Need help TV shopping.

[Livewire]

Thinking it's time to upgrade my tv - I'm still using one with the old RCA inputs. I'm trying to figure out a few different things, so consider me a complete Newbie on this stuff.


I know it depends on what I'd be using it for, so in short, combination Gaming and TV/Movies. Mostly TV/Movies but honestly if the tv's big enough I might just move my pc over and run it straight through the tv.

Knowing that, I'm seeing tons of stuff being tossed around; first and foremost I know that the lower the refresh time the better (something like 6.5ms apparently sounds good), but I've no idea WTF I'm looking at with stuff like Contrast Ratio, whether 800:1 is good or bad or what have you. That's where I'm needing the most help. I also know the old trick about the 26" TV's actually being 23" because they measure more than the screen on corner-to-corner, so I'm watching out for that already.



So I guess I'm looking for a decent brand, what the heck contrast ratio means, and anything else I should be watching out for when buying a TV, besides the obvious - get the extended warranty cause my luck dictates it'll be a smoking wreck in 6 months Any help's good here, other than links to places to get the tv - I'm probably going Walmart or Best Buy cause they're local and I like local when things go boom in the night

 

[Smith6612]

Thinking it's time to upgrade my tv - I'm still using one with the old RCA inputs. I'm trying to figure out a few different things, so consider me a complete Newbie on this stuff.


I know it depends on what I'd be using it for, so in short, combination Gaming and TV/Movies. Mostly TV/Movies but honestly if the tv's big enough I might just move my pc over and run it straight through the tv.

Knowing that, I'm seeing tons of stuff being tossed around; first and foremost I know that the lower the refresh time the better (something like 6.5ms apparently sounds good), but I've no idea WTF I'm looking at with stuff like Contrast Ratio, whether 800:1 is good or bad or what have you. That's where I'm needing the most help. I also know the old trick about the 26" TV's actually being 23" because they measure more than the screen on corner-to-corner, so I'm watching out for that already.



So I guess I'm looking for a decent brand, what the heck contrast ratio means, and anything else I should be watching out for when buying a TV, besides the obvious - get the extended warranty cause my luck dictates it'll be a smoking wreck in 6 months Any help's good here, other than links to places to get the tv - I'm probably going Walmart or Best Buy cause they're local and I like local when things go boom in the night

Contrast ratio is typically how deep the blacks are on your screen. Higher is typically preferred on an LCD screen due to the backlight. Also, you want to have a high refresh rate. Many of the TVs I see these days can go up to 240Hz refresh rates (you'll find 120Hz more than often) if I'm not mistaken. Also, many of the larger HDTVs these days can run at resolutions higher than 1080p, mainly over DVI. And of course, don't forget about HDMI; HDMI > Component and you can get the cables for like $5 at Monoprice.

None the less, look for a TV with a few HDMI ports, a component section or two, and of course the standard RCA. All HDTVs come with Digital OTA tuners these days, and some come with QAM tuners (useful for cable/FiOS TV service). The only thing I might mention about the TVs is that when you buy them, you need to keep in mind 1080p-24, 1080p-30 and 1080p-60 (which is the framerate at the end). Blu-Ray disks and DVDs more than often use 1080p-24 however they do upscale the framerate to 30. Make sure your TV supports the above three frame rates at a minimum.

Stick to LCD, and of course don't go over your budget. If you're going 20" or smaller look for a computer monitor with the proper inputs. It'll give a better picture more often than the TV at higher resolutions since computer monitors have a high pixel per square inch count on them.

 

[Livewire]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...HDTV/9301622.p?id=1218080216238&skuId=9301622 <--- one of the first ones that popped up; I gotta be blunt though, I'm not getting the whole "1080p" thing - I never saw much of a problem with the dvd's I've been playing anyways, so unless there's a major reason I should say "go away 720p", lemme know Rest of the specs at a glance, contrast ratio 30,000:1 (dynamic, whatever they mean by that), 720p, 3 hdmi, 1 PC (the old style 15pin vga), crappy speakers which I have no intention of using when I already have some I can plug in that I like better, and 60hz refresh.

As for the 20" or less, I'm not in that ballpark; the tv I have is 19" and I quite frankly think it's too frackin' small, can't see it decent from where I have the bed set up Thinking 26"'ll be big enough by far, even though everything from a brand I've actually -heard- of is like $400+. Thank goodness I didn't plan on buying this today


Also, the monitor I'm on only does 60hz; what's the benefit to snagging a tv with 240hz, in particular if it looks fine on my monitor where it's only going 60hz anyways? (I'm gathering there's probably a reason, I just dunno it yet )



Edit: Okay apparently there's an LG tv on sale for like $479.99. If it manages to stay on sale long enough it's got 1080p and it's frackin 32" so maybe that's the new plan XD

 

[stpvoice]

Hi,

1080p and 720p are just names really. Yes, 1080p is better quality, if you have a 100 inch tv For a 26", 720p would be very good quality.

hz is the refresh rate. When watching fast moving images on a lower refresh rate, it may appear a bt jumpy, but for normal applications, 60hz would be fine.

That contrast ratio is very good, but I assume dynamic means it changes/fluctuates.

Hope this helps

 

[Livewire]

Hi,

1080p and 720p are just names really. Yes, 1080p is better quality, if you have a 100 inch tv For a 26", 720p would be very good quality.

hz is the refresh rate. When watching fast moving images on a lower refresh rate, it may appear a bt jumpy, but for normal applications, 60hz would be fine.

That contrast ratio is very good, but I assume dynamic means it changes/fluctuates.

Hope this helps

It does, cause it matches what I got via IRC as well

So I guess for me if I'm going 26", it's 720p 60hz (I shouldn't notice any stuttering, cause as it is I'm on 60hz watching movies/games just fine anyways).

The 32" though, probably 1080p unless I can't tell the difference at the store. It looks like it's about $40 to go from 720 to 1080 in 32" tv's, which sounds like alot until you remember a decent name brand starts at like $420 to begin with

Thanks for all the help folks, now I just need some Overtime at work ^_^

 

[stpvoice]

Haha. Glad I could be of assistance. I'm not sure how big the price gap between TV's in the US and the UK are, but over here, a new branded TV (eg Sony or Panasonic) with a 26" screen you would be looing at about £400...which is about $650 I believe

 

[Livewire]

Haha. Glad I could be of assistance. I'm not sure how big the price gap between TV's in the US and the UK are, but over here, a new branded TV (eg Sony or Panasonic) with a 26" screen you would be looing at about £400...which is about $650 I believe

26" decent brand is about $400 it seems, can crank it to $470 depending on some. There's a 32" I wish I had a credit-card for right now though; it's on sale at $470 (used to be $600). That's a steal and a half