The average price for a 42" Plasma these days seems to be around $5,000.00. What do you guys think the price will be for them in a about a year. If they want EVERYONE to switch to HD shouldn't the prices come down. Also, how are you guys this rich to buy them?

<<<-- Originally posted by Greg Harris : The average price for a 42" Plasma these days seems to be around $5,000.00. What do you guys think the price will be for them in a about a year. If they want EVERYONE to switch to HD shouldn't the prices come down. Also, how are you guys this rich to buy them? -->>>

Not all HDTV's are Plasma screens and not all Plasma flatscreens are HDTV's.

You can get a direct view widescreen 16:9 30" HDTV Tube set for as little as $799(but you still need a HDTV tuner source--from cable, over the air).
Granted--you can't hang a 125 pound monster--but you aren't spending that much either.

And it is true HD.

It depends on what you want and what you want to spend for best bang for the buck..

A good place for HDTV equipment info is here:

www.avsforum.com

Our sponsor EVS has a high-end 42" Panasonic plasma (http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=2C2A5) for $3,875 and a few other 42" plasmas that are lower than that. Still out of my price range, though... I'm in the market myself, may have to settle for a Direct View but first I'll have to measure the built-in in my living room, and probably beef it up a bit too.

If you have a HD tv and you play some video from a miniDV camera how does it look?

I'm starting to see LCD screens in the 26" to 32" size with costs around the $2,000 mark (Sharp, Viewsonic). They are typically 1280x768 resolution and capable of show 720p HDTV. Based on articles I've read in business journals during the past year, we should continue to see price drops on LCD's such that within the next year or so they displace plasma for low cost widescreen TV's.

John is right, most of the cheap plasma screens are EDTV (Enhanced Definition) and not HDTV. They have resolutions ~854x480. Now these would probably be fine for working with an XL-2, PDX-10 or any other camera that shoots real anamorphic 16:9. In fact it might be interesting to compare... I wonder if the image would be cleaner than a 1280x768 screen that has to scale the 720x480 anamorphic DV? Of course these screens won't be able to display HDTV at its full resolution though.

Regarding Bob's question, I have a small Sony 17" widescreen LCD monitor (1280x768) and it looks very good with video from my PDX-10 (which is "real" 16:9). If I look at 16:9 video from my VX-2000 it doesn't look as nice, which is to be expected since that camera merely crops and stretches to acheive widescreen.

Boyd what happens to a video taken with a Hi def camera then played on a normal TV? That might be a dumb question but I just had to ask!!

Toshiba will be introducing a new technology developed with Canon called SED sometime next year. The SED TV is claimed to offer the dimensions of Plasma, the picture quality of CRT, and a price comparable to high-end DLPs of the same size.

If this is all it's cracked up to be, especially at that price point, it is definitely worth waiting for.

I am not yet seriously looking to buy, but I have spoken to a couple people whose opinion I value, and they feel the best pictures are on LCD screens. Of course they have not seen the SED screen that Mike mentions.

Then there is the matter of what to watch on a Hi Def set. Next season, Fox will offer American Idol in Hi Def. Should be worth taking a look at, in 720P, of course.

Wayne Orr, SOC

Bob: in order to watch HD footage on a conventional 4:3 TV you would need to do some type of format conversion, including letterboxing. I believe cameras like the JVC and Sony HDV can provide this in playback mode, but I haven't actually used either of them so I'm not sure. Another approach might be to downconvert and export the HD program to a SD DVD, then you could view on a 4:3 set with the DVD player providing the letterbox.

But regular 4:3 SD TV sets wouldn't have any way to process an HD signal without some sort of external conversion.

If the current market trend here in Australia is anything to go by, the prices on WS display devices will continue to decrease because market demand is going up, UP, UP.

The three big things I've noticed are, friends and acquaintances of WS HDTV owners purchasing after seeing the benefit, more and more HD content going to air on the HD FTA networks and the prices on HDTV gear going down.

The current model of the Panasonic 76cm HDTV I got over a year ago for approx $4000 Aus is now half that price.

Expect the trend to actually accelerate as more and more HD programming gets put to air, and the quality & size of display devices goes up while prices tumble.....

The latest figures here in Oz show a very rapid increase over the last couple of months in HD (WS) TV purchases, and the trend isn't likely to slow until saturation is reached.....

Quick question, what is the best HD TV? what is the best 42" and 50"??????
thanks

I'm getting ready to shop for a large LCD or plasma screen for work. I can't imagine buying something like this without looking at the actual screens and comparing. In my case, it will be used to view widescreen DV and not HD, so an ED model (852x480) may meet my needs. I plan to burn a DVD with some sample footage and test charts, then head off to a dealer.

The November issue of Home Theatre magazine has a big grid that compares specs on 400 models of plasma and LCD screens. Might be a good starting point in the information gathering process.

Do you think there will be a 1080p TV for under 20,000 dollars (the current going rate) by the end of next year?

<<<-- Originally posted by Betsy Moore : Do you think there will be a 1080p TV for under 20,000 dollars (the current going rate) by the end of next year? -->>>

Like many on this forum I have been looking for the next display acquisiton. It must have native 1080i, WS HDTV, DVI input, Component etc.

The Sony WEGA CRT 68cm is 1080i ready for $5k aud.

I am thinking of staying with CRT after seeing LCD & plasma next to this unit. They just do not compare.

This CRT in 1080i has mind blowing video.

Regards, Tony

I'm surprised there hasn't been more said here about DLP HDTVs. My wife's niece and her husband just bought a Sony DLP for about $2500 and it looks noticeably better than the Panasonic rear-projection HDTV we bought a year ago for $2000. Meanwhile, the price of the rear-projection models continues to drop, with just about every electronics and warehouse store offering something usable for around $1000 or so.

Regarding how people get the money to buy these TVs, a lot of the answer is that they're financing them. I'm impressed to see so many people spending so much just to watch television, but the newer TVs also do a great job of playing DVD movies and that's a big part of the draw. If you figure it costs at least $50 or more to take a family of four to a movie at a theater and you do that a couple of times per month, there's the money needed to pay financing on a big-screen TV and rent the movies to watch at home.

Back in 1965 I bought my first color TV (21" round tube Zenith) for $400. I was making about $10k a year, and bread was somewhere around $.29 a loaf - hamburger $.39 a pound. In 1069 I bought a new Chevy for $4k. Makes $2500 for HDTV seem about right!

Not 1080i, I'm asking about 1080p. Of course every computer monitor is already that and beyond. And there is one rear projection TV on sale for 20,000 that's 1080p--the question is do you think it's going to come down significantly in the coming year.

^^^1080i already here. ^^^
<<<-- Originally posted by Betsy Moore : Do you think there will be a 1080p TV for under 20,000 dollars (the current going rate) by the end of next year? -->>>

geez, I feel like a baby compared to most of you guys, I can hardly remeber the 80's.

The price on 1080p displays will most certainly come down. HD-DVD or BluRay HD will help drive this and the demand for 1080p as well. It seems the DVD-Forum and all the major studios are in agreement on what to put on the discs, but we're headed for a battle over which type of disc to put it on (HD-DVD vs. BluRay).

Anyway, right now there are only a handful of 1080p HDTV sets out there and most are under $20,000. The 82" Mitsubishi LCOS set is 1920x1080p native and it is absolutely stunning. ...It can be purchased for about $14~$16K from most reasonable dealers although price is going up since these are fairly scarce and most people don't have the room for such a beast. I can't recall exact models off the top of my head right now, but I do know of at least 2 other LCOS 1080p sets on the market that are cheaper than the Mitsubishi 82".

Right now 1280x720p is the norm for DLP sets, but I think we will see a shift to 1080p with newer models in about 6 to 8 months. Same goes for DLP and LCD projectors - right now they're hanging out at 720/768 vertical res, but 1080 is just around the corner.

Anyway, I'm hoping that I'm right... I'll be in the market for a bigscreen HDTV of some type next fall so all these manufacturers better get their stuff together by then. I don't want to buy anything that doesn't do at least 1080p native resolution.

Trying to decide between the Sony Wega 1080i CRT and the new Toshiba 1080i+ crt.

Sony's price has yet to catch up with the currnetly discounted Toshy, $5200 AUD for the Sony vs $3300 AUD for the Toshiba

Both 86cm screens.

What seems to be missing from the Toshy is a DVi input.

I still think that the Sony has the better picture though.

Tony

<<<-- What seems to be missing from the Toshy is a DVi input.

I still think that the Sony has the better picture though. -->>>


Those two statements should be all you need to go by. First of all, if the new set doesn't have DVI or HDMI (HDMI is DVI + digital audio in a single connection), then you don't want it. You will need DVI or HDMI connections on your HDTV set to view upcoming HD-DVD (or HD BluRay) movie releases due to the copy protection issues.

Beyond that, a better picture always costs more money...

Tony, I can't seem to find the sony youre talking about. Do you have a link from b&h or from sonystyle.com?? thanks

what about this 60" Grand Wega?

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=KDF60XS955&Dept=tv&CategoryName=tv&INT=sstyle-tv-feat_01-KDF60XS955

<<<-- Originally posted by Greg Harris : Tony, I can't seem to find the sony youre talking about. Do you have a link from b&h or from sonystyle.com?? thanks -->>>

I had thought they had DVI but no, my mistake.

Anyway I ended up buying a 76CM WIDESCREEN FD TRINITRON WEGA TV KVHR32M31

Picked it up for $2400 aud. No DVI but 1080i, more component inputs than I need, looks and works great. And not to be under valued, it fit into the existing entertainment cabinet in the lounge room.

I was going to select a STB that had DVI inputs but is was otherwise a heap of garbage.

Via the STB HD broadcast images are noticably better than any LCD or Plasma that I have seen.

High-Q DVDs look great.

Tony