[mythtv-users] OT: Need a new HDTV

Stroller linux.luser at myrealbox.com
Mon Jan 15 17:44:51 UTC 2007


On 15 Jan 2007, at 06:03, Dewey Smolka wrote:
> ...
> The best advice I can give you is to look for displays first from
> computer retailers like Microcenter. SInce HD displays are much more
> akin to computer displays than traditional TVs, you'll get a much
> better deal, or at least a better selection through an IT vendor than
> through 'Vinnie's Discount TVs'.
> ...
> Look for systems that don't have integrated tuners if you
> are using a Myth machine or other external device for your signal --
> the tuner can add $100 or more to the cost of the display...

I'd absolutely love to UK pricing that corroborates these statements.  
Things may be quite different in the USA, but I'm knackered if I can  
find a tunerless panel in the UK at a decent price. I can only assume  
that here the volume of sales of tellies exceeds that of panels to  
such a degree, affecting cost of production, distribution, marketing  
&c. Certainly, the competition amongst the superstore chains is in  
TVs, and if I can find a tunerless panel I expect it to be from a  
smaller, premium-priced specialist.

I started looking at new screens a week ago, and if I found a nice  
1280 x 720 panel at a decent price I'd subsequently found a TV at  
1920 x 1080 for the same money. I might be comparing a name-brand  
panel with a smeg-brand TV, but reading user reports (eg: <http:// 
avforums.com>) I find that the smeg-brand TV gives perfectly crisp &  
sharp images when used with VGA or DVI input. Long warranties are  
also readily available from high-street stores.

I find myself looking at LCDs rather than plasmas because anything  
but 1:1 resolution bothers me - how well can Myth display a 16:9  
image on a screen with 1080 x 720 resolution? Perhaps it's just my  
ignorance of the field, but those ratios just don't make sense to me.

Stroller.



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