The Shrine

OK, I've been searching around for a while trying to pick out a good HDTV while, at the same time, watching the prices to drop faster than Ish's drawers after he enters Lotus' house :-). I'm not exactly into TVs on a tech level that much. As with comps, I feel I have a decent basic understanding, which is:

1) You want 1080p (i = interlaced = old; p = progressive scan = new and good) if you can afford it; 1080i at the least
2) The better the contrast ratio, the crisper the picture (this is plasmas only?)
3) Watch out for native vs supported resolutions. A TV with a native resolution of 1080x768 will have to adjust the picture to properly display 720p. As such, it's always better to have a (xxx) x 720 or (xxx) x 1080 native resolution to properly display 720p or 1080p, respectively.
4) Strong blacks are a good measure of the picture quality

Now that LCDs can actually be larger than 42" without being combined with projection, it appears to me that it's probably the way to go (over plasma). I'm not going to pay for the 1080p yet, so I'm sticking with 720p/1080i. And SRXD is too darned expensive.

So, for instances this LG (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/prodde ... &langid=EN) although 2" bigger would not be as good as this Sony (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/prodde ... &langid=EN) because:
a) Sony has 1080p support, the LG doesn't (only supports 480p)
b) Sony is 1920X1080, LG is only 852x480 (more than double resolution for Sony)

For me, that's all I'm really looking at with the current knowledge base that I have. Obviously this is more of an extreme vs extreme comparison, but the point is made.

So, the questions I have for you guys are:

1) Am I correct in my knowledge as per above or is there something I have learned which is wrong?
2) What is the minimum contrast ratio? I know higher is better, but what exactly is contrast ratio and how does it affect the picture? If I'm lookin' at plasma vs LCD, what would I be comparing, if anything?
3) Is there anything else I should be lookin' at when I'm buying one of these TVs? I'm talking about technical specs or anything else (ie. like the blacks)
4) What brands do you guys feel are the best? I know that the Korean companies (Samsung and LG) are solid, as is Sony (albiet more expensive), so which ones should I narrow my search to?

You guys can use the two TVs I have linked above as examples.

Contrast ratio matters for all types of TVs. Essentially contrast ratio means how black the blacks are, and how white the whites are. If you have a low contrast ratio (eg 400:1), then absolute-blacks on that monitor will seem brighter, with black light bleed in. Same with the whites. If it has a poor contrast ratio, the whites just aren't as bright and vibrant as they would be with a higher contrast ratio.

Bottom line is higher contrast ratio is better, on any type of TV technology.

LCDs can also have "dynamic" contrast ratios. What this means is they can advertise very high contrast rations sometimes, but in fact the NATIVE contrast ratio is much lower. What these monitors do is reduce or boost the BRIGHTNESS when a deeper black is desired, or when a brighter white is desired. LG LCDs are like this for the majority of their LCD monitors. Im not sure about their TVs. Dynamic contrast ratios aren't necessarily bad, but in some cases it can be quite noticeable when then dynamic brightness adjustment is being done. If you want a decent TV, I wouldnt go below 2000:1.

When buying a new TV, make sure it has enough HDMI ports. My TV only has one, and I so wish it had two.

You really can't go wrong with Samsung. LG is ok, but I hear way better things about Samsung/Sony/Toshiba. I personally have a Toshiba DLP TV, Samsung LCD Monitor, and an LG wide-screen LCD monitor. All products I am very pleased with. I don't buy Sony because you don't get much additional quality for the extra premium ytou pay for their products.

I wouldn't touch that LG plasma you posted with a 40ft pole. EDTV = stay the fuck away. That basically means "hey DVDs look nice at their native resolution, but you can't watch HDTV content."

HDMI might be the best way to connect devices, but i dont see a different between that and component. Plus, the HDMI cables are like 50-150 bucks. Blows.

I have my DVD player set up on both HDMI and component and I put them on split screen to show my friends who whine about that

Honestly, HDMI produces a much crisper, brighter image. And yes, I have good component cables. The HDMI cable I have, however, was the free one that came with my DVD player. You should be able to get HDMI cables for < $30 on online retailers (NCIX for us Canadians, Zeus).

I've actually been wondering about projectors, myself. High quality ones, such as those they use at Clubs for PPV fight events. For something that would give a reasonably good high quality picture, that might cover a space 6 feet by 8 feet, what sort of price range should I expect? Or is a projector just an all around bad idea?

Yes, I know very little about this technology.

Flip wrote:HDMI might be the best way to connect devices, but i dont see a different between that and component. Plus, the HDMI cables are like 50-150 bucks. Blows.

You can get one for like, six dollars at monoprice.com