HDTV recommendation...help a noob out

[BBKat32]

I work at Best Buy. I've been in Home Theater for a few years now. I love it! But the feedback you're gettin is right on. DLP's are the best bang for your buck. The samsungs are the best in my eyes. They created the technology with Texas Instruments which = patents other companies dont have. As for plasma's and lcd's....Every digital tv on the market now excluding crt types are rated at 60,000 hrs of life. Weigh out the options each type of tv brings you and the drawbacks....bulbs burn out(projections), pixels may drop(lcd), color fades(plasma).

[resmonkey]

So my best bet is a Samsung DLP 50"+ ?

How about that SXRD? SXRD is DLP or no?

[BStecke]

SXRD, to my knowledge is LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon). I don't think you'd go wrong in getting one. The only thing with LCD is the possibility of burnt out pixels. I don't think this happens as much as it used to, but when I was at Best Buy myself a few years ago, we had a Sony LCD with a dead pixel and it was VERY noticeable. The good thing with DLP is that there are very few wearable parts, and the lamps are easily replaced by the user. Once you get a new lamp, it looks as good as the day you bought it. If you get it from Best Buy, I'd recommend the service plan, as it covers the bulb from four years. I had to replace the one on my first DLP (Toshiba) and they just sent me the lamp so I didn't have to wait for a "technician" to come out and do what I could do myself. Actually ended up getting the Samsung due to an issue with the Toshiba. Best Buy let me swap it out under the service plan for very little difference in cost.

My suggestion, find someone who has something similar to what you want to buy. Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. never has their tv's set up so they're worth a s***, and even if they do it's so bright it doesn't matter anyway. When I was at the Sony Style store, a few of their sets were set up halfway decently, so if you're looking at the SXRD's I'd check them out there, if you have one.

[Titan]

Definition of SXRD, from sonystyle.com:

SXRD™ Panels
SXRD technology is the latest display technology developed by the legendary television engineers at Sony to meet and exceed the demands of a High Definition image at its full 1080 line resolution. Digitally transmitted High Definition signals can contain over 2 million individual detail points that need to be displayed accurately and rapidly. SXRD displays those 2 million detail points per SXRD panel accurately since the 3 SXRD panels actually contain enough pixels to fully display a 1080 line picture without interlacing it. SXRD has the speed to create a smooth, film like image. The SXRD panels have a blistering 5ms response time (total rise and fall time), which exceeds the demands of even the most rapidly moving High Definition images. And SXRD creates highly accurate, natural colors because the 3-panel design displays all the colors, all the time.

it's like DLP, except DLP only has one panel for all colors from what I understand. I have the 60" SXRD KDS-R60XBR2, and love it. Awesome TV.

EDIT: They also come with a second lamp in the box so when it does burn out you have another one ready to go.

[resmonkey]

So SXRD is just better color reproduction? The added bulb/lamp sounds good.

Seems Circuit City has some 18month thing for minimum payments. I can probably do $1000 upfront and then get my dad to pay the rest monthly (I'm 17, no credit card).


EDIT = I have no immediate rush on buying, though. I can hold out till Q1/Q2 of 08. Reason is, I'm applying to college, and if I save enough $$$$$ with scholarships, I could get something top-of-the-line then for my dad (OLED?). Anything good coming out around that time?

[Goodguy818]

Vizio any good? VIZIO Gallevia 42" 1080p LCD HDTV fo 1299.99

http://www.shopnbc.com/product/?fami...-TOPSELLER-_-N

[BBKat32]

The SXRD is a LCOS format. JVC is the only other company to use this technology. They give you excellent PQ. At Best Buy, we leave them/set all the tv's on the "dynamic" setting. Most companies prefer this setting on their tv's in retail stores.

Back to the tv selection.....samsung dlp, sony sxrd, you're comparing awesome tv's. HD content, Blu-ray's, game sytems, looks awesome on these tv's. You can't go wrong! When you get it home, make adjustments in the settings to what you like and what looks good in your house.

[easyrider]

Originally Posted by BBKat32

As for plasma's and lcd's....Every digital tv on the market now excluding crt types are rated at 60,000 hrs of life.

@ that rate and @ 4 hours per day of viewing, I have worked out that my plasma will last me 41 years ... or until I am 93 years old !
Sweeeet !!!

[Blus Brother]

Originally Posted by easyrider

@ that rate and @ 4 hours per day of viewing, I have worked out that my plasma will last me 41 years ... or until I am 93 years old !
Sweeeet !!!

LOL - no tv technology today will be around in 41 years - but good try.

[resmonkey]

BUMP

So are there any new technological breakthroughs around Q1/Q2 of 08, because I can wait...:P

[Anthony P]

If you don't mind me getting technical (since there was a question of is SXRD DLP)

DLP is Texas Instruments name for DMD

SXRD is Sony's name for LCoS

D-ILA is JVCs name for LCoS

LCD: generic

CRT: we can skip this one
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DMD (Digital Micro-Mirror Device): uses a chip with many (one for each pixel) mirrors on it. These mirrors are constantly in motion either reflecting the light to the screen or away from it. The amount of time the mirror reflects light to the screen will determine how bright the pixel will be.

Most DLP displays (and all of the ones discussed here) use one DLP chip and a rotating colour wheel to create the image. So in essence what happens is that the one chip is doing triple duty (the three primaries).

LCD (Liquid crystal display): an LCD is in essence a sandwich of two glass plates for bread and liquid crystals and electronics for the filling.

Before I go further there are two things that are important to understand

1) light has a directionality to it. Think of a wave in the water when it is deep enough it looks like /\/\/\/\, when the wave gets too close to the shore and it is not deep enough for the wave, it brakes up and people can surf. In normal light the wave can be in any direction, when the light travels with its wave in one direction, it is called polarized

in essence the light wave could be oscillating like - ,|, \ or/

2) LCs react to electricity and change their shape, they also when activated change the polarization of light

so in essence in an LCD light is polarized, passed through the LCD where some stays in the same direction and some changes and then passes through a second polarizer that rejects some of the light while keeps some other of it.

This can be easily seen with a cheap calculator you can open it up and flip the polarizer at the top and go from black on grey to grey on black

LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicone): Like the name says LCoS also work with LCs. The difference is that now we are no longer talking a sandwich. The light passes through a glass plate and then the LC but instead of coming out the other side they are reflected back out the way they came in. The benefit of LCoS over LCD is that LCD has the electronics and wiring in the sandwich so it interferes with the pixels and the image. On LCoS the current that activates the LCs is behind the reflective layer so there is less space between pixels. This is more important for projection systems where the real display device is extremely small so the pixel an the space surrounding them are both magnified.
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Notes:

TI is the only one that can make DMDs due to patents they have, that is why you will see DLP much more often then DMD.

JVC bought the company that developed the LCoS tech and owned the patents until a few years ago when they became public domain. Sony and JVC are the only one’s that have perfected the manufacturability enough to have products (as far as I know), at some point in the past Philips and Hitachi had built sets, but I am not sure who’s panels they used. Canon has (had?) an LCoS projector but it uses JVC panels.

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personally I tend to like the LCD/LCoS more then DLP. I find DLP a bit rough and tiering on the eyes. On the other hand these are personal opinions and everyone should make up their own mind. So best advice on what to do, look at a few sets and see what you like

[resmonkey]

Thanks, Anthony. I guess I might go with LCoS in the end.