, and some of that info may be dated by about 1-2 months depending on the topic as I haven't read specifically on a few of those things very recently (going off memory).

 

i want a hdtv 50 inch+ but i have no idea what i want

 

We've got a Mitsubishi 52" LCD Projection TV that's pretty nice.
I've never noticed any problems watching sports, but as Lumadar said, viewing angles aren't great. Much better than the original projection TVs, but not great.

DLPs and projection LCDs (about 15" deep and around 100 lbs) are much larger and heavier than Plasmas and LCDs (about 3~4 inches deep).
Plasmas and LCDs offer much more versatility in installation. (hang on wall, etc.)

 

Panasonic Plasma.

 

Pioneer Plasma.

 

RCA Victor



Actually I bought this from some guy on the street corner selling oranges and TVs. He told me that HDTV stands for Heavy Duty TV. This puppy is built like a tank.

 

Well, if this was 6 months ago I would have said look at Projection LCD TVs or DLPs for the 50 inch plus realm, but recently prices have dropped substantially on the larger Plasma units.

Notice above one person suggestedt Panasonic plasma, and another Pioneer plasma. The only true producer of plasma not mentioned would have been Hitchachi. In my opinion, for someone like yourself who wants a good TV, but isn't a complete AV nut a Panasonic plasma would be the way to go without a doubt.

Pioneer makes great plasma TVs, but I would put money that 9 out 10 people (or more) couldn't tell the difference between comparably specced models. THEY WILL however notice the several hundred dollars off the price of the Panasonic in comparison.

The 42 inch Panasonic plasma is the best selling HDTV in America, and for good reason...it's the best bang for the buck in the high-end realm around.

The 50 inch model is very similar, but can be had in 720 or 1080p now. Unless you plan on getting a Blue Ray or HD DVD drive, a 720p would be all you would need. Otherwise, if you really want to cover your bases for longevity purposes, spring for the 1080p model.

Here's some models to check out...

The TH50PZ700U is a 50 inch full HD 1080p plasma.
The TH50PX75U is a 50 inch 720p version.
If you find an old model, which is not much different, you can save a lot of cash. TH50PX600U

Good luck

 

Yeah, people that are color blind and have 20/400 vision.

Panasonic and "high-end" do not belong in the same sentance. Unless your saying "Panasonic plasmas are NOT high-end". Then that's OK.

 

Honest to God, if you lived near me I would bet $500 that you couldn't tell the difference every time with A/B testing between the two.

I'd also put $500 that from the proper viewing distance you couldn't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p more than 50% of the time.

But of course you're going to tell me you have super human vision that can defy science and popular thought.

Have fun wasting money on your Pioneer plasma

 

Some people get and appreciate good home video and audio. Others don't.

 

You're telling me

 

Next your going to convince me I can't tell the diff between a 330i and G35.

 

If you knew half as much as you think you do about AV then you would realize that even serious AV nuts have a difficult time discerning between the options I gave.

I'm sure you can also tell me the difference between Monster RCAs vs conventional shielded RCAs in an audio application too, right? Or maybe you will be able to spot the audible difference between braided or unbraided speaker cable, or better yet! You can probably hear the difference between speaker wires wound around a guide strip over conventional speaker wire, right?

Please...

 

Like who? I think if you knew half as much as you think you do you would realize there are twice as many people that can see the difference between a Panny and Pioneer (especially out the box). After calibration the gap does tighten, but I *highly* doubt this dude is going to pay the pros to come in and calibrate his set.

Monster vs conventional? Meh, not really as monster's consumer stuff isn't that great. However, toss in a high quality copper or better yet silver cable and you bet your **** I can tell the diff. Heck, even on my iPod setup I could tell the difference in line-out cables to my headphone amp. Cables make a HUGE impact on audio performance, sound staging, and more. But I suppose those same 'serious av nuts' of yours beg to differ...