LCD HDTV's suck. Should I try a 3007wfp instead?

Rhett · #1 04-19-2007, 01:01 AM

I'm shopping for around a 30"-ish LCD HDTV. My plan is to have a semi-portable setup for watching DVDs and playing video games. Probably, I will not get cable, but I might watch sports with an hdtv tuner.

Anyway, the problem is that all the LCD HDTV's I saw in the store look terrible to me. Am I the only person that notices the awful pixelation effects? Even the $1500 Sony's look awful. I don't care about slight color palate issues with the greens, or how dark the black is compared to the problem of how pixelated the display looks.

So, I had this crazy idea. Should I just use a 3007wfp as a display, and somehow get all the adapters to feed inputs into it? The big question is: Will that display be better for watching a DVD than a consumer LCD HDTV, or will it make no difference, or will it be worse?

I feel better about buying an LCD with reasonable resolution, which I know I can use as a computer monitor for some time. It seems to me that all these LCD HDTV's on the market will be trash in a few years.

NU Star · #2 04-19-2007, 01:18 AM

I'm guessing they didn't have a good signal going into the TV's you saw. Setup with the proper HD hookups (DVI, HDMI, Compositve Video) and it should look great. Using the computer monitor will lead to no improvement in viewing, unless you have a video source better than HD-DVD/BluRay.

jws43yale · #3 04-19-2007, 01:19 AM

Alot of the problems with pixelation depend on the feed. For instance, I get all major channels and ESPN in DH, but their regular channels look horrible. But alot of the HBO and cable non-HD channels still look very good.

You will have the exact same problems with pixelation on an LCD monitor as a TV. Only reason monitor is good is that it has higher resolution than the 1366x768 of most under 40 inch LCD TV's. You actually wouldn't really need any special adapters to play TV on the Dell assuming you have a Cable Box. Only bad thing is that monitors do not have nearly as good of contrast ratio's.

Rhett · #4 04-19-2007, 01:26 AM

It looks like computer monitors also have way worse response times than good lcd hdtv's. It sucks that they don't have good signals at the store. It looks like HDTV is 1920x1080, but the weird thing is the high end Sony's at the store were not 1080p. Does it matter which brand I buy if I get a 1080p? I should get 1080p, right?

jws43yale · #5 04-19-2007, 01:33 AM

[ QUOTE ]
It looks like computer monitors also have way worse response times than good lcd hdtv's. It sucks that they don't have good signals at the store. It looks like HDTV is 1920x1080, but the weird thing is the high end Sony's at the store were not 1080p. Does it matter which brand I buy if I get a 1080p? I should get 1080p, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

YoOu can't even buy 1080p right now for anythign under 40". To see the difference between 720p and 108p on a 40" TV, you have to sit closer than 6'. So unless you plan on getting bigger than a 32", don't worry about it. I have the Samsung LNS-3251D. Did a bunch of research and this was the favorite TV about 8 months ago. Samsung is about to release updated models and I think you can get the 3251d for about $850 with shipping on Amazon.

Would not reccomend Sony. They are great looking TV's but not worthh their price.

kabouter · #6 04-19-2007, 04:37 AM

I've got a 37" samsung, and when I sit close and watch normal television the pixelation is quite apparent. If I sit on the sofa (3 meters away) it's fine tbh, and watching hd content (or games on the 360) is a treat.
I wasn't sure if I wanted the 37", or fork out more for a 40" full hd. Although I saw the difference, 720p is fine on a 37" imho, and it still is on a 40". If you got the money for a full hd, go ahead, otherwise you are fine with 720p.

And my experience with watching television/playing games on a pc screen hasn't been good (samsung 225bw widescreen). Somehow it can't really downscale the image, and it looks sharper on my 37" screen then on the 22". Maybe it's not the same for the 3007 but I'm just giving you a heads up.

TheCroShow · #7 04-20-2007, 12:37 AM

i own a 32" sharp aquos LCD tv and there is no pixelation. then again i have high def cable and an up-converting dvd player that connects via hdmi-hdmi cable.

it's all about the feed and of course, the cables. cheap out on either one, and any tv will look like crap

jws43yale · #8 04-20-2007, 01:26 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i own a 32" sharp aquos LCD tv and there is no pixelation. then again i have high def cable and an up-converting dvd player that connects via hdmi-hdmi cable.

it's all about the feed and of course, the cables. cheap out on either one, and any tv will look like crap

[/ QUOTE ]

Cables are actually way overated. Especially HDMI as it is all digital. You will get the same picture with a $200 Monster Cable as a $10 Monoprice cable. Component matters slightly more, but any shielded cable is fine.

NicksDad1970 · #9 04-20-2007, 06:01 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It looks like computer monitors also have way worse response times than good lcd hdtv's. It sucks that they don't have good signals at the store. It looks like HDTV is 1920x1080, but the weird thing is the high end Sony's at the store were not 1080p. Does it matter which brand I buy if I get a 1080p? I should get 1080p, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

YoOu can't even buy 1080p right now for anythign under 40". To see the difference between 720p and 108p on a 40" TV, you have to sit closer than 6'. So unless you plan on getting bigger than a 32", don't worry about it. I have the Samsung LNS-3251D. Did a bunch of research and this was the favorite TV about 8 months ago. Samsung is about to release updated models and I think you can get the 3251d for about $850 with shipping on Amazon.

Would not reccomend Sony. They are great looking TV's but not worthh their price.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if I'm misunderstanding your post or not. But I've owned a 37" 1080p LCD HDTV for 1 1/2 years.