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I finally got around to taking the HDTV plunge a couple of weeks ago.  I got a 32" Samsung 720P LCDTV for only 450 dollars.

The local Wal-Mart had marked it down a couple of hundred from 700 about a year ago.  I then gave my cash to a friend of mine who worked there and let him get his employee discount which in turn took off an additional 50 dollars.   The funny thing is that since I got it they had gone back up on the price to about 560 dollars regular price.  Good thing I jumped on getting it when I did!

I was originally going to get a larger set but I measured my living room and a 32 to 37" HDTV was ideal for how far I usually sit from my TV screen.

Also, from the research I did you don't really notice the jump on 720P to 1080P resolution until you get into the really large screen sizes like 55" sets so when I found that out I got off the 1080P bandwagon and realized I could save a few hundred dollars by going the 720P route instead.  This was more true when I realized I didn't need all that massive of a TV for my living room anyway.  Prior to this I had had  a 27" flat screen 4:3 TV there.

I already have a Sony up converting DVD player with HDMI outputs that I've hooked my TV up with so even though I haven't gone Blu-Ray yet, I've noticed a dramatic difference in my standard widescreen DVD's just by up-converting them to 720P.  The original Star Wars movies and Raiders other Lost Ark particularly looked fantastic.  Sometime around this time next year though I'm planning on starting to buy Blu-Ray DVD's.

So anyway, I was wondering which of you all have taken the HDTV plunge or are planning to and if so, what size TV were you leaning towards and why?

I voted no and don't plan on getting one.  I personally can't tell much of a difference when I go over someone's house who has one but thats me. 

Quote from: The DarkSider on March 27, 2009, 06:07:15 PM
I voted no and don't plan on getting one.  I personally can't tell much of a difference when I go over someone's house who has one but thats me. 

I'm with the above  :lookingup:

Nope, and with the crap I watch, no reason to. Somehow I doubt Plan 9 or any of John Water's movies shot on 16mm film are going to look any better. What, so I get to watch Divine eat dog crap at HIGH DEFINITION? Meh, , not really interested.

We got one back in November or so.  The TV in the living room was on its last legs, so what the heck.  We got a Sharp 32" 720p LCD.  I've also read that it's a waste of money to get 1080p on a 32" set, you just can't see the difference until you get into a 50" set or larger.  I really love it, the picture is noticeably sharper, but the best part is the 16:9 aspect ratio.  No more watching a skinny little strip of movie with big black bars on the top and bottom.  You still get skinny black bars because 16:9 is about 1.77:1 and most movies are in 1.85:1, but it's a huge improvement.  Standard DVD's look fantastic - just awesome!  I haven't got hi-def cable because our cable company's HD channel lineup is pathetic.  No Blu-ray either, I suppose I'll get a PS3 for a Blu-ray player eventually, but it's not a priority right now.

Quote from: doggett on March 27, 2009, 06:13:42 PM

Quote from: The DarkSider on March 27, 2009, 06:07:15 PM
I voted no and don't plan on getting one.  I personally can't tell much of a difference when I go over someone's house who has one but thats me. 

I'm with the above  :lookingup:

I bought one because I needed a TV and why not upgrade?  But I don't see any difference
-Ed

Quote from: ghouck on March 27, 2009, 07:09:53 PM
Nope, and with the crap I watch, no reason to. Somehow I doubt Plan 9 or any of John Water's movies shot on 16mm film are going to look any better. What, so I get to watch Divine eat dog crap at HIGH DEFINITION? Meh, , not really interested.

Once the ol' boob tube blows a gasket I'll probably get one - are any other kind available now?

But I'm in no hurry for the reasons mentioned above. I can't imagine my Mill Creek 50 movie packs or dupey bootlegged episodes of Boris Karloff's Thriller will look any better on a fancy TV.

Quote from: Ed, Just Ed on March 27, 2009, 07:23:58 PM

I bought one because I needed a TV and why not upgrade?  But I don't see any difference
-Ed

I'd might consider upgrading if my current ones decided to stop working.  However I'd probably stick with the most cost efficent televisions.  We have three in the house.  Two I'd say are at least over 10 years old.  The one in our living room is only a few years old. 

Another reason I'd probably not get one is my lack of television watching.  I watch most of the movies I get on the computer and television is honestly something I watch less than 2 hours a week.

I moved my 27" flat screen back into my spare bedroom and put the 20" flat that I had in there in my crawl space.

I had said that I wasn't going to get a new TV unless something started happening with my 27" flat but that was such a good deal that I got on mine and I used part of my tax refund to get it I figured I would treat myself.

Quote from: Jack on March 27, 2009, 07:11:33 PM
You still get skinny black bars because 16:9 is about 1.77:1 and most movies are in 1.85:1, but it's a huge improvement.  Standard DVD's look fantastic - just awesome! 

I have noticed on my new TV that there are two options for widescreen DVD's. A "16:9" option and a "Just Scan" option.  What I found out is that with the 16:9 picture size option, there is actually still some overscan involved which in turns cuts off (on my TV at least) about 1 cm of picture information on the left and right.

The Just Scan picture size option is actually the one to use if you're connected with an HDMI cable as it shows the pure HD signal coming through the cable without any cut off.

So like you mentioned, with the Just Scan option, you still get some ever so slight letterboxing on the top and bottom when you watch a 1.85:1 film but it's worth it for me to not lose any picture information whatsoever.

Lots of times I've noticed that movies that are soft matted to 1.85:1 theatrically are usually opened up a bit to 1.78:1 so that there won't be any letterboxing on widescreen TV's as it fills up the entire screen.  My Gremlins DVD's are like that along with some others as well.     

My folks gave me a 19" Sylvania LC195SL9 for Christmas.
I have mixed feelings.
What I really wanted was a cheap converter box for my 1980 11" Portland DCB-415PR.

Strictly rabbit ears, it's easier to fine tune 'em to an analog signal than digital.
On a windy day, the audio gets choppy, & the picture starts to pixelize, which can get kinda' creepy when watching the news. It particularly freaks me out when watching local newscaster Andy Jenks, who has an unusually small face under a disproportionately large brow, which looks even worse when his mouth disappears & his eyes move down to his chin.
Sorta makes me miss the sound hissing & picture snowing.

Of course, the picture quality on digital is amazing, but it hasn't quite won my faith just yet.

Also, I personally find adjusting the picture to be easier when using knobs, rather than coming back & forth through all these assorted menus & submenus.

I'd like to get a 32" flat panel LCD. I'm waiting on the old warhorse I have to croak, but it just keeps chugging. If I do the stupid thing and buy a PS3 with my tax return, it will look so not pretty on this old TV.  Oh well.

I don't see the difference in the picture between HD normal TVs either, but my friend told me that is because most people don't have them configured properly.   I have a 25 year old RCA console TV that is currently "sick" and vacationing as a table in another room, and has been temporarily replaced with a newer, 23 year old, Sharp console TV that I got fo free!  I love console TVs, they make me feel all warm and cozy inside.  I don't see why they're not worth more or why the newer TVs don't come in big sexy wooden boxes.  I think I'm starting a collection, which kind of scares me.

IF I ever get an HDTV, I would want one that you can stick to the wall and pretend isn't there when it's off, but I heard it costs almost as much as the TV to get the parts to mount it.

For now, if I want to see in HD, I'll just put my glasses on.

I don't plan to get one cause I got cable and not going to be affected by the digital conversion happening in the US.
I've got an HD monitor for my computer and it's configured correctly. I can see a difference when I watch HD videos on it compared to regular ones. But the difference is minor. Brighter color hues and sharper image is all. Not life like quality that I was led to believe about HD.

We have a small HD set in the bedroom (20 inches or something).  I have a 60 inch Sony in the family room, but it isn't HD.  It's about 10 years old and I'm waiting for it to die so I can upgrade to HD.  I can't see myself buying anything smaller than a 50 inch because I've been watching a 60 inch for 10 years.

Getting an HDTV doesn't make everything you watch  look better.  The signal has to be HD.  When I bought my 42" back in Dec, I also upgraded my DirecTV to get HD access, which meanns I still get the same channels, but when they have an HD version that's what I get.

I guarantee if you are getting an actual HD signal it blows regular TV away.  My upconverting DVD player (1080p) makes those DVD's look really good.  I also get excellent reception of the local channels in HD off my antenna.


I love and don't want to go back.

I'd like to get one for a couple of reasons. Top of the list is that I've been tinkering around with an old PC I'm using as a media centre. The 32-inch CRT works fine as long as I'm only playing music or a DVD or even some educational software, but as far as web surfing or other typical computer activities I'd like to do from the comfort of my living room, the screen leaves a lot to be desired. Gotta set it to a minimum of 800x600 to fit the windows on the screen, and at that size, you really have to squint at the type, as there are barely enough pixels to render it legibly. A 42-inch hi-def TV can serve as both TV and a perfectly usable monitor.

And I agree with Trek. I've seen a Blu-Ray movie on an HD set in the store, and it's almost as sharp as you'd see in a theatre. I was impressed. But you need HD media on an HD screen to get that.

Quote from: Paquita on March 28, 2009, 01:08:37 AM
IF I ever get an HDTV, I would want one that you can stick to the wall and pretend isn't there when it's off, but I heard it costs almost as much as the TV to get the parts to mount it.

For now, if I want to see in HD, I'll just put my glasses on.

The brackets to mount the LCDs/Plasmas are relatively inexpensive depending on the size screen.  The average 42''/50'' bracket sells for around $150 here [though that's probably less in the U.S.]  Wholesale should be around 50-100 dollars.

The cost is in the cabling to and from, since generally you need longer cables for on the wall etc.  Though if you have the right equipment [that aren't cable intensive] and a seller who isn't a shark you shouldn't spend more than $300 on the bracket and cables.  Then just find someone to install it and bam you're there.

I want a HD TV if not to just save space; my current TV is just too damn chunky in my small space.  The quality for HD or FullHD is fantastic, but it's the old story: if you've got a crap source going in it's going to be a crap source going out, so if you only watch VHS tapes then yeah it's not going to do much for you.  I'd also like to recieve digital TV since they just released a new free to air sports HD channel here, so that'd be nice, and rather than buy a set top box I may as well just get a new TV.

Alot of CRT tvs actually have a pretty good quality picture funnily enough:filmmakers use small CRTs as monitors because the picture is generally much more realistic than your digital LCD/PLASMA TVs.

I bought a HD TV when I needed a new TV; I bought it because it was 42" and in my price range, not because it was HD specifically.

I bought some Blu Ray DVDs to watch in my PS3 and I am not blown away. Yes, the picture's better but not enough for me to justify the increased price for a Blu Ray (although I am wondering if I have it set up right given what other people have said on here).

It is worth noting that low res stuff looks WORSE on HD TVs.  This includes old video game consoles, VHS tapes, etc.  DVDs, while standard def, upconvert much better for some reason.  Upconverted DVDs don't look as blurays, but it is closer than you would think.  You'll definitely notice some compression artifacts on huge HD screens though.

I don't have an HDTV, but I have a digital projector which is basically standard def.  I plan to eventually upgrade it to a 720P or 1080P projector for one important reason.  You can see inbetween every individual pixel on a projector, and therefore you get a bit of what is called a "screen door" effect. 

They say if you're seated behind a good quality projector (which mine is) you can't see the screen door, but I definitely can, and sometimes it bugs me.  High def projectors, obviously, have waaaay more pixels which are packed much tighter together, and therefore way less screen door effect.  However, it'll be quite a while before I drop the money for that. 

Right now, a good quality 1080p projector ranges $2000-$3000.  Two years ago, it was $5000.  I figure in another couple of years, they'll approach $1000, then I'll consider it. 

For those in the market, if you have a good room setup for it (meaning you can ceiling mount the projector in the back of a room, have 10 plus clear feet to the wall, and be able to hang a screen on the wall, plus be able to darken the room), I'd suggest looking at digital projectors. 

I made my screen, which is quite large, for about $40 worth of parts and my own labor - a wood frame, a special type of vinyl sheet, and some heavy duty staples to hold it to the frame.  Brackets hold it on the wall.  My projector cost around $700, so in total I spent about $750 and now have really good picture quality projected at 80" or so.  The only annoying thing is I have a ceiling fan and couldn't mount it on the ceiling, so it sits on a small table. 

720P projectors, BTW, are about $700 now.