Looking To Buy Wide Screen TV

Sean- I have always felt that the WEGA flat screens DO NOT have accurate geometry; the picture always looks concave. My Planus is not a flat screen, it has an arc from side to side, but is relatively flat top to bottom. There was a technical explanation in a post a year or two ago on this issue. But IMO, a true flat screen, at least as executed by SONY, is distorted. And to all of you SONY fans, if you like then god bless. Just my 0.02 (BTW, this is one of the few things my wife agrees with me on, so I MUST be right ;))

yes I think I have heard that some place too, about flat being "inaccurate". Prior to the Wega was the Trinitron TV's which use similar design as Craigs Loewe, they use a cylindrical tube section instead of a round tube section, thus creating the relatively flat top to bottom. FWIW the smaller Aconda is flat and the bigger one has the side to side arc but no top to bottom, which there is rumor that by the end of the year(now 12 months away) the large aconda will be flat too, though I can not confirm or deny that. Why do companies make flat screen TV's, so people who don't know any different can brag? I think most feel it is close to the "plasma" idea of a flat screen which when I tell them. "I have a 100" flat screen", to bad it vinyl, I don't tell them the later part of that they don't need to know.

Lefty,

I would advise you to go check out the excellent forum on the matter: www.avsforum.com In my opinion it's the #1 site for information on the subject of widescreen/HDTV. Another excellent site is: hometheaterspot.com. These 2 sources should be able to answer all of your questions.

Spend some time in these sites and you should be able to pick up the information you need to make an informed choice.

I was recently in the same position as yourself. The first thing that I would advise you to do before investing in any HDTV is determine what digital channels are available in your area. If you are in a major market you should be OK and might possibly be able to get all your major networks digital stations. This will first help you to determine if you can get HDTV. The only real reasons to get a widescreen are you want HDTV or the majority of DVD's you watch are in an aspect ratio other than 4:3, right?

Ok, so once you decide if you can get HDTV and you still want a widescreen your next choice which be which manufacturer. Some things to keep in mind. Right now you are faced with purchasing both a Television and a set-top/HDTV/Satellite receiver. All the major manufacturers set top/HDTV box's are also Direct-TV satellite receivers. A subscription to Direct TV will also be a good idea as it will at least allow you to receive HBO High Def channel, and the HDNET (new high def channel). Add this to whatever digital locals you are able to receive and you will have a nice choice of HDTV programming.

Oh yeah, you are going to need an antenna mounted on your roof. Some have had success with indoor rabbit types but the optimum choice will most likely be a roof/mast mount UHF antenna. Again this will depend on whats available in you area.

This brings us to the TV itself. I have seen the Louwe televisions, they are nice but expensive. Kind of like the Bang and Olufson. I think you are paying extra bucks for a fancy looking tv. But don't take my advice read what others have stated in the forums I mention above.

Right now the major players, SOny, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi all offer very nice rear-projection televisions that make HDTV look just superb. A smaller size 40" you can pick up for around 1500.00 new from authorized dealer. You can go bigger and spend more.

The television I choose was the 40" wide toshiba 40H80. I just love it and would recommend to others. The new model is the 42H81. This is also supposed to be superb, but go see for yourself.

The majority of reviewers recommend using the same manufactures set - top bot Toshiba/Toshiba, Sony/Sony. This will avoid any compatibility issues and is also encouraged by myself. I went with the Toshiba DST3000. This receiver pulls in all my local digital stations here in the bay area, perfectly.

I use the channel master 4 bay bowtie which costs about 25 bucks from Stark Electronics. I think it cost another 25 to ship it. I got all my antenna accessories for cheap at radio shack. This is one area they still reign supreme.

Next time you go into good guys, ask em if they have any UHF antennas for HDTV, They will either say, Huh??? or try to sell you a 500.00 Terk that you don't want or need.

I think at this stage in the HDTV game, I wouldn't believe a thing you hear from the mass market guys. DO your research on the sites I've suggested and I think you will be able to find your way to HDTV bliss.

Good luck

Good summary from deep ellem and I would definately second the avsforum recommendations. However, it does get pretty technical sometimes; probably what the HDTV folks say when they get here.

if ya got the digital thing on ya mind......make sure your tv has a digital decoder built in(if not a digital tv)(who can afford one>?) all the new tv's in the uk are widescreen period as that is the bradcasting format...also they broadcast in digital....my mother recently had to get a digital box connected into the house via a phone line as her tv is not digital--my friends bought new tv's and the decoder is built into the anlogue tv--no one i know can afford a digi tv..........so either a digi box converter or a digi read tv.... a question! why on earth did europe go widescreen its a very fatigue watching format all the time and sux for video games and you have to buy the biggest screen there is to get any sizeable picture-----have u seen a 28inch widescreen or 32---its so small--i'd go no less than a 36"---and i havnt seen any good rear projectors ever!!! i'd go glass screen...