MOST LCD/DLP/PLASMA sets are NOT 1920 by 1080!
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid...o/rpem/ccd/productDetailSpecification.do#tabs
1366 by 768 for a multi-thousand dollar plasma.
It's not alone. 99% of them are like this. They never like to tell you, though. I could find literally hundreds more, but I'm not that bored. If you want, a good place to look is the sunday paper, circuit city and best buy ads will sometimes state the resolution. Goog Dguys, Comp USA, and some other stores might tell you too. But if it doesn't explicitly say it supports 1920 by 1080 RESOLUTION, there is a good chance it doesn't.
These screens support the SIGNALS up to 1080i, which is what is advertised. However, it's shrunken down to weird ass resolutions. The biggest problem is not the lack of resolution, because 1366 by 768 is still a big upgrade from 640 by 480. The big issue is SCALING those fucking signals to reach that shit. That's 32/45. That's an UGLY scaling (dwon from 1080) and up from 720? JESUS. You have to create a mere 48 lines from a full 720? GOOD FUCKING LUCK doing that right without it becoming a blurry ass rash.
PLASMA/LCD, and to a lesser extent DLP, simply SUCK.
They are expensive as shit.
Picture quality is not as good.
Brightness and contrast ratios suck. (Finally starting to compete in high end models)
Black levels are SHIT.
Viewing angles still aren't that great.
However, they do save on space and look good, and weigh a hell of a lot less.
The CRT is still king for display quality, viewability, reliability, brightness, contrast, and price.
As for a set thta natively supports 1080 AND 720? I've seen a few that let you disable or enable the upscaling to 1080i. I assume you'd be able to watch it full screen as well. (These were CRTs) But I'm not sure. Not somethign I give a shit about really. The biggest problem with a 1080 set is going from 480p to 1080i. The sizing can be done well depending on the method used, but I fucking hate the idea of fucking a progressive source to the stone age of interlaced.
720p to 1080i has the same issue.
I haven't speficially looked for a model claiming to support 720p and 1080i natively
(for those who don't know, natively means the guns will actually scan at that resolution, and there is no stretching involved. CRTs have a much easier time supporting different resolutions natively because of how they work (in comparison to lcds and plasma and such))
I AM in the market for an HDTV for my apartment. Price is a big issue. I need it by the end of the end of August. I'm thinking of this -
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...t&productCategoryId=cat03003&id=1097582050451
Opinions? I can get it for 530 after tax and shipping. It'll sure as hell be an improvement over the shit that's at the apartment now.
As far as 1080p, keep an eye out - they're supposed to make an appearance this summer. Whether that meand be presented at conventions/shows/press events, or actually make it to market I'm not sure. And I'm sure they'll hit asia first - Korea mainly, since Japan hates HDTV like they hate a Chinese counterfit Pokemon toy.
I'd expect end of the year for the US for 1080p to be readily avaialable - for a price.
Another thing to look out for is SED. Basically, it uses phosphors and such, just like a CRT, but without a thick long glass tube. (Just google it) It should offer great quality, brightness, etc, and low power consumption. Basically, a thin CRT. Too bad it'll be fucking expensive.
So - any ideas for a good HDTV?
I'm looking at about 800 max price. (I'd like to keep it lower if possible)
I need all the good inputs - with at least 1 HDMI for future proofing.
CRT is a must (this is dictated by the price limit anyway)
A built in tuner would be nice, but not necessary. We get no fucking reception at the apartment, and will have free cable. BASIC cable without a box, so it has to at least have an NTSC tuner - or I can just run it through the VCR and use that tuner. I wouldn't get stereo sound I don't think, but fuck that, it's just TV. I want the HDTV mainly for DVDs and Games (fucking Nintendo better support some fucking form of HDTV - bastards, I hope their comments meant they wouldn't FORCE HDTV like MS is doing, but Nintendo has faield me so many fucking times...)
Anyway, any ideas? I don't need a huge fucking screen. (26 inch would be good)
In fact, the dimensions of the one I listed are the max for fitting in this cabinet I have. I can always just move shit around and stick it somewhere else, but I'd like it to fit in the cabinet.
1080i is a must (not scaling, but actual displaying! But most "HD" crts do this anyway)
16:9 is a must as well.