Which TV to buy for XBMC/Xbox?

[LRa]

Hi,
I'm interested in buying a new tv solely for watching movies.
What should I look for to get the best quality from xbmc - Lcd, plasma, projector or something else?

Thanks

[nnunodark]

i like to think that the best TVs are the plasma TVs. but maybe someone has a different idea.The probem is that they are very expensive.:angry:

[snappz]

Pretty much as long as it is wide screen, accepts 720p and 1080i inputs via component, and you like the picture.
TVs are very subjective, and if you the owner/viewer are happy with the picture quality that should be enough.
I have a HD Sony CRT tv that gives awesome pictures but is only 86cm. My mate has a 720p Plasma that is 106cm. Not quite as good a picture but heaps bigger.
A 1080p LCD about 150cm would be my 'ideal' tv.

[nnunodark]

thats true. you shhoud get a tv that you like. much people ike having a big tv but am more of a fan of a great image quality.(mine is a HD LG)

[nnunodark]

sorry im not a my computer and the "L" key is screwed up.

[LRa]

Well, currently I have a crt. I do want to get a bigger set, but not at the price of picture quality, and from what I see in friends' houses, lcds and plasmas picture isn't that great(although it's cables and not a high quality source).

Aren't plasmas cheaper than lcds?

[nnunodark]

depends of the plasma and the lcd

[SleepyP]

What Snappz said is dead-on. By "wide screen" he means the form factor is 16:9. People sometimes forget that ALL HD CONTENT is 16:9. Your best bet is to go to one or more brick-and-mortar stores which sell a lot of different HD TVs so you can physically see what each display looks like in action. Your eye's preferences will differ from other people, and since its your TV you should get what looks best to you.

If you can find a set that does 1080p then you're pretty much all set for the next 5 years at least. They're not very common yet, but in the next 3 to 6 months you can expect a lot more to have this feature. The new HD media on BluRay and HD-DVD is currently 1080i but will be going to 1080p with probably the second generation of hardware. 1080p will pretty much become the new standard "full definition" picture format for a while, until it gets replaced by something better.

Generally plasma is more expensive than LCD. TFT LCDs are

One thing not discussed here is a given TV's image processing stuff. What I mean by this is how well the TV can cope with signals which are not in its native resolution, like 4:3 form factor stuff, 480, 720, etc.

Another thing to consider is "how big is too big". I have a 45" projection TV I got recently for free, and it's seriously a little too big for the room I have it in. Consider the space, as the TV is a big investment...

[LRa]

I think I'm gonna go with a 720p tv.
I did see that most plasmas are not at that resolution. Also the lcd resolution I saw is 768 and not 720, is that normal?

[SandmanCL]

720p is not a standard computer resolution, while "768p" is. A very typical computer resolution is 1024x768. I forget what the exact widescreen equivalent to this is but it's something like 1366 x 768.

This link from wikipedia is an excellent reference for resolutions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Video_Standards.png

Keep in mind that the best resolution the xbox supports is 720p. My TV only supports 480p and 1080i, and for xbmc I prefer 480p over 1080i.

I've been looking for the perfect tv for a while now, and for a few months my requirements seem to increase in pace with technology :rolleyes:
However, lately I've reached the conclusion that I do *not* want to get a 1080p set yet.

Reasoning: If I get a 1080p ready television, I'd be inclined to get a PS3 or a hd-dvd/blue-ray player for true 1080p movies. I am afraid that getting used to watching movies in this format would mean that it would be a let-down to watch content through xbmc. And the bottom line is that I *love* xbmc and would like to continue loving it for a whle longer :grin:

While shopping around I've found that my personal favorites are the Samsung rear-project DLP televisions. These sets have become quite popular in the U.S. (much more so than in Europe) and in my opinion it gives you the most bang for the buck. Right now I can get a 50" 720p Samsung set for ~ $1000 from a reputable on-line retailer. So the set I'm considering now is the HL-S 5086W

Samsung spec:
http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/DLPTV/HLS5086WXXAA.asp

[gergtreble]

I agree that 1080p isnt worth it right now. Ive got a 720p/1080i 32" LCD screen. Its great!

My next TV will be a 1080p but thats in a few years...

[jarod71]

panasonic 42 inch plasma, 480p, accepts 720p and 1080i but will downconvert it to 480p. dvd's are at there true resolution, 540p torrents of tv shows look fantastic, dish network and analog tv look good.

I love my tv. as long as u sit more than 5 feet from it, the screendoor effect is not detectable by me. I choose this tv because I knew I wouldnt be using many true hd sources. HDTV over the air looks fantastic as well however.

I set about 12 feet from this screen. I am happy with this tv, u can get one at 1200 bucks. panasonic has truest blacks of any plasma. and by the time I change to a new set, 1080p tv's will be much cheaper and better quality than now. I catch crap from friends about having a edtv but when they see it, they want to know why regular tv and dish look better on my edtv then their hdtv.

I choose this tv beecause I obtain a lot of video from the web and wanted a tv that my divx rips of my movies would look best on. that is my 2 cents

[gronne]

Yes, it appears it's incredibly subjective how people like the image quality of TV's. When I enter a TV-store, and see all the big-screen LCD's and plasmas I always see lots of issues with the quality. Especially big LCD-screens can look really awful.

LCD-screens appear to be more detailed than plasmas, but the quality is still crispy, and even more so due to the crispiness coming from the source video. Plasma-screens seem to soften the image and make it MUCH more comfortable to look at(IMHO). They can say the screens are 1080i and all, but the quality can be PLAIN AWFUL nonetheless. I'd prefer buying a big bulky 32" CRT-screen any day in front of a "new" crappy 42" 1080i-LCD, simply because they produce awful video.

I was in a store a couple days ago, and compared two screens producing the same video simultaniously, one cost the 38,000 SEK(about $5500) and the other 16,000 sek(about $2200) and the video showed a beach. On the expensive screen it was really detailed, but on the other screen, you couldn't see one single line in the sand!!! Everything was just a yellow area, whereas on the other tv it was fully detailed.. Incredible how bad some screens are.

The quality on the tv's must go up A LOT before I buy a new one, and I'd never buy a big LCD because even the most expensive ones look like crap.

[jmarshall]

Just remember that a lot of quality issues with screens are generally due to bad setup. B+M stores just don't know what they're doing.

Grab the remote, turn off all image enhancement, drop the sharpness right down and correct the colour balance (usually they have way too much colour + contrast)

[Drakebloedje]

If you have the money do as everyone says, and buy a nice tv with HD support.

I have a CRT, 27 inch, which cost me 30 euro's (about 40 dollars I guess). So that's the main reason for me that I've bought such a TV, because it was cheap.

So it really comes down to how much money you have to spend on your tv =).

[Joelmusicman]

The other problem that LCD TVs have is that the quality degrades substantially when not at native resolution. Different TVs have different conversion algorithms (because they usually transcode to the native res) hence the variance in quality.

Also when you're comparing two TVs, the content might be native for one TV and foreign for another...

Of course, all of this is another factor that makes Plasmas and CRTs better.


Now, with XBMC, you might find that with the options you have (flicker filtering and softening, etc.) that you can get a superior quality to normal TV feeds.

(I'm one to talk about this... my XBMC is running on a 20" CRT at good 'ole 480 I!)

[gbrum2007]

Any TV that that supports 1080p

[jeebus]

any HUGE one :P

[Kuhl]

No visible difference between 720p and 1080p and more than 5 feet with most tvs, especially under 42 inches. Save some cash or get a higher refresh rate.