DLP's are 3k+. for his price range, a widescreen rear projection or a 30" widescreen tube

 

In that range, you are stuck with tubes.

Sony's patent ran out a while back -- in my opinion (and many others) Toshiba now makes a better tube for less money.

I'd suggest you take a trip to a local shop and make the call yourself in person. Ask to sample the same source on various T.V.'s and whatever you do, don't pay much attention to the sales people -- they are with very few exceptions incredibly stupid.

 

a fifty inch dlp television from samsung is about 2700 bucks... well worth the price.
I don't think though it provides the best picture. My toshiba 57 inch widescreen after an ISF tune looks much better (i.e. much less pixilated) than a dlp television. There are pro's and cons to both though.

 

LOTS of misinformation floatin around here. Anyone who thinks the Samsung DLP is the best picture out there is quite frankly mistaken. There are many TV's out there that look twice as nice.

Telling us to tell you what tv to buy for $1500 gets us nowhere. First:
ANy lighting in the room?
How far away are you going to be sitting?
Any funny angles?
You worried about maintenance?

Answer those questions for me and I'll be more than happy to help you out. I've been into home theater religiously for about 6 years now, I've been selling it for 4. Don't have all the answers, but I can definitely steer you away from the hundreds of myths out there right now.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by trippinbillies


Telling us to tell you what tv to buy for $1500 gets us nowhere.

 

There are four recessed lights in the 17 X 17 room. Couches are 8 to 12 feet away from the TV.
There are no funny angles.
I would not like to deal with any maintenance issues.

Also I don't think I would be interested in a projection TV, most I've seen have a terrible picture if you watch them from angle.

 

"There are no funny angles:
"I don't want a projo because they look like crap from funny angles"



Just kidding. I would look at seeing if you could find a 34" Widescreen Sony tube. If you try hard enough, you can probably whittle someone somewhere down to that price. I think they're usually $1800.

Also, you might consider spending a little extra and finding someone to ISF calibrate the TV you choose. If you go with that Sony, it will probably cost you in the $250-300 range. Every last penny of that is worth it. Houston is the #1 home theater market in the world believe it or not, so you shouldn't have a problem finding someone out there to do it for you. If you need advice on where to go, let me know. I have a few contacts in Houston I could put you in touch with.

 

I would look for a 34" widescreen as well. The sony KV34HS510 is excellent.

OR you can buy a 36" 4:3 model for less money. It has about the same 16:9 area as the 34", costs less, and the majority of TV programs in 4:3 will be full screen. The picture size in widescreen is similar to a 34". I would go this route. Again, Sony and Toshiba are rated highly.

I myself have a 32" Sony KV32HS500. The largely identical Sony KV32HS510 is the top rated tube from Cnet, and in their top 5 HDTVs. I suggest that you read reviews of TVs AFTER they have been calibrated. Don't pick the most colorful in the store as it will be HORRIBLY inaccurate (everything usually has too much red and it distorts EVERY color).

Tubes give excellent color and contrast, and arguably the best picture. Remember that most TVs in stores are calibrated with too much red. You can use the hidden service menu of the TV to correct it. I highly recommend Digital Video Essentials to calibrate it!

 

I don't understand what you mean by calibrating it. Is that just setting the color, contrast, etc. Do you guys really pay someone to do this?

I have seen the Sony XBR 40" in person and was very impressed with picture quality. It is more then I really wanted to spend ( I have found it for about $2000 shipped), what do you think about this TV?

Looks like you guys are more interested in widescreens.

 

calibrating is more than doing the color/contrast/brightness

calibrating involves:
setting the color of white. light is measured in temperature, in kelvins. "warmer" whiteslook reddish (lower Kelvin rating), cooler ones look bluish. The first step is to look at a greyscale and use a meter to set the temperature to the NTSC standard (5800K I think).

second, is making sure the colors are balanced. this is done through visual filters...you basically set the intensity of each color gun. there are 3 guns, red, green, blue. for example, you want to make sure that purple ONLY has red and blue, with NO green or that a magenta has no green light. on a more basic level you want to ensure that, for example, reds only have red, greens only green, etc.

also, you set the geometry. many tv's are off center and cut out picture. you set the Horizontal/vertical position/size, pin cushioning, tilt, or trapezoidal distortion to within what is called the 5% safe zone...basically the NTSC standard is to have no important picture outside this area. you can set it to 2.5% safe, but many programs use 5% as the border.

All of these things are done in the SERVICE menu. it is a hidden menu for technicians, but doing some research can open it up for you. you have to be careful as you can wreck your TV easily. service menus are not user friendly...they are very cryptic and things are not labeled "red level" for example. FYI, Sonys are DISPLAY+5+Volume up+POWER. Samsung is MUTE+1-8-2.

I calibrated my TV myself using the Digital Video Essentials CD. I couldn't do the color temp as I don't have a meter, but I adjusted it to my liking. you don't HAVE to have a tech, but they are pros. do research before attempting yourself.

the 40" sony XBR is good. the32-36's are liked more. remember what you saw was the red-distorted "torch" mode that is the factory default of that and all TVs. after calibration things look better.