That sounds absolutely insane.

i only keep up on them peripherally, but if i had a theater-capable spare room i would probably pick up a sony vpl-vw50 (pearl) or jvc dla-rs1 in a flash.

a theater room and dogs are the things i most look forward to in a home. i doubt i will buy one until i have a kid though, my condo suits our needs just fine.

I suppose it varies from person to person depending on what you like to watch, but very little of the content I watch is 4:3 anymore. Most of my TV usage is for HD sports, Xbox 360 (all games display in HD, and even a decent amount of Xbox games have HD support as well), and mostly mainstream TV shows. The local ABC and CW affiliates doesn't broadcast in HD (bastards) but I can download HD rips of shows like Lost or One Tree Hill and stream them over my Xbox. Pretty much the only thing I watch in standard definition are non-HD sporting events (which are becoming more and more rare), shows like Family Guy that don't exist in widescreen, and cable shows like The Shield.

What do you think about the picture quality of plasmas versus rear-projection TVs (LCD and SXRD)? I bought my KDF-E50A10 (Sony 50" LCD rear-projection) a little over a year ago, and I probably would have gone with a Panasonic 50" plasma instead if not for price ($3500 vs $2200). I'm happy with my purchase, although I do see the screen door effect to a certain degree during some programming, especially hockey games (something to do w/ the white background I guess). However, when I was shopping for sets and doing a lot of comparing in stores, I thought that the plasma displays had a noticeably better PQ than the RP LCDs.

That said, SXRDs were pretty new back then and I still haven't seen one up close; also, being able to get 1080p way cheaper on an SXRD than on a plasma these days is nice, and I've heard they're pretty hot.

....y'know what, astro?

It's 8:40pm here and I'm still at work closing out the month, and thought I'd take a quick look at the thread to see if there were any responses to my post of early this morning.

You couldn't be farther from the truth if you think that there's any presumption in me surrounding this subject.....just a whole hell of a lot of experience with thes things for the past 40 years or so.

I'll take your suggestion and change my approach......

Why don't we all forget my prior post, and that I know anything about this subject.

I'm sure that you all can do just fine without any presumptuous knowledge on my part.

I promised a simple, no 'bs' fix for anyone who has a plasma and is concerned about 'burn-in'.

Go to........

http://www.pixelprotector.com/

They're out of the UK and this disc is the best 40 bucks you'll ever spend.

Hi. I am a giant home theater nut and I thought Id chime in on some of the things I have read in this post and add some other thoughts.

Firstly, burn in, imo is a thing of the past. The newer plasmas all have burn in protection built in. I own an entry level 50 inch vizio plasma and have played video games extensively on it as well as letter boxing SD. I have never experienced burn in only what is known as image retention. These two things are very much different. With image retention a static image may appear on static color backgrounds immediately after playing a video or form leter boxing but 99.9999% of the time it will go away after about 15 mins of watching something else.

Secondly, It is my firm belief that if you really want a true HT experience you need aprox a 4 to 1 ratio from dollars spent on sound and dollars spent on the actual TV or Projector.

Here is my setup.

Speakers - Martin Logan Sequel II electrostatics for the LR
The center is the Martin Logan Cinema I electrostatic center channel.

Sub - SVS PB10. Anyone looking for a sub needs to check out SVS products.

Receiver - Denon 4806.

Dvd player - HDA2 HDDVD player + PS3 for BluRay



(I have since hidden the wires)

Update,

Wow, I got my Slingbox hooked up tonight. That thing is sweet. We just got a new LCD TV in my office, that my wife wants to use to be able to watch the DVR when using the elliptical machine. I hooked up the TV for use as my computer monitor, and watching TV through the Slingbox gives me a far better picture than standard definition through cable. I'm impressed so far.

astro, do you have any suggestions on a decent setup for a budget-minded college student? Are there any generic/non brand names that sell good tv's or should I stick with trusted names always? (Sony, Panasonic, Samsung etc)..

question:

I'd like to setup a little surround sound action in my living room, but I'm not sure how it will sound because I always sit in the corner of the room. Can someone give me some advice on how to setup the rear speakers given the layout below?

The tv is the skinny rectangle at the top, the big rectangle is the couch where I basically never sit (but the girlfriend does - she wont care much at all about the sound), and the crooked square is where my comfy chair is - this is where I do all of my tv/movie watching and video game playing.

suggestions?

I have a similiar situation, small living room, all the furniture towards that back wall. You can't really get good surround unless you are in the center of the room. The best you can do is put on speaker on each side of the back wall. My receiver allows me to adjust the volume of each output, so I tried to compensate for the fact that I am closer to the right speaker by increasing the volume from the left rear, but it's not all that great. My advice to you, place the rear speakers so they are equi-distant from the center of the room, and when you want to watch a movie move the couch to the center of the room and join your gf on the couch. Profit.

goofyballer,
i think a good plasma looks slightly better than sxrd with a 720p source, but apples to apples i consider it a net loss because of reduced immersion: 50" vs 60" for the same price. sxrd sets are also 1080p, impossible to burn, and don't have the same mounting/distance issues. for my own money that's still an easy decision, but i think plasma vs rp is a lot closer today than it was 2 or so years ago when i bought my lcd. and for some, form factor alone is king.

nolanfan,
glad you like the slingbox. it's worth noting to the others that it works a lot better on a lan than it does over the internet, though.

marwan,
at college i would probably just buy a cheap crt on craigslist. i don't think entry level is worth tapping a bank account, and you can save up. saving rules.

jba,
it sounds like you could use a more comfortable couch!

Yep, I noticed this when I tried it at work yesterday. Still was completely watchable, but the full screen quality is certainly not as good. But, the fact I could still watch my DVR during my lunch was pretty cool.

Another benefit for those who have a juvenile sense of humor like I do occasionally - I can change the channel remotely when my wife is watching TV. She needs to watch more ESPN, I think.

nice post astro...i think i'll be going with the same dvd player and home stereo system...

as far as the tv, i'm going with the pioneer 50" plasma...i've found a nice deal at newegg, but now I'm wondering about warranty...if you or others have any thoughts on that, i'd love to hear it.

I'm currently in the market for a new TV too (everyone would lol at my current box -- a 27" Sony Trinitron from the late '90s).

I don't have a set budget but I'd like to keep it around $1,000. Maybe 1200 max. Should I spring for a better TV of smaller proportions? Or get a decent-but-not-awesome TV that's bigger? I'm totally clueless here. I don't think I can afford a *good* plasma, as was mentioned, so the Panasonic 42" is probably out of my range.

Is there a good LCD that I can get for 1k that's 40" or so? Or will I have to go down to a 36"?

And what brands are musts to avoid?

You can get a Samsung 46" DLP for $1000 from Amazon (plus no taxes and free shipping).

From a brief search of Amazon, you can't get any plasma for $1100. You can get an LCD, but it's only 32".

Agreed. I've had the Harmony H688 for well over a year and never once had to fish out the stock remote for any of my devices. And like you said, it's great to set one up for someone who is "technically challenged" because of how you just tell it what you want to do (buttons on top say "watch TV", "watch DVD", "watch Video" etc.), and it sets all the right inputs for you.

I also have the Bush stand, for my Samsung 40" LCD (LN-R408D). Speakers and AV components would be my next upgrade, but it's not a priority yet.

I'm a bit skeptical about DLP, though...

I found this Vizio 37" LCD for $899. Sounds like a good deal. Any experience with this one, anybody?

FWIW, I have a 61" 1080p DLP and have never had anyone see rainbows until I told them how to. But I totally understand astro's position and if I was buying a TV today I would most likely get the model he recommended.

Also, astro, does your Oppo have any lip synch issues?
I have their first model (OPDV971H) and I often have lip synch issues. In fact, we primarily now watch DVDs on the Xbox 360 for this reason.

Orangeheat,
"DVD - PHL DVP5960 Philips Up convert DVD Player with HDMI - Bargain at $60 and I don't need to worry about the format war going on."

What does your DVD player have to do with the format war?

Why are you skeptical about DLP? Unless you are sensitive to the rainbow effect, it makes for a great picture experience.

You can also find a decent plasma for $1200 if you shop around.

I've been looking into buying an Optoma HD70. 720p projector for $999. I've read some reviews and it seems to be pretty solid. Anyone have any thoughts on this one?

Upconvert means it is converting to HD. This means he doesn't need to worry about the format war between blu-ray and HD-DVD.

nolan,
i used to screw with my gf while she watched tv all the time when i first got the slingbox.

asofel,
fwiw i never buy extended warranties. this has "saved" me a lot of money, more than i've ever needed for repairs.

joker,
37"-46" may sound huge compared to 27" but if you sit 8' or so back from it i think you're missing out on hd immersion and detail. i'd save up.

johnnycakes,
oppo dvd players are easily updated for features and/or fixes. see HERE, burn the cd and follow the instructions. sync is #3 on the release notes.

blackize,
i don't see rainbows but my fiancee does, you never know when guests might too. upconverted dvds are also no match for hd-dvd/blu-ray!

PJ,

I've generally liked Vizio products. They sell for good prices at Costco, and when I've been in stores that have had them properly setup, they've looked fairly nice.

Similar price range, 42" Plasma:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.asp...ec=&topnav=

Rob

Yeah, I check often. Have the latest updates...still have lip synch issues.

Blackize,
You cannot "upconvert" at standard DVD to HD. It only "upconverts" the SD signal. It does make a difference, but it is no where near HD quality.
Standard "upconverted" DVD vs HD/blu-ray DVD = no contest.

A video signal is only as good as it's source and DVD = standard def.

I love my optoma movie time 10. See review of hd70 here. hd70

could lip sync issue be cable related -length or type (optical audio)?