Flat Panel or CRT?

The 428XG sounds good but will I miss full HD? Is there an online retailer for Pioneer?

Don't think there's an online retailer but their distributor in Delhi (Alpha Radios) should ship anywhere in India. Here's a review of the 428XG (model numbering is different in UK but its the same TV)

Pioneer PDP4280XD Review – 42” Kuro HD Ready Plasma TV Test

This depends upon the scaling machine (such as an AVR). Most good ones accept any video input, and up-scale all of them out through the HDMI. For example I have upscaled the Dish TV output connected via a composite to the AVR. This certainly works for video. This will be represented by a flow chart as shown below.



But I am not sure about the audio. Do these guys transmit the code for Dolby Digital or DTS, or do they downgrade all audio to two channels. I am afraid the second may be more true. But, as I said, I am not sure.

Cheers

Venkat,

I did not know standard DVD stores higher resolutions as well. So are you saying that in days of yore, the only reason we were stuck with 480i was because screen technology was not competent/pricey? And how does one extract this higher resolution (I don't mean upconverting DVD players...I mean the native resolution present on the DVD itself, sent raw to an HD TV). Are there any articles you could point me to which describe this in more detail? I am really curious to know more.

Thanks,
Jinx.

Yes Ajinkya, this is true. I was also surprised when I came across this information. TV display technology has been at least 5 years behind the capabilities of storage and retrieval of video.

One cannot 'extract' raw data from a DVD and send it to a HD TV for multiple reasons. One; the data is stored in a format that the TV will not understand. Two; the data is highly compressed. Three; at the least, the data has to be 'played' to follow the NTSC or PAL format.

I am writing a detailed article on this and should publish it within a week or so. That will have more details.

Cheers

Err DVD has DV quality data i.e. 720x480 or 480p. It does not have HD data :P.

Hey Venkat, I am very intrigued to see your post. I've always understood that DVDs have video that is transferred from the film stock into 480i format, which feed could then be scanned progressively by the original 'progressive scan' DVD players, and now upscaled by upscaling DVD players.....i've constantly read all over the place that the upscaling is achieved using mathematical algorithms that extrapolate the image data to fill in additional pixels in a more pixel-dense matrix, which still does not equate to there being unique pixels of recorded data that you would find in a Blu-Ray disc.....And the reason I've read is that this is because the storage capacity of DVDs is limited. The advantage achieved by formats such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray was the larger capacity, and therefore the capacity to store the additional number of pixels for every frame...I still can't fathom how the good old DVD could have always had this capacity....and why it was not then properly utilised....

I am eagerly awaiting your article on this.

With regard to spirovirus's query......the Composite video fed into the AVR from your STB at 480i will then be upscaled to 720p or 1080p by the AVR....i've never tried this out myself, so I don't know how good it is, but i've heard people say it makes a difference, and logically it sounds like it should....

In response to this and venkatcr's post....there is some debate as to at what size you can make out the difference between Full HD and HD Ready, I've heard opinions starting frmo 37 inches to 50 inches......even if it is 37 or 42 inches, I would say that the differences would be marginal at best......and with the 428XG you are getting some glorious quality in terms of blacks, and colour reproduction and video processing.....which will give you an image that'll put a smile on your face.....I seriously doubt you should pump up your budget for a Pioneer Full HD, because I think they cost a heck of a lot more.....the comparison is set out in the CNET review that I had linked to earlier on this thread......

Hi,

What is the major differences in Samsung 3,4,5,6 series?
What I know is prices.What about quality?

Samsung's numbering..... 3 and 4 are HD Ready, whereas 5 and 6 are Full HD.....Between 3 and 4 there are differences in the panel in terms of contrast ratio and response time, with the series 4 being better at them.....I think the series 4 also has a few more connectivity options....

Between 5 and 6 i think the differences are mainly cosmetic with the 6 series having the "touch of colour" design.....

a close scrutiny of the models in these various series for one screen size, on the samsung website, should give you a more comprehensive answer...