What's the big deal with flatscreen TVs? :s

Can someone shed some light on what TV's are better (flatscreen or conventional curved) and why?Been looking at a few lately & it seems flatscreens are pushed the most, but the picture quality doesn't seem to be that great on the majority of them for the amount of money that you're paying.What's everyone's experiences? 8-}

 

Flatscreen has a better viewing angle

Also Plasma and LCD Screens are HDTV compatible, thus much much better picture quality - from the right source.

 

mainly aesthetics I think.

Viewing angle wouldn't be a huge issue as not many people watch tv at the angles where the screen curvature is an problem. Flatscreen is a bit overrated I think.Note, most plasma and LCD screens aren't truly HDTV capable (although many are advertised as 'compatible', ie the image is compressed). To further confuse things, HDTV comes in a number of flavours:1080i : resolution of 1920 x 1080 interlaced (ie frames odd lines are shown, then the even lines)720p : resolution of 720 x 1280 progressive (each frame is displayed completely in each sweep).and some consider 480p as HDTV. Most plasma and lcd tvs should be able to do at least this.

 

A flat screen tv....

...projects a more accurate image. A normal curved screen will bend the image at the corners, and bulge a little in the middle. If you are into home theatre, you will really want a flatscreen or a curved flatscreen (a flatscreen with a slight curve horizontally). You can see this with a test pattern, a normal screen tv will not be able to project the rectangles precisely(they will bulge), will not be able to project straight horizontal and vertical lines(they will be curved), and cannot project acurate circles. A flatscreen can do all of the above precisely, which is important for watching DVD movies as they are of a high quality, and no self respecting enthusiast wants their DVD watching marred by a less than perfect image.
So there you go. If your used to watch a normal screen, buying another one will not be a big deal. But once you've had flat, you'll never go back
Feel free to ask for more info, having spent $15k so far on home theatre gear I know a thing or two:YD

 

P.S....

...if you really want to do your home work, go to the newsagents and look for the hometheatre magazine section and look for ones that are doing an article on tv's (like what to look for when buying one). Just do me a favour, unless your in a dedicated home theatre shop, take every word said by sales person with a grain of salt. 99.9% have no real idea and will tell you all sorts of crap. A dedicated hometheatre sales person is there because they are fully into it, and will be able to give you better advice (though a little biased towards their stock, but you cant blame them 8D )

 

I get that warm fussy feeling

when watching a flatscreen.
Probably more user preference.

 

Hey Gazza, I'm just about to

purchase a 107cm Plasma TV. What's your thoughts on the plasma Telly's?? I was looking at the phillips, mainly because of 3 year warranty. Any info would be useful. Cheers :YD

 

im told the fujitsu plasmas are good

im looking at one of them at the moment. We sell home theatre packages at my work that go up to the $200,000 mark, and plasma TVs that go up to $45,000, but in the sub $10,000 plasma price range im told the fujitsu 109cm is the best.

 

Ive not seen

recently a plasma that wont do 1080i
although 720 is still very nice anyway.
Philips make a plasma with something called pixel plus which looks awesome on paper but I havn't seen one in the flesh - have you seen if they are any good JT?

 

Cheers all for the info! So Gazza would you

have any particular brand recommendations? I'm not looking at going mad with home theatre in the beginning - but maybe something that I'll be able to expand on over time?

 

PS: I've always had normal tv's & they don't

bother me, so I guess flat screens have just seemed 'much ado about nothing' (especially when they first appeared on the market & the picture quality was quite average). I kinda needed to be convinced by those in the know that they're actually worth it!

 

i've not seen a

plasma yet that will truly do 1080i. Most can only display about 1megapixel i'm pretty sure (about half that required by 1080i), and just compress the image. Plasma is overated and overpriced. Average resolution, average contrast ratios.

 

Well it depends on...

...how much you want to spend. One of the good flatscreen tv brands are the Metz range, they are the bee's knees of tube tv's. A decent one will cost around $4000, but for that you get a true widescreen tv with stereo sound, flatscreen, 100hz refresh rate, picture in picture, built in digital radio tuner, built in digital HDTV receiver and the best part, the electronics are on pc cards that can be upgraded. Of course that is a lot of cash for a tv, I have a 68cm toshiba bomba that cost $1800 and it is a very nice tv. Im not sure how much one costs at the moment but it shouldnt be to much more for a widescreen one, possibly a little less for a normal width one. Sony have some nice flatscreen tv's, though when I was shopping for one a few years ago I came across 3 separate stores who's sony tv's had died on the showroom floor, so I obviously did not get one. Hitachi also make some very nice tv's, and from all reports appear to be a very reliable brand

 

Plasma's are very useful...

...in that they are actually a monitor, which means you can use your pc through one. There is a bit of a sales trick going on with them for the unwary though. Plasma's are now becoming affordable, but the reason is in the resolution with most plasma's offering only fairly low res. This may not be so important for the smaller ones, but is very important with the larger screens. Ive considered getting a plasma, but I dont like the fact that the monitor is going to probably lose half its brightness after 3 years, and can suffer burn-in if its left on with a static picture all night(check to see if yours has burn-in protection). On the other hand, they have the best colour and picture precision out there, and they take up next to no space. Im saving for my Dpi marantz projector instead
Back to the subject though, if I was you I would do my homework to make sure that you are getting a resonable monitor by trawling the net for info. A nice site that I have found is Click Herehttp://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=, but there is bound to be more plasma specific sites out there. I know this takes some of the fun out of the purchase, but its better to persevere for small time before hand, that way when you get it there should be no future regrets:*

 

$200K! Damn!!....

..I wish I had that kind of cash. And add in the amount, once you add in the total cost of building a special theatre room for it all, cabling, A/C, seating etc, 8-} )

 

Thanks for the info Gazza, I've heard

that Sony T.V's are not Sony's but re-badged crap brands. That is why they are well priced, bit disappointing cos Sony has a good reputation

 

Being Product Manager for TV's at Panasonic

And also Production Manager for TV's I know a few things, I'll catch up over the cruise and go through some stuff with you, if you would like.
Was also product Manager for VCR, DVD and Home Theatre Im sure I can give you much to think about.
Dont rush out and buy, Im sure Ill give you a different path to think about.

 

Wow! awesome

Your cars mmmmmmmmmm yummy.

 

I heard...

...it's actually cheaper to make a big LCD then a CRT.
Not counting the billions in machinery of course.
Anyone know how many companies make them? Used to be like three or four only and a lot is rebadged under different brands.
And flatscreens at first are kinda funny takes you a while to get used to the straight edges looks like it's curving inwards... but sure, flatter the screen the better the image.
Some nice 100hz flat widescreens going cheap at the moment. CRT's that is.

 

Zeddude, I am in the market possibly for a >

good widescreen visual device. Just having had Foxtel digital installed and have a Sony surround sound system any inside insight would be very helpful.:YD