I'm aboutto join the 21st century. A few questions first.

[markw]

My current "big screen" TV is a 32" Proscan CRT I picked up in early 2000. The most up-to-date video inputs it features is S-video. As it is, it does what it's supposed to do quite well with no problems.

Now, I've been looking at these new fangled thin screen units and I see where big (or at least bigger) screen LCD units are dropping to where I can justify jumping for 'em. Say, 32" or 37", but I've seen 32" for < $800, which is where I'm looking.

To start with, I don't have HD coming into my house yet. I may hold off for a while, so TV will be in 4:3 for now. But, we do watch a lot of DVDs which have a wide screen presentation.

My questions involve Progressive scan: The salespeople at our local big box stores couldn't agree on anything. Three different stores, three different answers. So I thought I'd poll the population here.

1) My two newer DVD players, both Toshiba, offer this with component video and say it will work with a TV that supports progressive scan.

The new 16:9 TV will offer component inputs. Is there anything else I need to look for, aside from those three inputs, in order to avail myself of any benefit it may offer? Remember, I don't expect much for TV but I'm looking more so for improvements in wide-screen DVD presentation.

The cable will feed directly into the TVs internal tuner and I expect it'll ll be in the tried and true 4:3 format until we jump into a full-blown digital cable system that offers HDTV. That's another post for another time.

But, will the vertical black bars on the sides of the LCD cause any problem in the long run? I hate it when the picture is stretched to fill the screen.

thanks in advance, guys.

[kexodusc]

My current "big screen" TV is a 32" Proscan CRT I picked up in early 2000. The most up-to-date video inputs it features is S-video. As it is, it does what it's supposed to do quite well with no problems.

Now, I've been looking at these new fangled thin screen units and I see where big (or at least bigger) screen LCD units are dropping to where I can justify jumping for 'em. Say, 32" or 37", but I've seen 32" for < $800, which is where I'm looking.

To start with, I don't have HD coming into my house yet. I may hold off for a while, so TV will be in 4:3 for now. But, we do watch a lot of DVDs which have a wide screen presentation.

My questions involve Progressive scan: The salespeople at our local big box stores couldn't agree on anything. Three different stores, three different answers. So I thought I'd poll the population here.

1) My two newer DVD players, both Toshiba, offer this with component video and say it will work with a TV that supports progressive scan.

The new 16:9 TV will offer component inputs. Is there anything else I need to look for, aside from those three inputs, in order to avail myself of any benefit it may offer? Remember, I don't expect much for TV but I'm looking more so for improvements in wide-screen DVD presentation.

The cable will feed directly into the TVs internal tuner and I expect it'll ll be in the tried and true 4:3 format until we jump into a full-blown digital cable system that offers HDTV. That's another post for another time.

But, will the vertical black bars on the sides of the LCD cause any problem in the long run? I hate it when the picture is stretched to fill the screen.

thanks in advance, guys.


This is really a question for some guru like edtyct to answer. But as a minimum, I think you'd want a TV set that has at least DVI inputs, if not HDMI. Though what version of HDMI, I can't say. You may never use them though.

Don't worry about the black bars. TV's have a few "stretch modes" that will make the 4:3 picture fit the screen. Some are better than others. At first you might notice the pictures are a little warped on the extreme edges, for lack of a better word. Maybe. But they're done in such a way as to not draw attention to themselves, and after a day or two you won't notice anymore. Most people who own widescreen sets use these modes. IMO, it's much preferrable to black or grey side bars.

[PeruvianSkies]

Here is my humble suggestion....

Once you have a HDTV...whether it be a 37" LCD or whatever...you want to maximize it's use....that's why you bought it right? So, HD programming will look better than anything from you DVD collecton unfortunately, which means you may want to upgrade your service with even some basic HD, I think it's only $5 more per month from Comcast and you get about 15 HD stations. I'm not sure who you are using right now for your provider though. The black areas on the outside when showing things in 4X3 will not cause any harm, so don't worry about that.

As far as connections go...your new HDTV will more than likely have a few component (HD-ready) and an HDMI or DVI input as well. Maybe both. For now, I am using component because it looks better than the HDMI on non-1080 sources, which more often than not is what I am watching. So I would connect your DVD player via component (RGB) cable as well as your cable box, or if you have a receiver you can use that to send your two video sources into and have one coming out into the TV.

Any more questions just ask away.

[SlumpBuster]

Well, Mark, in acccordance with the long tradition of these boards, I'm going to answer not the question you asked, but another question entirely. (i.e. Q. Can you guys recommend a tower speaker under $1000? A. Yeah, get this $800 bookshelf. :D)

I am in a the same boat as you. I have a 27" CRT being fed by component inputs. Its a 2002ish Sony Trinitron Wega, so its not to shabby as far as old style TVs go. But unfortunately, its paired up with an HT system that is out of its league. We have not gotten a bigger TV because we just bought the CRT and we have a small house. But it doesn't keep us from looking around. Just the weekend we were at Circuit City looking at the big jobbies. I think we found what we were looking for. Now I don't remeber it entirely, but it was set up as a center display. Something like a 55' Sharp Plasma being fed an HDMI HD signal. It was on sale at $2600, and frankly it looked worth it. It makes my CRT look like a caveman TV. They even had it set up to show the difference between HDMI and component inputs and it was striking.

My point is this: Size. The thing to remember is that TVs have suddenly become so big because you can spread that HD signal out over a bigger screen. You said you've seen 32" for less than $800, while that is a bargain, you may want to step back and reapproach size issue. I found myself approaching it from the same position, too. I though, "Well, 27" works now, so it should work in HD too. Right?" Not so much in practice, I've found. But, we are as much cinephiles as we are audiophiles, so it was easy for screen size to become more important, obviously your milage may vary.

[ericl]

Mark,

If you can find a TV that has a QAM tuner, then you can plug your cable directly into your TV and receive HD. As long as your cable company doesn't scramble the HD signals, you don't need a special cable box.

If it has an ATSC tuner, you can get HD signals over the air. Maybe look for one or both of these tuners or whatever suits you best.. I think all sets are supposed to offer ATSC now..

Your set should have a setting that lets you watch 4:3 content in a 4:3 setting. In fact, i think that's the default for most sets. I agree that the stretched business is lame.

eric

[edtyct]

My questions involve Progressive scan: The salespeople at our local big box stores couldn't agree on anything. Three different stores, three different answers. So I thought I'd poll the population here.

1) My two newer DVD players, both Toshiba, offer this with component video and say it will work with a TV that supports progressive scan.

The new 16:9 TV will offer component inputs. Is there anything else I need to look for, aside from those three inputs, in order to avail myself of any benefit it may offer? Remember, I don't expect much for TV but I'm looking more so for improvements in wide-screen DVD presentation.

The cable will feed directly into the TVs internal tuner and I expect it'll ll be in the tried and true 4:3 format until we jump into a full-blown digital cable system that offers HDTV. That's another post for another time.

But, will the vertical black bars on the sides of the LCD cause any problem in the long run? I hate it when the picture is stretched to fill the screen.

thanks in advance, guys.

Mark,

All TVs capable of HD resolution, except CRTs, require progressive scanning--that is, activating all of the pixels at once instead of interlacing them. In other words, fixed-pixel displays all produce their images progressively, whether they originated that way or not. If you feed them an interlaced signal, they have to change it to a progressive one through their own processing. Usually, however, DVD players do this job a little better than TVs do themselves--though not always in the upper end of the display chain. In principle, the best way to get a signal into a digital TV (not CRT) is through a digital input--DVI or HDMI--rather than an analog component input, since that strategy avoids a D/A conversion that can soften the picture. Digital feeds are capable of sharper images than component, which often roll off in the higher frequencies, though the difference might not always be noticeable on anything but a test screen. Sometimes a component input will outperform a poorly implemented digital one. To be certain, you have to check, but the smart money is on either HDMI or DVI winning the resolution sweepstakes or on the competition being too close to call.

DVD players, via DVI or HDMI outputs, can also save digital displays the trouble of upconverting signals themselves; as with progressive scanning, they more often than not are more successful at it. For copy protection purposes alone, use of a DVI or HDMI connection is a good, if inevitable idea.

Even though LCDs are capable of image retention, they don't suffer from it like plasmas or old-fashioned CRTs do. The black bars won't etch permanently into the screen, if at all; a white screen will usually make any lingering effect disappear. The best thing to do with any TV is to keep the brightness and contrast levels in check and in the case of an LCD, use the dimmer lamp setting if one is available.