Buying a TV

[Skyly]

I'm looking to buy an lcd HDTV to get the ultimate 360 experience. what should i look for in buying an lcd hdtv.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Color balancing is important.

Things of the same size and even brand can have dramatic differences in the darkness of black or other dark colors. Spend plenty of time comparing things side to side in store when they display the same images(the running movies/commercials/etc they have playing on all the TV's simultaneously).

Enough of the type of ports for what you intend to use it for:
-To connect your game systems (Component, S-video)
-PC connections (HDMI, VGA DVI)
-Resolution supported (480p, 720p, 480i, 1080i)

Weight, and necessary stands/wall mounts to hold said TV.

And know that certain sets may burn the static game images onto the screen over extended use. Usually on projection sets, an example being the health bars/shifta-deband effects of pso burned into the display permanently.

[Skyly]

i thought that was on plasma only?

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

I don't know anything about plasma TV's burning static images onto screens.

I've only heard and read stories of Projection TV's having this problem.

Its in every game instruction manual as a warning about this on the very first page, or near to it.

[Mazoku]

Any particular reason why you want LCD? Personally I'd recommend DLP.

[Skyly]

ok i was just looking at a tv; lcd hdtv, 500:1 contrast, 680X480, 480p and 20inch for under 400 from walmart. seems good, the price grabs me. what areas should i look for, the resolution? the 480p part, etc?

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

480p is the low end of the stick.

True "HDTV" is considered 720p or 1080i.

[watashiwa]

Uh, lol, that TV you were looking at is HORRIBLE.

If you want the "Ultimate 360 experience", you'll need an LCD TV that can support 720P. 480p won't cut it. (XBox360 runs at 1280x720 natively, which is 720p.. 480p is 640x480 which is like almost half the resolution..)

Also.. a 500:1 contrast ratio is also very terrible. If you're going to go cheap, at least get a TV that has a 700:1 or 800:1 contrast ratio.

A very important factor, besides the contrast ratio, is the response time. Be sure to get a TV that is 8ms or lower. I suppose you could try and deal with a 12ms one but do not get anything more than 16ms under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES..

16ms is (1000/16) ~ 62.5fps

The response time is usually measured in grey to grey and not black to white on most LCD TVs.. so it can be misleading.. which is why I recommend a 8ms or so LCD TV.

So.. to finish.. if you want a "decent" XBox360 experience, your LCD TV will need to support:

1. 720P (1280x720 resolution)
2. bare minimum 700:1 contrast ratio (I recommend 800:1 or higher..)
3. 8ms response time. (Don't settle for anything higher..)


EDIT: I forgot to clarify what contrast ratio is. It's basically the ratio from black to white on your TV. If you have a low contrast ratio, blacks will seem more grey than black... and darker scenes in games or movies will always appear bright or washed out. A truly horrible experience.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: watashiwa on 2006-10-25 21:45 ]</font>

[Skyly]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4857805

We have a winner?

[Zelutos]

On 2006-10-25 22:02, sklyl wrote:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4857805

We have a winner?



Apparently not:


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[Kevino]

you people know too much about tv's... this is good now i dont i can just ask you guys