Going High Def!! Need Some Advice

[asterism]

We are going to convert all of our (four) television sets to flat screen, high definition. We are with DirecTV. I have spoken with them and as soon as we get the flats, they are ready to come out and do their switchover number.

I know zero about HD - so please help me out here.

Which is better: Plasma or LED?
Which name brand is best? Samsung? LG? Sony? Other?
What is the best resolution to get?

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks in advance.

In my opinion the best value is a 42" LED-LCD Vizio with 120Hz refresh rate.

Walmart.com: VIZIO 42" Class Razor LED-LCD 1080p 120Hz HDTV,(1.76" ultra-slim) M420VT, Refurbished: TV & Video

 

[Navy1960]

All I'm going to say is you both must have an understanding Best Buy, the guys at the store here, look it over and you over and everyone else in the line before they might let you you return it. We were at Best Buy last year and the return line wasn't all that long , but we wanted to exchange a UPS system we got there, because some rocket scientist forgot to ship it with the battery *LOL*. Well, the kid in line kept asking us what we did with the battery, so finally I told him you can go pop the hood on the car if you want and see if i'm using it to start my car. Anyway, good luck George on the HD stuff. and when your DriectTV guy comes ask him about their whole home, its pretty nice.

 

[Warrior102]

George - get a Vizio...

 

[George Costanza]

All I'm going to say is you both must have an understanding Best Buy, the guys at the store here, look it over and you over and everyone else in the line before they might let you you return it. We were at Best Buy last year and the return line wasn't all that long , but we wanted to exchange a UPS system we got there, because some rocket scientist forgot to ship it with the battery *LOL*. Well, the kid in line kept asking us what we did with the battery, so finally I told him you can go pop the hood on the car if you want and see if i'm using it to start my car. Anyway, good luck George on the HD stuff. and when your DriectTV guy comes ask him about their whole home, its pretty nice.

OK - this just in. We decided to mount the 40" Samsung on the wall, since it was too large to put on the dresser. It worked like a charm! My brother-in-law is a very gifted guy when it comes to doing this kind of work. He came over on Saturday and we spent the day getting the screen up there. I went to CoscCo and got a very sturdy wall mount for two hundred or so. He cut out a portion of the wall in order to install an electrical outlet where the screen will be, and also a conduit to run the Hi Def cord down from the set, inside the wall, out the bottom of the wall and up to the HD/DSR that will be on the dresser. I assembled the wall mount. Both of us put it up. He even hooked up the new screen to my old DirecTV box so that we can view this week while we are waiting for DirecTV Guy on Saturday.

I couldn't be happier. As you may recall, we originally were going to take the screen back because it was too large to put on the dresser. My court reporter said, "why don't you just put it on the wall." Hmmmm . . . When we did that, it suddenly because just right for the space around it. We don't have to take it back.

It is a Samsung, 40" screen, LED, 1080 resolution with 120Hz. I think that is about as good as it gets - at least it is for me.

 

[Ropey]

All I'm going to say is you both must have an understanding Best Buy, the guys at the store here, look it over and you over and everyone else in the line before they might let you you return it. We were at Best Buy last year and the return line wasn't all that long , but we wanted to exchange a UPS system we got there, because some rocket scientist forgot to ship it with the battery *LOL*. Well, the kid in line kept asking us what we did with the battery, so finally I told him you can go pop the hood on the car if you want and see if i'm using it to start my car. Anyway, good luck George on the HD stuff. and when your DriectTV guy comes ask him about their whole home, its pretty nice.

OK - this just in. We decided to mount the 40" Samsung on the wall, since it was too large to put on the dresser. It worked like a charm! My brother-in-law is a very gifted guy when it comes to doing this kind of work. He came over on Saturday and we spent the day getting the screen up there. I went to CoscCo and got a very sturdy wall mount for two hundred or so. He cut out a portion of the wall in order to install an electrical outlet where the screen will be, and also a conduit to run the Hi Def cord down from the set, inside the wall, out the bottom of the wall and up to the HD/DSR that will be on the dresser. I assembled the wall mount. Both of us put it up. He even hooked up the new screen to my old DirecTV box so that we can view this week while we are waiting for DirecTV Guy on Saturday.

I couldn't be happier. As you may recall, we originally were going to take the screen back because it was too large to put on the dresser. My court reporter said, "why don't you just put it on the wall." Hmmmm . . . When we did that, it suddenly because just right for the space around it. We don't have to take it back.

It is a Samsung, 40" screen, LED, 1080 resolution with 120Hz. I think that is about as good as it gets - at least it is for me.

I would learn where the quick remote key is for your 120hz and be sure to keep it off or on clear when not watching sports or fast paced video/movies. I think you are going to be loving it.

I advise people to watch the person programing the TV via remote, and have them explain what they are doing while you record them via camera if you have one.

Because all that needs to happen is a reset of the system and it's back to square one. It can and does happen. I would have him install the latest firmware as well.

Enjoy George

 

[Navy1960]

All I'm going to say is you both must have an understanding Best Buy, the guys at the store here, look it over and you over and everyone else in the line before they might let you you return it. We were at Best Buy last year and the return line wasn't all that long , but we wanted to exchange a UPS system we got there, because some rocket scientist forgot to ship it with the battery *LOL*. Well, the kid in line kept asking us what we did with the battery, so finally I told him you can go pop the hood on the car if you want and see if i'm using it to start my car. Anyway, good luck George on the HD stuff. and when your DriectTV guy comes ask him about their whole home, its pretty nice.

OK - this just in. We decided to mount the 40" Samsung on the wall, since it was too large to put on the dresser. It worked like a charm! My brother-in-law is a very gifted guy when it comes to doing this kind of work. He came over on Saturday and we spent the day getting the screen up there. I went to CoscCo and got a very sturdy wall mount for two hundred or so. He cut out a portion of the wall in order to install an electrical outlet where the screen will be, and also a conduit to run the Hi Def cord down from the set, inside the wall, out the bottom of the wall and up to the HD/DSR that will be on the dresser. I assembled the wall mount. Both of us put it up. He even hooked up the new screen to my old DirecTV box so that we can view this week while we are waiting for DirecTV Guy on Saturday.

I couldn't be happier. As you may recall, we originally were going to take the screen back because it was too large to put on the dresser. My court reporter said, "why don't you just put it on the wall." Hmmmm . . . When we did that, it suddenly because just right for the space around it. We don't have to take it back.

It is a Samsung, 40" screen, LED, 1080 resolution with 120Hz. I think that is about as good as it gets - at least it is for me.

I would learn where the quick remote key is for your 120hz and be sure to keep it off or on clear when not watching sports or fast paced video/movies. I think you are going to be loving it.

I advise people to watch the person programing the TV via remote, and have them explain what they are doing while you record them via camera if you have one.

Because all that needs to happen is a reset of the system and it's back to square one. It can and does happen. I would have him install the latest firmware as well.

Enjoy George

Good point on the programing the remote. especially if you have one in the bedroom and leave the door open to the living room and "whoops" turn the TV off you didn't want too. LOL

 

[George Costanza]

I would learn where the quick remote key is for your 120hz and be sure to keep it off or on clear when not watching sports or fast paced video/movies. I think you are going to be loving it.

I am not sure I undersrtand what you are talking about here. What is it that I should keep "off or on clear" when not watching sports or fast paced flicks? Will I be somehow able to deactivate the 120hz ability whenever I want to? What's that all about?

I advise people to watch the person programing the TV via remote, and have them explain what they are doing while you record them via camera if you have one.

Because all that needs to happen is a reset of the system and it's back to square one. It can and does happen. I would have him install the latest firmware as well.

Enjoy George

Define a "reset of the system." Are you talking about where a power failure shuts everything down? Or something else? And what is firmware?

 

[Ropey]

I would learn where the quick remote key is for your 120hz and be sure to keep it off or on clear when not watching sports or fast paced video/movies. I think you are going to be loving it.

I am not sure I understand what you are talking about here. What is it that I should keep "off or on clear" when not watching sports or fast paced flicks? Will I be somehow able to deactivate the 120hz ability whenever I want to? What's that all about?

Yes, you can disable the 120hz. 120Hz is a slide shuffling technology that inserts frames (slides) into the stream and this allows for a smoother fast pan. If you watch LCD's in fast panning movements or sports where there's a lot of speed then you will see a bit of a 'shudder' at 60hz.

The 120Hz helps smooth this out, but it does so at the loss of sharpness which the fast movement does not need as much. So then, when you are watching slower pace news, shows that are not fast moving or even browsing the Web you will be able to choose the frame options. One will be clear and that's the one I use for nominal viewing.

Define a "reset of the system." Are you talking about where a power failure shuts everything down? Or something else? And what is firmware?

Sometimes there will be a power outage or even simply an electronic anomaly that can serve to lose the information that will be set into your monitor by the fellow that programs it.

The firmware is the instruction set for the electronics of the panel controls. If there is a new one out and this could easily be the case, then it's best to have it installed. Easier for the fellow as he knows what to do already. He can download the firmware to your computer and copy it to a flash thumb drive which will then insert into the USB port on your TV.

I'd be certain to have a USB flash device in case he doesn't have one because some of those fellows like to get out of work.

If he doesn't, then I wouldn't worry about it. It's mostly a rule of thumb.

 

[George Costanza]

This just in . . . . DirecTV guy showed up last Saturday (11-5) to install the HD disk on the roof, activate the new DVR's and do everything required to get us up and going. He was a total jerk with an attitude - one of those kind of guys who is part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I won't go into everything he did wrong, but it was plenty. I have beefed him to DirecTV and I hope the sucker loses his job. Nuff said on that.

Both of the high def TV's appear to be in working order. They have been in for almost a week. I am noticing my eyes burning a little and a vague headache after watching the 40" HD in the master bedroom for any period of time - a football game, for example. Is that normal for one who has never watched HD before? I hope so. Hate to think I will have this problem the rest of my life with HD. (The resolutions is 1080.)

I am a little concerned about some jerkiness in motion situations. it doesn't happen very often, but often enough to cause concern. Example: Watching a gold tournament. Camera follows the ball in the air, close up. As ball descends toward the green, camera pans back a bit to broaden the view and give a better perspective of where ball is in relation to the green (fairly standard procedure for filing golf events). As the ball descends, it will pause for a fraction of a second and then continue on its downward flight. Very subtle, but also noticeable. Second example: A person will make a sudden movement - a turn of the head, an arm movement, etc. Again, I will see a slight delay during the movement.

I paid a lot of bucks for a 120HZ set. I thought the whole purpose of the higher HZ number was to avoid precisely that - jerkiness of movement. What's up with this?

All of that is the bad news. The good news is, I love it! I find myself looking at the mountains for real, and my mind says: "That's just like HD!" It is, of course. That's how sharp all of this is.

 

[Ropey]

This just in . . . . DirecTV guy showed up last Saturday (11-5) to install the HD disk on the roof, activate the new DVR's and do everything required to get us up and going. He was a total jerk with an attitude - one of those kind of guys who is part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I won't go into everything he did wrong, but it was plenty. I have beefed him to DirecTV and I hope the sucker loses his job. Nuff said on that.

Both of the high def TV's appear to be in working order. They have been in for almost a week. I am noticing my eyes burning a little and a vague headache after watching the 40" HD in the master bedroom for any period of time - a football game, for example. Is that normal for one who has never watched HD before? I hope so. Hate to think I will have this problem the rest of my life with HD. (The resolutions is 1080.)

I am a little concerned about some jerkiness in motion situations. it doesn't happen very often, but often enough to cause concern. Example: Watching a gold tournament. Camera follows the ball in the air, close up. As ball descends toward the green, camera pans back a bit to broaden the view and give a better perspective of where ball is in relation to the green (fairly standard procedure for filing golf events). As the ball descends, it will pause for a fraction of a second and then continue on its downward flight. Very subtle, but also noticeable. Second example: A person will make a sudden movement - a turn of the head, an arm movement, etc. Again, I will see a slight delay during the movement.

I paid a lot of bucks for a 120HZ set. I thought the whole purpose of the higher HZ number was to avoid precisely that - jerkiness of movement. What's up with this?

All of that is the bad news. The good news is, I love it! I find myself looking at the mountains for real, and my mind says: "That's just like HD!" It is, of course. That's how sharp all of this is.

I would set from 120Hz to 720p as a 40" is still kind of tight for 1080p. See how that works. Also, in your setup, set the 120Hz to Smooth and the mode to Dynamic.

See how that works out.

 

[George Costanza]

This just in . . . . DirecTV guy showed up last Saturday (11-5) to install the HD disk on the roof, activate the new DVR's and do everything required to get us up and going. He was a total jerk with an attitude - one of those kind of guys who is part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I won't go into everything he did wrong, but it was plenty. I have beefed him to DirecTV and I hope the sucker loses his job. Nuff said on that.

Both of the high def TV's appear to be in working order. They have been in for almost a week. I am noticing my eyes burning a little and a vague headache after watching the 40" HD in the master bedroom for any period of time - a football game, for example. Is that normal for one who has never watched HD before? I hope so. Hate to think I will have this problem the rest of my life with HD. (The resolutions is 1080.)

I am a little concerned about some jerkiness in motion situations. it doesn't happen very often, but often enough to cause concern. Example: Watching a gold tournament. Camera follows the ball in the air, close up. As ball descends toward the green, camera pans back a bit to broaden the view and give a better perspective of where ball is in relation to the green (fairly standard procedure for filing golf events). As the ball descends, it will pause for a fraction of a second and then continue on its downward flight. Very subtle, but also noticeable. Second example: A person will make a sudden movement - a turn of the head, an arm movement, etc. Again, I will see a slight delay during the movement.

I paid a lot of bucks for a 120HZ set. I thought the whole purpose of the higher HZ number was to avoid precisely that - jerkiness of movement. What's up with this?

All of that is the bad news. The good news is, I love it! I find myself looking at the mountains for real, and my mind says: "That's just like HD!" It is, of course. That's how sharp all of this is.

I would set from 120Hz to 720p as a 40" is still kind of tight for 1080p. See how that works. Also, in your setup, set the 120Hz to Smooth and the mode to Dynamic.

See how that works out.

OK, I think I know what you are talking about. I can get into the Samsung setup using the Samsung remote. Will muck around in there and see if I can set the120 to smooth and the mode to dynamic. Not sure I know how to do the first thing you are talking about.

I suspect all is OK - DirecTV isn't perfect with their signal all the time.

 

[George Costanza]

I would set from 120Hz to 720p as a 40" is still kind of tight for 1080p.

I don't know how to do this. I don't see anything in either my Samsung Menu or my DirecTV Menu that allows me to change 120Hz in any way. I don't even see a reference to 120Hz anywhere in there.

Also, in your setup, set the 120Hz to Smooth and the mode to Dynamic.

Again - I can't find any option allowing me to set 120Hz to anything. When you say "Mode," are you talking about Picture Mode? Right now it is set at Standard. I can change it to Dynamic if I desire. Will that address this jerkiness of motion issue?

 

[Ropey]

I would set from 120Hz to 720p as a 40" is still kind of tight for 1080p.

I don't know how to do this. I don't see anything in either my Samsung Menu or my DirecTV Menu that allows me to change 120Hz in any way. I don't even see a reference to 120Hz anywhere in there.

Also, in your setup, set the 120Hz to Smooth and the mode to Dynamic.

Again - I can't find any option allowing me to set 120Hz to anything. When you say "Mode," are you talking about Picture Mode? Right now it is set at Standard. I can change it to Dynamic if I desire. Will that address this jerkiness of motion issue?

This is a case where you likely will need to read the manual for your remote control George. It will show you how to set your Picture Mode to Dynamic (as well as other modes) and to choose different options for the 120Hz frame insertion function. Play around and find what works for your eyes.