Shopping for a TV

[The-Ice-Man]

New Sony Bravias beam the image directly into your brain.

[VT-Vincent]

One thing I would highly recommend with an HDTV is having a dedicated computer hooked up to it, even if it's just a basic Atom NetTop. Several years ago, I built a media center to dedicate to my TV and I have to admit that it's been great. I have all of my standard movies and music through the media center interface, all of my emulators accessible by remote control only on GameEx, my iTunes media and even a custom home page for my web browser for all of the streaming media websites. You can actually pick up the official Microsoft remote control and keyboard pretty cheap to make the experience even more seamless.

[Krosigrim]

Hmm. Sounds like your a hobbiest.

[VT-Vincent]

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a hobbyist, but I do take on side projects like that occasionally. The first media center I built was actually a lot more limited, I was using the now-defunct Beyond Media instead of MCE/GameEx and there were a lot of things it couldn't do. It was also hooked up to my crusty old 32" CRT TV.

[Inky]

there is a bad ass little nettop media center made by the people that make the Eee laptops. it bolts right to the back of the TV. where the wall mount bolts up.

I'd like to get one of those.

[Cominus]

I need a new tv, how's that samsung working out for ya?

[Krosigrim]

I only have one concern, when playing games, I don't really notice it, but when Im in my dashboard on 360... I have jaggies. I put my box to 720p. it was set to 1080i, no difference. There was an option on the tv for enhanced edges, if anything, not much of a difference.

 

Im not exactly sure how to classify what I'm talking about. I only notice it really when im on the dash. Its 32" at 720p, but it looks like I can easily see pixels. When I'm playing my games though I don't notice, but thats likely due to the fact that the graphics are more... well... more. Fallout 3 for instance looks fantastic.

 

Ok this is what I'll do. I'll be using it a shit ton these next 3 days, I off of work. I'll give a better opinion about it then, but I'll leave you with this, at $449 its a fucking steal. Best bang for your buck.

 

Rating of my TV

Look for other TV's you might be interested in getting through whatever retailer and see if they were rated at this site. The link above is the Intro to the rating, they break everything down and describe whats up in the grey field. Ex. "Intro/Tour & Design/Calibration/Blacks & Whites/Color Accuracy/Motion/Viewing Effects" etc. So you can get a damn good idea of the real deal capabilities of any tv (rated on the site) I looked at the other 32" at similar cost range, and this tv has em beat.

[VT-Vincent]

Even at that size, you will see pixels at 720p. If I'm not mistaken, on most LCD TVs that resolution is displayed at 1366x768, that resolution is not much higher than the screen of most 15" laptops. When you blow that up to a full 32", there will unfortunately be some unwanted detail. It took me a while to get used to it, but it doesn't bother me much these days. The worst thing is seeing what SD feeds look like on it.

Edited October 15, 2009 by VT-Vincent

[ken_cinder]

Problem with Sammy's "B" series...there's no dedicated scaler in the B lineup, so anything "stretched" will not be filtered etc

 

I have an A series 32", I see no such thing as "pixels" (You would be meaning "pixelation" of an image) at 720P and anyone that say's they can tell the difference between 1080P and 720P on a 32" panel is talking out of their ass, or has never seen a half decent 720P panel.

[VT-Vincent]

The problem for me isn't pixelation, it's the actual pixel grid itself. I have everything laid out in a fashion where I'm pretty close to the TV and if you look at it closely, you can actually see the pixel grid itself against light backgrounds. A 1080p TV would probably fix this, but that's a little too rich for my taste right now.

[Krosigrim]

Well I have been playing Fallout exclusively, perhaps I should play other games like SFHD, things with pixel art. But regardless, the TV looks great. If you are looking to spend under $500 I highly suggest this TV. As I said, it beats out all other TV's in it's class... that I'm aware of at least.

 

As with flat panel TV's, stated here, and by my friends, the sound is alittle... wanting. But thats nothing an even simple sound system can remedy. As I said, I use Turtle Beach Headphones, so the sound is that much more perfect.

[emsley]

dudes... cmon!

[Skythe]

Make sure to specifiy the tv to show colored pictures as retailers are pretty stupid and'll ask you what color do you want the tv.

[Cominus]

Well I have been playing Fallout exclusively, perhaps I should play other games like SFHD, things with pixel art. But regardless, the TV looks great. If you are looking to spend under $500 I highly suggest this TV. As I said, it beats out all other TV's in it's class... that I'm aware of at least.

 

As with flat panel TV's, stated here, and by my friends, the sound is alittle... wanting. But thats nothing an even simple sound system can remedy. As I said, I use Turtle Beach Headphones, so the sound is that much more perfect.

 

It doesnt really matter anyways seeing as how most 360 games dont play in 1080p resolution anyways, not even fallout, check the back of the box.

[Krosigrim]

It doesnt really matter anyways seeing as how most 360 games dont play in 1080p resolution anyways, not even fallout, check the back of the box.

I have researched this very point. But I was referring to a possible defect or something. I had it hooked up to a 50+ inch projection tube Hitachi, and was set to 1080 but even the games that dont do real 1080, came in smoother. I figure now because it was projection, and it kinda blurred into place. My image now is far more crisp, which gives way to what I was seeing. No issue though, the image is indeed great, most excellent B class selection.