Need Help With HDTV Choice

[tsumake]

I'm planning on getting the Samsung TX-R3079WH slimfit HD 30' HDTV. I want to get it because I'm planning on getting the Xbox360 and I plan to use it as a monitor for my desktop to save space. I've looked all around the net about this TV, and I get conflicting specs all the time.

Does anyone know if this TV upconverts all signals (480p, 720p) to 1080i? At Bestbuy, it says the TV accepts a 720p signal, but I would prefer if it didn't upconvert to 1080i because 360 games are developed in 720p. If anyone has any experience with the TV or knows any tidbits about it, please tell. I really want to get this TV because of the price and size, but really don't want any nasty surprises. Thanks again!

 

[lordofduct]

Not really sure about that specific TV... but I know most HDTVs I've played with either autodetected the res and played it in that nor upconverted to 1080i.

I don't see why a TV would automatically upconvert to 1080i because HDTV was made to get out of the whole interlaced dealy. Kind of stupid to upconvert to such a archaic standard of video signal.

Oh and if your going to hook your comp to it... DON'T I repeat DON'T run it in 1080i... suffer the lower res because it just looks awful in interlaced. The words are fuzzy enough in progressive... but in interlaced it's unbareable. Some TVs won't even except it.

My HDTV does 1080i... did with my xbox (oh yeah, there are settings in the Xbox you have to set up to do the HD). But when I hooked my comp to it and put it in 1080i the picture jumped all over the place.

 

[slinga]

LoD: What video card are you outputting with? Can you output from PC -> in HD?

 

[it290]

Many newer cards can. A lot of HDTVs accept VGA directly, some do DVI, and almost all of them will take component input. I have a Radeon X800 in one of my machines, and it can output several HD resolutions via component cable.

 

[lordofduct]

I use a Geforce ti4200... I have two, one 64MB the other 128MB. The HTPC is hooked up with the 64MB one through DVI->HDMI. The Geforce drivers support HD resolutions and have preset 480p 720p and 1080i selections (incase you don't know what the corrolating resolution is). It also supports over and underscan in case the picture doesn't take the whole screen or washes over the edges of the screen (I need the underscan on mine).

The picture quality is amazing in videogames, movies, and other stuff. Words are still blurry (720p doesn't really mean its gonna look like 1080X720 like on your computer monitor). It still looks amazing!

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

look for a 1080p tv if ya can...that will save you the hassle of being out of date when you buy your TV .

Lots of TV's support HDMI as well...

 

[lordofduct]

I am betting a 1080p TV will cost a nice pretty penny!

I mean shit that is a 1920X1080 resolution... a lot of LCD panels aren't even that (a lot stop at 1280X1024 none wide screen). But if you find one at a decent price... hells yeah get it, then the shit won't seem to big on screen when you hook your comp upto it (check it's drivers and see if there HDTV presets have 1080p... if not it will be somewhat annoying trying to set the resolution just right. Those damn TVs are figgity sometimes when setting them up manually).

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

A little off topic here, but why is there even 1080i HDTVs? Is it due to cost and current technology? I just cant seem to get why they would reintroduce interlaced video into the mix espcially when dealing with HD TVs

Edit:

Heres a little article I found, might help you out when deciding what to buy.

1080i vs 1080p

From what I understand make sure if you spend all that extra cash on a 1080p set make sure it can input a 1080 signal and not just upconvert other signals to 1080p.

 

[Malakai]

I remember watching a show a bit about resolutions and such on HD Televisions - I forget where it was, maybe G4 Tech TV. Any way, they were saying that hardly any HDTVs actually do the whole resolution, even ones that "support" 1080i. It seems as though LCD TVs are probably the worst when it comes to loss of resolution.

A lot of techies have also stated that there is no visible difference between 720 and 1080. I would personally forget buying a 1080p right now and get one in a few years if needed. It's just not worth the extra money with little or no support for it today.

I'm personally probably getting a 30" flat tube hdtv in the next month or so for my bedroom. Too bad the room isnt' big enough for projection

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Yeah thats another thing with TVs, trying to determine which one suits you best when youv got CRT, LCD DLP, Projection and Plasma.

I personally would stay away from Plasma and LCD for TVs. Plasmas start to degrade after only a few years from what I understand.

Im still kinda partial to CRTs, tried and true technology. As far as I know CRTs are fully capable of looking just as good if not better than all the other types only draw back is size of the actual TV and power consumption. Although I did read that DLP will suffer almot no degragtion in quality over long periods of time where even CRTS start to lose sharpness after 5-6 years.

 

[Malakai]

Funny thing about projection tvs is there are a lot of things that can go out in them, and they are notorious for not lasting long. I've seen a lot that had the picture faded so that you could barely see the picture, and others so blurry that it would almost hurt your eyes to watch. It seems like if you get a new one, you're lucky to have it last more than a few years before the picture goes bad, has burn in somewhere, or some other problem.

The last project TV I bought, however, was an RCA, about 7-8 years ago, and it still has as good of a picture as it did from day 1. The only problem I had with it was after first buying it, there was a problem where the video would go off and on, when connected to the coax. It was under warranty. So, a technician came out. He looked at the tv and frowned and said "Boy do I hate working on projection tvs. They're all junk" - it turns out that it just had a cold solder joint. So, it was a quick fix.

I've had several compliments about this one being the clearest projection tv they've seen, but there are a lot that have a better picture now days. All you have to do is drive to the local best buy and compare quality lol.

All in all, I'd say only the higher end projection televisions ($3500+) will compare to a good quality crt tv though. I think we just enjoy watching movies and playing games on larger screens, for the awe factor, even if it suffers a slight quality degradation.

 

[lordofduct]

Originally posted by Malakai@Fri, 2006-01-20 @ 01:25 PM

I remember watching a show a bit about resolutions and such on HD Televisions - I forget where it was, maybe G4 Tech TV. Any way, they were saying that hardly any HDTVs actually do the whole resolution, even ones that "support" 1080i. It seems as though LCD TVs are probably the worst when it comes to loss of resolution.

A lot of techies have also stated that there is no visible difference between 720 and 1080. I would personally forget buying a 1080p right now and get one in a few years if needed. It's just not worth the extra money with little or no support for it today.

[post=143649]Quoted post[/post]​

That is the thing... there is not that much of a difference between 720p and 1080i because the 720p projects 720 scanlines continuosily... 1080i only does 540 lines in one pass phase. This causes noticeable degregation in picture quality.

But if you got 1080p you'd see a BIG difference between it and 720p. Of couse this is only when receiving a 1080p signal that is... the only thing doing that are computers... there are high end DVD players that do support 1080p (expect to spend over a thousand dollars, my cousin has a 700 dollar DVD player and it doesn't even have 1080p) Like this matters though because NO DVD out there is encoded at 1080p. And there are no 1080p HDTV stations yet either.

There's a lot of things to keep in mind when buying a TV... and even MORE when you plan on hooking up your computer to it. Even TVs at high resolutions aren't as clear as a computer monitor. It has the resolution capability... but it first is only capable of a lower refresh rate. It also is used to a differenet color signal then computers (similar true, but not the same).

There are also noticeable handicaps that a TV screen has that are more to make a better viewing adventure for the TV watcher. Things like slight fuzziness and high contrasts. When watching video it makes everything look vivid and beautiful... immense detail is not necessary for this.

But when viewing the still detailed shots a computer puts out everything appears a lower quality... but then when you go and play a video on your computer it really isn't as vivid and clean. A DVD on a computer is full of artifacts a jaggies that weren't apparent on your television.

TVs, not even HDTVs aren't meant for a computer to be hooked to it... even at the high resolutions. To build a TV capable of computer quality images and still look vivid enough for video would cost you a lot of freaking money.

Oh they have them... some of you guys have seen them online and drooled... we have one in the office here at work. Those 32" wide screen computer monitors with every known connection on it and color signal switches and remotes the size of your head.

and a pricetag of 2 years of your income

 

[Malakai]

Well, lucas is supposed to be recording his new star wars tv series in 1080p, but you'll be lucky if you can find a network that will send out a 1080p signal at the time, on an over the air antenna at least.