[BC] Panel LCD TV s]

[R A Meuser]

Unless one is really on a budget, get 1080P. With 1080P, all broadcast
formats are up converted. It is naturally compatible with the
progressive scan 720 P format and has full horizontal resolution for
1080I. LCD, DLP and Plasma displays all have a fixed number of pixels
(unlike a CRT) so any received format must be mapped to those pixels. A
1080I signal suffers when re-mapped to a 720P display. I have heard good
things about the Sharp Aquios LCD display. The bottom line is the money.
A 1080P display is certainly more affordable than earlier flat panels
but is still more than some may wish to budget for a display. If money
is more of an issue than quality, a less expensive 720P display will be
fine. There are also enhanced definition TVs with ATSC tuners that are
not true high def but will receive ATSC.

If you are not into all the new high tech gear, just wait for the
subsidized converters which will work wonders with existing NTSC sets.



Rich Wood wrote:
> ------ At 01:54 AM 1/4/2008, Ronald J. Dot'o Sr. wrote: -------
> 
>> I was in Wal-Mart the other day killing time while the wife shopped 
>> and wandered over to the electronics section to check out the prices 
>> on the panel TV's as I've been thinking of getting one.
>>
>> When it comes to digital TV's I'm lost.  All the smaller ones were 
>> 720p and only two of the really big ones were 1080p or i (I don't 
>> remember).
> 
> 
> In my market Wal-Mart sells 720p sets almost exclusively. I did see one 
> 1080i. It's one of the worst places to see HDTV since they're feeding 
> the sets with a daisy-chained composite signal that really stinks. As 
> bad as it can be, Best Buy demonstrates the best quality from cable, an 
> in-house source, Satellite and Blu-Ray. Circuit City has either Blu-Ray 
> or an in-house source. Only one well-worn monitor displays Comcast 
> cable. Another well-worn monitor displays DirecTV. It's a young sales 
> staff that seems to love 480i MTV on its largest HD monitor. How they 
> sell any HD sets is beyond me.
> 
> In spite of almost universally bad demonstrations HDTV is the biggest 
> selling product in all the big box electronics stores.
> 
> By far, the best quality source is an OTA receiver. NBC, CBS and PBS are 
> broadcasting 1080i. FOX and ABC are 720p. 1080p is only available from 
> Blu-Ray and, I believe HD-DVD.
> 
> I get conflicting stories about the resolution of cable and satellite. 
> My DirecTV HD box switches modes depending on the source. They might 
> just be switching the resolution leds on the receiver.
> 
>> My question is what is the difference between the 720 and 1080, or is 
>> it 1810?  Whatever...
> 
> 
> P means progressive scan and I means interlaced. 480, 720 and 1080 are 
> resolutions. 1080p is the highest quality.
> 
> Most people find it terribly confusing. There's a lot of upconverting 
> being done, especially by cable networks. History HD and A&EHD are often 
> in "fathead" mode where they stretch the video to fill the screen.
> 
> This has been my experience. I'm sure others here can give you more 
> detailed information of the exact resolutions and who used what 
> compression. I believe the law now requires all sets over 13" to include 
> a digital tuner. On my last IBUZ tour of retailers I couldn't find any 
> set of any size without a digital tuner.
> 
> Once you've figured that out you'll be presented with HDMI, DVI, 
> Component, S-Video and Composite inputs. That's just video. HDMI is the 
> Devil's work. It incorporates HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content 
> Protection) that often downconverts resolution on equipment that doesn't 
> support it. In some cases it outputs black and white. HDMI is supposed 
> to be compatible with DVI minus the audio connection. It's compatible 
> unless it's incompatible. My monitor has a DVI input. I tried an HDMI to 
> DVI adapter and got black and white at 4801. I noticed the adapter is 
> missing a few pins. I might try another adapter with all pins wired. 
> Unfortunately, experimenting with HDMI and DVI is expensive. The 
> cheapest cables are at Radio Shack for $80 each. I can get a whizbang 
> cable that'll actually improve my resolution for only $130. More Monster 
> mash.
> 
> You may want to take up reading, instead.
> 
> Rich
>