right now i have a 60" rear projection TV, free but tired of needing a total dark room and need to sit in the "right" spot to see the best picture........im really on a budget but would like to upgrade to a HDTV, but i dont know what i should get or stay away from, what is a good size, i know nothing about this kinda stuff.....also should i get a blu-ray player too?
42 inches is the most popular size. Depending on what your viewing habits are and if you play games or not would help pick what technology would be best suited for you. You could pick a decent westinghouse for well under $1000. I have an hd dvd and blu ray stand alone player, that said I would wait. I wanted hd dvd to win just because I thought they were a superior product. Wait for the prices to fall before taking the plunge on bd.
What will you be using the tv for? Watching movies, sports, or playing video games?
There are plenty of pros and cons to each different technology, so I'd take a look at what you would be using the tv for the most and also, what the viewing conditions are like in your house/apt.
Quote:Picture quality
People often have different ideas about what looks "best." Plus, picture quality is more often determined by construction quality and internal processing than by TV type. And finally, various space and budgetary constraints may affect how much importance you place on small differences in picture quality. The bottom line? To get the best possible picture quality, look for TVs from reliable brands, and don't give up better engineering in order to get a bargain basement price.
Viewing angle
The wider the viewing angle, the better the picture will look to people sitting to the extreme left or right of the TV. If you regularly cram a host of friends and family into your living room for event viewing, you want the widest viewing angle possible. (Of course, specs aren't everything; for example, although LCD TVs have a wider viewing angle on paper, our A/V experts have repeatedly confirmed that plasmas actually look better when viewed at extreme angles.)
Black level and contrast
Good black levels deliver rich shadows and excellent shadow detail, so you can easily follow the action in dark scenes. Good contrast gives the picture more punch and 3-D impact.
Screen burn-in
Plasma TVs are great for watching TV shows and DVD movies. However, if you're a devotee of all-day sports viewing or you play a lot of video games, you may opt to steer clear of plasma. That's because the ticker tape, channel logo or game controls that remain stationary on screen can "burn" into a plasma TV screen's phosphor coating, especially in the first hundred hours of breaking in the TV.
"Rainbows"
Although most people can't see it, a few have observed something called "the rainbow effect" when watching DLP TVs. This momentary effect is due to the unique way a DLP TV re-creates the image on screen. Most of today's DLPs include technologies to prevent rainbows, such as a faster color wheel. But if you find you're one of the very small number who are bothered by this effect, you may want to consider an LCD or LCoS big-screen instead of DLP.
Avoid those cheaper tv's at all cost. They will not provide top notch picture quality and you probably will not be satisfied in the long run. A tv is a big investment, don't throw your money away at a crap product.
Quote:I have an hd dvd and blu ray stand alone player, that said I would wait.
Blnk, why should the guy wait to buy any HD gear? Now has to be the best time to buy anything HD DVD with prices being so low. There's no guarantee that the studios will re release all those HD DVD exclusives - one would think.
I would wait for the new Panasonic DMP-BD50 to come out. It's suppose to have support for DivX and HD DivX, according to eatsushi.
DMP-BD50
Firmware ? Street Date TBA
Video Decoder ? Panasonic Uniphier
24fps - Yes
Audio Decoding
Dolby Digital - Onboard
DTS - Onboard
Dolby Digital Plus - Onboard/Bitstream
DTS ? HR - Onboard/Bitstream
PCM - Onboard
Dolby True HD ? Onboard/Bitstream
DTS HD Master Audio ? Onboard/Bitstream
Analog Out Channels ? 5.1
HDMI Channels ? 7.1
HDMI Version - 1.3
Profile - 2.0
Ethernet - Yes
Quote:Panasonic has released specifications for their highly anticipated upcoming BD-Live (Profile 2.0) Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD50. As a BD-Live player, the biggest difference between this player and the current BonusView (Profile 1.1) player is the Ethernet port. Also of note is that this player will support both internal decoding and bitstream output for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD (both HR and MA) audio formats and is a certified DivX product.
