XBox 360 HDTV options

[silhouette]

Yes he vertical axis is the worst. But really, DLPs have awful viewing angles compared to everything else.

As i said, for some people it's fine, for some people it ain't. all depends on the uses really, if all you do it sit right in front of it it's fine. If not, it can become a problem.

Do you have a DLP or is it something you read in somewhere else. I have a DLP TV (not one of the newest one), and I do not have any problem with horizantal axis. The colors are still the same if I sit more than 45 degree off the axis. However, in terms of vertical axis, you are right. The colors starts to wash out if you are more than 20 degree off the axis. However, I do not understand why you want to watch TV by having large vertical/horizantal angle.

 

[London Geezer]

Do you have a DLP or is it something you read in somewhere else. I have a DLP TV (not one of the newest one), and I do not have any problem with horizantal axis. The colors are still the same if I sit more than 45 degree off the axis. However, in terms of vertical axis, you are right. The colors starts to wash out if you are more than 20 degree off the axis. However, I do not understand why you want to watch TV by having large vertical/horizantal angle.

As i said, different people have different needs. I was looking to buy a DLP (best bang for buck really in terms of size and IQ) but had to leave it because if there's lots of people round the house watching a movie, i expect some to be sitting at an angle that's bigger than 45 degrees.
Plasma and LCDs have 170-180 degrees viewing angles. Not that anyone will actually be sitting at that kind of angles, but it's a safety measure. 90 degrees should be fine, but DLPs cant do that, and the next step is LCDs and plasmas with much higher viewing angles.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Umm, isn't a 180degree viewing angle basically looking at the back of the TV!? 90Degrees would be perpendicular to the TV!

Mckmass, apparantly you are supposed to view DLP's in person, because some peope percieve "rainbow' effects due to sensitivety in their eyes.

Also, i'd highly recommend NOT buying a TV on the internet, use your own 2 eyes, only you know what looks best to you.

 

[London Geezer]

Umm, isn't a 180degree viewing angle basically looking at the back of the TV!? 90Degrees would be perpendicular to the TV!

Mckmass, apparantly you are supposed to view DLP's in person, because some peope percieve "rainbow' effects due to sensitivety in their eyes.

Also, i'd highly recommend NOT buying a TV on the internet, use your own 2 eyes, only you know what looks best to you.

mmm I'm pretty sure "viewing angles" means "aperture" so to speak. So a 45 degree angle means you have 22.5 degrees by each side. a 90 degrees angle means you have 45 degrees on each side, and 180 is basically looking at the side.
As i said, 170-180 degrees are useless, but much better than a 45 degrees. 90-120 would be fine.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Ahhh, gotcha!

 

[London Geezer]

Learn something new everyday huh

 

[scooby_dooby]

On this forum? Hell ya

 

[Windfire]

Thanks to everyone for your input. As I suspected, the picture is anything but clear unless you want to spend major $$$ for gaming.

I currently have a 50" wide-screen Toshiba Cinima Series, but I don't want to risk burn in.

Windfire

I am looking for a good LCD HDTV for DVD, TV and gaming. See this thread: http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24230

I have no conclusion but the best LCD bet around $1200 looks like to be the Sony KLVS26A10.

I wish some respectable site (B3D) could write an article about LCDs and HDTV gaming.

Thanks, I'll see what everyone says in that thread too.

Steve (aka Windfire)

 

[Windfire]

I also wanted to let you know I ran into a potential land-mine in my investigation.

I was really tempted to pick up a refurbished Philips 30" wide-screen (30PW8420). They have them for $399 (which is a great price even if not perfect). It has HDMI as well.

Unfortunately, the following Philips TVs (MODELS 30PW8402, 30PW8420, 30PW9110D) support the following:

COMPONENT INPUT: 480i, 480p
HDMI INPUT: 480p, 1080i (720p is upped to 1080i)

As the 360 only has component out, this would be a BAD situation. Be warned.


Thanks,
Steve

 

[Windfire]

I've got a 27" Samsung (4:3) (480p, 1080i upconverts 720p). What you HAVE to look for (if your getting PS3 or anything that messes with HDCP) is a HDCP compliant TV. Meaning, if you get a TV that ONLY has DVI, make sure its HDCP compliant (fortunatley mine is).

I got it for around $700. I wish I got the 26" WideScreen version, but I can live with this. Its pretty good quality, I have my PC connected to it and have played HD content (WMV-HD) and it looks WONDERFULL. Its probably around $500-600 at this point in time. I really recommend it.

This is the route I've been considering (however, wide-screen). 30" wide-screens seem to be around $700-$800.

Alas, that is still more than I want to spend. I've seen 26" wide-screen for around $500. I might look into that.

P.S.: another option I have is to get another Dell 2405 24" LCD and use it. It can certainly support 1080i (being 1920x1200) but it will be letter boxed unless I stretch the picture to the 16x10 aspect ratio.

 

[silhouette]

mmm I'm pretty sure "viewing angles" means "aperture" so to speak. So a 45 degree angle means you have 22.5 degrees by each side. a 90 degrees angle means you have 45 degrees on each side, and 180 is basically looking at the side.
As i said, 170-180 degrees are useless, but much better than a 45 degrees. 90-120 would be fine.

London-boy, when I wrote 45 degree, I mean 45 degree off the axis, so I can safely say that DLP has more than 90 degrees horizontal viewing angles. Also, do not judge it with the showrooms. DLPs look much better when you take it to the home and adjust picture parameters according to your environment lighting. But, as I mentioned, vertical viewing angles are much smaller for DLPs as you pointed out. Maybe tops at 20 degree. So, if someone is watching the movie sitting on the ground, then yes, she/he would probably see more washed out picture. Anyway, I mostly watch TV when I am alone, so the viewing angle is not a problem for myself.

Scooby, I have been using DLP for 8 months, and there is only one time that I saw that rainbow effect (it was on a scene of cowboy bebop, the movie ). So, I think that problem is exagerated a lot.

One other misconception is DLP is not direct competitor of LCD. The smallest DLPs start at 46", while the largest LCD's usually tops at that size. So, I think it is only meaningful to compare plasmas and DLPs. Anyway, both are excellent technologies, and have been refined for a long time. So, one can not be wrong by getting either of them.

EDIT: The rainbow problem and viewing angle may vary from one DLP model to another. The model I have is Samsung 4674 (one generation older than the ones on the market today).

 

[A176]

the majority of plasmas and crts that are commonly available support only 480i/1080i (480p with deinterlacing in some cases). you'd be especially hard pressed with plasmas in terms of resolution.

in terms of best-bang-for-buck, there are now several LCDs on the market by "no-name" brands that offer 720p resolution - and if you do some searching, you'll find sets with digital inputs as well.

these sets can be had (approx) for about $500+ USD in the range of 20-29 inches.

of course, the best advice would be to just goto a store and see the set with your own eyes

 

[mckmas8808]

Mckmass, apparantly you are supposed to view DLP's in person, because some peope percieve "rainbow' effects due to sensitivety in their eyes.

Also, i'd highly recommend NOT buying a TV on the internet, use your own 2 eyes, only you know what looks best to you.

Hey scooby when I go to Bestbuy the DLPs seem to look the best to me. Well actually the Plasmas look better but the guy there told me if I want to put a PS3 on it then it will be trash in less than 2 years. He also said that the brightness dies out faster than DLPs.

And you are right buying a HDTV over the internet is crazy, unless you've seen it in person first.