Recommendation for a HDTV

[Shirow]

Hi,

Looking at buying my first HDTV and wondered if anyone had any recommendations. I think I want a CRT, around 36" or so that can do 1080i.

I want to be able to connect it to a PC, so it needs a VGA input, right? I also want it to be able to do 1280x1024 or the nearest equivalent.

I have Time Warner Cable, so I'll be getting a HDTV box.

Any recommendations?

[Gregg Lengling]

Yes you would want a VGA input available to use it as a computer monitor.....or you would need a transcoder which are expensive.  I'm not going to tout any brand...but I would make sure it is 16:9 display, don't fall for a 4:3 aspect ratio.  As far as display values 1080i at 16:9 is more than 1280x1024 (actually its 1920x1080).

I would make sure that you have component inputs available (at least 2...1 for STB, 1 for DVD).  I'd do some surfing first and get the info on the web, then go check out the major players.......Flanners, American, Colders, Circuit City, Best Buy and many more.....(Sound Stage and lots of specialty places).

Good luck...

[Shirow]

Thanks for the speedy response, Greg.

Is 1080i true 1920x1080? I.e. if I set my PC resolution to 1920x1080 would it be accurately recreated on the box, or would it be interpolated?

If I set my resolution to, for example, 1280x1024, how would it be recreated on the TV? Can it support multiple resolutions, and if so, is 1280x1024 one of them?

I think those are my only other questions.

[Gregg Lengling]

If  you have a vga input it should handle any resolution up to the max allowable by the display.  So I would think that you shouldn't have a problem...but I am not an expert on this.  I have a HiDTV Pro card in my computer and record HD programming and play it back on both my monitor and my big screen.  I know my monitor isn't capable of the 2 million pixels of the 1080i signal but it looks pretty damn good...but that's only a 4:3 19" monitor....compared to my 16:9 61" RPTV.

I'm sure someone more authoritative will show up yet this evening to correct any errors I made, and possibly with the exact answers you want...I'm sure there are members doing exactly what you want to do.

[Shirow]

Cool, thanks for the info Where is Flanners? I keep hearing people talk about it but nobody seems to know where it is.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Here you go:

Flanner's Audio & Video, Inc.
17445 West Bluemound Road
Brookfield, WI 53045
(262) 789-1195

Also, try //www.flanners.com

PS - The salesperson I work with is very in tune with this board, his name is Paul Hugdahl. Tell him you know me / us

[Matt Heebner]

All CRT's, LCD's(non computer type), and plasma's etc have what is called "native rate". That is they scale all incoming sources to specific resolutions they support. For example my Mits RPTV's native rates are 480i, 480p, 540p, and 1080i. Everything gets scaled to one of these resolutions. Most plasma's have a 1280 x 768  max resolution and scale everything to that native rate even though it can accept many different resolutions.

1080i is an interlaced format of 1920 x 1080 (interlaced). All computers are progressive scanning on the horizontal resolution though so technically it would be 1920 x 540(progressive). ABC does a 1280 x 720 (p) format which is also high definition.

I think that Zenith HD tube TV's have a VGA input but I believe that the VGA input is only a max of either 640x480 or 800x600 resolution. My friend is in the same situation looking for a computer monitor and a HD TV. Hs is having a lot of trouble because alot of HD TV's just dont support the higher computer resolutions he is looking for. He is actually looking at the Sharp 30" LCD that is going for $4500, and supports true 1920x1280. Unfortunatly it has gotten some pretty bad reviews.

Even though HDTV's can support HD programming, if you have ever seen one doing computer stuff, it doesn't look that good. Even supporting a higer resolution, words still tend to be on the blurry side compared to a true computer monitor.

And Gregg was correct about a transcoder. They tend to run in the $180 and up price range.


Matt

[Shirow]

To be honest, what I really wanted it for was playing video games. I was planning to hook up a DVD player/HD box and a computer to the HDTV simultaeneously and have a wireless mouse/keyboard on my coffee table so people could relax and play Quake 3 on my couch Guess maybe that won't really be a possibility though. I did look at the Plasma TVs, but the decent ones I saw didn't start below $6000 and that's outside the price range I can really pay for one.

Thanks for the info anyway guys - I'll stop by Flanners and see what they have, as I still want a HDTV for other things. Two last questions:

For a HD DVD picture, I need a progressive scan DVD player, right?

I've heard people talk about 'burn in' with regards to HDTVs - can anyone shed some light on this?

[Gregg Lengling]

What a progressive scan DVD player does is provides you with component output with 480p (that's 480 lines progressively scanned).  A standard DVD player will interlace the lines like normal TV broadcasts so you'll have 480i.  Yes it is very noticeable....get a decent Progressive scan Player.

Just think of it like a computer monitor...that's why you have a screen saver...if you just let the computer sit there with the same display day-in day-out..eventually you'll be able to see the picture with the display off and those areas of the screen will have lesss color/contrast/brightness.  Normal TV viewing shouldn't cause burn-in and most good DVD players have screen savers (my Sony does).

[Shirow]

I think the people that talked to me about burn in were talking about not watching TV in 16:9 all the time (e.g. if you're just watching normal TV) - is this an issue (should everything be stretched to 16:9?)

[Pat]

This question comes up often, probably once a week.  I thought we had a FAQ page, but I can't find it, so I don't blame you for asking.  Rather than answer it again, I'll have you do a search for "burn".  You'll get a number of hits.

[Shirow]

OK, will do Thanks.