Going Hi-def... In need of some help...

[hex65000]

So It's almost holiday time again and I'm happily eyeing some new toys for the household to cram in with all the old toys I have... Since HDTV is coming and there is no stopping that train of pain I have decided (and not alerted my wife yet) to re-investigate buying a HDTV.

 

So I've picked out the size. That was pretty easy (a 32" or 37" screen is about as big as I really want for any room.) I'm leaning towards 32" since it is still larger than my existing TV and is still a manageable size.

 

I picked a format to adopt; the 1080p seems like the way to go for Hi-Def. I am pretty sure I don't want to mess with any of the interlacing TVs.

 

I picked a brand and a model: Samsung. I know that everybody has their favorites, but Sony is right out and I've at least heard of these guys and the sets I was looking at had good reviews. Out of their lineup I was looking at the Samsung LN32A650 or the Samsung LN32A550 (the 650 seems like a mid-range unit with the 550 is entry level and the price increment is noteworthy so I'll have to think about which way I want to go. Note: these are LCD type displays.

 

Now I can get the TV, but what I don't know is if it will serve me for what I want to do with it. Since I have a pretty wide spectrum of consoles laying around I am concerned about compatibility. That means I have setups that support RF only (2600), composite video (Snes), S-Video (Pretty much my N-64 forward), and one lone component video (XB360). Some of the more modern connection schemes are no-brainers in terms of support. I am curious if there are any other concerns I may be missing out on? Burn-in issues? Too much TV for what I'm doing? This is pretty much a display for playing games on, so keep that in mind.

 

Yeah, I'm such a n00B with some of this stuff...

 

Hex.

[ Don't make me go all Protoss on your ass! ]

[Artiecoon]

Do have in mind that light-pistol games (like Duck Hunt for the NES and those developed for the XEGS) won't work on anything other than a CRT. Leaving that aside, I think you could find -or make yourself- adapters for almost any console, so that's not a really big issue.

 

Nevertheless, you could also try and get a modern CRT set, now that their price is so low, so you get a backup TV for the classic consoles. I did it myself and am using it as a 'vintage game monitor' nowadays.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

That's an excellent choice for an LCD HDTV. I have the 46" model myself of the same series. The 650 and 750 series are essentially the same with the 750 having extra media stuff on them. But the 650 and 750's both feature a very advanced LCD system that provide 50,000:1 contrast. This is phenomenal for an LCD TV!

 

The higher the contrast the better color spectrum the TV can display. So the higher the number the better in this regard.

 

As for classic systems. The 650 series TVs all have 4 HDMI inputs and only 1 coax input. So if you have more than one system you need to connect there, you will have to get an AV switcher. But I currently have my Wii (Via component), PS2 (Via Component), Sega Saturn (Via Composite AV), Laserdisc player (Via composite AV), and my upscaling DVD player (via HDMI 1).

 

I plan to get me a PS3 for blue-ray after the holidays and my tax refund. Anyway, the Saturn doesn't look good unless I swith the TV to 4:3 aspect. Stretched out it shows just how low-tech the early 3D game systems were.

 

I haven't plugged a 2600 or similar system off of it yet, but am likely to this weekend for testing.

[godslabrat]

As for classic systems. The 650 series TVs all have 4 HDMI inputs and only 1 coax input. So if you have more than one system you need to connect there, you will have to get an AV switcher.

 

(snip)

 

I haven't plugged a 2600 or similar system off of it yet, but am likely to this weekend for testing.

 

Pelican makes an excellent A/V switcher that supports composite, component, and s-video on a 6-to-1 switch, and its even remote controllable. I bought two in order to juggle my systems and they work great.

 

As for the 2600, I was amazed at how well it and my NES look, once I make sure the signal is clean.

[CPUWIZ]

Excellent choice for a noob, get the LN32A650, Samsung LCD's are fantastic.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Yeap,

 

I couldn't be happier with my LN46A650 I just picked up a week ago. After you pick it up, do some searching on the web to find a few configuration settings that others use to adjust the colors and brightness levels correctly. It not only makes the picture look correct and show all details but also reduces the wear on the LCD internals and your pocketbook on running it annually as well!

 

Just stay away from the Dynamic settings!!! If you do nothing else, just put it to standard or Movie and Color at Warm2.

[liveinabin]

Samsungs are brilliant for the money. My PS3 and Saturn look particularly good on mine.

Can't get a damn thing out of a 2600 though, am I doing something wrong?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Define "Can't get a damn thing out of a 2600". Do you mean you can't get a picture of any kind when you hook up a 2600 system to the coax RF on it?

 

Now I really am gonna have to check out the 2600, intelly, CV, and maybe even the TG16 on my new Sammy...

[liveinabin]

Well, hardly any picture. A very blurry, shifting faint mess. Mind, I'm in a PAL region and we have totally different connectors, it's probably just a PAL thing.

[moycon]

I have several HDTVs. My main one in the living room is a 40" Samsung and it's very nice.

Also have a 23" LG and a 31" ViewSonic. (These two will only do 720p and the LG doesn't have an HDMI port it's the oldest of the three)

All have been solid performers and honestly all are great to play games on. I use the LG the most to play games.

I was under the impression though, if you're not going to get an HDTV above 42" there's really no need to even get one that supports 1080p because you can't really tell much of a difference between that and 720p on a screen below that size. To be honest I cannot tell much if any of a difference when I set my 360 to 720p or 1080p output on the 40" HDTV I have. I do know you will see a difference in the price of the TV though. Even though there's not much of a difference, the TV that supports 1080p with be more $$$.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

[AtticGamer]

Sony makes some of the best and most reliable TVs, when I buy an HDTV it will be definately be a Sony or Panasonic.

Edited November 22, 2008 by AtticGamer

[+SpiceWare]

Well, hardly any picture. A very blurry, shifting faint mess. Mind, I'm in a PAL region and we have totally different connectors, it's probably just a PAL thing.

Not just a PAL thing. My 2001 Mitsubishi HDTV is hit or miss on the Atari as well. For the few games that get a picture it's only in black & white with occasional hints of color. I've tried connecting via both RF and S-Video. As I understand it, the Atari puts out a signal that's slightly out of spec - I suspect that with the variation in scan lines each game puts out is what causes the problem.

[mimo]

I suggest taking anything you want to plug in to the new TV to a local dealer and trying things out.

I have been given a SHARP 28" LCD TV and my original xbox looks fantastic, as do the Wii, but none of my old Atari stuff works very well at all

 

Wish I had kept my SONY 28" CRT set, PAL, NTSC, SECAM all fine

[Reaperman]

I'm having trouble with my HD, (a mitsubishi hc1500).

It won't take sega genesis. on most games it displays an image for a second, flickers black for 5 displays a still image for another second. Some games it mostly works on (shining force II where it only does 5 seconds of black after the sega logo) and others it halfway works on, like displaying 5 seconds of black during room changes in phantasy star 4, and blacked cutscenes in the same title.

 

I'm going to email mitsubishi today. but I've tried with the same results on a genesis 1 and a nomad, and I've tried two copies of phantasy star 4. next week I'll be able to try it with genesis 3. It must be some kind of weird interlacing on some games--or something. I'm pissed, because this is really my only TV, and I don't have room for another one.

 

it's just composite video--jeez, why isn't this working?

Edited November 23, 2008 by Reaperman

[slip81]

I have several HDTVs. My main one in the living room is a 40" Samsung and it's very nice.

Also have a 23" LG and a 31" ViewSonic. (These two will only do 720p and the LG doesn't have an HDMI port it's the oldest of the three)

All have been solid performers and honestly all are great to play games on. I use the LG the most to play games.

I was under the impression though, if you're not going to get an HDTV above 42" there's really no need to even get one that supports 1080p because you can't really tell much of a difference between that and 720p on a screen below that size. To be honest I cannot tell much if any of a difference when I set my 360 to 720p or 1080p output on the 40" HDTV I have. I do know you will see a difference in the price of the TV though. Even though there's not much of a difference, the TV that supports 1080p with be more $$$.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

 

that's true, you really can't see a difference between 720p and 1080p untill you get into the 50" range, so, if you're only going with 32" at the most, go 720p, no reason to pay extra for something you really won't utilize. Also, like others have said, if you have the money and space, get yourself [or keep your] CRT for the classic stuff, it looks way better. Classic systems really don't look that hot on LDC displays, well, not compared to a CRT anyway. Though doing things like setting the tv to 4:3 while playing will help, you'll then have to deal with ugly sidebars.

[chrisbid]

the only other feature i was looking for with my new tv was a vga port. this feature seems to be fading away, but if you have a dreamcast and a vga box, it is well worth it to find an HD set with that feature

[atarifan49]

Before jumping into HDTV I recommend trying to view/read some

info about them. Robert Heron is the HDTV reviewer for PC Magazine and also a co-host on DigitalLife TV, an internet based technology review show started up by Patrick Norton of the former "The Screen Savers" show from TechTV. Robert Heron has some good videos where he goes into to describe some of the specs that salesman try to throw at you and tells you about the one's that don't mean crap and the one's you should pay attention to. There's a lot of snake oil out there and you want to make sure you're buying a good TV and not a lemon. Robert has a youTube video on small

.

[Math You]

Samsung make some great LCD TV's, but bear in mind that some models are slow at changing channel. It takes around 2 seconds for my sisters TV to move up a channel when the remote control button is pressed.

[moycon]

Samsung make some great LCD TV's, but bear in mind that some models are slow at changing channel. It takes around 2 seconds for my sisters TV to move up a channel when the remote control button is pressed.

 

I remember back in the day when you had to actually get off your ass to change a channel!! Can you imagine how long that took!?!

Edited November 25, 2008 by moycon

[+-^CrossBow^-]

LOL @ Moycon,

 

I was gonna say, if the biggest beef that guy has about Samsung's is the length of time it take between the button press to the channel actually changing... well.. it just seemed silly to me.

 

I love my Samsungs... I have a 30inch Slimfit that I was using as my primary TV until 2 weeks ago, and once all the geometry issues on it were corrected (As much as I could for a CRT with a lacking power supply), it's been great! My new LCD is just beyond awesome however! 4ms response, 50,000:1 contrast... good stuff. The only issue I've seen with my new LCD is that on Animal Crossing when I lookup at the sky during the day or really any time there is a large amount of the color blue displayed on that game, I will notice the TV lamps in the back flickering. But it only happens with AC and with large amounts of blue on the screen for that game. Rest of the time this doesn't happen. Even I put the TV in Blue only mode (like I did when adjusting the colors), it didn't do this. So it could be something like the Wii or Animal Crossing in general causing this.

[Math You]

2 seconds is a long time when you're channel hopping

[moycon]

2 seconds is a long time when you're channel hopping

 

 

Yeah that's true we also didn't have 5 bazillion channels back then. Me personally I got tired of paying $50+ a month for 5 bazillion channels but nothing on worth watching years ago and canceled all cable, so I don't have to worry about it. That's probably why I never noticed.

[hex65000]

Update:

My sister was in even more dire need of a new TV than I am so I opted for the Samsung LN37A550 37" set. It's not the 650 series (which I may still purchase the 32" version for my home gaming needs) But for watching broadcast HDTV and DVD movies it should work like a champ. Thanks for the feedback and support guys! She's definately going to like it v/s her (broken) 20-some-odd inch tube TV that I damn near killed myself hupping up three flights of stairs for her.

 

Down is easy. <thud>

 

Hex.

[ Doesn't like "disposable electronics", but even I have a limit... ]

[mimo]

Samsung make some great LCD TV's, but bear in mind that some models are slow at changing channel. It takes around 2 seconds for my sisters TV to move up a channel when the remote control button is pressed.

 

I remember back in the day when you had to actually get off your ass to change a channel!! Can you imagine how long that took!?!

Nah, I had a Remote Control Brother v2.0.

Thump him in the arm till he got up to change the channel

[Chickybaby]

LOL@mimo! No siblings and I didn't have a tv as a kid until I was about 14.

 

But back on topic, this thread is very informative, TY.

 

With getting my Dad the Blu-Ray player for Christmas, the next thing will be the TV. He doesn't know about the player yet - it's a surprise and very affordable. Hopefully, I'll get a good size tax rebate so I can pay down some of the bills. My Dad has done so much for me and does very little for himself. Plus any time he's given me money to help with bills, groceries, medicine, or my little one he won't take the money back and says that 'he's just doing his job'. He's very set in his ways and quietly stubborn.

I've always liked LCD displays for screens at TVs. I know Dad will want something really easy to hook up and use plus he probably would want to be able to change channels fairly quickly and switch to playing movies easily. He's also pretty oddly picky about colors on the screen. Oh, and of course it has to be something that's energy star rated. I was thinking a 32" TV and it really will have to last a while. He's had this one about 9 years so it has to be something that's advanced enough to last at least that long.

 

The last TV I got him was his Sony Trinitron that he 'had' to have, lol. He was as bad with dropping hints about that TV as I was when I wanted something as a kid. How could I not get it for him? It makes me smile thinking about it still. It's that time again so how could I not surprise my Dad with something special just for him? I was thinking an early Father's Day present.

 

This seemed to be the right thread to ask for opinions in and it was great reading all yours.

Thanks so much and it's probably past my bed time, lol, so good night.