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New TV search
EclecticGroove
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I'm looking to be in the market for a new TV. Currently I have an old Loewe Aconda 30'' tv. It's awesome to look at, but it's old, HUGE.
But, more importantly.. It has limited capability for new devices. It only supports 720P as a standard, and anything higher is essentially a really funky custom variation of 1xxx resolutions. One of the things I really love about it is its stellar black level, which is understandably hard to get on a flat panel.
Things of note that I'd like to do:
1) Used for DVD's and netflix most of the time.
2) While the 360 will be the primary system I have a bevvy of older systems I hook up at times. From the PS2 back to the Genesis. Any new TV needs to be able to handle some s video and composite input as well as component and HDMI/DVI.
3) I'd love to have this available as a secondary display for my PC (currently possible with mine but horrible low resolution).
4) I'd love to be able to do all of those without swapping a bunch of wires around all the time. Hooking up the older systems 1/2 at a time is perfectly acceptable however.
I've been looking around and there's plenty that has the raw specs, but it's hard to get a real world feel for them as even the show rooms have the settings crappy and limited info of use.
Anyone here have recommendations for something that would satisfy the above, look good, perform well, and be a decent build quality that won't break down? My Loewe has been going for about 7 years of pretty hard use.
Sizes are a minimum of 30 inch widescreen, but anything up to ~50 inches diagonal would work so long as it's not too much $$$,
But, more importantly.. It has limited capability for new devices. It only supports 720P as a standard, and anything higher is essentially a really funky custom variation of 1xxx resolutions. One of the things I really love about it is its stellar black level, which is understandably hard to get on a flat panel.
Things of note that I'd like to do:
1) Used for DVD's and netflix most of the time.
2) While the 360 will be the primary system I have a bevvy of older systems I hook up at times. From the PS2 back to the Genesis. Any new TV needs to be able to handle some s video and composite input as well as component and HDMI/DVI.
3) I'd love to have this available as a secondary display for my PC (currently possible with mine but horrible low resolution).
4) I'd love to be able to do all of those without swapping a bunch of wires around all the time. Hooking up the older systems 1/2 at a time is perfectly acceptable however.
I've been looking around and there's plenty that has the raw specs, but it's hard to get a real world feel for them as even the show rooms have the settings crappy and limited info of use.
Anyone here have recommendations for something that would satisfy the above, look good, perform well, and be a decent build quality that won't break down? My Loewe has been going for about 7 years of pretty hard use.
Sizes are a minimum of 30 inch widescreen, but anything up to ~50 inches diagonal would work so long as it's not too much $$$,
EclecticGroove on
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EDIT: I have a Sony Bravia KDL-40EX500 and I love it. ( http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BRAVIA-500-40-Inch-Black/dp/B0035ER1I2 )
Great picture. Really solid. Easy to use. I'm an LCD fan personally. I had a plasma (a highly rated Panasonic) before the Sony and it literally tripled my power bill.
I think you're going to have some issues finding much with S-Video nowadays. Though I'm sure there's probably some sort of adapter or hub you can get.
Basically, I highly recommend any of those LNA/B TVs, at least past LNA650 (they added new features at that point, although some of the units made before our LNA750 had a bit of trouble with build quality it seems), and we've been extremely happy with ours. I think it's been the general consensus over the last couple years that Samsung makes great TVs for a good price, the line I'm referring to in particular. I've also heard good things about Sony's TVs recently, too, that's true.
I have a switch like that, but I know some flat panels are absolutely terrible about upscaling content from analog sources other than Component (and some even with that).
And I've been looking at some of the Samsung models, they look pretty good. the UNxxD6xxx line in specific is the one's I've been looking into.
My price ranges are pretty lenient. ~2K USD is the most I'm looking to spend on a TV, but the lower the better if it's a quality TV.
2k is quite a bit. You can definitely go lower than that. I'd recommend looking at the "viewing distance chart" in the TV thread over in the technology sub-forum ( http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/141038/the-tv-thread-more-for-less/p1 ) to see the size you need.
And yeah, your PS2 is going to look horrible on your new TV. I have an SNES hooked up to mine and that looks pretty good though since jaggies were par for course in the day.
Yeah, I've used charts like that the 40 inch is pretty much my sweet spot for a 1080p TV. But I would not be adverse to a bit smaller or bigger depending on price/features.
As for the PS2/Dreamcast and earlier systems, yeah I don't expect much out of that. I'm more worried about things like extreme latency from the upscaling. I've seen a few older LCD's that were so noticeable that the A/V was actually out of synch because of it.
That's the sort of thing I don't really have a good way to check and need to rely on finding people that have tested/used various models. I doubt I could roll into a bestbuy with an old console and ask them if I could hook it up to each tv to test it out.
So, after looking at various models and checking out a local b&m place with TV's on display, I wound up going with the Panasonic tc-p50gt30 plasma.
I went with the plasma since the blacks looks much deeper on this than the LCD's I saw (not that they were bad), and the power use really isn't an issue since it is still using less than my old beast of a tube HDTV.
Pricing was ~1400 and change after tax for a 50 inch. They had "free" shipping but a mandatory $99 basic instal fee, which was fine since it got it to my place and they helped me move my old TV (HEAVY and unwieldy) so all good.
So far I like it, and the only complaint I had seen about this TV is in regards to it's an automatic function that adjusts brightness/contrast... which I've seen no evidence of so far all day today. It's possible this is the C.A.T.S function (disabled) and maybe older versions of the TV firmware didn't have the option to disable... but hey, so far I like it.
What's the model of the TV?
I don't know anything about your specific model, but based on my Samsung LCD TV, if there isn't a composite connection on the side of the TV, I think at least one of the component connections I assume is in the back (are they red/green/blue with the usual white/red for audio next to them? That's component, which would give better picture quality if you had the better cable for it) should work just like the yellow/red/white connection you're used to. Plug in the red and white plugs where the seperate red/white ones are, and then move the yellow around between the other three until you find the one that works. I think the last time I did this, it turned out to be the blue one that made it work? Not sure. Assuming this is correct, the source you're looking for on the TV should be labeled as AV1/2 (again, based on my own TV). If it doesn't show up in the source list, close and reopen the source menu, and/or turn the TV off and back on again.
Otherwise, check your user manual. There should be a neat couple of pages where they show, and usually explain, every single one of the connections available on your TV.
Like he said, check to see if you have 1 or two adapters that came with your TV. My new tv has combo jacks like this as well. You basically turn the composite video or component video into what most people would call headphone type adapters. Then those plug into the TV. It lets them reuse the same ports for both types but also have less ports on the TV. My component for instance merges all 3 video cables into 1, and then both audio cables into 1, resulting in 2 connections to the TV instead of of 5.
For composite it would be the same 2 connections into the TV instead of the normal 3.