[aesculanus]

i posted in another part of the forum, but it was apparently the "wrong" place so:


It's becoming questionable in my research as to whether I should be considering HDTV at all before I put down nearly $600.


The Toshiba 30DF56 is a widescreen, 480i SD CRT. given a viewing distance just under 9.5' and a 30" display, will going HDTV lend any noticable advantage at all?


Damn I wish I could just look at some of these freaking things before having to put down cash on them.

 

[infinitespecter]

I don't understand what you are asking. Are you asking if HD on an SD set is worth it, or if you should consider something else besides the Toshiba SD set?

 

[aesculanus]

I am asking will i notice/benefit from the sanyo hd over the tosbhiba sd with this viewing setup

 

[Shifty_Effect]



Quote:
Originally Posted by aesculanus /forum/post/0


i posted in another part of the forum, but it was apparently the "wrong" place so:


It's becoming questionable in my research as to whether I should be considering HDTV at all before I put down nearly $600.


The Toshiba 30DF56 is a widescreen, 480i SD CRT. given a viewing distance just under 9.5' and a 30" display, will going HDTV lend any noticable advantage at all?


Damn I wish I could just look at some of these freaking things before having to put down cash on them.

First off, all hd tvs should be viewed at an optimal distance of 1.5x or at the most 2x the view screen size. so 30" tv x 1.5 = 45" / 12 = 3.75 ft away. HD is in my opinion better than sd of course. Some people need to have it, some dont care as much. Going to hd even with a 30" tv gives an improved picture, but 9.5 ft away from any tv sd or hd is useless. Toshiba makes some good widescreen hd tvs with a native resolution of 1080i. They will look great in hd, because the high broadcast signal in hd is 1080i. Im not sure what you were asking but i tried lol

 

[lastxbr960]

Detail wise you need to sit closer to see the detail, how close depends on many factors, including your eyes, room lighting, the TV, etc..

However you will, or at least should notice better overall contrast, color, clarity, and sharpness at virtually any distance with a "Quality HD set" vs a similar size "Quality SD set" viewing high bandwith HD material, IMHO.

Viewing SD: the SD vs HD set: The SD set may well be equal or even better at virtually any distance.

 

[aesculanus]

That's pretty much what I concluded: given the screen sizes i'm looking at and considering the viewing distance from the couch to the TV, going HD is just costing more money without any noticable increase in viewing quality.

 

[Bobby_D]

Distance should not deciding factor for whether getting HDTV or nor not. The type of programming you will watch will be the deciding factor.


My distance is 9 feet and 32 inch TV is just perfect. My viewing habit is mostly DVDs so I opted for 32 inch SD TV (for now). But if you are a gamer or have HD cable/satellite feed, then a 30 (or 34 inch) HDTV might be right up your alley.


It all depend on your viewing habit.

 

[aesculanus]

DVDs are without question my intended primary use (well over 75% of the time). i don't play any video games either. but i was told that SDTVs can't deliver "true" DVD performance because they can only display 480i, whereas DVDs run fully at 480p. that's why i've been considering an hdtv.

 

[fugiot]



Quote:
Originally Posted by aesculanus /forum/post/0


DVDs are without question my intended primary use (well over 75% of the time). i don't play any video games either. but i was told that SDTVs can't deliver "true" DVD performance because they can only display 480i, whereas DVDs run fully at 480p. that's why i've been considering an hdtv.

DVDs are encoded on the discs at 480i. Yes 480p is better, but a widescreen 480i set should still be damned nice. And at almost 10 feet away from the set, yeah, screw HD.

 

[justsc]

9.5 feet is too far away from a 30" HD set to appreciate the added resolution. At that distance get a nice SD set. These current SD sets are exceptional.


Enjoy!

 

[gutwrencher]

Agreed....9' is much to far away. I have a 34" and I sit about 6' away...and it seems to be perfect. Does 6' sound about right for a 34?

 

[aesculanus]



Quote:
Originally Posted by fugiot /forum/post/0


DVDs are encoded on the discs at 480i. Yes 480p is better, but a widescreen 480i set should still be damned nice. And at almost 10 feet away from the set, yeah, screw HD.

DVDs only run at 480i? I thought i read it's 480p.

 

[cocoasprinkles]

if you plan on watching normal dvd's (non HD or BR) then "screw HD". I purchased an HD set recently and was dissapointed when i noticed the quality on a DVD wasn't up to par with an SD set. I was dissapointed but i mainly use the set for videogames and primetime programming that is available in HD.


Not to say the HD set looked bad with a regular DVD player just not as good as one would think, i'm actually in the market for an upconvert DVD player. Maybe you can go that route...lots of thinking ahead, trust me.

 

[aesculanus]

I'm planning on using my MacBook's DVI connection to play DVDs... not sure if it can upconvert or not, though i would assume so considering i can set the screen resolution to a number of presets and scale the dvd size on other tvs.


when you say the dvd quality wasn't up to par on your HD, are you referring to a CRT HD? I'd understand if it looks worse on an LCD, but I thought an HD CRT would perform at least as well.

 

[justsc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gutwrencher /forum/post/0


Agreed....9' is much to far away. I have a 34" and I sit about 6' away...and it seems to be perfect. Does 6' sound about right for a 34?

I think the folks that have done the research on distance and screen size have done a good job. I believe their formula is 1.5 X screen size. For my 34" set, that's about 4.3 feet away. And that's pretty much where I have it. For me, six feet would be about the furthest away I'd want to be, but I could do it.

 

[justsc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by aesculanus /forum/post/0


DVDs only run at 480i? I thought i read it's 480p.

When movies are mastered onto dvds, they are "encoded" at 480i. That's the standard. This comes from a time when most had standard crt interlaced tvs and all they could receive was 480i. But most folks today have dvd players featuring progressive scan (PS). These players can deinterlace the signal and output to the tv at 480p. If one has a tv that can receive/display at least 480p, then they can take advantage of PS.

 

[Bobby_D]

I just found this chart from Sounde&Vision magazine. It recommend ideal siting distance for SD and HD TVs.


Hope it help.

For larger photo........
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ass...alk2_large.jpg

 

[aesculanus]

Yeah, I think my mind is made up. considering i really just want to watch DVDs, and that the Toshiba has a 26" screen (not mention QAM and ATSC), i may as well save $150 bucks and get the 26DF56.


Thanks guys, feel like I can finally lay this one to rest.

 

[MechanicalMan]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby_D /forum/post/0


I just found this chart from Sounde&Vision magazine. It recommend ideal siting distance for SD and HD TVs.

Thanks for the link.


edit: BTW, I watch a lot of ~25" 16:9 480i stuff from only ~4' away, and it isn't objectionable.