Re: WOT: Anyone know anything about bigscreen/HDTV (archive)

You're in for quite a challenge. The HDTV standard is actually a collection of standards, but I believe that for a manufacturer to claim it it HDTV, the set has to meet some minimum requirement.

The 1080i, 480p, 720p indicate scan format. 1080i means 1080 scanlines, interlaced (the set first does the evens then does the odds). 480p means 480 scanlines, progressive scan (does lines 1-480 in that order). 720p, 720 scanlines, progressive.

HD content can be broadcast in any of those formats, but I'm not sure if an HD set is has to be able to handle all. It may be possible that they have to be able to receive all formats, but they can upconvert or downconvert as needed.

Another thing to consider is that just because a set says it can handle 1080i doesn't mean that you'll be able to distinguish 1080 scanlines. Do a websearch, I believe there are HD forums out there with candid discussion of the sets available.

I bought a 53" Sony XBR last year for about $4000... and, of course, Sony dropped the price to about $3000 within 2 months. Oh well. This model will do 1080i and 480p, but I don't think it does 720p.

Anyway, it's real hard to compare because different stores carry different brands and different lines. One thing that helps is to hit the store on a weekday morning when things are real slow. The sales-people will be more willing to spend the time with you, hooking up the same source so you can do a realistic comparison.

One feature I'd highly recommend is a built-in line doubler (or upconverter). It should take a standard NTSC signal and analyze the picture, add additional scanlines and display it. Mitsubishi, Sony and Toshiba all had/have sets that did/do this... the results are that you get a film-like picture ... no discernable scanlines. Some sets do it better than others, and in all sets, there will be certain (rare) picture conditions where the line-doubling introduces artifacts (ugh). You really should compare a set with and one without side-by-side... the difference will become hugely apparent.

So, I can't really guide you to one set or another, all I can do is let you know that it's not very straight-forward... the more I learned, the more I got confused :)

Good luck,
DaveR

My page of Bimmer stuff

Follow Ups:

A bit more... DaveR 13:48 12/24/2000 (0)

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