I Might Be Able to Get An HDTV!

**Xtopia** · 04-28-2002

Thats right, I may be able to get an HDTV! My familly and I went to Sears today, and they had a 51 in. 16:9 apspect ratio HDTV! My parents were drooling! But the awesome thing is that my parents are actually considering it! We were going to get one a few years ago, but decided to wait, but now we might get it! If I do, I will depend on all of you to help me set it up!

**faceoff508** · 04-28-2002

Originally posted by Motoko S9
Lucky bastard.

I agree

**Xtopia** · 04-28-2002

LoL! It is great ain't it!

**chili325** · 04-28-2002

congrats dude, we might be gettin one to but we cant fit a 50, itl probably be like a 36. For those who have it, is there that much of a difference or are they overated?

**Hugh_Jass** · 04-28-2002

Make sure it has a DVI connector or your parents will be weeping at all the money they threw down the drain by 2006.

**squid413** · 04-28-2002

hey i just wanted to say that i already have an HDTV 51 inch 16:9 and have played xbox on it with the standard av cables but not the HDTV cables. what brand were ur parents looking at we have a sony

**Xtopia** · 04-28-2002

Make sure it has a DVI connector or your parents will be weeping at all the money they threw down the drain by 2006

I will be sure to find out...but what is a DVI connector? I do know this, the HDTV is a Mitsubishi (sp?) and they garuntee to uprgade the components if the technology changes.
Thanks again, Hugh_Jass!

**DBXNY** · 04-28-2002

Originally posted by squid413
hey i just wanted to say that i already have an HDTV 51 inch 16:9 and have played xbox on it with the standard av cables but not the HDTV cables. what brand were ur parents looking at we have a sony

Why would you do that? You're missing out on quite a bit. I recommend getting the HDTV pack ASAP.

DB

**CyberBOMB** · 04-28-2002

i hear that all HDTV's that are sold before Fall 2002 will be obsolete in the next year and thats why they are dropping drastically in price. Just an FYI, if it were me it would be a Mitsubishi (or however you spell it) because they guarantee that they will be upgradable to whatever formats the HDTV changes.

**techie** · 04-29-2002

Hitachi and Mitsubishi offer an upgrade on their HDTV's, but
remember the old saying "nothing is for free". Both companies
require you to purchase an expensive warranty to help cover
the cost of the future upgrade.

As far as any set sold before fall of 2002 becoming obsolete,
I really don't see that happening for a lot of reasons. There is
currently an installed base of about 2 million HDTV early adoptors
myself included, and if our televisions were to be considered
obsolete there would be massive class action lawsuits filed
against the manufacturers to make our set's compatable
with whatever standard is finally settled on.

Another problem they have is that the current standard and
some of the other things they are trying to pass (HDCP) are
far too broad in definition right now and would not only affect
televisions but other components that display DVD's and or
any type of HiDef media. This could include things like DVD
players, VCR's, and even game consoles.

**Hugh_Jass** · 04-29-2002

The Mitsubishi upgrade policy is for a "fair and reasonable" charge...NOT FREE.

I heard from a buddy that the upgrade kit will be $1000-$1200. I have not verified that figure myself.

**Xtopia** · 04-29-2002

So what do you guys reccomend? Should we still go ahead and get an HDTV, or wait?

**techie** · 04-29-2002

Thats really up to your parents and yourself. I can say
however that I'm happy I have an HDTV. I play the Xbox
through the HD connector and it looks great! No visible
scan lines, watching DVD's on a progressive scan DVD
player your movies will look like they do at the theater,
and I went the extra step and purchased a line doubler
for everything else, Cable tv, VCR, and my Laserdisc player
all appear now in HiDef mode (line doubled 480p) and look
great.

I will however say that all is not completely rosey about
HDTV. You have to keep in mind that if you were watching
a HDTV displayed in a store that most likely you were watching
a High Definition signal of some sort. This can be misleading
because once you get the set home and set up, unless you
are currently getting a HiDef signal from some source like
Direct TV, or a progressive scan DVD player, what you see
in the store is not what you get at home.

HDTV's generally have more scan lines than the normal
television does. The great thing about this is you get a
better overall picture quality, clearer picture, better defined
images and so on. The bad thing is it also will display all the
noise interfearence and garbage that comes though with
the video signal that much better also.

The thing to do would be to have your parents ask the sales
person to hook up the tv to a regular signal source like an
antenna, or possibly a VCR and or a DVD player so you can
see what the video will look like in normal broadcast mode
(480i). Some HDTV's will suffer from some or all of the various
signal problems to either a greater or lesser degree. Things
like line jitter or stairstepping just to name a couple.

So, should you get a HDTV now? In my own opinion, sure,
why not enjoy the benefits of better picture quality now
instead of waiting 2 years for the standards to become more
defined. Just remember to check the tv out completely with
different video sources and find out what kind of upgrade
to finalized HDTV standards the company is offering before
spending money on something that may wind up being just
an overpriced tv set.

**l Maximus l** · 04-29-2002

Xtopia...that's great news! To be dead honest, you will never play your XBox again on a regular tube television after you play on a HDTV! It is so sweet! Games look extremely impressive...much more rich in color and the graphical detail is so much more immersive.

Before I got my 50" Toshiba HDTV Widescreen, I was playing on my 36" S-Video Toshiba tube TV. I thought my 36" Toshiba was amazing...but, now that I have a 50" HDTV, my 36" tube looks like ass!!

To me, it was worth every penny

**Peter1979** · 04-29-2002

whats a HDTV ?? please tell me

thx

**Xtopia** · 04-29-2002

Peter: HDTV=High Definition Television

Techie: Thanks for the help! Yes, the HDTV was hooked up to a HD signal (Dish HDTV) And yes, we asked him to hook it up to a regular signal i.e. cable. But dude! I thought that DVD would give you the same quality you would get if you were watching a HD broadcast!?!?!

Frostberg · 04-29-2002

Originally posted by xtopia
I thought that DVD would give you the same quality you would get if you were watching a HD broadcast!?!?!

HDTV>DVD

If you tried to pump out the resolutions and such of a HDTV broadcast of a 2hr movie you would use a wholeee lot od DVDs...DVDs are very compressed, and much of the data on the DVD is actually the sound...

**techie** · 04-29-2002

It will if the DVD player is progressive scan. The output
of progressive scan on DVD is 480p versus the standard
480i. I just replaced my less than 1 year old, top of the
line, $800 Pioneer DVD player, with a $200 JVC that
does progressive scan.

My problem was that the Pioneer DV-606D can produce
amazing picture quality from a DVD, and my RCA Digital
36" HDTV also produces an amazingly clear picture, so
I wound up seeing all the scan lines, flaws, digital
artifacts in such amazingly clear detail it drove me nuts!
Now, I have a progressive scan player and I'm a
much happier camper!!

I'm not saying you will experience the same thing I did,
different televisions and DVD players react differently.
What I am saying is to get the best out of an HDTV is
to combine it with a HiDef source such as HD broadcast,
a progressives scan DVD player or HD connector for Xbox.

And trust me, there is a difference! With 480i you can
see the scan lines in the picture. Most people don't
even realize that they are seeing them since that is
what you are used to watching all the time.

But, switch into progressive mode using the component
input on the television and you will see the amazing
difference in video quality. Colors will be brighter, the
picture will be clearer and smoother and the level of
detail will blow you away, just as it does with a Hidef
broadcast.

Get the salesperson to hook up a progressive scan
DVD player using the component output to the component
input of the television and have them play Shrek. If the
DVD player can switch between interlaced and progressive
mode via the remote, change it back and forth, you won't
believe what you've been missing. It's the same with the
Xbox, there is a difference, and HD is worth it.

Sorry to all, I get a little long winded when talking about
this stuff, I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

Xtopia, if you need any more information I'll be happy to
help where I can, and I'm sure others like Maximus would
be more than willing to help with any HD info you need.

**DBXNY** · 04-29-2002

Originally posted by xtopia
Peter: HDTV=High Definition Television

Techie: Thanks for the help! Yes, the HDTV was hooked up to a HD signal (Dish HDTV) And yes, we asked him to hook it up to a regular signal i.e. cable. But dude! I thought that DVD would give you the same quality you would get if you were watching a HD broadcast!?!?!

HDTV resolution is 1080i (1080 horizontal lines of resolution). Currently, DVD spec is 720x480 (480 horizontal lines of resolution). No current DVD, using any player, or any HDTV will equal the resolution of HDTV. However, 480p will look at least twice as better than regular 480i, as displayed by a regular TV set. If you get a good progressive-scan player, as techie noted, you can get a better 480p picture from DVDs than what most digital sets can deliver.

As far as watching regular cable or TV, I recommend any person with an HDTV to get either Digital Cable or Satellite. All digital displays upconvert incoming 480i or less signals to some other format - either 480p, 520p (like Toshibas), or some to 1080i (not the best idea though), maybe a few to even 720p. Either way, the tradeoff is that any noise in the original signal will always get upconverted in the process. Analog TV or cable usually always has inherent video noise, which is why they usually look like crap on digital displays.