HDTV. Why bother? - Page 2

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - HDTV. Why bother? (Page 2 of 2)

Posted: 4/15/2006 10:39:19 AM EDT

[#1]

The only thing I use a TV for is to get the local weather and local election returns on election day.

I can read surface charts for myself, and make sense out of the text forcasts put out by the NWS, but I am lazy and enjoy watching the blonde dumbass try to explain the maps behind her (while I drink my coffee).

My antenna is rabbit ears, and I get 4 or 5 channels depending on the weather. They shut off analog in the future, who cares?

You want to see true High Defination, get out of the lazyboy and go outside!

I don't watch shows about hunting, I go hunting.
Don't watch shows about shooting, I go to the range.
Wanna see dramma, backstabbing, and an ocassional knifing? go to work!

Wanna be entertained, go watch the mall ninjas run away from the wallmart checker, ot the local BATF agents.

News is quicker and more accurate via the web. TV is just a drain on your wallet.

Posted: 4/15/2006 11:11:21 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
dude hdtv rocks, dont miss out on it

All Ten channels of it ?

I get over 20 currently.

If the "all 10 channels of it?" objection held historical water, nobody every would have bought a regualr TV before cable was invented.

I got 4 channels OTA on a good day when I was a kid. How many did everyone else get?

Posted: 4/15/2006 11:21:54 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
dude hdtv rocks, dont miss out on it

All Ten channels of it ?

I get over 20 currently.

If the "all 10 channels of it?" objection held historical water, nobody every would have bought a regualr TV before cable was invented.

I got 4 channels OTA on a good day when I was a kid. How many did everyone else get?

5. ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and an independent UHF channel out of Tampa...WTOG, 44.

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:18:00 PM EDT

[#4]

they're getting to be pretty affordable though...

$1299 for a 37 inch flat HDTV LCD with all sorts of features

www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11118723&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:29:41 PM EDT

[#5]

Even with a widescreen TV, you wil still have the bars on the top and bottom. This is for the widest of widescreen (2:35). However you can usually alleviate it by doing a pan and scan, but then you lose some of the screen. I love my widescreen anad will never go back. I would recommend you holding off since you aren't sure.

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:40:45 PM EDT

[#6]

I don't use my HDTV for TV, and widescreen movies on a widescreen high definition screen.. wow, it's great.

But save your money, and don't invest it in anything that will depreciate in value, like guns, cars, computers, and pretty much anything else you use

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:45:09 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Not gonna do HD until I get a huge screen TV when the prices come down.

Prices are already down.

I got my first big screen tv about 10 years ago. It was a Sony 55" rear projection and cost $1,600. It went belly up four weeks ago and I went shopping, first on the internet to see what was available.

I now have an HDTV 50" RCA widescreen DLP rear projector. The total weight is about 50 pounds. My wife can pick it up and walk with it. It is only about 10" deep and takes up barely any more room than an LCD or plasma screen. The cost? $1,900 from Best Buy.

The DLP technology HDTV has an awesome picture and is much more narrow and lighter than my old big screen of roughly the same size screen. I only paid $300 more than I paid 10 years ago.

The main selling point of LCD and plasma is they are flat and can be hung on a wall. If you have 10" of space, then you have the DLP as an option. Even a 17" tube tv is about 24" deep.

I would not have gone shopping for the new HDTV had my old Sony kept running. For the prices now, why go back to a crappy tv when you can get HD for about the same.

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:45:34 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
I dont watch as much TV as I used to.

I dont think it is worth it. I would get a better computer monitor as computer monitors already get high resolution, and I download most television shows I would watch anyways.

+1
I don't even have cable.

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:47:07 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Not gonna do HD until I get a huge screen TV when the prices come down.

Prices are already down.

So. Go buy another one. Not to be rude but a good, large TV is still around $1000.

I'm not ever paying over $600 for a big screen that I watch once a week at most. Frankly I watch almost nothing on the tube anymore. DVDs and 1 or two shows from my Digital recorder is about it. I'll wait until everyone is buying the next big thing and snap up the older stuff and be perfectly happy. If the FCC turns off normal broadcast befor then.... oh well. I'll get more done around the house.

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:49:00 PM EDT

[#10]

This thread is kinda bi-polar. About half the people know what they're talking about and the other half are stuck in the dark ages or are relying on input from other people who are stuck in the dark ages.

HDTV is a fact. It's not going away. 16 by 9 format is here to stay. Your normal vision FOV is not "square". The difference in resolution is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.

Bomber

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:53:22 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
This thread is kinda bi-polar. About half the people know what they're talking about and the other half are stuck in the dark ages or are relying on input from other people who are stuck in the dark ages.

HDTV is a fact. It's not going away. 16 by 9 format is here to stay. Your normal vision FOV is not "square". The difference in resolution is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.

Bomber

There you go, muddying up the thread with facts.

Posted: 4/15/2006 1:02:18 PM EDT

[#12]

I feel the same way as the original poster. We currently have a 36" CRT television that's about 5 or 6 years old. Seems to work just fine for us. DVDs look fine. Satellite programming looks fine. Everything that plays off of our Tivo looks fine. Why should I go and spend $2K on a new television? Sure a plasma screen HDTV would be cool. But I just can't justify the cost. It's not going to do anything for me that my current TV doesn't do.

We'll probably get one when our current TV dies. Until then? 36" is plenty enough.

Posted: 4/15/2006 1:22:08 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
I feel the same way as the original poster. We currently have a 36" CRT television that's about 5 or 6 years old. Seems to work just fine for us. DVDs look fine. Satellite programming looks fine. Everything that plays off of our Tivo looks fine. Why should I go and spend $2K on a new television? Sure a plasma screen HDTV would be cool. But I just can't justify the cost. It's not going to do anything for me that my current TV doesn't do.

We'll probably get one when our current TV dies. Until then? 36" is plenty enough.

Psssst.. Beautiful Phillips 32" LCD widescreen HDTVs at Coscto for $1,400....

Posted: 4/15/2006 1:34:31 PM EDT

[#14]

50" Samsumg DLP, old-fashioned outside, off-air antenna. HD broadcasts are great, CSI-Miami is incredible with all the colors and geometrics. I use the off-air antenna for locals and Dish for the other usual suspects.

"HDTV rocks"

Posted: 4/15/2006 3:21:01 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I feel the same way as the original poster. We currently have a 36" CRT television that's about 5 or 6 years old. Seems to work just fine for us. DVDs look fine. Satellite programming looks fine. Everything that plays off of our Tivo looks fine. Why should I go and spend $2K on a new television? Sure a plasma screen HDTV would be cool. But I just can't justify the cost. It's not going to do anything for me that my current TV doesn't do.

We'll probably get one when our current TV dies. Until then? 36" is plenty enough.

Psssst.. Beautiful Phillips 32" LCD widescreen HDTVs at Coscto for $1,400....

Mmm Hmm. And? Why would I spend $1,400 on a TV when I have a perfectly good one in the living room right now?

I also don't buy "MONSTER!" cables to hook up our stereo/TV/DVD/etc. I use cheap old stuff from the electronics store.

Posted: 4/15/2006 3:51:50 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I feel the same way as the original poster. We currently have a 36" CRT television that's about 5 or 6 years old. Seems to work just fine for us. DVDs look fine. Satellite programming looks fine. Everything that plays off of our Tivo looks fine. Why should I go and spend $2K on a new television? Sure a plasma screen HDTV would be cool. But I just can't justify the cost. It's not going to do anything for me that my current TV doesn't do.

We'll probably get one when our current TV dies. Until then? 36" is plenty enough.

Psssst.. Beautiful Phillips 32" LCD widescreen HDTVs at Coscto for $1,400....

I would NEVER pay more to go from a 36" to a 32".

Posted: 4/15/2006 4:23:40 PM EDT

[#17]

My 32'' sony died, so I decided to buy a new tv.
We moved to a new house last year that had a much larger family room. The 32'' tv would often sit for days without being turned on. We only have an antenne, so we would just watch locals in the bedroom or just skip it. I was just background noise to us also.

I bought a Sony 52'' HD rear projection , nice picture, we still didn't watch much of it.
I had always used my vcr for my tuner, so we only got the analog stations.
One day I got the bright idea to see if my tv had a digital tuner in it, Duh, of course it did and I found I was getting 5 HD channels OTA. So, I hooked up the tv digital audio out to my reciever to get 5.1 audio also.
I find myself much more engrossed in shows now. They just grab you in HD more than analog.It's hard to expain, you have to live with it for a while to really get the effect. I do find myself being drawn to shows now, waiting for them to come on.

Posted: 4/15/2006 4:27:49 PM EDT

[#18]

I cant see a difference, but Im blind

Posted: 4/15/2006 6:04:49 PM EDT

[#19]

Then how do you read the forum?

CJ

Posted: 4/15/2006 6:07:27 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Then how do you read the forum?

CJ

Well not really blind, close enough

Posted: 4/15/2006 6:31:38 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Then how do you read the forum?

CJ

he must use the www.jobrelatedstuffinbraille.com site

Posted: 4/15/2006 7:39:20 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Quoted:
the picture IS quite a bit sharper.

and within a few years the FCC is mandating that all broadcasts be in HD, so you'll either have to buy an HDTV or a converter box anyways.....

No, they are mandating that they be digital. They are trying to free up all the airwave transmissions used by standard TV's with an antenna.

And that is only for terrestral broadcasts, not cable or satelite. (which may stay analog for many more years)

Posted: 4/15/2006 11:07:51 PM EDT

[#23]

Responding to the original question....

Have you seen good HDTV?
If you have, why are you asking this question?

Sheesh.. It's like the difference between black& white and color.

I know.. that color stuff will never catch on.

Posted: 4/15/2006 11:08:38 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
If I recall correctly they say that past five feet the human eye has difficulty telling the difference between HDTV and regular MODERN TVs.

Waste of money regardless if you ask me.

Horseshit.

Posted: 4/16/2006 5:28:42 PM EDT

[#25]

Well, I decided to throw some money around and make myself happy.

So I got one of my daughters a Razor MX500 scooter, the other one got a Schwinn S500 scooter, and the other one got a Yamaha Raptor 660R power wheels type toy.

How did that make me happy? Well, if you had seen the looks on their faces...

Meanwhile, I watched "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" in widescreen format on my regular old TV today, and I don't see how it would have been any better on an HDTV.

But my kids' smiles remain with me.

I think I made the right choice. I'll wait on HDTV.

Posted: 4/16/2006 5:54:48 PM EDT

[#26]

Oh, and BTW, I rode my daughters' scooters an they're a lot of fun. I'm a little too... shall we say... "oversized" to ride the Raptor. But I am looking into a real steel

Yamaha Raptor now.

And I'm about to watch "Angry Red Planet" again on my plain old TV. Old B movie on an "old" TV, and I'm sure it'll be just fine.

Posted: 4/16/2006 6:45:24 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I am in complete agreement with you.

The following is a horrible thing to say... but i will say it anyway.....

I can't WAIT to see all the HDTV buyers.... crying their eyes out.... when their brand new, $2K-$10K televisions WILL NOT display the new generation of High Definition DVDs in their native format of 1080P.

There are 2 formats of high definition DVD on their way... Blu Ray, and HD DVD.... but the FUNNY part is... there are NO current television sets capable of displaying the MAXIMUM resolution these DVDs are capable of.

Now... they WILL be able to view them, through a conversion... or more accurately... a DOWN-conversion.

This is just one of the many reasons I have for not jumping onto the HDTV bandwagon. I understand there will be countless people who will disagree with me. But this is the way i see it.... they paid too much for too little... just for bragging rights.

Sorry, but you don't know shit about HDTV. Almost all HDTVs will convert whatever resolution the broadcast is in to their native resolution.

Right, I never said they wouldn't. I said that no current television will be able to show the maximum resolution available from the new high definition DVDs. No current television can display a 1080 by 1920 Progressive scan image.

The television will have to down-convert the signal to its (the television's) native screen resolution.

Then, there will be the next generation of HD TV, capable of displaying a 1080x1920 progressive picture.... and then all the "old" HD TVs will be obsolete.

Posted: 4/16/2006 6:51:35 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
I've been considering getting an LCD HDTV for a few months. I came very close to buying one the past couple of weekends, as Fry's has been running some pretty good deals.

The more I think about it, the less I want one.

I'm not sure, but I think that most TV shows are not going to give me any more picture than I get with regular TV. Even if they did, who cares? TV is mostly just background noise at my house anyway. There are very few shows that I really give a crap about.

Now, most of my DVDs are the widescreen versions, which means I have the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. However, I don't notice the black bars, as I'm focusing on what I AM seeing, rather than what I'm NOT.

Another thing I think about is that I'll be getting in on the ground floor of the VCR. I'm wise enough (read as old enough) to remeber my richer friends with their giant $1000 VCRs, which have become better and cheaper over the years. I keep thinking that the awesome $3000 TV I buy now is going to be the old technology $300 TV five years from now.

So, whaddya say? Better to keep my money in my pocket, or have a little technological fun?

By your logic, why buy any electronics, ever?

Something better and less expensive will be coming out in a few months, always

Posted: 4/16/2006 6:53:19 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
WOW! There's a lot of passion in this thread!

For myself, I don't care much about TV. I like Mythbusters. I like Ghost Hunters. I like a lotta stuff on the History Channel and Discovery, I don't like TLC as much as I used to.

Of course, I like The Shield. And, I like Medium, but then, I've always had a thing for Patricia Arquette .

I think the most I would get out of it is seeing my widescreen movies on a widescreen TV. But, I think the definition would be lost on me, based on my movie collection. I mean, how much better is Zardoz on an HDTV than on my 5 year old Hitachi PX Special?

I dunno. I want one because it's the new tech. But I'm not sure it's worth it for me.

If that's all you watch - then NO, there's absolutely no reason for you to buy an HDTV.
90% of what you listed is not available in HD - only Medium and I'm sure that crap is going to be cancelled a few weeks after you would pick up a set.

Posted: 4/16/2006 7:11:53 PM EDT

[#30]

There sure is some bullshit floating around, being spread by those who know just enough to be dangerous.

There are a lot of HD sets that will accept a 1080p signal. They may downconvert it to a different resolution in order to display it, but many will accept the signal. Others, well, some of them CAN actually display a 1080p signal and some of those can actually RESOLVE it, but those ARE all high end units.

I tend to agree that it's not my version of a great idea to buy an HDTV that's not fully capable of resolving 1080p, but that's just me. I like to be as future-proof as is practical.

I'm running at 1080p now, myself. Using the projector whose image I put up earlier. It RESOLVES 1080p perfectly. (1920x1080) The date of manufacture of my projector is August 1996.

It'll resolve every pixel at QXGA. (2048x1536) Thanks to a new input card, I'm fully digital ready
NOW. I can watch an HDCP-protected digital feed via DVI or HDMI via an adapter cable.

Bring it on. I'm ready, at least.

CJ

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - HDTV. Why bother? (Page 2 of 2)

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