Buyin' Televisions : Widescreen or Not???

[putz.kinhu]

I'm aiming to buy a TV for my room and i saw 2 models a Sony wega 34'' TV and a Philiphps widesceen 32''... i would like to know what are the good and bad pints of the widscreen and what u guys recomend me to buy :
Tv 32" Flatron HDTV Widescreen LG - RP32FZ12P
TV 32" Flatron DWIDE Philips - 32PW6542_78
Tv 34" Wega FD Trinitron Sony - KV34FS105

[pbhalerao]

Depends on what you are watching. If it is mostly TV and the broadcast is mostly 4:3, then 4:3 TV is a better option. On the other hand if you watch widescreen stuff mostly (DVD's and your TV broadcast is mostly widescreen) then go for the widescreen TV.

On a 32" widescreen TV, the 4:3 image is actually close to 25-26". So essentially you will be paying more but watching a smaller image. Conversely same is true for 34" 4:3 TV with widescreen input. Also note that widescreen TV is 16:9 which is 1.8:1 approximately. Most modern widescreen DVD's are 2:35:1 so you will still get black bands on top on bottom of the widescreen TV. But watching widescreen DVD on widescreen TV is defintely the way to go.

However, you should seriously consider a projector if movies is what you are after. For a little more money, you can get a really good projector such as Infocus Screenplay 4805 (and it is native widescreen).

HTH.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

it's true....
if you buy a widescreen TV and watch a lot of 4:3 programming, you will get 'black bars' on the sides instead of the 'black bars' along the top & bottom that you get when you watch widescreen on a 4:3 set

now, before anybody starts flaming me saying "that's not true, i see widescreen sets in the store all the time and they show regular TV on them and it fills the screen!", look closer.
you will notice that at most stores (CircuitCity, Best Buy, SoundTrack/Ultimate Electronics) don't bother to set up the TV's options properly before they hook it up & turn it on.
look carefully and you will see that the 'normal'4:3 broadcast shows that are filling the widescreens is either squished vertically or stretched horizontally -- everybody is short and fat!!

as pbhalerao said, with the TV set-up properly, this will essentially turn your 32" widescreen set into a 25"-26" set when watching the local news and most cable service.
Also, unless your widescreen TV has some sort of "zoom" feature, when the local channels show something in "widescreen", it's really gonna look weird.

projectors are sweet, but you need a fairly large room, and in addition to dropping $2500.00 on a GOOD machine, you will also have to spend a fairly good amount of cash on a high quality screen -- why spend all that $$$$ on a bad-ass HD projector if you're just gonna watch it on your wall?!?!

[pbhalerao]

projectors are sweet, but you need a fairly large room, and in addition to dropping $2500.00 on a GOOD machine, you will also have to spend a fairly good amount of cash on a high quality screen -- why spend all that $$$$ on a bad-ass HD projector if you're just gonna watch it on your wall?!?!

True to some extent, Xylob; but a projector will not necessarily burn the pocket. Infocus Screenplay 4805 (WVGA @ 854x480) is a good entry level projector at US$1300 or thereabouts. There is also Panasonic PT-AE700 which is slightly more expensive but has WXGA (1280x720) resolution. Also a high quality screen will definitely enhance the picture, an extremely well painted White wall in brilliant matte white will also serve the purpose.

Projectors can be setup in medium size living rooms such as 16' long. The biggest drawbacks of projector is - need dark room, bulb replacement cost, long running cables (when ceiling mounted) and ceiling mount. However imagine a 92" to 100" widescreen TV at $1300 to $2000? My friend has it and it has totally convinced me.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

now, imagine playing Need For Speed/GT4 or Tekken on that screen!!!

additionally, there is a new paint out called ScreenGoo http://www.goosystems.com/
you need to sand down the texture on your wall (if it has any), but that's really not hard, especially if you go to a local rental place and get 2 orbital sanders
prime the wall
paint it with the ScreenGoo and voila! big-ass screen
I have read several reviews of this stuff and gets raves.
will it give a picture that rivals a high-contrast/high reflective screen? absolutely not.
will it's picture rival that of the low-end to "good" screens? you bet your ass.
now take into consideration the cost comparisons and suddenly it blows the others away.
I hope to buy a home within the next year or 2 and a higher-end projector is part of the plan. unless the nicer screens suddenly take a dive in price, ScreenGoo is what i'll have.

[samijubal]

I wouldn't touch anything Philips, cheap problem prone junk. Look at how much of the picture most of the Philips TVs crop off compared to other brands. Like already stated, buy a TV that matches the format you watch the most. You're only supposed to watch 15% of your weekly veiwing with black bars.

[Epicurus8a]

I'd check out the DLP widescreens. Look here for more info on DLP: http://www.dlp.com/

[yoda313]

Hi,

If you're going to buy a new tv it might as well be HDTV or at least HDTV ready since they will EVENTUALLY make it the new standard. Only by a 4:3 if you need a tv now and don't have the budget for a hdtv.

Kevin

My opinion of course

[pbhalerao]

Buy HDTV certainly if Brazil has or will have HDTV broadcast. If HDTV is very distant in the future then save your bucks. That said, HDTV will certainly output better/flicker-free picture even on normal broadcast.

On projectors, must mention one point - a projector is not a replacement for a TV. It will be a very expensive proposition otherwise.

[Guest]

I'd check out the DLP widescreens. Look here for more info on DLP: http://www.dlp.com/

I love mine
Wide mos def. I really dont notice the broadcast stretch anymore.

[dukenukem]

get whichever one works best for what your gonna watch.Make sure the tv doesn't make 4:3 channels look very strecthed out like i have seen.Our 25inc tv for living room died so before i got fired from my job i used my credit card to get us a 27 true flatscreen monitor from rcs and it works damn fine even if it isn't hdtv or widescreen.I must say those hdtv's are way overpriced for me and will never buy one any time soon.

[spiderman2k1]

More and more TV shows are starting to be filmed in 16:9. So down the road I think widescreen is better. But for what's out now 4:3 is better.

[Guest]

I dropped a 32 in crt during the move so i bought a 32 in samsung lcd.Very nice so far.

[Epicurus8a]

I dropped a 32 in crt during the move so i bought a 32 in samsung lcd.Very nice so far.

BTW, if you're an investor you'd be wise to check out Samsung. They are succeeding in a lot of areas that Sony used to control........

[Guest]

I am a loyal samsung fan. It started with a phone and snowballed from there. I even have a samsung microwave.