[OT] HDTV recommendations?

[Thomas Milne]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2011 at 6:27 PM, Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> On Sat, Jun 11, 2011 at 12:12:22PM -0400, Thomas Milne wrote
> > Anyone have some recommendations for a mid-sized HDTV? I'm looking
> > for about a 32" at the smallest, preferably 1080p and also built
> > in media/web browsing would be nice. Looking at Red Flag Deals,
> > but if anyone has any cautions or otherwise, glad to hear it :)
>
> * Get the biggest set you can afford, up to approx 50".  If you get a
>  small one, you will regret it later.
>
> * Check for *NETFLIX CANADA* compatability.
>
> * Plasma still has better picture than LCD, but the gap is narrowing
>
> * Plasma uses a bit more power than LCD, but the gap is narrowing.
>
> * Check for overscan.  I don't understand what the idiots are doing.
>  This is so 20th century.  Back then, TV's used CRT (Cathode Ray Tubes)
>  and the picture would shrink over time.  An older TV would have small
>  black borders around the edge of the picture due to shrinkage.  The
>  picture does not shrink on a flat planel TV.  Overscan makes the TV
>  almost useless as a computer display by cropping the edges, plus it
>  crops the picture on a TV signal.
>
> * Are you situated such that you can receive free OTA (Over The Air)
>  broadcasts?  If so, make sure that the TV allows you to enter the
>  physical channel number of TV station to add it to the list.  A few
>  older brain-dead models will only use the channels from the most
>  recent scan.  Also, beware of "clearance deals" on "HD ready" TV sets
>  that only have old-fashioned NTSC tuners.  Insist on a set with ATSC
>  tuner.
>
>
We ended up getting this one, not in small part because we got a pretty
amazing deal:

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/LN32C450E1DXZA-features

We found it at The Source, and since my wife works for Bell we got it for
$365.

It's not 1080p, and it's only 32", but this is a second TV, for a 'playroom'
that our kids use primarily. We already have a 42" plasma in the main TV
room. That is connected to a PS3 that already has Netflix :)

I guess I lucked out, because it does have the ATSC tuner you mention. It
will very likely never be hooked up to an antenna, as it is hooked up to the
computer I just built, so with XBMC it can bring in Youtube as well as the
WD media server I have. Plus my daughter can apparently use this TV with her
iPod, though I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Eventually I would
like to bring in CBC maybe...

The only thing that pissed me off is that I will have to buy a new cable for
audio. If you use an HDMI cable from a PC, you have to use a PC audio jack
to plug into the TV, you cannot use the regular AV audio inputs. Other than
that I'm not at all unimpressed.

-- 
Thomas Milne
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