Mistress Goes A Huntin- HDTV Help Please - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rwthomas1 · #46 12-03-2008, 06:23 PM

There is very little difference between 720p and 1080p. When my biz partner was shopping for 50" plasma he had them swap a BluRay player between two Panasonics, same size, etc. just one was 720 and the other 1080. We thought that maybe, just maybe the difference was noticeable. Sometimes. He went with 720. I did the same when I bought my father-in-law a Samsung 50" plasma. AFAIK, the US broadcasts, HD, etc. are all still in 720 and will be for years at least. The only thing that 1080p is worthwhile for is video games and BluRay. I suppose if you are a true tv/movie/gamer head then it may be worth your coin. Check around, this isn't my opinion alone, plenty of TV forums that have the same advice. I also feel plasma has better colors and deeper blacks. The lcd's are too bright. Father-in-law, biz partner both have the sets in bright rooms (daylight) and have no issues. The purported "problems" with plasma are nonsense. 50" plasmas are now in the $900 range. RT

BoomInTheTrunk · #47 12-03-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash

Justin,

I was just at Fry's looking at TV's to see what they looked like side by side.

I saw a Sharp Aquos 1080p 32" beside a Samsung same specs. The white's on the Sam were white, the whites on the Sharp were not as white. Same thing with the colors. IS this a matter of setting/tuning or TV? The sales rep was messing around with the settings (even hit the reset to default) but the colors were still not comparable to the Sam.

Any ideas. I might be able to get a deal on the Sharp for $400 but after seeing it side by side I;m not so sure. I'm not saying the picture sucked but it was not as good as others ...I think.

Thanks

i just bought the 46 inch Aquos and let me tell you the default setting suck on the thing. After about 30 minutes of Calibrating the Colors, Brightness and Contrast the picture is perfect. You have to remember that the settings are a universal setting that will work in most places. Different lighting can play with your eyes and make the certain colors look differently. To get the most out of any TV you must calibrate it. When I did mine there was a difference like day and night. The Aquos is a great Television and when hooked up to a Blueray you blow you away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

A salesman told me (.....) that for smaller area TV's the difference between the 720P and 1080P wasn't noticeable. Maybe he was talking about the 32".

Better ignore me.

Never mind.

This is very true. Its all resolution, take a 70 inch television and put a 720p signal on it. 720 mean that there is 720 rows of pixels. Imagine the space inbetween the pixels to fill in 720 pixels, they have to be spaced out alot, making the picture not a crisp. Take a 26 inch at 720 and you have cut that space inhalf. If you get a larger set you need more resolution to make up the difference. if you are going to get anything under 30 inches 1080 is not needed, 720 will do just fine.

Zeus · #48 12-03-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash

I saw a Sharp Aquos 1080p 32" beside a Samsung same specs. The white's on the Sam were white, the whites on the Sharp were not as white. Same thing with the colors. IS this a matter of setting/tuning or TV? The sales rep was messing around with the settings (even hit the reset to default) but the colors were still not comparable to the Sam.

Thanks

I would strongly recommend *not* buying an Aquos. They have horrible screen banding issues, especially the D62U and D64U series. I bought a 52" Aquos 64U and loved it initially until I noticed a dark horizontal band on the upper portion of the screen.

Google 'Sharp banding' and you will find tons of info on it. Including YouTube footage of the problem, if you can believe it.

It's shameful that a company like Sharp, who built such a strong rep on a brand like Aquos, is knowingly putting out this crap.

I returned mine and bought a 52" Samsung A550. I couldn't be happier with it. Actually has a higher contrast than the Sharp (even given both manufacturer's exagerrated ratings) and the picture is excellent, especially once calibrated.

Pretty well all the Aquos models of the past couple of years have banding, it's less in some and more in others, but you can usually see it. It is most evident in panning sky shots, or when watching hockey games in HD. The panning motion across a light background highlights the banding. I couldn't even watch mine it was so distracting.

The part that is really annoying is that Sharp is basically playing dumb, having already invested heavily in its new series/technology (which do look excellent, btw).

I would definitely recommend the Samsung.

MTI · #49 12-03-2008, 07:19 PM

Our local Time Warner unit swapped out our SA3800HD DVR with the latest one they carry . . it has a nice feature that automatically upconverts the signal to the panel to the best the panel can display, which for us is 1080i, and the result on SD broadcasts is pretty nice.

BoomInTheTrunk · #50 12-03-2008, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeus

I would strongly recommend *not* buying an Aquos. They have horrible screen banding issues, especially the D62U and D64U series. I bought a 52" Aquos 64U and loved it initially until I noticed a dark horizontal band on the upper portion of the screen.

Google 'Sharp banding' and you will find tons of info on it. Including YouTube footage of the problem, if you can believe it.

It's shameful that a company like Sharp, who built such a strong rep on a brand like Aquos, is knowingly putting out this crap.

I returned mine and bought a 52" Samsung A550. I couldn't be happier with it. Actually has a higher contrast than the Sharp (even given both manufacturer's exagerrated ratings) and the picture is excellent, especially once calibrated.

Pretty well all the Aquos models of the past couple of years have banding, it's less in some and more in others, but you can usually see it. It is most evident in panning sky shots, or when watching hockey games in HD. The panning motion across a light background highlights the banding. I couldn't even watch mine it was so distracting.

The part that is really annoying is that Sharp is basically playing dumb, having already invested heavily in its new series/technology (which do look excellent, btw).

I would definitely recommend the Samsung.

The reason the banding was happening was because the conveyor belts at the factory had contamination of them causing issues with the display. The problem has now been fixed on all the new models.

amosfella · #51 12-03-2008, 07:44 PM

I would go with the samsung as well. I have a sharp, and took it over to a friend's house put it next to his samsung of the same size. The colors are much better on the samsung.
For audio, you migth want to look at Harmon Kardon.
If you have a dark room in the house that's pretty good, you might want to get a projector. It's so much cooler to have your own theater. 1080P projectors could be had for about $2000 or so.
I have noticed that the 1080P tvs seem to have somewhat better color than the 720P.
Good luck.
BTW, someone higher up in retail said that a lot of the AV equipment will be a lot less expensive just after the new year due to the 'depression'.
Oh, we expect photos of you showing us the new installation when it is done. Yes, we want you in the photo.

Zeus · #52 12-03-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoomInTheTrunk

The reason the banding was happening was because the conveyor belts at the factory had contamination of them causing issues with the display. The problem has now been fixed on all the new models.

Read about that reason, but I don't buy it as the band patterns on different TVs are not the same and are both horizontal and vertical on the same panel.

Saw a 52" Aquos on display the other day at BestBuy, large horizontal band at the top. I just shook my head.

That is what pisses me off about it. If Sharp knew it was a 'factory conveyor belt' problem, why not recall them? Because they know most people won't notice (or notice too late, e.g. out of warranty) and/or won't find out about it.

Don't think I'll be buying any more Sharp products anytime soon. Regardless of the excellent calculators they once made.

Dubyagee · #53 12-03-2008, 08:31 PM

Panasonic has their act together with HD as well

iwrock · #54 12-03-2008, 08:46 PM

If it were me, I would buy another 50" Pioneer Elite.

We have one, and the picture is amazing. Sooo smooth, and bright.

mpolli · #55 12-03-2008, 08:59 PM

I think Sony and Samsung are the best LCD but I have not shopped in a while. It was said at one time Sharp had a weak backlight which would cause what you describe (among other things). If you really want to dig into these issues go to www.highdefforum.com and you can study until you don't care anymore. I went to a store called Video Only and I found I could do the best comparison there. I don't know if they are nationwide though. They had the best prices also and fairly knowledgeable staff. But mine got stolen so I guess the crooks thought so too. But it was only a 32" so they probably wouldn't bother now. One big difference between brands is the ease of using the menus and the settings. That is something that most people don't bother to check out. And as was said, in the stores they have these things dialed to neon so you can't really compare unless you grab the remote and start changing the settings and you do need to have a little knowledge to do that.

MTI · #56 12-03-2008, 09:32 PM

A couple weeks ago, the power supply on our very old, out of warranty Pioneer panel went out. The obvious symptom was that the cooling fans weren't switching on, just like on a failed PC power supply. Part of me was a bit happy that I could go "panel hunting" with all the holiday sales coming up.

Before pulling off the wall and scheduling a bulk pickup, I did a web search about the issue to see if there were cheap fixes. About 3 minutes into the search, there was a link to the Pioneer website with a notice that, commencing in 2008, were doing a power supply warranty service for many older panels, including mine.

Long story, short, Pioneer just needed my panel's serial number and they arranged for a local tech to come out to the house, 2nd Day FedEx'd the part to him and within an hour the panel was good as new for no charge, zero, nada, gratis, etc. Now that's service, but now I have to wait a few more years before I can buy another panel. Can't recommend Pioneer more.

The service guy said that until he got the call on my panel he was unaware of the warranty notice. He also said that buisness was bad since people weren't repairing their out of warranty panels because of the low prices these days, but that he has serviced quite a few that were damaged by Wii controllers flying out of the hands of players.

catmandoo62 · #57 12-03-2008, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubyagee

Panasonic has their act together with HD as well

i'll second that.i love mine

mgburg · #58 12-04-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTI

... The service guy said that until he got the call on my panel he was unaware of the warranty notice. ... days, but that he has serviced quite a few that were damaged by Wii controllers flying out of the hands of players.

LOL!!!!

Now, if someone can only design a Wii-Screen to place in front of your expensive LCD/Plasma/Projector screen (like a "Wii-Sneeze-Shield")...they'd be a millionaire!!!