About to buy my first HDTV & likely will be 37" LCD. Lots of factors while I search.
But I do watch a good many VOD movies that are only 480i. And there will be many regional college games that I'm sure will not be HD that I would like to watch. Considering that, what 32-37" has the best SD pic out there??? This will not be my final factor in deciding. I'm even looking at DLP & RPTV sets too - may be able to go up to 42". Hoping to pull the trigger around Labor Day sales, if any to be found...

Small room, 7-8' viewing distance & angle pretty much always dead on. Just ready to replace/upgrade from my 27" Samsung and finally get an HD set. Will likely also get upconverting DVD player (likely OPPO) as I have tons of SD DVDs I've been saving to watch on larger screen & not ready to pull trigger on BR/HDDVD....

First, you don't want a 32" HDTV. It will look smaller than your current 27".

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think SD would look good on most any of the high quality HDTVs in that size range. I think SD becomes more of an issue as the screen gets bigger.

All I know is SD on my 46" JVC LT-46FN97 just looks "pretty good", while SD on my father's 32" Panasonic TC-32LX70 looks "spectacular". I think the quality difference is as much a function of screen size as anything else.

I get what you're saying ... 32" would be more of just a replacement. But, 16:9 would be "bigger" than what I'm getting on my 27" , but any SD material would only be 25" - I COULD live w/ that ... but don't want to :rolleyes:

MOST of viewing will be HD or at least (some sort of)widescreen ration, so, 32" would be little larger in that aspect....

http://www.tvcalculator.com/

I would not buy a widescreen less than a 37" today for any main room. Smaller is fine for bedroom's and such, but even then.... ;)


-Robert

well, the room is a "converted" bedroom. 11.5x11.5 Viewing distance is approx 7' right now. If I go flat panel on wall it goes to about 8'. So let's say 7'-9'. A 32" 16:9 would give me 28"x16" ... a decent amount larger than viewing 16:9 on my 27" 4:3 crt (22x12) ...so, yeah, 37" diagonal would be better & 42" would be great...50" would max out from my viewing distance....

I'm really worried about LCD lag on sports & action, which there will be ALOT of, & SD is more of a consideration for my GF....

Approx breakdown of watching habits: me - 60% HD, 30% DVD (plan on upconverting DVD), 10% SD GF - 50/50 HD & SD & of course that is when I'm not home... :rolleyes:

So, I know this is a flat panel forum, but what about 42" Samsung DLP??
I'm not bothered by rainbows & no angle issues from seating in this room.
Have found Sony 37" RP LCD & Samsung 42" RP DLP for same price....
Am I crazy just not going w/ DLP??? But I would really like to spend about $200 less than what these run.... :rolleyes: To many IFs, ANDs, BUTs....

I find that the SD quality in 480i varies so much, that it could be hard to say. Maybe it's my cable but I can say that some stuff on say FOX or USA and even Fox News is pretty bad, while watching Miami Vice on Sleuth is very good quality. Some channels are better if I switch over to my dish... (we have both since the wife works for Time Warner cable, and it's free - but I can't give up my NFL Network or NFL Sunday Ticket :D )

So if a good percentage of your SD viewing will be from your DVD player, then I think it's less of a consideration. From what you said, it's really only going to be a big consideration for 10% of your viewing. If your girlfirend's not that concerned with picture quality - I wouldn't worry too much about it. Go for the best HD quality you can get and you'll be fine.

The bad news is that you won't be able to tell as much about the SD signal quality until you get your HD display.

Heath

Does screen size factor into SD quality? For example, I'm currently deciding between a Vizio 37'' and a Vizio 42'' LCD. Would SD programming automatically look worse on the 42'' because of the size?

Any TVs or Cable boxes that upscale 480i cable content to say 1080p?

Does screen size factor into SD quality? For example, I'm currently deciding between a Vizio 37'' and a Vizio 42'' LCD. Would SD programming automatically look worse on the 42'' because of the size?

It would be diminished to some degree.