High Def TV Question
 

Anybody out there have a high def TV that does rather poorly on standard def signals? I am noticing that my blue ray play is awesome but whenever I am watching standard def (480i I think) I often loose frames and the picture is jumpy.

Anybody else notice this with their sets?

I have no issues with my standard DVDs as I play them through an upscaler and they look almost as good as the blu-rays. However, standard cable is terrible, but I don't have noticeable diminished frame rate or jumpy pictures. Is your tv 720p, 1080i, 1080p? I have heard that these are issues with 1080i sometimes, but I have no first hand experience.

Cable, Fios or satellite?

And how do you have the tv connected to the cable/satellite box? HDMI or component, etc? Direct connect or through a receiver?

Ooo, so awesome, I came here to ask a HDTV question myself. Sorry to piggyback yoakum, hope you don't mind:

I'm looking to buy for the first time, is a 60Hz refresh rate ok? Just starting to educate myself on the topic.

120 is the benchmark now (there's one 240 out now by Sony, but it's not much better than 120 according to CNET.....and it's ridiculously expensive), but 60 is fine for most purposes.

Are you looking at a particular model with 60Hz or just looking to save $ and haven't narrowed it down yet?

Save yourself a huge headache and just go buy a Vizio, they make a good reliable set with a good amount of input options, they are cheap (relatively speaking) and once you get anything you buy home and watch a ballgame (as long as it's not Broncos v Chargers) you will love it because you will no longer be going through comparison angst and sales pitch at the store. This coming from a Panasonic 52' inch owner who researched the heck outta these things a few years back.

I had it narrowed down to 3 models at 60 Hz, they seemed the mid range choices from Sharp, Samsung and LG. Any experience with these brands?

I have a 60Hz Samsung forget the model now. LT1195 or some such thing. Anyway I freaking love it. I've never had much trouble with regular shows (not in HD) I do have Dish network. I also use a PS3 for blue rays and regular dvds and both look great.

ESPN HD is the best thing I've ever watched

Samsung LCDs are the most highly ranked across the board in terms of color accuracy, and tend to be very reliable. If you want more specifics on the actual models, let me know which ones in particular you are looking at. I've done quite a bit of research on this recently (bought a Panasonic Plasma in November after researching a ton of LCDs and Plasmas for a few months).

I'd also recommend www.cnet.com. Just type the model nos. into the search window and you should find a very thorough review. Those guys know their stuff.

Color accuracy isn't overrated, it's just that unless you have TV's side by side you will never know which one is better. Really you can turn your head into a pretzel with this. My one caution is spend time looking at LCD vs Plasma. If you notice motion blur on an LCD, which I do, get a Plasma. You can spend time at this site too.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40