Help picking an HDTV

[tekzilla41]

Looking for an HDTV for around 1000 - 1200. I cant decide between LCD and a regular tube. Im more interested in quality of the picture. So far I am looking at these two.

34" Toshiba FST Pure HDTV

HYUNDAI 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV Monitor

Any advice on these two or something else I should be looking at. Also, how is directtv HD service?

 

[lifeguard1999]

The Toshiba looks to be 540p; the Hyundia is 1366 x 768. Purely based on resolution, go with the Hyundia. Of course, it lacks the HDMI interface making your screen anti-future proof

How about the Sony KLV-32U100M for $1233. It is 1366 x 768 and has HDMI.

 

[mcmikemc]

Originally posted by: lifeguard1999
Of course, it lacks the HDMI interface making your screen anti-future proof

It has a DVI port with HDCP which is just as good as HDMI. So that TV is future proof as far as displaying a high resolution copy protected signal.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: lifeguard1999
The Toshiba looks to be 540p;

hmm it says full time 1080i with 540p user selectable. That would make me think its native is 1080p while not capable of 720p it can atleast do 540p if you want to use progressive.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

EDIT: Just read some reviews that said to stay away from the 34HF85, if you can find the HF84, that is said to be excellent. Seems the 85 is not even a Toshiba, but outsourced to Orion/Sansui.

 

[Markbnj]

I just spent weeks researching this before settling on our purchase. Be prepared to go into learning mode, and don't make a fast decision. The number of competing options and technologies is huge.

I recommend http://www.avsforum.com. I got more in-depth information from that forum than any other single source. Downside: threads that run into thousands of posts for popular topics.

I looked carefully at the remaining big widescreen tubes, which basically means the Toshiba and the Sony 960/970 series (getting harder to find). Man, these are big sets. They weigh in near 200 pounds, some of them, and put out a ton of heat. A lot of people wax nostalgic about the quality of CRTs, and in general I agree, but I don't think they're doing that good a job with these huge tubes. I wasn't impressed by the geometry or the convergence. And did I mention they are the size of a Hyundai and breathe fire?

After that your choices are basically: plasma, LCD, LCOS RP, DLP RP, some other RP, projector.

LCD pros: bright, better viewing angle, bright, more durable, bright, cheaper in small panels, and bright.

LCD cons: black levels, bright, dead/stuck pixels, and bright.

Plasma pros: richer colors, somewhat better blacks, not so bright.

Plasma cons: more expensive, usually larger panels, not much below 42".

RP pros: Best viewing angle, least expensive for larger screen sizes.

RP cons: personally I don't like the color on most of them. LCOS seems to me to have the best pic, but expensive.

Resolution is another big question. 1366 x 768 was a lot of pixels up until just recently, and capable of 720p native HD res. Now there are LCD panels out in 1920 x 1080, and more are coming. I went 37" 1080p LCD (Sceptre) and found that Discovery and some other networks are actually broadcasting some 1080i content.

Have fun .

Edit: should have addressed the main question. In your price range the options are going to be basically 32" LCD and... 32" LCD. Or a smaller panel and higher quality. If you can spend a few hundred more, check out the new Sceptre and Westinghouse 37" 1080 panels. They are getting good reviews, and my personal experience with the Sceptre has been excellent.

 

[Demoth]

For your price range, I'd look at the Samsung thin CRT and their clone Akai. These TVs display 1080 lines and will upconvert 720P. In your price range, you could get a very nice 52" set. One example-

http://www.worldclassplasma.com/productdetail.asp?productid=1731

This 47" not only costs under $750 if you find free or discounted shipping somewhere, but it weights 70 pounds, looks better then DLP, had excellent black levels and has no bulb to replace. Looks good with HD and SD unlike plasma IMO. Only downsides are you need to calibrate the picture and be careful of burn in.

I have the 52" akai which is basically a samsung clone. Couldn't be happier and I paid about $800 shipped for my set.

As far as direct TV goes, I have the HD package and it is ok. Like dish, they use mpeg 2 compression so off air does look better, but the high def picture is still nice. Channel choices are limited, even the handful of HD channels you get, many do not broadcast HD all the time. Direct did launch a new satellite and will have many more HD channels soon though.