Plasma Vs Projection... Help

[Sky]

Pay close attention to resolution on projectors. When I was shopping, anything with a decent resolution was $$$. That was an important factor in my decision to go with rptv.

[Pococurante]

I don't think I've posted the luv lately. 61" Planetside. Not quite as big as a nice projector, but it cuts the mustard.

Sky can I borrow your time machine?  There's some IBM stock I want to buy in 1929.

Taking your super cool TV back six years in time was a dead giveaway - now hand it over...

[Sky]

November 2003 actually. Wasn't my camera ;)

[OcellotJenkins]

... and I watch a decent amount of SD.

You know it's funny, when I was researching my new TV, I envisioned myself continuing to watch a great deal of SD programming and only watching the occasional HD broadcast when something good was on.  At that time Sky mentioned that virtually all he watched were HD channels and I just didn't see myself doing that.  Low and behold, not two weeks after buying my plasma I found myself hooked on the HD channels and very very rarely watching SD.

My local cable company (Knology, East TN) has the following in their HD package and I assume other larger cable providers are similiar if not better:

NBC,ABC,CBS,FOX,HBOHD,ESPNHD,DiscoveryHD (BEST CHANNEL EVER), another sports HD, and another movie HD.

With the exception of Daily Show, I pretty much never stray from the above channels.  The clarity is highly addictive.  The two football teams I watch, UT and Titans, are both shown regularly in HD and the prime time shit shows the wife watches are as well.  I can't say enough good things about Discovery HD.  This isn't the regular old Discover feed transmitted in high definition.  Most of the shows are selected because the content is mind bogglingly beautiful.  It really is flawless audio and video... the quality, in terms of what the human eyes can see, just can't really get any better in my opinion.

It'll be interesting to see if Morphiend's experience is similar regarding SD/HD viewing.  Congratulations by the way on finding a set you're happy with!

[Morfiend]

OK, i am a bit in need of some setup advice. Right now every thing seems to be working fine, but once I get xbox 360, I am going to be one component input short.

the TV has 2 component inputs, 2 hdmi inputs, 2 s-video, and 2 rca.

Now, the problem with this is that HDMI is video and sound, I only need video, due to having a Onkyo system (some of you might remember that thread).

Right now I have the receiver and the cable box hooked up via component, so I can watch TV and DVDs (receiver is also my dvd player). the Xbox is S-video, and the PS2 is RCA. (Gamecube not hooked up yet).

How should I add the Xbox 360 componect cables? Should I get a new receiver that has Component IN and OUT (right now mine only has component OUT) and have the xbox run through the receiver? (I dont really want to do this)

I need some help. Should I get a higher quality receiver and have every thing run through that? It might make more sence. I have looked on avsforums, but I didnt find much help in this department. What do you think I should do?

[OcellotJenkins]

I'd look into a HDMI/Component conversion cable or plug.

[Morfiend]

I'd look into a HDMI/Component conversion cable or plug.

My cable box has DVI-out, I could get a dvi-hdmi cable, but my friend told me he did that, and he felt the signal was not as good.

[MrHat]

I'd look into a HDMI/Component conversion cable or plug.

My cable box has DVI-out, I could get a dvi-hdmi cable, but my friend told me he did that, and he felt the signal was not as good.

That's weird.  The digital signal over HDMI/DVI is much better than the component.

If you don't mind running the xbox 360 sound through your tv, I"m pretty sure there is a HDMI plug for the 360 avaliable.

[Morfiend]

I'd look into a HDMI/Component conversion cable or plug.

My cable box has DVI-out, I could get a dvi-hdmi cable, but my friend told me he did that, and he felt the signal was not as good.

That's weird.  The digital signal over HDMI/DVI is much better than the component.

If you don't mind running the xbox 360 sound through your tv, I"m pretty sure there is a HDMI plug for the 360 avaliable.

Turns out my cable company has a piece of shit cable box. Basically, there is a DVI-out on the back, but it is not guarenteed to work, and could mess with your analog channels if you have it connected that way. Also, they dont support it if any thing bad happens. The tech I talked to said its so bad, that on their newest models, if you pulg in the DVI, it has about a 30% chance of totally frying the cable box. He said it should be ready to use in 3 to 6 months.

[MrHat]

That sucks bad.

[Sky]

Bah, that's tech crap. Plug it in. They said mine was deactivated, so of course I plugged it in and it's fine. I only have one DVI, though, so I use it for the pc, cable looks good enough over component.

That bit about HDMI is exceedingly stupid. How many people have hdtvs and not surround sound? I had surround before I went hd, fer crissakes.

I don't really have an answer for you, when I had my consoles hooked up, I used my receiver for switching (it's a pretty cheap unit that does the job nicely, a Panny HE100 or something). But if you were using component out of the 360 to an hdmi adapter...it wouldn't be passing sound anyway, you'd still have the audio seperate.

[Morfiend]

After a weekend of having HD TV. Wow. This TV is simply amazing. Watched Sin City (again) and Batman Begins, great stuff. Sin City blew my mind. I honestly didnt think TV could look that good.

Also, watching ROME in HD was really a thing of love. The In-HD channels are great, except they play some wierd shit. I found myself watching some eating contest, just cause it was HD.

I havent tried to plug in my computer, but I think Warcraft in 60inch would be wonderful.

[Sky]

Behold the power of the Dark Side!

[naum]

After a weekend of having HD TV. Wow. This TV is simply amazing. Watched Sin City (again) and Batman Begins, great stuff. Sin City blew my mind. I honestly didnt think TV could look that good.

Also, watching ROME in HD was really a thing of love. The In-HD channels are great, except they play some wierd shit. I found myself watching some eating contest, just cause it was HD.

At first, it sure seemed like a lot of extra money (with the HD package and outlay for new HD receiver) for not that many channels, but watching NFL & NHL in HD is incredible. People that say it isn't that big a deal change their mind when I click back and forth between SD & HD broadcast feed. I too, find myself confining my viewing (I don't watch much TV anyway), to the HD channels or local channels over the air HD broadcast. The PBS affiliate here has 3 HD feeds, and I've been watching a bit of PBS along with the sports & Discovery HD.

Can anyone recommend an indoor HD antenna — I'm using an older antenna that seems to work alright, except for one or two channels — or is there any real difference between a standard VHF/UHF antenna and one that has "HD" (or "HD" compatible) stamped on it?

[Sky]

I just saw Derek Trucks on sunday. I was 10th row. My eyesight isn't great, but I picked up some fingerings and style points.

But when he was on the jammies, I was able to play along and directly see the exact fingerings, rewind and freeze them, even (thanks, dvr). HDNet is a big supporter of music, if you don't have it, call your cableco (they also have HDNet Movies which plays a lot of 60s/70s flicks, both are Mark Cuban owned iirc).

I fall in love with my tv setup all the time, it just keeps on being great. That's why it's hard for me to NOT gush and appear to be some kind of zealot around here.

My girlfriend hasn't had the amount of cable options I have, so she watches a ton of the SD channels, it's nice to actually get more usage out of them now. She laughed that I'd scan the HD channels and then say nothing's on. Now she scans the whole spectrum before she declares that.

Naum: no idea, I don't know why it would technically be any different...but you need an HD receiver to plug the antenna into, iirc. Which would be the only reason to buy a tv with an internal receiver imo, since cable/satellite bundles it in their STBs.

[naum]

Naum: no idea, I don't know why it would technically be any different...but you need an HD receiver to plug the antenna into, iirc. Which would be the only reason to buy a tv with an internal receiver imo, since cable/satellite bundles it in their STBs.

It (HD antenna) was an add-on that I didn't pay for (figured I spent enough money)… …old antenna seems to work fine though a couple of the channels sometimes break up unless I jiggle the rabit ears…

[Bunk]

*blinks*

antenna?

[Viin]

If you don't want to pay for cable HD channels you can pick up an HD antenna to get your local stations in HD over the airwaves. You'd be best off with a roof mounted one, otherwise your pic quality won't be that great.

Or just fork over the money to get the HD versions via sat or cable.

[OcellotJenkins]

I was told that those big ass existing antenna's on many houses work perfectly for HD.

[naum]

If you don't want to pay for cable HD channels you can pick up an HD antenna to get your local stations in HD over the airwaves. You'd be best off with a roof mounted one, otherwise your pic quality won't be that great.

Or just fork over the money to get the HD versions via sat or cable.

Local channels via HD not an option, at least in my case — DirecTV would have installed an antenna for that but I'm using an old indoor antenna I dredged up — for most cases, works just fine, except late night/early morning for a channel or two — and with HD TV over the air broadcast work a little differently than SD where you have ghosting and stuff, on HD if you don't have good signal, pixels start breaking up and video freezes.

[Shockeye]

Video Placebo: Is that Really HDTV You Are Watching?

News of the video bizarre: According to a just-released survey by Scientific-Atlanta, millions of people who have HDTV sets apparently think they are watching high definition television, but aren’t. The survey was spurred by an earlier Forrester Research projection that by the end of the year some 16 million U.S. households will have HDTV sets, but only seven million wll have HDTV reception. The Scientific Atlanta survey found that, yes, some 49 percent of households were not taking advantage of their HD equipment. About a quarter found that their HD set itself provided better reception, without taking the additional steps necessary to view HD. Eighteen percent said they didn’t even know needed additional equipment, such as a set-top box or antenna. A quarter admitted they thought they were watching HD video because, after all, the programs said at the beginning that they were broadcast in HDTV.

The survey confirms the long-standing prejudice of many of us non-videophiles that HDTV really isn’t all that impressive. Still, it is milding shocking that so many people plunk down money for an HD set, but never catch on that it isn’t actually turned on.

This could open up a slew of innovative policy options for the digital transition. Perhaps, instead of actually allocating spectrum to HDTV broadcasts, the FCC could just say it has done so, saving the spectrum for more valued uses. And instead of requiring HD tuners on sets, the FCC could just require a sticker saying the set has an HD tuner. The possibilities are endless.

[Sky]

If you're not impressed by Discovery HD, you're...I dunno. Something insultingly negative.

And HD football...holy shit man. Night and day over SD 4:3.

People are stupid.

[naum]

If you're not impressed by Discovery HD, you're...I dunno. Something insultingly negative.

And HD football...holy shit man. Night and day over SD 4:3.

Absolutely. I get sad when my Steelers arn't broadcast on HDTV (not all the games, and especially CBS is lackluster in this regard, for AFC games). And they (DirecTV) made me upgrade my Sunday Ticket package to SuperFan to get the HD games.

I get local channels via satellite (now mainly for other rooms in the house), but when I show visitors a click-by-click before/after of SD vs. HDTV, they are wowed easily, as it's quite discrenible. While it may not be on a scale of color TV eclipsing black & white, it's one of them things that once you see, regular old TV just seems inadquate.

In fact, I am surprised that the major networks which all now broadcast a good bit of their shows in HD arn't trumpeting this facet louder. I get charged another 5-10$ a month for like 8 HD channels and the right to pay more for HBO/Showtime/updgraded NFL package offerings, but all you really need is a HD receiver and an antenna.

PBS affiliate in my market (Phoenix) offers multiple feeds, and a separate HD content only that > Discover HD IMV.

[Viin]

I think a lot of folks who aren't technical just don't know how it works and how to switch between them. I mean, you'd expect you could just plug it in and 'voi la' there it is. Also, I don't think the TVs help much because they often don't tell you what kind of signal you are getting, so unless it said otherwise why would you think your HD TV wasn't showing stuff in HD?