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The Semi-Official HDTV Thread - Page 3

post #101 of 183
1/6/09 at 1:25am
Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California

Didn't know Plasmas vastly more power hungry than their LCD counterparts (a 42-inch plasma TV can consume more than a large fridge!). That pretty much eliminates plasma completely from my list of options.

Anyways, some sets from Nov. of last year have the Energy Star label so I'll be looking out for that. I certainly haven't noticed these labels while looking at these TVs at the local electronic stores.
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post #102 of 183
1/6/09 at 10:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Cordo View Post
I just bought a Samsung 40" 1080p/120Hz HDTV, and after I hooked up the monster HDMI cable to my PS3 and popped in The Dark Knight I witnessed the greatest picture I have ever seen on a television. Online this TV ranges from $1300 to $1700, and thanks to getting the open box model I snagged it for $899. The only damage to it is a scratch on the base of the stand, and I couldn't care less about that.

I love this TV!
I try to tell everyone, buy the open box model with a 3 year warranty. You get your TV for dirt cheap and most retailers will just give you a new tv rather than try to fix your broken tv, should something happen to yours (while its under waranty).
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post #103 of 183
1/6/09 at 1:36pm
Exactly. The last two televisions I've bought were open box from Best Buy, and both of them I got for about $500 cheaper than they retail for. Never had a problem with the last one, and like I said the only problem with this one is a three inch scratch on the base, which doesn't matter at all to me. Basically a scratch on the base knocked almost $600 off the price tag.
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post #104 of 183
1/9/09 at 6:11pm
108" LCD TV:

http://twitpic.com/115ye

GOTDAMN!!
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post #105 of 183
1/17/09 at 11:26pm
Philips cinema aspect-ratio HD TV:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01...ips_cinema_tv/

No black bars at all.
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post #106 of 183
1/17/09 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neaux View Post
I try to tell everyone, buy the open box model with a 3 year warranty. You get your TV for dirt cheap and most retailers will just give you a new tv rather than try to fix your broken tv, should something happen to yours (while its under waranty).
Yeah, places like Best Buy will help you big time if you have their warranty..once it comes time to get a HDTV i'll be looking at the open boxes first :-)

so what is better? LCD or Plasma??
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post #107 of 183
1/18/09 at 11:01am
LCD uses (much) less power but Plasma generally looks better is my experience. Plasma just gets better black levels and colors. I don't know which has better response times though.
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post #108 of 183
1/18/09 at 11:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkatthemoon View Post
Philips cinema aspect-ratio HD TV:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01...ips_cinema_tv/

No black bars at all.
Yeah, but if I read it correctly, it "zooms or crops" anything that isn't 21:9... it sounds like it does it automatically, in which case, you'll be losing picture on anything shot in 16:9, 4:3, etc., and with all current video games. Maybe there is an option (which would make sense and seem easy), but it makes it sound like there isn't.

Frankly, unless there is a single, standardized aspect ratio for everything (movies, tv, games, etc.), you are almost always going to have black/gray bars on your tv at some point throughout the day.
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post #109 of 183
2/8/09 at 3:23pm
I got a Sony Bravia KDL-46W3000 that was on sale at Best Buy ($1,499, almost $1,500 less than the original price). It doesn't have MotionFlow, which is weird since as far as I've managed to research it was an April 2008 release, but aside from that it's turned out to be great. All the other bells and whistles are there, and it's my first HDTV so I'm pretty psyched.

But, I have one quick, probably ignorant question... what exactly is "Theater Mode" ?

Is it simply a way to see the movie with the original cinematography intact and less HD bright colors, or what exactly?
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post #110 of 183
2/8/09 at 3:41pm
From Sony press release:

Quote:
BRAVIA HDTVs feature Theater Mode that adjusts the TV to display movies, better preserving the mood and detail that the filmmaker intended. When the Theater button on the television’s remote control is selected, the TV automatically adjusts settings to one that has been specifically optimized for BRAVIA LCD and SXRD display technology. Sony’s Theater Mode is the result of consultation with the people who bring Blu-ray disc and DVD for home viewing to reproduce an exceptional cinematic experience of the movie theater in your living room.
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post #111 of 183
2/9/09 at 2:21am
I picked up a 32" Sharp Aquos for my game room today. I tried hooking up my ancient (at least 10 years old) Sony DVD player using composite and S-video hook-ups and it would not display a picture. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this? My cheapo Memorex player I bought a year ago worked fine.
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post #112 of 183
2/9/09 at 2:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkatthemoon View Post
108" LCD TV:

http://twitpic.com/115ye

GOTDAMN!!
At that point, I think a projector might be the better route.


Quote:
Originally Posted by gravedigger View Post
I picked up a 32" Sharp Aquos for my game room today. I tried hooking up my ancient (at least 10 years old) Sony DVD player using composite and S-video hook-ups and it would not display a picture. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this? My cheapo Memorex player I bought a year ago worked fine.
Umm try seeing if you don't have the yellow composite plugged into your player. Some players like to play weird preferences and having both plugged in might screw things up.

Anyways, get a blu ray player.
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post #113 of 183
2/9/09 at 3:14am
I'm pretty sure the gravedigger has his PS3 hooked up to his main TV but this is new TV is in a different room and is the one that his 360 is hooked up to. As for the S-video/composite not working, no idea. That's quite weird.

Can you confirm that using the exact same video cable it still works on your old TV? And the cheap Memorex one works using the same video cables? If both of those tests work, it must just be some bizarre incompatibility issue.
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post #114 of 183
2/9/09 at 3:34pm
Okay, here's another dumb question from a layman... why do my DVDs look all blurry when I play them on the PS3/Sony Bravia? They sure as hell didn't look that bad on my non-HD Sony plasma. What am I doing wrong?
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post #115 of 183
2/9/09 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL View Post
Okay, here's another dumb question from a layman... why do my DVDs look all blurry when I play them on the PS3/Sony Bravia? They sure as hell didn't look that bad on my non-HD Sony plasma. What am I doing wrong?
Probably a resolution issues. What resolution are you playing them at? If you are passing a 480 signal on DVD you want to change that and send it over as 720 or 1080 if you can. If possible you want whatever res the PS3 can send to upconvert and match your set. But I believe I have read that the PS3 is just a mediocre upconverter so maybe your TV will do a better job.

On your old set the best it could show was 480p. You were always sending 480p with your old DVD player so it was a 1-1 match and looked good. You sent the best it could, it displayed the best it could. Now you may be sending 480p at a 1080p set and if so you want to fix that. But mind you, odds are that regular DVDs will not look as good on the HD set. No 480 based disk is ever going to look as good as a true 1080p disk like a Blu-Ray. Which is why folks with HDTVs want Blu-Ray players and disks. You should be able to get a good SDVD picture from your PS3 though.
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post #116 of 183
2/9/09 at 4:04pm
120Hz... I don't like it. I was looking at comparisons of WALL*E at Sam's yesterday and the 60Hz looks more like the film, while 120HZ smooths out everyone's movement so much that it makes the image look strange.
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post #117 of 183
2/9/09 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JudgeSmails View Post
Probably a resolution issues. What resolution are you playing them at? If you are passing a 480 signal on DVD you want to change that and send it over as 720 or 1080 if you can. If possible you want whatever res the PS3 can send to upconvert and match your set. But I believe I have read that the PS3 is just a mediocre upconverter so maybe your TV will do a better job.

On your old set the best it could show was 480p. You were always sending 480p with your old DVD player so it was a 1-1 match and looked good. You sent the best it could, it displayed the best it could. Now you may be sending 480p at a 1080p set and if so you want to fix that. But mind you, odds are that regular DVDs will not look as good on the HD set. No 480 based disk is ever going to look as good as a true 1080p disk like a Blu-Ray. Which is why folks with HDTVs want Blu-Ray players and disks. You should be able to get a good SDVD picture from your PS3 though.
So, basically, whenever I want to try to view a DVD on my HDTV I should change it from 1080p to 480p? Is that it?
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post #118 of 183
2/9/09 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny View Post
120Hz... I don't like it. I was looking at comparisons of WALL*E at Sam's yesterday and the 60Hz looks more like the film, while 120HZ smooths out everyone's movement so much that it makes the image look strange.
120hz is garbage for film. It's designed for sports and (I think) gaming, to process the image faster and thus clarify motion. It creates a terrible overfocused look for film though, and kills a lot of it's saturation. I'd rather watch a 4:3 Pan and Scan VHS of Lawrence of Arabia, than watch a movie in TruMotion or whatever the hell they call the 120hz shit.
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post #119 of 183
2/9/09 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL View Post
So, basically, whenever I want to try to view a DVD on my HDTV I should change it from 1080p to 480p? Is that it?
It depends on what has the better scaler, your TV or the PS3. Generally, TV scalers are relatively poor so I would let the PS3 send the signal to start. And in your case you want the opposite of what you asked - have your PS3 always send over content at 1080p no matter the source. That way all of your BRs will be 1080p and any SDVDs will be upconverted to 1080p via the PS3.
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post #120 of 183
2/9/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny View Post
120Hz... I don't like it.
What Renn Brown said. I only turn it on for live sports or porn. Just kidding. I don't watch porn for long enough to justify turning it on.
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post #121 of 183
2/9/09 at 5:41pm
The PS3 is a pretty great up-converter. I'd look at your video settings for it and just see what you have going on. I use my PS3 for all of my DVD watching and they all look pretty good (well except when compared to Blu-ray).

There are settings you can set in the PS3 for things it does when up-converting to 1080p, I'd check the PS3 manual and play with them a bit and see if you can find one that looks better. Also, as is being discussed here, if you have 120hz enabled it can make stuff look worse.
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post #122 of 183
2/9/09 at 7:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JudgeSmails View Post
It depends on what has the better scaler, your TV or the PS3. Generally, TV scalers are relatively poor so I would let the PS3 send the signal to start. And in your case you want the opposite of what you asked - have your PS3 always send over content at 1080p no matter the source. That way all of your BRs will be 1080p and any SDVDs will be upconverted to 1080p via the PS3.
Well, I already set the PS3 to set everything to 1080p when I connected the HDMI. So, what should I change to have the DVDs look less blurry? Like I said, they're looking blurrier than how they looked on the old non-HD plasma I had when I played them on a Sony DVD player.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
The PS3 is a pretty great up-converter. I'd look at your video settings for it and just see what you have going on. I use my PS3 for all of my DVD watching and they all look pretty good (well except when compared to Blu-ray).

There are settings you can set in the PS3 for things it does when up-converting to 1080p, I'd check the PS3 manual and play with them a bit and see if you can find one that looks better. Also, as is being discussed here, if you have 120hz enabled it can make stuff look worse.
Is by "120hz" you mean that FlowMotion thingie Sony is doing now, nope, my KDL-46W3000 doesn't have it. Standard Full HD for me.

What settings on my PS3 do you reccomend so the DVDs don't look so blurry and muddy?
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post #123 of 183
2/10/09 at 2:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
I'm pretty sure the gravedigger has his PS3 hooked up to his main TV but this is new TV is in a different room and is the one that his 360 is hooked up to. As for the S-video/composite not working, no idea. That's quite weird.

Can you confirm that using the exact same video cable it still works on your old TV? And the cheap Memorex one works using the same video cables? If both of those tests work, it must just be some bizarre incompatibility issue.
I have the exact setup Nachos mentions. He either has a great memory or I need to search my house for spy cameras.

Anway, I checked the cables with both DVD players and with my old TV and just couldn't get a picture out of the Sony player on the new TV. The weird thing was, if I hooked up the Sony player through an old A/V switchbox, I would get a brief flash of the picture as the contacts in the switchbox settled but that was it. It reminded me of the old days in middle school when I'd do the channel change trick on the Playboy channel on the big satellite dish.
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post #124 of 183
2/11/09 at 2:13pm
I have an EPP account where I can get 7% off of most things from DELL and am currently helping a friend get a new TV for her living room. She's interested in the best bang for least buck and is looking at this Vizio. Anyone got any suggestions or complaints?
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post #125 of 183
2/11/09 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 
With Vizio you get what you pay for. They are a budget brand so you aren't getting necessarily the best performing TVs on the market. While they do offer 1080p and 120Hz sets, odds are you will still notice a difference between a Vizio and a Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, etc. Does your friend plan on watching much standard def TV? Vizios do a much better job with HD feeds than they do with upconverting SD feeds. They are notorious for having the worst SD picture of any HDTVs. When it comes to true HD signals they do awfully well. So it all depends on whether your friend thinks the value price is worth it. Personally, I didn't even consider a Vizio because I am a videophile and was going for features and performance that Vizio can't compete with. However, if I were buying a TV for my wife or my parents I would definitely consider a Vizio because they aren't as anal and picky as I am.
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post #126 of 183
2/11/09 at 5:21pm
I was telling her to max out size and resolution but I see this Bravia that can be had for slightly less.

The set will be used mainly for childrens(3 and 5) programming with the occasional SD-DVD movie in an average living room with no home theatre set-up. A year or so down the road it may begin getting heavy hockey game, auto racing and SD movie use she says.

Stick with the 1080 and larger size or drop down in both for the price difference?
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post #127 of 183
2/11/09 at 5:38pm
Best place for HDMI cables. Please help, and don't say Monster Cables.
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post #128 of 183
2/11/09 at 5:44pm
www.monoprice.com for cables
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post #129 of 183
3/13/09 at 12:46pm
Picked up a new Samsung LN40B530 to replace my Vizio VX37L. Both sets have a weird effect while playing games. Slight trails will appear from objects when i move around. I thought this was just because of the budget brand Vizio, surprising that the Samsung does it as well. Any of you experienced or have an idea as to what im talking about?

I'm on the fence as to whether or not i should return the Samsung or just deal with it.
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post #130 of 183
3/13/09 at 12:58pm
I'm pretty sure that the trails are kind of a standard thing with LCD TVs? You'll need to look at the response time in milliseconds (lower is less trails). Some TV settings can affect this as well.
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post #131 of 183
3/13/09 at 1:29pm
The Vizio had 8ms, fairly high in todays standards. The Samsung has 5ms though and there is no difference. Ive looked quite a bit online and cant really find any decent explanation on what I'm experiencing.

It's a shame because other than that the Samsung is incredible. Watched a bit of Matrix Revolutions through Netflix Instant viewing and i was blown away. I can only imagine how a SD DVD, let alone and HD DVD, would look on it.
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post #132 of 183
3/13/09 at 1:43pm
I mean, my parents have a ridiculously expensive Sony Bravia LCD and I think my PS3 looks better on my DLP than it does on their LCD. I think it's just something that's inherent in the display.
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post #133 of 183
3/13/09 at 4:12pm
I'm late to the HDTV party, but I was relieved/psyched at how good a lot of my reg'lar-ass DVDs look on it. On the level of less-than-perfect film projection (at least from my couch). Very happy; I know that happiness will melt when I get a blu-ray, then NOTHING WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH
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post #134 of 183
3/14/09 at 8:33am
Simple question, this is the hdtv I have
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1202649765246

The whole 120hz thing, is it good for gaming? It has a low, medium, and high setting but I don't know if it's actually for gaming use or just sports and movies. Help please!
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post #135 of 183
3/14/09 at 10:36am
From what I read 120hz primarily for gaming. All I can tell you is I wouldn't watch a movie using it.
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post #136 of 183
3/14/09 at 10:41am
I heard 120hz can result in a bit higher input lag though. Like if you were to press a button, it would take a little bit longer for the action to reach and be displayed on the TV.
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post #137 of 183
3/14/09 at 10:43am
I'd say that 120hz is more useful in sports. There the extra motion isn't as distracting.

In videogames it doesn't make sense because it introduces latency (it needs to know what the next couple frames are so it can intelligently tween them and then actually do the tweening) and that delay can really hurt games. In fact, most HDTVs have a 'game' mode that disables most processing and just gets the picture to the screen as quickly as possible.
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post #138 of 183
3/14/09 at 4:26pm
Thanks for the input guys! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on something my tv can do.
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post #139 of 183
4/12/09 at 1:10pm
Anyone know how to turn off dynamic contrast ratio? Because, fuck dynamic contrast ratio.
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post #140 of 183
4/13/09 at 12:51pm
I figured it out. Thanks for nothing, assholes.

("Cinema" mode on the LG, while looking like shit until I reset every last setting, apparently disables the rather useless dynamic contrast ratio feature. Goddamn, it's looking good now.)
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post #141 of 183
4/13/09 at 5:08pm
You ever check out the AVS Forums Phil? I get all my base configurations from there.
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post #142 of 183
4/13/09 at 5:26pm
I'll check it - thanks!
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post #143 of 183
4/23/09 at 12:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZombieFever View Post
Picked up a new Samsung LN40B530 to replace my Vizio VX37L. Both sets have a weird effect while playing games. Slight trails will appear from objects when i move around. I thought this was just because of the budget brand Vizio, surprising that the Samsung does it as well. Any of you experienced or have an idea as to what im talking about?

I'm on the fence as to whether or not i should return the Samsung or just deal with it.

I'm having a similar problem - just got a new 46" panasonic plasma, and I'm getting that blurring when I play Call of Duty on my PS3. Sort of a prismy/rainbow blurring, particularly around bright objects. It only happens when I'm turning or moving quickly, which is all the time in that game.

1) Might it be the picture settings? If so, which ones?

2) Might it be the HDMI cables? I'm just using a $30 cable from radio shack - but my Dark Knight Blu-ray looked perfect using it, and Street Fighter IV looked great too.

3) 120hz? Can someone walk me through that? I'm not much of a tech head. Is it something that would help?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice
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post #144 of 183
4/23/09 at 12:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by grubstreeter View Post
I'm having a similar problem - just got a new 46" panasonic plasma, and I'm getting that blurring when I play Call of Duty on my PS3. Sort of a prismy/rainbow blurring, particularly around bright objects. It only happens when I'm turning or moving quickly, which is all the time in that game.

1) Might it be the picture settings? If so, which ones?

2) Might it be the HDMI cables? I'm just using a $30 cable from radio shack - but my Dark Knight Blu-ray looked perfect using it, and Street Fighter IV looked great too.

3) 120hz? Can someone walk me through that? I'm not much of a tech head. Is it something that would help?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice
Adjust your brightness?

Never had this problem and I've got a 50' panny plasma

Do a google search for settings for your model and enter those.

Also, plasma doesn't have hz settings. Also turn off any dynamic contrasting stuff.
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post #145 of 183
4/23/09 at 12:52pm
I tried messing with brightness and contrast - no go. I'll look for dynamic contrasting - ty
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post #146 of 183
4/23/09 at 12:55pm
If it's 120hz it could be the additional smoothing stuff that goes on that is causing the weird effects as well. If your TV has a way to turn off 'motion enhancement' or whatever it's called it may solve your problem.
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post #147 of 183
4/23/09 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
If it's 120hz it could be the additional smoothing stuff that goes on that is causing the weird effects as well. If your TV has a way to turn off 'motion enhancement' or whatever it's called it may solve your problem.
the pannys have a anti burn in option that I know of, outside of the dynamic contrast.
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post #148 of 183
4/24/09 at 3:37am
I just moved into a new place and am now living with my best friend. He and I just went 50/50 on a 40" Samsung (LN40B530).... 1080p of course. It's a thing of beauty for sure. And it was only $899. We felt we didnt need anything bigger than 40", and didnt need to spend more than what we did. We mainly wanted it for the PS3 (and Blu-Ray) and for watching tv in high-def of course. Next on our list is getting a 5.1 receiver to finish the entertainment up.

Here's the link to the TV: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/d...LN40B530P7FXZA

ZombieFever mentioned that he had purchased this same tv a little ways up in the thread....so, this is in reference to what he said he was experiencing. I havent had that issue with mine. Are you still having that issue? You might look online to see if there's anything about that issue with the 530, or head to an AV store, or even Best Buy and ask them about it.
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post #149 of 183
5/8/09 at 4:00pm
Someone brought it up but I didn't see a definitive answer -- what's the deal on 1080p only really being a benefit above a certain screen size? I've read some articles saying it doesn't really make a difference until you're up over 50", but then I've read other opinions that that's crap. I'm not looking for anything bigger than 42" at this point. Wouldn't be used as a computer monitor, would just have an HD Tivo and a 360 hooked up to it with basic cable (provided free by our apartment complex). A Blu-ray player is a possible future purchase.

So should I save some scratch and go 720p or buck up for the 1080p?
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post #150 of 183
5/8/09 at 4:08pm
grubstreeter - your problem is likely sensitivity to phosphor lag.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/plasm...2007040133.htm

This is what made me return a Plasma and get an LCD last year.
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