Looking at television from the eye of a photographer

[Wilynn]

Maybe this was what you are shopping for, but about any 1080i is better than a 720p. These numbers represent the approximate lines of resolution the set uses.

Nope. I'm not prioritizing 720p TV's, not at all. It just happens that Consumer Reports along with the many owners of these TV's state that there is no discernible difference between these four 720p TV's and the 1080i TV's they compared them with. Which is just one reason why Consumer Reports put their "Best Buy" tag on all four of them. This scenario might be analogous to the one some digital camera users use when they state that a camera with more megapixels is better than one with less megapixels.

 

[250Gimp]

IN the end 1080p would look better than the 1080i, but the 1080i & 720p would be quite similar due to the interlaced and non-interlaced differences.

 

[Mystwalker]

To see the difference between 1080p and "normal" you need to look at it on a blu-ray player. It is night and day.

Same if you compare a sporting event (football/baseball) with HD and one without.

To get the "best" - all I know is to look for 1080p and 120 hz. The generic brands have not caught up with 120hz tech (yet) so all of those are "top of the line". You will also pay premium price for these.

Personally I prefer LCDs because they are lighter. My wife "makes" me mount them on wall - I am weary of hanging something onto a support that is holding up my ceiling. In terms of "burn-in", I believe new models (maybe 2 years back) will not have this problem. At least I have not seen this on my 3-year old Sony and I watch the Sci-fi channel A LOT - if you are in US, you know their logo in lower right hand corner is permanently there.

 

[Dubious Drewski]

Is anyone else kind of intrigued by these new OLED displays?

1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 3 millimeter thickness, 178% viewing angle, can theoretically use much less power than any comparable LCD, etc, etc. Though I wouldn't buy one yet; they still have many kinks to sort out. But still, welcome to the future! Tickets cost only $2500!

 

[gendarmee]

Is anyone else kind of intrigued by these new OLED displays?

1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 3 millimeter thickness, 178% viewing angle, can theoretically use much less power than any comparable LCD, etc, etc. Though I wouldn't buy one yet; they still have many kinks to sort out. But still, welcome to the future! Tickets cost only $2500!

I'd read about Organic Light Emitting Diode displays it in 2004, back then they couldnt manage to make displays any bigger than 2 inches in the lab, plus the reds died out much early compared to blue and green.
Seems a huge leap now. There was also some thing call foleds, that is fold able oled's.
Only saw it on a kodak camera till now.
Best part about them is that they emit light like a CRT, so need no back light, thus they overcome the view angle drawback plus have a good contrast & use a third of the power.

 

[Meysha]

From a 'buying' perspective.
When you go into the shop, check that they're not using a splitter to split the DVD signal they usally play on all the tvs. Those splitters are shocking for picture quality - and you can get weird rolling lines and stuff from them.

Then - pick a few tv's you like the look of their picture. THEN go into their picture settings and change them so the skin tones are normal. TV Shops constantly up the saturation and over sharpen them heaps!!! Once you've set it all correctly - look at where the controls are. If you're brightness is at max, think twice about purchasing that model. If it's control is already maxed out it may not cope at your home environment.

Look at the inputs on the back although most have every possible connection available now.

I've had plasmas for about 6 years now, (roughly). And the 1st one we bought is still working beautifully. BUT don't beleive the hype about a burn out period. It's not like running in a car, it will still get burn out when its old, it just takes a bit longer for it to burn in. The second one I own I bought 2 years ago, an LG Plasma SD about 105cms. It is amazing. and Sooooo cheap!

The other thing to look for is the plastic moulding around the screen of the plasmas. They're sometimes shiny plastic, or matte plastic. I'd definitely recommend the matte plastic. The screens are shiny enough and sometimes difficult to watch if there are heaps of lights behind you (just like what you used to get on a CRT but because it's not distorted it's a bit more distracting for me). So don't get the shiny plastic moulding.

hmm... can't think of anything else now, but also, remember plasmas get very very hot. So don't leave curtains hanging on them or you'll come home to a nice cripsy black home.

 

[Meysha]

To see the difference between 1080p and "normal" you need to look at it on a blu-ray player. It is night and day.

True, but depending on how much HD programming you have in the US it may be worth getting an HD screen.

We've got quite a fair bit of HD programming now in Australia, and have specific extra channels that are broadcast by our main free to air channels as just for HD. It's pretty good here. But if you go back just 2 years ago, there was practically no HD programming even though there were heaps of HD screens on the market for double the price of an SD. That's why we bought a standard def screen.

EDIT: Ahhh, I've just realised, that we have digital TV here, and while I was in the US a couple of months ago, I think I remember hearing that it's not fully rolled out there yet???... That might be another reason not to go HD. - if you don't have digital programming then I definitely wouldn't go HD.

 

[STINKY PICTURES]

We have a new-ish plasma TV and we love it. We are aware that there can be a burn in issue but haven`t seen it happen. We love the fact that you can view the screen from the side view for people that sit off to the side and there is no distortion. The picture color is amazing and HD movies are wonderful. The price was very good too for a 50", we also got a Vizio.

My husband did his homework for about a month before we decided on a Plasma. We`re retired so he had endless time to study this and he was consumed with this project. For him it was a toss up it was really even, but the Plasma won out. All i care about is the picture, and its nice. And its so much more fun playing the Wii on it too.

Now correct me if I`m wrong but I believe that the burn in issues are not what they used to be. Maybe a store will have them, but who leaves their tv on the same channel all day long?

We have a plasma and love it. We also have a 5 year warranty on it too, just in case.

 

[Mystwalker]

True, but depending on how much HD programming you have in the US it may be worth getting an HD screen.

We've got quite a fair bit of HD programming now in Australia, and have specific extra channels that are broadcast by our main free to air channels as just for HD. It's pretty good here. But if you go back just 2 years ago, there was practically no HD programming even though there were heaps of HD screens on the market for double the price of an SD. That's why we bought a standard def screen.

EDIT: Ahhh, I've just realised, that we have digital TV here, and while I was in the US a couple of months ago, I think I remember hearing that it's not fully rolled out there yet???... That might be another reason not to go HD. - if you don't have digital programming then I definitely wouldn't go HD.

Strange how US supposed to be "high tech" but we seem to be behind everyone else because infrastructure in US is so old. HD is available, but it is not standard. In my case I have to pay extra for the equipment to receive it, as well as pay extra for the signal itself - that plus buy a 1080p TV I think HD supposed to be the "standard" sometime in 2009 - I'm hoping prices come down by then.

 

[Mystwalker]

Is anyone else kind of intrigued by these new OLED displays?

1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 3 millimeter thickness, 178% viewing angle, can theoretically use much less power than any comparable LCD, etc, etc. Though I wouldn't buy one yet; they still have many kinks to sort out. But still, welcome to the future! Tickets cost only $2500!

I'm thinking SWEEET!

Wonder how big it is ...

$2500 for an 11"? Hope I'm seeing things cuz that's nuts! $300 more and you got a 5D with 24-105L kit

 

[phoenix_rising]

Is anyone else kind of intrigued by these new OLED displays?

1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 3 millimeter thickness, 178% viewing angle, can theoretically use much less power than any comparable LCD, etc, etc. Though I wouldn't buy one yet; they still have many kinks to sort out. But still, welcome to the future! Tickets cost only $2500!

Not bad but I am holding off to be wowed until they are selling the 3D Holographic TVs...

http://www.popsci.com/digital-micromirror-device/article/2005-05/holographic-television


Unless you are using the TV for a monitor for studio shots it really does not matter. I sold HDTVs for several years. Plasma is nice and so is LCD but Plasma like your old tube TV will provide you with the best representations of black which is important as you will come to see in creating a quality pciture, just like on a camera (Overexposed) if you will. LCDs are not far behind but they still have a gray hue or tint to their screens.

I myself have owned a Samsung 50" DLP Projection TV for over a year and I love it!!! I am constantly amazed at the picture clarity and color quality. I use the TV for DVD movies, watching cable, and playing video games. You can buy one now even better than mine for $1000 or less. Plus these are very light weighing in at only 50-75 Lbs so if you want to move it from place to place or even just clean behind it it no problem.

These are very reliable in fact while I was selling TVs these were the most reliable TV Sears offered. I believe I only had 2-3 service calls in 3 years of work! Not bad considering I myself sold about 250 of this exact TV. Plus they are very compact, at its greatest depth my TV is less than 24". Plus, keep in mind the cost of repair. While your plasma and LCD flat panel blow $500+ circuit boards and require a trained technician to repair, I can actually repair my own because of its simplicity.

You see, DLP has a plug and play lamp system that creates the light behind the screen. in a few years mine will go out, I will buy another lamp for $250 or less and slide it in and I am good for another 5 or so years! Over 20 years I've got less than $1000 in maintaining a big screen TV. Very god if you ask me.

Plus listen to this...

Texas Instruments, the creator of LCD, DLP, and almost everything else have now come out with an LED-DLP set that retails at Best Buy for $1500 or less that you do not have to replace the lamps at all! Using LED technology which is very energy efficient and long lasting, you can now enjoy 15+ years of life out of you DLP TV with little or so service at all! YEAH now thats just great.

My last advice, go find a TV tech. Ask him about the pros and cons of HDTVs. Thats what made me decide on the DLP. After hearing about logic boards going out in flat panel Plasmas costing owners $1000+ to replace and the LCD backlighting Matrix in LCDs going out and not being repairable I went the safe route.

DLP... based on proven technology yet with the clarity and picture you would expect from a revolutionary 21st century television.

Oh and a little tidbit, Samsung electronics builds many major components in todays top branded TVs like Sony! So when you buy samung you can rely on its quality.



Oh and did you know that even the best HDTV picture quality is nowhere near todays cameras? The best HDTV displays roughly 1-3 million pixels, or 1-3 megapixel where as even todays standard P&S cameras are displaying 5-12 MP!!! Crazy huh?

Good luck my friend.