All these beautiful displays

ironlung

ironlung

Banned
The 'Growing HDTV Demand and IPTV Potential' thread has led me to this. If you own an HD display. I'd like to ask you a few questions.

How many hours of TV do you watch per week?


How many of thoes hours are actual HD content? 720P or greater res not including up scaling.

What HD content provider do you use?
OTA
Cable
Dish Network
DirectTV
other...please explain

Are you happy with the HD purchase for reasons other than a status symbol?

Heres my answers: I watch around 30 hours per week. 1 to 3 hours in HD or 3% to 10% HD. I have Comcast cable dual tuner DVR. I am sorely dissapointed with my HD experience so far.
 
Last edited:
Buckeyefan 1

Buckeyefan 1

Audioholic Ninja
Great post. I think I get maybe 2 full hours of HD television. But I do enjoy the DVR capabilities. It's a bit of a ripoff at this stage of the game.

Here's some more food for thought.

Most dvd's are at best going to display 480p. I've got 6 HD channels, and 150 non HD channels. :confused:

Why all the hoopla over 720p/1080i/1080p then? I guess because people are after the best technology and not the reality of what they're actually seeing.

A buddy of mine is shopping for a high end dvd player for his new Mitsu 1080i plasma. Of all the high end shops he's been to, he's been unable to tell the difference in the 480p picture versus a 1080i or 720p. This goes for the sales staff at these shops as well. When you've got a great dvd player, and a great screen, it doesn't seem to matter what the final resolution is. 480p seems to be comparable to everything else at the moment. As he put it "smoke and mirrors."
 
ironlung

ironlung

Banned
No one wants to share?

While I do enjoy 480p DVDs paying double for a tv just to avoid/minimise the black bars on letterbox programing is a little extreme. I could (should) have purchased a 36" 4:3 Sony for $800-$900 and had just as sharp of a picture with 480p programing.

As I said in the other thread my old 27" Sony (while not progressive scan) and new 34" HD Sony have the same viewable area with 4:3 material.

I guess only a few web forum wakos want to have true HD.

In a bar that I frequent has (2) 90"-100" 16:9 EDTV. Everyone in there loves them. The games are advetised to be in HD!

Another bar near a friends house has (2) 45" plasmas hooked up to rabbit ear antennas. The reception is unbearable with a ghost immage half a screen off. The patrons complained about the black bars on the sides of the poopy image. The owners flip the full stretch on and everyones happy with the short fat football game on.

Witch leads me to another question. Is distorted SD really better than SD in 4:3 aspect?

I personally can't tolerate any aspect change unless it's full strech on an anamorphic image or zoom on a letterbox image.

This thread has almost 30 views so far and only 1 post. Maybe no one wants to admit they barely use the HD part of their HDTV.
 
M

MAX661

Audioholic
I'd say I watch about 80% HD and 20% SD, Rogers has quite a bit of HD and with the PVR I always have something to watch.

I think without the PVR HD wouldn't seem like there was enough content.
 
L

LOUMFSG

Junior Audioholic
I LOVE my HDTV!

ironlung said:
The 'Growing HDTV Demand and IPTV Potential' thread has led me to this. If you own an HD display. I'd like to ask you a few questions.

How many hours of TV do you watch per week?


How many of thoes hours are actual HD content? 720P or greater res not including up scaling.

What HD content provider do you use?
OTA
Cable
Dish Network
DirectTV
other...please explain

Are you happy with the HD purchase for reasons other than a status symbol?

Heres my answers: I watch around 30 hours per week. 1 to 3 hours in HD or 3% to 10% HD. I have Comcast cable dual tuner DVR. I am sorely dissapointed with my HD experience so far.

I have a panny 50phd7uy display. I have a Comcast HD STB and a DVD player hooked up. I maybe watch 15 - 20 hours of TV per week, and I would say about 75% of it is HD, and it will go up to about 95% when our three-month promotion including HBO expires. I primarily watch sports, music and movies. Baseball games, football games, hockey games, basketball games, ESPN sports center - all look phenominal in HD, and almost every game I've wanted to watch has been available in HD. In addition, I think it is PBS has a series called Austin City Limits in HD, which is live concerts - I've seen Elvis Costello and John Fogerty, to name a few. DVD's look great as well. I could not be happier with my HD display. In fact, I find myself watching Leno or Letterman in HD much more than I used to, and watch things on Discovery or INHD which I would have never watched before.
 
sts9fan

sts9fan

Banned
I just joined the club

I just got a 720p samsung DLP this week. I don't watch very many movies or tv ~15hr/week but I need a new set so I went with a cool one. I think it is absolutly stupid to spend money on 1080p right now. My question to those buying them is where are you getting what you payed for in the fullest regards?

Lost last night was sweet in HD.
I do have a lip sync issue with dvds through my stereo though. I will be fixing that with a new reciver( which I wanted anyway) though.
 
M

MAX661

Audioholic
sts9fan said:
I think it is absolutly stupid to spend money on 1080p right now. My question to those buying them is where are you getting what you payed for in the fullest regards?
Depends what you mean by fullest regards? I currently own last years Sony 60'' XS LCD-RPTV which is a 720p based set "768p"

And I also just received the New Sony KDS-R60XBR1 1080p SXRD set yesterday, I think I got my money's worth considering the PQ is much better.

Better contrast, Better Color saturation, Higher Resolution, Better Response Time, No SDE, and Brighter Overall look. Pretty much better everything. So if you were going out to buy a TV this year, why not buy the best you can! If you can afford it then I think it would be stupid to buy something inferior in every way, dont you?
 
m3Ch

m3Ch

Enthusiast
Hi,

I would say that I watch about 85% HD content. I have COX and in my area they offer quite a few channels. I have all the major networks including the WB and PBS and TNT, I also have ESPN HD, Discovery, INHD 1 & 2 as well as HBO and Showtime HD. I also have an HD DVR and couldn't be happier.

I do have to disagree about the old EDTV 480P arguement. We have discussed this serveral times at another forum that I frequent, "HDTV voice", and most of the time the only people who will argue the point are the ones who tried to save a few bucks (bought a Dell EDTV) and have conviced themselves that 720p or 1080i does not look better.

Don't get me wrong dvd's look good at 480p, but I can sure tell the difference when watching 1080i content.
 
Francious70

Francious70

Senior Audioholic
I'd say about 30 Hrs. per week. 15 of which are in HD. I watch everything OTA.
 
sts9fan

sts9fan

Banned
Sooooooooooooo

If you can afford it then I think it would be stupid to buy something inferior in every way, dont you?

So you are saying that avalibility of a 1080p signal is not important? If there was a car that could run on a tablespoon of uranium for 10 years would you buy it even though you cannot get uranium? Even if when uranium becomes avalible the car will be cheaper?

I am all for 720p but until there is media for 1080p...silly bragging rights.
To answer you next question I could afford a 1080p set.:D
 
M

MAX661

Audioholic
sts9fan said:
So you are saying that avalibility of a 1080p signal is not important? If there was a car that could run on a tablespoon of uranium for 10 years would you buy it even though you cannot get uranium? Even if when uranium becomes avalible the car will be cheaper?

I am all for 720p but until there is media for 1080p...silly bragging rights.
To answer you next question I could afford a 1080p set.:D
What I am saying is, with your analogy:
We will call the 1080p set "car A'' and the 720p set "car B"

What if the car with uranium could also take regualr gas, and with this regular gas "Car A" had more horsepower, higher torque, higher top speed, and better mileage. Would you still buy "Car B'' if you could afford car A?

My point is the 1080p Set performs better with 1080i and 720p material than the 720p set does. And this isn't bragging rights, I have both and can tell you that the PQ on the 1080p set is superior to my 720p set. So why buy something inferior if you are in the markey for a TV anyways?

I am not saying run out and replace your 720p or 1080i set with a 1080p TV, but if you are in the market and can afford a 1080p set now then it would not be smart to buy something that is clearly inferior. IMO

MAX,
 
ironlung

ironlung

Banned
MAX661 said:
What I am saying is, with your analogy:
We will call the 1080p set "car A'' and the 720p set "car B"

What if the car with uranium could also take regualr gas, and with this regular gas "Car A" had more horsepower, higher torque, higher top speed, and better mileage. Would you still buy "Car B'' if you could afford car A?

My point is the 1080p Set performs better with 1080i and 720p material than the 720p set does. And this isn't bragging rights, I have both and can tell you that the PQ on the 1080p set is superior to my 720p set. So why buy something inferior if you are in the markey for a TV anyways?

I am not saying run out and replace your 720p or 1080i set with a 1080p TV, but if you are in the market and can afford a 1080p set now then it would not be smart to buy something that is clearly inferior. IMO

MAX,

Unless you are a big sports fan its easy to run out of HD content quick. After you have watched PBS and INHD1 & 2 for a couple months new content is few and far between. I don't like NFL or MLB. NHL has 1 maybe 2 games in HD per week.

480i is 480i even if you could afford a 2160p set.
 
S

Sleestack

Senior Audioholic
My big problem is that there is no 1080P set in the cateory I am looking for. 50" flat panel Plasma displays. To me buying a non flat panel TV is no longer an option I'm willing to consider. I thoght about getting a comparable LCD that does 1080P, however I didn't like the picture on the LCDs v. the high end Plasmas.

MAX661 said:
What I am saying is, with your analogy:
We will call the 1080p set "car A'' and the 720p set "car B"

What if the car with uranium could also take regualr gas, and with this regular gas "Car A" had more horsepower, higher torque, higher top speed, and better mileage. Would you still buy "Car B'' if you could afford car A?

My point is the 1080p Set performs better with 1080i and 720p material than the 720p set does. And this isn't bragging rights, I have both and can tell you that the PQ on the 1080p set is superior to my 720p set. So why buy something inferior if you are in the markey for a TV anyways?

I am not saying run out and replace your 720p or 1080i set with a 1080p TV, but if you are in the market and can afford a 1080p set now then it would not be smart to buy something that is clearly inferior. IMO

MAX,
 
M

MAX661

Audioholic
I think there is actually alot of HD available, but i'll admit I dont watch TV as much as most. Maybe 2 hours a night unless it's movies.

But on my PVR everyweek when I do watch there are plenty of shows in HD.

-Sopranos
-Rome
-Lost
-Las Vegas
-Smallville
-Criminal Minds
-Surface {not great}
-Invasion {not great}
-George Lopez
-Medium
-Joey
-My Wife And Kids
-King of Queens
-Law and Order
-CSI Miami
-CSI NY
-Conan
-Leno
-Letterman
-24 Movie Network HD
-CityTV HD Movies
-Discovery "i like sharks and animal shows"
-Football
-Basketball
-Baseball
-Hockey
etc, etc...

This is just what I thought of off the top of my head, The only shows I dont watch in HD are Overhaulin', Poker and The Ultimate Fighter.
 
M

MAX661

Audioholic
Sleestack said:
My big problem is that there is no 1080P set in the cateory I am looking for. 50" flat panel Plasma displays. To me buying a non flat panel TV is no longer an option I'm willing to consider. I thoght about getting a comparable LCD that does 1080P, however I didn't like the picture on the LCDs v. the high end Plasmas.

I can understand this sleestack, but I did hear that Panasonic is coming out with a 50'' 1080p plasma soon. Maybe you should check it out.

I'm not saying 1080p should be everybody's holy grail, but you have to understand my logic.
 
S

Sleestack

Senior Audioholic
MAX661 said:
I can understand this sleestack, but I did hear that Panasonic is coming out with a 50'' 1080p plasma soon. Maybe you should check it out.

I'm not saying 1080p should be everybody's holy grail, but you have to understand my logic.
When I replace my main TV (76" Mitsubishi), Im definitely going 1080P. I wish the 1080P plasmas were out now b/c I really need a TV for my audio room now. Nevertheless, I think the Pioneer will keep me satisfied for at least the near future.

By the way... Overhaulin is a great show. Chip Foose really knows how to design a tasteful car. you should check it out if you are into cars at all.
 
ironlung

ironlung

Banned
I guess I'm a "glass is half empty" kind of guy.

It seems to me any one near the 50% HD mark don't forge the groove in the couch as much or are big sports fans.

The list of HD show above is almost comprehensive. NFL is the only thing to have their HD ducks in a row.

Newly produced shows that are not HD:
The Biggest loser
Curb
The Ultimate Fighter
Build or Bust
1st run PPV on comcast of UFC
Any on demand except IMAX PPV
fifty fifty shot if MLB will be HD,pretty much home games only
.....anything not ont the 6-8 HD channels

Conan O'brien 3:30 am rerun is 4:3 letterbox
CBS syndicated sitcom originally in HD (Yes Dear, Raymond)are rerun non HD on HD channels.
 
L

LOUMFSG

Junior Audioholic
For me, it was a matter of wanting Big/Wide screen as well

ironlung said:
It seems to me any one near the 50% HD mark don't forge the groove in the couch as much or are big sports fans.

The list of HD show above is almost comprehensive. NFL is the only thing to have their HD ducks in a row.

Newly produced shows that are not HD:
The Biggest loser
Curb
The Ultimate Fighter
Build or Bust
1st run PPV on comcast of UFC
Any on demand except IMAX PPV
fifty fifty shot if MLB will be HD,pretty much home games only
.....anything not ont the 6-8 HD channels

Conan O'brien 3:30 am rerun is 4:3 letterbox
CBS syndicated sitcom originally in HD (Yes Dear, Raymond)are rerun non HD on HD channels.
Even if you don't watch broadcast television at all, HDTV can be worth it based on DVD movie watching alone. In an earlier post, you indicated that a 27" SDTV has about the same viewing area as a 34" HDTV when viewing 4:3 material, which is true. But when watching 16:9 material, the size difference is greater, as the 27" SDTV looks like a 24" HDTV because of the letterboxing.

So if someone uses their TV to watch a lot of movies, and they prefer 16:9, having a wide screen TV allows you to have a much more theater-like experience at home. And it is true that today's DVD's are 480p, and therefore HDTV vs EDTV is not a big difference. But with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray around the corner, having a 720p/1080i capable screen will make a difference with the new technology.

I do agree with you that if you are not a big sports fan, there is probably not enough out there on broadcast HDTV yet to make it all that worthwhile. For me, it was an easy decision. I love sports, I like watching movies in 16:9, I know that the amount of HDTV broadcast will only grow from here, and HD-DVD will be out soon. Throw in the price drops in plasma and other HD technologies, and I was ready to jump. For someone who doesn't watch a lot of sports, watches a fair amount of SDTV, and doesn't mind watching movies in 4:3, I'd wait a while before I bought an HDTV.
 
T

The Dukester

Audioholic Chief
I don't have an HDTV yet. I have been looking for 3-4 months but not bit the bullet. I wanted to wait until after CEDIA to see what was coming out. Now I'm thinking of using BMX's suggestion of having a plasma on the wall with a pull down screen for movies. I am even leaning more that way after I talked with the guy at Tweeter the other day. He told me kind of on the sly that the day after Thanksgiving they would have the Panasonic 42" plasma for $2k that they are selling now for about 3. Another guy I talked to that does custom installs says to wait till Christmas and you will see the bottom fall out of plasma prices. I watch alot of sports, so HD would be cool for me.

I think the big difference in the PQ of the 1080 sets vs all the 720s, etc. has more to do with just the actual improvement of the overall set and not the fact it can do 1080. The technology keeps getting better and better, so the picture can't help but improve. I agree that if you can afford to, buy the highest rated set you can, especially if you need to buy one. If you have last years 720 model, you have money to burn and want the latest and greatest, well have at it. If not, you still have a great TV. Enjoy it. For me, well I might just be first in line after Turkey day at Tweeter or whoever has the best deal and wait till spring to buy the projector after CES. There should be a lot of new 1080 pjs out by then. That way I'll be set when the Blu-ray HDVD battle is over to enjoy 1080.:D
 
mcwilson

mcwilson

Audioholic
Molto Bene Uncle Bene

The number of hours of TV I watch varies greatly. I love sports - and football is stunning on my 110" screen w/ InFocus SP7205 projector. In the first year, I put 1500 hours on the projector and I'd guess about half of that was HD (the other half being movies).

I use Adelphia (recently began merger w/ Comcast), and I'm happy with their HD package. I get several INHD channels, HBO HD, SHOTIME HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, several HDMVS, HD DISCOVERY, FOX, CBS, and NBC. I am only disappointed that I don't get ABC HD. Don't know why Adelphia doesn't offer that one... If anyone knows, please enlighten me. I hate missing Monday Night Football in HD. In fact, I hardly ever watch it. Now that I've seen football in HD, it's hard to go back.

College football and basketball and Major League baseball are also very cool in HD. I'm not much of a hockey fan, but now that it's back, I'll probably sample it from time to time. Not much into pro basketball.


As you have probably already surmised, I'm extremely pleased with my purchase. I would feel this way even if my friends never uttered the words, "Damn, look at that picture!". That's just gravy, dude.
 
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