Foo - MY first experience with HDTV

I always questioned it, I really did.
But today, we went to our favorite electronics store to buy a replacement TV. Our old one was a decent size regular TV, it worked alright before the surge. Well my mom wanted something smaller as a replacement, but it seemed like this store only carried HDTV's! So we ended up getting an HDTV from LG, about 40% smaller than what we had before. I had mixed feelings...

Well the picture is fantastic! The viewing experience even on cable was enhanced. I've not even stuck in a DVD yet. Despite the downsize, the picture makes up for it by far. To the skeptics, HDTV makes a difference!

It makes a REAL difference if you feed it with a high def signal. :D

It makes a REAL difference if you feed it with a high def signal. :D
heh, yea I know. I look forward to this. FOr now, DVD's will be where it makes the biggest difference. We also bought the matching DVD player

I've seen them at a few bars and restaruants, and yeah, the picture really is that much better. At one bar, there was a widescreen HD and a regular tv next to each other, and the difference was like watching a grainy VHS vs. a DVD

But, I will probably never spend the money for such a thing, I don't watch much TV, and there are plenty of old school tv's around.

:D
I've seen them at a few bars and restaruants, and yeah, the picture really is that much better. At one bar, there was a widescreen HD and a regular tv next to each other, and the difference was like watching a grainy VHS vs. a DVD



That's why you never want to put them side by side.

I bought a 15" for the Kitchen. Not because it is HDTV, but because it looks nice and is sleek.

23" size. THe screen is of course smaller, maybe 18" width.

I bought a 15" for the Kitchen. Not because it is HDTV, but because it looks nice and is sleek.
ohh Ive done many purchases on the fact that it was just "nice and sleek"
got me in a lot of trouble.

You don't want your TV to appear too real.

:eek:

I've got a 56" with HD cable and lemme tell you, the tv shows and movies on cable look better than DVD's do, even with the upsampling that my dvd player does. It's really hard watching normal tv again. I can see every eye lash and skin pore on someone's face, it's freaky.
It seriously looks like a photograph in certain scenes. Discovery HD's travel and science shows are awesome.

I've got a 56" with HD cable and lemme tell you, the tv shows and movies on cable look better than DVD's do, even with the upsampling that my dvd player does. It's really hard watching normal tv again. I can see every eye lash and skin pore on someone's face, it's freaky.
It seriously looks like a photograph in certain scenes. Discovery HD's travel and science shows are awesome.

+1

I got the new Panasonic and all I watch is Discovery HD. The first time I watched it they were doing one of thier alligator shows...Except this time I could clearly see the lighting guy and the camera man in the reflection of the alligator's eye. :eek: That's when I knew that TV viewing would never be the same.

Seems like when a person gets an HDTV they will watch any crap programming as long as it is in HD.

also on DVD's my dads widescreen HDTV still has bars at the bottom and top.. not to mention standard def stuff leaves those annoying bars on the side...

I'll betcha ths shock is even bigger for people like my dad - who back in his yesterdays black and white was cool and color was slowly movinghow in - and now he has HDTV.

So, do you actually need to upgrade your cable service to get HDTV signals? I know at the beginning of some shows they say "THis program is available in HDTV".
The salesman was saying something how the TV will "try to make it HD". Even the picture of what was what I assume NOT HD cable was really superior to anything I've seen before.

Seems like when a person gets an HDTV they will watch any crap programming as long as it is in HD.

also on DVD's my dads widescreen HDTV still has bars at the bottom and top.. not to mention standard def stuff leaves those annoying bars on the side...

Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the futon this morning. Chill.

So, do you actually need to upgrade your cable service to get HDTV signals? I know at the beginning of some shows they say "THis program is available in HDTV".
The salesman was saying something how the TV will "try to make it HD". Even the picture of what was what I assume NOT HD cable was really superior to anything I've seen before.

I think a 42" is just about right for a mix of standard def, dvd's, and high def. My 56" looks great with hdtv and upsampled dvd's. Without upsampling, dvd's look slightly blurry. Standard def tv is definitely... um.. like standard tv, even upsampled.

Your tv will upsample a lower quality signal to match its native resolution. The cable signal you get is standard resolution analog unless you have digital cable, in which case the signal is cleaner but not higher resolution. You can upgrade to HD cable for free (with time warner at least) and get certain channels in HD, not all stations currently have it. First time you watch a game in HD you'd be blown away. I was able to read right off the coach's sheet, you can see every blade of grass on the ground, every stitch on the ball, it's unreal.

Well we do have digital cable, I am going to search the comcast website for info on HD though

First time you watch a game in HD you'd be blown away. I was able to read right off the coach's sheet, you can see every blade of grass on the ground, every stitch on the ball, it's unreal.

Unreal is correct, the color on most new TVs is adjusted by default way to vibrant.. If your actually at the the game the grass probably isn't as green. I guess TV isn't made to look real, but more on the idea of how things should look. Well except the guy on CSI miami he looks much better in standard definition.. he has way too many wrinkles in HD.

ok I will chill now.. you make a good point on sporting events though, the wide aspect ratio lets you see more of the field or track and does look good. Sports rock in HD.

I don't watch sports:p

My samsung tv actually has a menu with a reference picture for adjustment. So everything is pretty much dialed in. By default, the only problem was that it was way too bright, other than that, everything was ok with it.

Most people need to adjust the tv's after they first receive it to suit their needs. Watching tv in a bright room requires different settings, as does in a dark room, cartoons, movies, black and white, etc. Thankfully, I can set different modes on my tv that I can switch over to.

Don't worry too much about the tv, the characters on CSI aren't made to look real either.


Unreal is correct, the color on most new TVs is adjusted by default way to vibrant.. If your actually at the the game the grass probably isn't as green. I guess TV isn't made to look real, but more on the idea of how things should look. Well except the guy on CSI miami he looks much better in standard definition.. he has way too many wrinkles in HD.

ok I will chill now.. you make a good point on sporting events though, the wide aspect ratio lets you see more of the field or track and does look good. Sports rock in HD.

Seems like when a person gets an HDTV they will watch any crap programming as long as it is in HD.

NASCAR races look awesome on my 50" plasma. :beer:

Well we do have digital cable, I am going to search the comcast website for info on HD though
The one that my parents have charge about 250 bucks a month for HD cable, there's 13 new HD channels that were added but are not available, and they're taking away all of the nfl and other sports even though he got the ultimate sports package.

Now if they could only get some good programming on the tube that might make the HDTV worth it.

Seems like when a person gets an HDTV they will watch any crap programming as long as it is in HD.

also on DVD's my dads widescreen HDTV still has bars at the bottom and top.. not to mention standard def stuff leaves those annoying bars on the side...
some dvds are shot in wider ratio than 16:9.. hence horizontal bars. you can get rid of vertical bars by using zoom, stretch, or fill option to fill the entire display

some dvds are shot in wider ratio than 16:9.. hence horizontal bars. you can get rid of vertical bars by using zoom, stretch, or fill option to fill the entire display

Kinda hard for him to know since he has a regular tv.

250 a month? Comcast charges 7.75 extra per month, part of which is the lease of a special cable box. There are not many channels for it though, your locals like PBS, ABC, CBS, ESPN (which I don't even watch).

Kinda hard for him to know since he has a regular tv.
hes commenting on the viewing on a widescreen hdtv set

yeah my dad has one , but if you stretch or zoom you either make people look tall or you cut off the sides... but the dvd does display better on the widescreen instead of a 4:3.

I don't think you can get rid of the bars as even in the theatre different movies have different aspect ratios .. and the projectors there have a scope setting and another way to display them I forget the name. The comercials that are before the movie come from a digital projector which is askew from the movie screen... that's why they look jacked up in the theatre. I had a job where I had to adjust these.

also different tv's stretch things differently.. if your stretching a 4:3 image my friends sony tv seems to distort way worse then the hitachi my parents have both are 52" I belive. zooming is about the same, but again you lose video content.

I prefer to deal with the bars rather than distort the image. as far as the pricing I know dish network comes in about 70 a month for the minimum HD.. but your locals are not in HD unless you get them over the air, and all of the channels are not in HD, and if they are in HD all of the content on them is not.

yeah my dad has one , but if you stretch or zoom you either make people look tall or you cut off the sides... but the dvd does display better on the widescreen instead of a 4:3.

I don't think you can get rid of the bars as even in the theatre different movies have different aspect ratios .. and the projectors there have a scope setting and another way to display them I forget the name. The comercials that are before the movie come from a digital projector which is askew from the movie screen... that's why they look jacked up in the theatre. I had a job where I had to adjust these.

also different tv's stretch things differently.. if your stretching a 4:3 image my friends sony tv seems to distort way worse then the hitachi my parents have both are 52" I belive. zooming is about the same, but again you lose video content.

I prefer to deal with the bars rather than distort the image. as far as the pricing I know dish network comes in about 70 a month for the minimum HD.. but your locals are not in HD unless you get them over the air, and all of the channels are not in HD, and if they are in HD all of the content on them is not.

patience young antagonist. Technology is just catching up to what is available. When I have 20 more summers behind me I am sure that holographic television will be all the rage and there will be some one saying...yeah its okaaay BUT...

Your right .. the latest in consumer electronics never fail to dissappoint.

Sliced bread is still the greatest.

Your right .. the latest in consumer electronics never fail to dissappoint.

Sliced bread is still the greatest.

Thats because you want more...Don't buy the newest technology and by no means buy sliced bread. I gave that up years ago. Whole multi grain loafs cut to MY desire...You are so eighties...Sliced bread...BAH! :p

The LG's have incredible screens. The LCD screens are amazing. The ones at state street discount in NH are really really nice.

The LG's have incredible screens. The LCD screens are amazing. The ones at state street discount in NH are really really nice.

State Street discount is actually where we got ours :). My mom knows the manager of that store, it's a very good store where they don't hire kids who have no idea how to talk to customers, so we support them. Some of the LG LCD's were pretty nicely sized! HOnestly, I just don't think spending more than we did for our little 23" is worth it for a TV. It's just not where my priorities are (or my parents in that matter, I guess that's where I got it from).

State Street discount is actually where we got ours :). My mom knows the manager of that store, it's a very good store where they don't hire kids who have no idea how to talk to customers, so we support them. Some of the LG LCD's were pretty nicely sized! HOnestly, I just don't think spending more than we did for our little 23" is worth it for a TV. It's just not where my priorities are (or my parents in that matter, I guess that's where I got it from).

The tvs that are hung up right to the left of the entrance are the biggest lg's I have ever seen