Yet Another Help me Choose an HDTV Thread **ANOTHER UPDATE WITH PROBLEM**

[dwell]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Chris
Anti-glare coatings reduce glare but the other half of the battles is that plasmas wash out considerably in direct light, sunlight in particular. If you're used to CRT washout, it's pretty much equivalent so beware.

Hmm, I'm not really sure what that means and Google is failing me.

KT

It means plasmas lose their "pop" in lit rooms, especially in direct sunlight.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Chris

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Chris
Anti-glare coatings reduce glare but the other half of the battles is that plasmas wash out considerably in direct light, sunlight in particular. If you're used to CRT washout, it's pretty much equivalent so beware.

Hmm, I'm not really sure what that means and Google is failing me.

KT

It means plasmas lose their "pop" in lit rooms, especially in direct sunlight.

Ok, well I have a feeling I will not be able to find one of the coated plasmas anyway, so I'll just have to stick with an LCD, though that appears to be a tad difficult at my price range too.

KT

 

[itsrunninghot]

This is what i went with when i got my new set. Im very happy with it, but i dont have a lot of natural light coming through so not sure how it does in that situation.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: itsrunninghot
This is what i went with when i got my new set. Im very happy with it, but i dont have a lot of natural light coming through so not sure how it does in that situation.

Looks very nice, but I do not see any of those for sale in my neck of the woods.

KT

 

[Spydermag68]

I bought a Vizio VO47L FHDTV from Costco a few weeks ago for $1400. I really like it. HD is great and I had my friend's PS3 hooked up and it look great in 1080p.

 

[KeithTalent]

Ok, I just came back from the local shop and I have decided that 50" is much too large for my space. We measured the exact distance I would be sitting from the TV and he even pulled a couch over for me and I found the 50" to be way too big.

I did, however, fall in love with a 46" Samsung panel: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...&qid=1203725979&sr=1-1 It is selling for $1,899, but I'll get 10% off that, so yeah, it's over my budget, but I may be able to package a few other things at a decent price. Is it worth it? Does anyone know anything about this particular panel?

Thanks for the input.

KT

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Ok, I just came back from the local shop and I have decided that 50" is much too large for my space. We measured the exact distance I would be sitting from the TV and he even pulled a couch over for me and I found the 50" to be way too big.

I did, however, fall in love with a 46" Samsung panel: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...&qid=1203725979&sr=1-1 It is selling for $1,899, but I'll get 10% off that, so yeah, it's over my budget, but I may be able to package a few other things at a decent price. Is it worth it? Does anyone know anything about this particular panel?

Thanks for the input.

KT

Good choice. Personally, I'm biased towards the glossy panel of the 4665 but given the high amount of glare in your living room the 4661's matte finish may be the better choice. Then again, if you watch most of your TV at night . . . I would favor the 4665.

If you can wait a few months you will likely save several hundred $$ on the 4661 b/c it's likely to be phased out.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Ok, I just came back from the local shop and I have decided that 50" is much too large for my space. We measured the exact distance I would be sitting from the TV and he even pulled a couch over for me and I found the 50" to be way too big.

I did, however, fall in love with a 46" Samsung panel: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...&qid=1203725979&sr=1-1 It is selling for $1,899, but I'll get 10% off that, so yeah, it's over my budget, but I may be able to package a few other things at a decent price. Is it worth it? Does anyone know anything about this particular panel?

Thanks for the input.

KT

Good choice. Personally, I'm biased towards the glossy panel of the 4665 but given the high amount of glare in your living room the 4661's matte finish may be the better choice. Then again, if you watch most of your TV at night . . . I would favor the 4665.

If you can wait a few months you will likely save several hundred $$ on the 4661 b/c it's likely to be phased out.

Thanks! I actually looked long and hard at the 4665 in the store, but in the end I figured the glare would be too much and as I am staring at the sun coming in on my 4661 right now, I think I made the right choice.

I still have some work to do on the setup and I won't actually have any HD channels until Monday, but everything else looks good so far.

KT

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Don't forget the legendary Samsung calibration thread at AVS.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Don't forget the legendary Samsung calibration thread at AVS.

Hmmm, I can't seem to find it. I've searched through the forums, but nothing is coming up. Do you happen to have a link?

Thanks very much.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Ok, I kind of have everything setup now, but I still have a few questions.

First off, here is the setup (pardon the crappy pictures):

IMGP0113.jpg

IMGP0114.jpg

Now, I purchased a PS3 today and I have a couple of questions and comments about it. First off, the upscaling does not look any better using the same ER DVD I watched the other day; it pretty much looks identical on the PS3. Anywho I purchased 2 Blu-Ray movies and I fired the first one up, expecting to be blown away, but alas, I was not. I actually found it to still be a little grainy (again, pardon the crappy pictures, not sure how best to take pics like this):

IMGP0109.jpg

IMGP0110.jpg

IMGP0111.jpg

IMGP0112.jpg

I actually thought the hockey game (just OTA HD) looked much better, though you probably cannot tell from these pics:

IMGP0115.jpg

IMGP0116.jpg

I'm running the PS3 using HDMI straight to the TV, but is there something else I can do to make things look better? This, indirectly, leads me to my second question:

I have a receiver, a PS3, an HD box, and a DVR all trying to be hooked up here, but if I hook up the PS3 using the TVs HDMI, I only get sound through the TV (sucky) when I actually want it to go through the receiver, I'm just not sure how to actually hook it up.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but thanks to those who have taken the time to read it.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

I forgot to mention that I did calibrate the TV twice (once in Standard mode and once in Movie mode) to the best of my abilities, following the directions in post #1499 from the Samsung calibration thread at AVS which is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb...hlight=samsung&page=50.

I also tried to follow the PS3 settings, but I could not figure out what this: Output - Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr meant (I did not see that setting) also, they talk about RGB over there and I have not clue what that means, for example:

I've found out, with the help of AVS members, that RGB mode for PS3 is very, VERY bad.
For PS3 movies, set the PS3 as follows:
Output - Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr
RGB Full Range - Limited
Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr Super-White - On

What is RGB mode? Also, where do I find that output setting?

Thanks all, if this is to much information I may try and post at AVS, but I like to try and stick with AT as much as possible.

KT

Edit: I was just wondering if seeing the pixelation has anything to do with being used to 1920x1200 on a 24" screen? Maybe going up to 46", but with only 1920x1080 maybe just means I am more sensitive to everything? Just wondering.

 

[pennylane]

It could just be that you picked a fairly lackluster (PQ-wise) blu-ray movie. Check the AVS Blu-Ray Tier Thread for how that movie stacks up against the reference quality ones.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: fanerman91
It could just be that you picked a fairly lackluster (PQ-wise) blu-ray movie. Check the AVS Blu-Ray Tier Thread for how that movie stacks up against the reference quality ones.

Haha, thank you very much. I just found out that Full Metal Jacket is apparently a very crappy Blu-ray (great movie though). I'll fire up the other Blu-ray movie I have when I get home tonight to see if looks any better. It should according to the listings.

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Ok, I kind of have everything setup now, but I still have a few questions.

First off, here is the setup (pardon the crappy pictures):

IMGP0113.jpg

IMGP0114.jpg

Now, I purchased a PS3 today and I have a couple of questions and comments about it. First off, the upscaling does not look any better using the same ER DVD I watched the other day; it pretty much looks identical on the PS3. Anywho I purchased 2 Blu-Ray movies and I fired the first one up, expecting to be blown away, but alas, I was not. I actually found it to still be a little grainy (again, pardon the crappy pictures, not sure how best to take pics like this):

IMGP0109.jpg

IMGP0110.jpg

IMGP0111.jpg

IMGP0112.jpg

I actually thought the hockey game (just OTA HD) looked much better, though you probably cannot tell from these pics:

IMGP0115.jpg

IMGP0116.jpg

I'm running the PS3 using HDMI straight to the TV, but is there something else I can do to make things look better? This, indirectly, leads me to my second question:

I have a receiver, a PS3, an HD box, and a DVR all trying to be hooked up here, but if I hook up the PS3 using the TVs HDMI, I only get sound through the TV (sucky) when I actually want it to go through the receiver, I'm just not sure how to actually hook it up.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but thanks to those who have taken the time to read it.

KT

Nice :thumbsup:
EDIT: scooped by Fanerman

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Ok, I kind of have everything setup now, but I still have a few questions.

First off, here is the setup (pardon the crappy pictures):

IMGP0113.jpg

IMGP0114.jpg

Now, I purchased a PS3 today and I have a couple of questions and comments about it. First off, the upscaling does not look any better using the same ER DVD I watched the other day; it pretty much looks identical on the PS3. Anywho I purchased 2 Blu-Ray movies and I fired the first one up, expecting to be blown away, but alas, I was not. I actually found it to still be a little grainy (again, pardon the crappy pictures, not sure how best to take pics like this):

IMGP0109.jpg

IMGP0110.jpg

IMGP0111.jpg

IMGP0112.jpg

I actually thought the hockey game (just OTA HD) looked much better, though you probably cannot tell from these pics:

IMGP0115.jpg

IMGP0116.jpg

I'm running the PS3 using HDMI straight to the TV, but is there something else I can do to make things look better? This, indirectly, leads me to my second question:

I have a receiver, a PS3, an HD box, and a DVR all trying to be hooked up here, but if I hook up the PS3 using the TVs HDMI, I only get sound through the TV (sucky) when I actually want it to go through the receiver, I'm just not sure how to actually hook it up.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but thanks to those who have taken the time to read it.

KT

Nice :thumbsup:

as for the PS3. Full Metal Jacket is a notoriously bad transfer for HD Media. They even released two versions, and neither are very good. So, no surprises here

To get the full-on experience, I recommend checking out something like "Curse of the Golden Flower" or Immortal Beloved." Both are excellent

Surrender your life now and follow this thread:
text

Heh, sweet, that thread is awesome. I have Reservoir Dogs as my other Blu-ray movie, which is two levels higher than FMJ according to that thread, so hopefully that will look better. There are almost zero movies I'm interested in in the reference group, but maybe I can find one of them for rent around here.

Any tips on how to properly hook up the PS3 to my receiver without losing the quality sound from my cable box? I feel as if I'm out of ports...

Thanks again!

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
[
Heh, sweet, that thread is awesome. I have Reservoir Dogs as my other Blu-ray movie, which is two levels higher than FMJ according to that thread, so hopefully that will look better. There are almost zero movies I'm interested in in the reference group, but maybe I can find one of them for rent around here.

Any tips on how to properly hook up the PS3 to my receiver without losing the quality sound from my cable box? I feel as if I'm out of ports...

Thanks again!

KT

I just bitstream through HDMI from my PS3 to the receiver. I suppose you could use optical if your receiver can't do HDMI--but this isn't my area. i suck at the hook-ups

 

[pennylane]

KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

 

[zinfamous]

as far as BD movies that I think you might like in the reference tier at AVS:

Black Snake Moan (awesome story, well-shot, great music)
Apocalypto (I just love this movie...if you haven't seen it, BD makes it all that more immersive)

from the Gold category check out Rescue Dawn, Casino Royal...and I always like to tout Immortal Beloved...one of my all-time favorite flicks. The soundtrack is gorgeous, of course

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: fanerman91
KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

My receiver is part of this thing: http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10086730&catid=19701 and it is my sole music player as well. So I am connecting a PS3, a Motorola DCT6200 HD box, and a Pioneer DVR all together. I currently have HDMI going from my PS3 to the TV and HDMI + digital audio going from the HD box to the receiver. What I want is to have the PQ of HDMI for both the HD box and the PS3 (which I can do right now) but right now the sound for the PS3 is wasted because it is going directly through the TV speakers and not the receiver.

Hopefully that makes sense.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
as far as BD movies that I think you might like in the reference tier at AVS:

Black Snake Moan (awesome story, well-shot, great music)
Apocalypto (I just love this movie...if you haven't seen it, BD makes it all that more immersive)

from the Gold category check out Rescue Dawn, Casino Royal...and I always like to tout Immortal Beloved...one of my all-time favorite flicks. The soundtrack is gorgeous, of course

Apocalypto was really the only one that piqued my interest, though I may see Shoot 'em up as well because I have heard a few good things, plus I'm a bit of a Clive Owen fan.

Black Snake Moan? Weird, I never really thought of seeing that before, but you seem to have good taste in movies, so I'll check it out.

I'll check out those others as well, thanks!

KT

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91
KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

My receiver is part of this thing: http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10086730&catid=19701 and it is my sole music player as well. So I am connecting a PS3, a Motorola DCT6200 HD box, and a Pioneer DVR all together. I currently have HDMI going from my PS3 to the TV and HDMI + digital audio going from the HD box to the receiver. What I want is to have the PQ of HDMI for both the HD box and the PS3 (which I can do right now) but right now the sound for the PS3 is wasted because it is going directly through the TV speakers and not the receiver.

Hopefully that makes sense.

KT

Hm. It doesn't look like that receiver has HDMI in it. Do you only have one digital audio input? One optical and no coax?

If that's the case, I'd hook up the PS3 to the receiver with an optical cable and only have 2 channels for the HD box. Something like:

PS3 -> HDMI -> TV for video, and PS3 -> optical cable -> receiver for audio.

HD box -> HDMI -> TV for video, HDMI -> 2-channel RCA -> receiver for audio.

I'm not sure if you like to watch TV without having to turn your receiver on. I never do that so I don't have that issue. Unless you watch a lot of HD programming, I don't think you'll miss the surround sound that the digital audio cable (I'm assuming it's optical) provides too much. It's more important for movies (and even video games) in my opinion. For sports, the Dolby Pro Logic can create the ambience effects okay. Same with most TV shows.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91
KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

My receiver is part of this thing: http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10086730&catid=19701 and it is my sole music player as well. So I am connecting a PS3, a Motorola DCT6200 HD box, and a Pioneer DVR all together. I currently have HDMI going from my PS3 to the TV and HDMI + digital audio going from the HD box to the receiver. What I want is to have the PQ of HDMI for both the HD box and the PS3 (which I can do right now) but right now the sound for the PS3 is wasted because it is going directly through the TV speakers and not the receiver.

Hopefully that makes sense.

KT

Hm. It doesn't look like that receiver has HDMI in it. Do you only have one digital audio input? One optical and no coax?

If that's the case, I'd hook up the PS3 to the receiver with an optical cable and only have 2 channels for the HD box. Something like:

PS3 -> HDMI -> TV for video, and PS3 -> optical cable -> receiver for audio.

HD box -> HDMI -> TV for video, HDMI -> 2-channel RCA -> receiver for audio.

I'm not sure if you like to watch TV without having to turn your receiver on. I never do that so I don't have that issue. Unless you watch a lot of HD programming, I don't think you'll miss the surround sound that the digital audio cable (I'm assuming it's optical) provides too much. It's more important for movies (and even video games) in my opinion. For sports, the Dolby Pro Logic can create the ambience effects okay. Same with most TV shows.

It does have HDMI, strange that it doesn't list it in the specs.

That setup looks like it should work pretty well. I'll give that a shot when I get home tonight!

Thanks very much!

KT

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91
KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

My receiver is part of this thing: http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10086730&catid=19701 and it is my sole music player as well. So I am connecting a PS3, a Motorola DCT6200 HD box, and a Pioneer DVR all together. I currently have HDMI going from my PS3 to the TV and HDMI + digital audio going from the HD box to the receiver. What I want is to have the PQ of HDMI for both the HD box and the PS3 (which I can do right now) but right now the sound for the PS3 is wasted because it is going directly through the TV speakers and not the receiver.

Hopefully that makes sense.

KT

Hm. It doesn't look like that receiver has HDMI in it. Do you only have one digital audio input? One optical and no coax?

If that's the case, I'd hook up the PS3 to the receiver with an optical cable and only have 2 channels for the HD box. Something like:

PS3 -> HDMI -> TV for video, and PS3 -> optical cable -> receiver for audio.

HD box -> HDMI -> TV for video, HDMI -> 2-channel RCA -> receiver for audio.

I'm not sure if you like to watch TV without having to turn your receiver on. I never do that so I don't have that issue. Unless you watch a lot of HD programming, I don't think you'll miss the surround sound that the digital audio cable (I'm assuming it's optical) provides too much. It's more important for movies (and even video games) in my opinion. For sports, the Dolby Pro Logic can create the ambience effects okay. Same with most TV shows.

It does have HDMI, strange that it doesn't list it in the specs.

That setup looks like it should work pretty well. I'll give that a shot when I get home tonight!

Thanks very much!

KT

No problem. Does it have any HDMI outputs? How many HDMI inputs does it have? I can't seem to find specs on it anywhere.

If it has an HDMI output, you might be able to plug in the PS3 into the receiver with HDMI and connect the receiver to the TV through HDMI. I have no idea if your receiver can accept uncompressed PCM (higher resolution audio found on Blu-Ray), but it ought to at least accept plain vanilla Dolby Digital and DTS through HDMI.

This would also let you use the other digital audio input for your HD box. If you have more than 1 HDMI input on your receiver, you could connect it to your receiver too. Otherwise you could always connect your HD box to the TV through HDMI, like you have now.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: fanerman91
KeithTalent, what kind of receiver do you have? What other equipment are you hooking up to it?

My receiver is part of this thing: http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10086730&catid=19701 and it is my sole music player as well. So I am connecting a PS3, a Motorola DCT6200 HD box, and a Pioneer DVR all together. I currently have HDMI going from my PS3 to the TV and HDMI + digital audio going from the HD box to the receiver. What I want is to have the PQ of HDMI for both the HD box and the PS3 (which I can do right now) but right now the sound for the PS3 is wasted because it is going directly through the TV speakers and not the receiver.

Hopefully that makes sense.

KT

Hm. It doesn't look like that receiver has HDMI in it. Do you only have one digital audio input? One optical and no coax?

If that's the case, I'd hook up the PS3 to the receiver with an optical cable and only have 2 channels for the HD box. Something like:

PS3 -> HDMI -> TV for video, and PS3 -> optical cable -> receiver for audio.

HD box -> HDMI -> TV for video, HDMI -> 2-channel RCA -> receiver for audio.

I'm not sure if you like to watch TV without having to turn your receiver on. I never do that so I don't have that issue. Unless you watch a lot of HD programming, I don't think you'll miss the surround sound that the digital audio cable (I'm assuming it's optical) provides too much. It's more important for movies (and even video games) in my opinion. For sports, the Dolby Pro Logic can create the ambience effects okay. Same with most TV shows.

It does have HDMI, strange that it doesn't list it in the specs.

That setup looks like it should work pretty well. I'll give that a shot when I get home tonight!

Thanks very much!

KT

No problem. Does it have any HDMI outputs? How many HDMI inputs does it have? I can't seem to find specs on it anywhere.

If it has an HDMI output, you might be able to plug in the PS3 into the receiver with HDMI and connect the receiver to the TV through HDMI. I have no idea if your receiver can accept uncompressed PCM (higher resolution audio found on Blu-Ray), but it ought to at least accept plain vanilla Dolby Digital and DTS through HDMI.

This would also let you use the other digital audio input for your HD box. If you have more than 1 HDMI input on your receiver, you could connect it to your receiver too. Otherwise you could always connect your HD box to the TV through HDMI, like you have now.

I can't recall the exact inputs and outputs right now. I'll have to double-check that once I get home.

I never thought of putting cables to the different sources independedntly, I always try and cram all of the cables through one piece of equipment for some reason. Doing it as you have mentioned should work very well though.

I'll get back to you once I get home and have a chance to look at the receiver again.

I really appreciate the help.

Cheers,
KT