Choosing an HDTV - What's important and what's not

[baccilus]

Most of the HD Ready plasmas have the resolution of 1024X768. Does that mean they have 4:3 aspect ratio? That would really suck for watching movies. Or am I missing something here?

 

[baccilus]

BTW, shouldn't this thread be a sticky?

 

[vramak]

Most of the HD Ready plasmas have the resolution of 1024X768. Does that mean they have 4:3 aspect ratio? That would really suck for watching movies. Or am I missing something here?

No! HD Ready plasmas have rectangular pixels. So, 1024x768 ends up with 16:9 aspect ratio. I have no idea why this resolution was chosen tho. But all HD Ready plasmas have the same 1024x768 resolution.

 

[baccilus]

No! HD Ready plasmas have rectangular pixels. So, 1024x768 ends up with 16:9 aspect ratio. I have no idea why this resolution was chosen tho. But all HD Ready plasmas have the same 1024x768 resolution.

But even if the pixels are rectangular, wont the TV expect a 1024X768 sourceto show 16:9 aspect movie? What will it do with 1280X720 source?

 

[vramak]

But even if the pixels are rectangular, wont the TV expect a 1024X768 sourceto show 16:9 aspect movie? What will it do with 1280X720 source?

I have no idea what HD REady plasmas will really do. But on them 16:9 sources will occupy fullscreen, 4:3 will get pillarboxed and 2.4:1 gets letterboxed.

 

[baccilus]

I have no idea what HD REady plasmas will really do. But on them 16:9 sources will occupy fullscreen, 4:3 will get pillarboxed and 2.4:1 gets letterboxed.

But does the 16:9 ratio look stretched? If it looks fine, I think it's wise to go for 42" HD Ready plasma rather than 32" FHD LCD's for budget buyers. Don't you think so?

 

[vramak]

But does the 16:9 ratio look stretched? If it looks fine, I think it's wise to go for 42" HD Ready plasma rather than 32" FHD LCD's for budget buyers. Don't you think so?

See, there's no such thing as a 1280x720 (16:9) resolution TV. HD ready TVs have either 1024x768 resolution (plasma) or 1366x768 resolution (LCD). But some video processing is done to fit 16:9 content without stretching on these TVs. The choice between 42" 720p plasma and 32" 1080p LCD depends on your viewing conditions as explained in the original post.

 

[baccilus]

See, there's no such thing as a 1280x720 (16:9) resolution TV. HD ready TVs have either 1024x768 resolution (plasma) or 1366x768 resolution (LCD). But some video processing is done to fit 16:9 content without stretching on these TVs. The choice between 42" 720p plasma and 32" 1080p LCD depends on your viewing conditions as explained in the original post.

Ok. From what I understand from the original post, it depends mainly on the lighting conditions and viewing distance, whether one should get a 42" HD ready plasma or 32" FHD LCD. Plasmas also have better viewing angles, but from what I have heard recently, LCD's are not too bad in this respect anymore either.

 

[VivekM]

Which is the cheapest 60 inch plasma TV available in India?

 

[slayer_tiger]

Irrespective of TV size, 1080p resolution will give negligible improvement over 720p. Even cinema screenings have a resolution of only 750p. The only reason to choose 1080p over 720p is when the 1080p TV in question has better specs (contrast ratio etc.) than the 720p TV in question.

yes i totally agree with you it does not make any difference as i have seen both 720p nd 1080p lcd tv with bluray playing, there is no difference which can be caught with naked eye, so no point in buying a full hd tv. though i have bought a full hd tv as they differ a lot in functionality so i opted for lg 32ld460.

 

[pulsar_swift]

One simple question for you vramak.
Samsung LA 37C530 - Rs 51K No 100Hz Motion flow
Samsung LA 40C630 - Rs 64K 100Hz Flow Flow ?

Difference between 5 series and 6 series is 100Hz motion flow. Tell me which one should i go for ?

I watch F1 races regularly. Will 100Hz matter ?

 

[alokbharti]

One simple question for you vramak.
Samsung LA 37C530 - Rs 51K No 100Hz Motion flow
Samsung LA 40C630 - Rs 64K 100Hz Flow Flow ?

Difference between 5 series and 6 series is 100Hz motion flow. Tell me which one should i go for ?

I watch F1 races regularly. Will 100Hz matter ?

price for 37c530 is NOT OK.. should have been ~42K..

40c530 is available for 48K with airtel HD DTH free..
40c630 you should get below 60K..

Since you watch F1 regularly 100hz is a must..Or you can have a look at Plasma TVs as well..

 

[pulsar_swift]

No offers on 40C630 ? Croma kept the price at 64,990 with BIG TV SD DTH free,when i last checked in SEPTEMER 3rd Week. I am interested to buy only in CROMA as they offer 2 years extended warranty. Hoping to get the price around 60K by DIWALI

There is no 40C530 on samsung website.

Where did you get the above price quotes ?

 

[alokbharti]

No offers on 40C630 ? Croma kept the price at 64,990 with BIG TV SD DTH free,when i last checked in SEPTEMER 3rd Week. I am interested to buy only in CROMA as they offer 2 years extended warranty. Hoping to get the price around 60K by DIWALI

There is no 40C530 on samsung website.

Where did you get the above price quotes ?

dude...37c530 is hard to find.. 40c530 is easily available.. 40" panels are more common than 37"..

the prices are from hyderabad local dealers.. chroma, ezone, reliance generally sell for 5-6K higher..

 

[heynownow]

I have a LG 50" Plasma (50PK550)...and it can be well considered as a budget plasma. The amount of IR and dithering it has, is fir only for a budget plasma...that said, most normal people watching at a distance of 4 ft or beyond, wont be able to make the diff. nOOb's and soap-opera addicts should stick to LCDs

 

[csczero]

I have a LG 50" Plasma (50PK550)...and it can be well considered as a budget plasma. The amount of IR and dithering it has, is fir only for a budget plasma...that said, most normal people watching at a distance of 4 ft or beyond, wont be able to make the diff. nOOb's and soap-opera addicts should stick to LCDs

ah come on! how can you label LCD buyers as nOObs ?

People buy LCD or plasma depending upon their usage priorities

If someone gonna watch TATASKY for 10 hours will you advice him to buy plasma?

 

[asdflkg]

I have a LG 50" Plasma (50PK550)...and it can be well considered as a budget plasma. The amount of IR and dithering it has, is fir only for a budget plasma...that said, most normal people watching at a distance of 4 ft or beyond, wont be able to make the diff. nOOb's and soap-opera addicts should stick to LCDs

That's pretty agressive statement.

V20 User manual statement on page 5,

Do not display a still picture for a long time
This causes the image to remain on the plasma screen ("image retention").
This is not considered a malfunction and is not covered by the warranty.
Typical still images

• Program number and other logos
• image displayed in 4:3 mode
• Video game
• Compututer image

makes people scary of using for any typical usage of the TV.

According to above list, we cannot use (without being scary) the plasmas for normal TV (TV Logo problem), video games and movies as well (all movies are not 16:9).

I know that it is a precaution note, but it is scary as this note doesn't say what "the long time" means, 15 min, 1hr, or 2hr or something else. So people tend wait for a chance to change the channel.

This is apart from the v20 price vs. performance vs. panasonic quality in India, which I think is rather poor.

 

[heynownow]

That's pretty agressive statement.


According to above list, we cannot use (without being scary) the plasmas for normal TV (TV Logo problem), video games and movies as well (all movies are not 16:9).

I know that it is a precaution note, but it is scary as this note doesn't say what "the long time" means, 15 min, 1hr, or 2hr or something else. So people tend wait for a chance to change the channel.
.

Exactly, try reasoning that with a traditional Indian family with a saas, bahu, some kids and the news obsessed Patriach and Grandpa. The women will watch soaps with letterbox content, the kids will watch cartoon VCDs in 4:3 ratio and plug in their PS2's over the weekend with 5-6 hours of continuous HUD based games, and the men will watch news with all the stock tickets and horrid static content. before they realise, the brand new Plasma TV will get border burn-ins, and because they are not on hifivision, they will not know about breakin slides, or the importance of watching full screen content like the we do. I also feel they will not give two hoots about black levels and color reproduction. SO its only a case of "Bada family ke liye bada TV chaiye" So I stand by my statement and state that for family viewing, LCD's are the way to go.

 

[heynownow]

ah come on! how can you label LCD buyers as nOObs ?

People buy LCD or plasma depending upon their usage priorities

If someone gonna watch TATASKY for 10 hours will you advice him to buy plasma?

People who specifically ask for full matrix LED backlit LCDTVs with local dimming are definitely not nOObs. But then a guy who just buys a Plasma for his family, because its cheaper than the same-size LCD is a nOOb.

 

[pulsar_swift]

That's pretty agressive statement.

V20 User manual statement on page 5,

Do not display a still picture for a long time
This causes the image to remain on the plasma screen ("image retention").
This is not considered a malfunction and is not covered by the warranty.
Typical still images

• Program number and other logos
• image displayed in 4:3 mode
• Video game
• Compututer image

makes people scary of using for any typical usage of the TV.

According to above list, we cannot use (without being scary) the plasmas for normal TV (TV Logo problem), video games and movies as well (all movies are not 16:9).

I know that it is a precaution note, but it is scary as this note doesn't say what "the long time" means, 15 min, 1hr, or 2hr or something else. So people tend wait for a chance to change the channel.

This is apart from the v20 price vs. performance vs. panasonic quality in India, which I think is rather poor.

Very useful information bro. Thanks a ton. I am buying a LCD TV. Big no to PLASMA. Eye opener for me