HD questions for the community

[Don Parrish]

Decided to take the plunge into HD for the living room, those girls on survivor helped me make the choice :). I will be using Direct tv for the signal, waiting for the new dish and reciver to arrive. I have read the internet based HD basics and they are very basic, but I have some unanswered questions maybe you folks could help with.

These sets are starting to get in my range, like the 1080i sanyo's and panasonics, I like the tubes because of there durability, clarity and yes cost. Anyone have any warnings about the cheaper HD sets??

I found one made by sanyo, 32" HDTV model HT32744 with integrated HD tuner, I was shopping in Wally world and saw it, all the TV's but this one were full screen but this 4:3 set was in widescreen mode, just a setting or an inability??

what is 3:2 film correction on a sets specification mean. Maybe this question is the same area, I was reading on NBC's website about there HD broadcast and there website made this statement " For those of you are really technically inclined, think about this: movies and many primetime shows that are produced on film are made with only 24 pictures per second, so 1080i actually becomes progressive scan when film-based material is being broadcast! " That went over my head, what does film broadcast have to do with odd-even??? It went on to say the set was 30i.

Thanks for any help, tips or warnings on HD.
Donny

[Steve Crisdale]

Whether the States are the same as here in Oz... You should be similar in hardware requirements. Lot's of HD adopters here opt for a seperate HD box...generally because of the greater connection flexibility, and price has dropped on dedicated boxes to what SD boxes were a few months ago.

Any HD STB HDTV monitor, that offers DVI connection is worth a look as it frees up at least one component connection for other HD media devices if and when you get them i.e. a HD-DVD or Blueray HD-DVD player or your FX1 ;)

Generally PQ out of a dedicated HD STB is better as well.

HDTV monitors should be as high resolution as you can afford and with CRT monitors look for low dot-pitch, and high Hz rating (here in Oz - 100HZ) for better refesh rates.

I own a Panasonic PW100A 76cm 100Hz WS CRT HDTV and a Aquos 82cm LCD HDTV (the Aquos has much smaller 'pixels visible than on the CRT meaning a much 'cleaner' HD image. I'm running a Homecast HD STB which was great value...they're probably even better value in the States.

If you don't opt for a WS monitor for viewing any HD material.....you're just going to miss out on one of the main advantages of HD which is 16:9 native, so you'll be viewing a vastly reduced image on a 4:3 monitor......

Many manufacturers are trying to palm their lesser non-HD stock off too the unwary as 'HD-ready' or 'capable of'.... so ask to see the monitor running in true HD, and if you don't notice a real clarity jump, then you'll be purchasing a lemon.

I'd also suggest you research from a forum dedicated to HDTV/FTA/STB discussion as you'll learn a lot more than going to a manufacturers website. Hope you make a good choice on monitor, so you can sit back and enjoy what HD is all about......

[Mike Gannon]

I spent the last couple of months doing the same research and I agree with Steve that you want to cover the basics of HD first - 16:9 aspect ratio and DVI or HDMI input(s). From there, it comes down to "real" HD. Many of the sets out there, especially the plasmas, do not display the true 1920x1080 image. Some will do 1280x720, some will do less than that. I found that most report images upconverted look better and have fewer artifacts than displays that will downconvert the signal.

By going with a CRT tube you will be getting the best quality image (in native 1080i) at the cost of diagonal real estate. But check the display options of a Sanyo - for the price, they have to cut corners somewhere. If you can afford the Toshiba or Sony, the additional price is worth it, imo. The top of the line Sony includes a front-panel firewire input.

I actually went with a 51" Sony CRT rear projection for $1700 including delivery. It seemed to me a good tradeoff between quality and size, although the actual size of the cabnet may be too large for small rooms and picky significant others. In this class, the Panasonic and Hitatachi also make very good CRT RPTVs.

Hope this helps.

[Don Parrish]

thanks all for the help.

[Bobby Arnold]

Don't worry - Survivor isn't in HD yet :)

[Mike Moncrief]

Hello,

Bobby Arnold said

" Don't worry - Survivor isn't in HD yet :)"

It is on my TV and has been in HD for some time..

Mike M.

[Bobby Arnold]

Survivor is broadcast over CBS HD, but is not in HD. If you look at CBS' website, the link to hdtv www.cbs.com/info/hdtv/index.php you'll see that Survivor is a darker color then CSI, which is HD (1080i). I don't know what happed to the legend on this page... Don't get me wrong, watching upconverted Survivor is better then NTSC Survivor...

You can also verify which shows are being broadcast in HD here http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html

[Mike Moncrief]

Wow !

Had me fooled.. looks pretty darn good for not being HDTV.. It is shot in 16:9 ... ?? I have seen shows before, where they take some normal DV footage and they upscan it.. and you can see some degradation..

Thanks for the input.
I stand corrected..
Mike

[Bobby Arnold]

In Los Angeles, it is broadcast in 4:3. I'm not sure what it is actually shot in. I'm really suprised CBS hasn't switched to HD for Survivor yet. My guess is much of the footage is shot in DV.

[Don Parrish]

In searching for the right television, I was hunting the net for reviews when I came upon a merchants page and was shocked at who sold the HDTV I am looking at.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=PACT34WX54&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=319861