Newb questions

[ccab21]

1) Can dust accumilate inside a RPLCD and cause the image quality to degrade over time?

2) One tv we were looking at was 1080i. Another was 1080p. Does 1080p revert to 1080i when there is motion on the screen?

These are two things we learned from different salesmen while shopping for a TV.

Some of the sets under consideration.

Hitachi 50" HD1080 Plasma

SAMSUNG HLT5087 50" 1080P LED DLP HDTV

Id like to stay below $1300 just for the tv .Any other suggestions?

Also should we opt to extended the warranty to two years? Ive never bought an extended warrenty nor had to put a manufactures warranty to use but to mee this is all new and developing technology and makes me wary. At the same time I dont want to be throwing away money when I could be using it to buy a bigger TV.

 

[Midcow2]

1) Can dust accumilate inside a RPLCD and cause the image quality to degrade over time?

2) One tv we were looking at was 1080i. Another was 1080p. Does 1080p revert to 1080i when there is motion on the screen?

These are two things we learned from different salesmen while shopping for a TV.

Some of the sets under consideration.

Hitachi 50" HD1080 Plasma

SAMSUNG HLT5087 50" 1080P LED DLP HDTV

Id like to stay below $1300 just for the tv .Any other suggestions?

Also should we opt to extended the warranty to two years? Ive never bought an extended warrenty nor had to put a manufactures warranty to use but to mee this is all new and developing technology and makes me wary. At the same time I dont want to be throwing away money when I could be using it to buy a bigger TV.

1) No, not very likely

2) NO STAYS AT 1080p


Good prices. If the Hitachi Plasma meets your need it may be the best bet.

make sure you follow the break-in and also get a calibration disk.

 

[ccab21]

I just read a not so good review on cnet
Cnets score is 5.8/10 and user reviews are 8.4/10.

Other site reviews rate the Hitachi P50H401 about average and their users rate it above average. How should I Interprete this?

 

[MDS]

2) One tv we were looking at was 1080i. Another was 1080p. Does 1080p revert to 1080i when there is motion on the screen?

When a TV is described as being '1080i' that just means that 1080i is the highest resolution it can accept as an input. The TV will display any image it receives in its native resolution. So if the native resolution of the TV is 1080p but you send it 1080i, it will deinterlace the 1080i to 1080p and display it as 1080p.

 

[FSUguy]

I just read a not so good review on cnet
Cnets score is 5.8/10 and user reviews are 8.4/10.

Other site reviews rate the Hitachi P50H401 about average and their users rate it above average. How should I Interprete this?

I have a Hitachi rear projection that I got about a year ago and it is ok. I work at BBY in HT and feel I have a pretty versed knowledge of it all. As far as the Hitachi, I would probably look at something else because the contrast ratios on it are not that great, or the viewing angles. I am actually looking at replacing it with that same Samsung because the screen on my Hitachi is going out.

As far as the warranty, I DEFINITELY recommend it with TVs, especially RPTVs. Usually the price of the plan is that same as the replacement bulb and usually the service plan includes a free bulb, with basically a service plan to boot. Also, like BBY, our plan covers MANY things that the manufacturer doesn't. Would you not get car insurance? A/V receivers, speakers, etc are not that important, but def. HDTVs. Hope this helps..

 

[bandphan]

Dust can cause poor air circulation which would reduce the life of the bulb

 

[funked up]

Heres a 50" Panasonic in your price range. I have the 42" vevsion of this TV. Only downside is that its only 720. I don't think you would be dissapointed though.

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=118&utm_id=14&ref=nextag&utm_source=NexTag&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PNTH50PX75U&sku=PNTH50PX75U

 

[ccab21]

Heres a 50" Panasonic in your price range. I have the 42" vevsion of this TV. Only downside is that its only 720. I don't think you would be dissapointed though.

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=118&utm_id=14&ref=nextag&utm_source=NexTag&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PNTH50PX75U&sku=PNTH50PX75U

Where does it say that its 720? Under product description. It states:
HDTV Compatibility: 480p/720p/1080i/1080p

 

[ccab21]

Your post also brought up another piece of information I was questioning.
One salesman told me that on screens 42" and smaller there is not much difference in picture quality between 1080 and 720. But there is a huge difference in larger screens. I tryed to find the difference myself but after awhile all the screens look the same.

 

[FSUguy]

Your post also brought up another piece of information I was questioning.
One salesman told me that on screens 42" and smaller there is not much difference in picture quality between 1080 and 720. But there is a huge difference in larger screens. I tryed to find the difference myself but after awhile all the screens look the same.

That is to a degree true. You also have to take into account how far from the TV you are sitting. Even with a 60" TV at 1080p, you probably won't see a difference from 720p at 25 ft from the TV etc.

Give this article a read and it will explain your question....

http://www.carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/

Hope this helps

 

[MDS]

That is to a degree true. You also have to take into account how far from the TV you are sitting. Even with a 60" TV at 1080p, you probably won't see a difference from 720p at 25 ft from the TV etc.

Exactly. That is the key to it all - it is the size of the screen vs viewing distance that matters but most people seem to have done a short cut and simplified it to '1080p only matters if you have a 50" screen or larger' and that is false. If you sit 25 feet from a 1080p resolution TV, as you've indicated, you still won't notice the difference. The analogy I like to use is computer monitors - if you use a low resolution like VGA (640 x 480) it will look like crap from the typical 2-3 foot viewing distance, but if you could step back to 20 feet you wouldn't notice any difference betwee 640 x 480 and 1600 x 1200.

Still...I'd buy a 1080p resolution TV anyway as it is at least somewhat future proof (to the extent that anything can actually be future-proof).

 

[FSUguy]

Exactly. That is the key to it all - it is the size of the screen vs viewing distance that matters but most people seem to have done a short cut and simplified it to '1080p only matters if you have a 50" screen or larger' and that is false. If you sit 25 feet from a 1080p resolution TV, as you've indicated, you still won't notice the difference. The analogy I like to use is computer monitors - if you use a low resolution like VGA (640 x 480) it will look like crap from the typical 2-3 foot viewing distance, but if you could step back to 20 feet you wouldn't notice any difference betwee 640 x 480 and 1600 x 1200.

Still...I'd buy a 1080p resolution TV anyway as it is at least somewhat future proof (to the extent that anything can actually be future-proof).

I definitely agree that it would be "future proof" to a degree. Not that the 720p won't work, but with the advances in HDTV over the air, why not go ahead and enable yourself to get the most out of them.