[Daniel S]

Hi,


This is my first post so please be gentle...... I have a 32" Samsung Tantus HD Compatible TV. It's a CRT and weighs a tonne!!! The front panel says that it is a 1080i TV and it does not have any HDMi or DVI inputs. It has 3 x sets of component inputs and S-Video inputs.


My questions are:


1. What is the max. resolution that I can get out of this TV and what are the best inputs for me to use. Assuming that the component inputs are the way to go, was is the max. resolution that you can get going into the TV?


2. My current DVD player maxes at 480p and I was looking at replacing it anyway. Should I buy one of those upconverting DVD players and if so, should I upconvert to 750p or 1080i? Which is better?


3. Would you recommend upgrading to a Blu-Ray (or HD DVD) so that when I do (eventually) replace my pre-historic CRT, my DVD will be compatible? Do these HD players come with component outputs and do they down-scale to a lesser resolution?



I'm really considering just getting an up-converting DVD player but am afraid it will be a waste of money if I change my current TV for a plasma one like I'm planning to within the next year or so anyway. I'm getting the run-around from the sales people who just try to upsell me to a new TV without answering these very simple questions. My guess is that they do not know how.



Please help !!


Thanks, Daniel

 

[geiger9]

Welcome to AVS, I am kinda new here too. I cannot use apostrophes right now because the proxy I am behind replaces them with slashes hehe.


1. What is the model # on your TV?


2. If you are not going with a Blu-ray player, I suggest getting an Oppo DVD player. They can play anything you throw at it and it can upconvert.

 

[raouliii]

Your CRT very likely upconverts SD internally for display. An upconverting player may not provide much improvement over this internal upconversion.

 

[googleme7]

Well, first of all you can't use an upconvert player because you don't have HDMI or DVI. You can buy that player, but you would have to run it through component which doesn't upconvert, so you would just be wasting your money.


Second, the max vertical resolution you can display is 1080i, I am not sure of the horizontal resolution. You could utilize a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player through component video. Since you have 1080i, I believe that an HD-DVD Player would only output at 720p on your display and then the tv will upconvert it to 1080i. I am honestly not sure if they even output 1080p through component, but even if they did, you would get either no picture or a bunch of distorted lines.


Going HD-DVD would probably to the naked eye look slightly better than a standard DVD, depending on how close you look. It might be like going from video cables to S-Video. A little sharper, a little more color. So you would need to decide if that is worth the money to you. Personally I would wait at least another year or by Christmas to see which format wins out. I guarantee a year from now you will save at least $100 on either model and the movies themselves will probably be a little cheaper.


And the only connection you should be using at this point is Component unless you aren't using a component device.