Buying a Flat Panel Display (LCD/Plasma/LED etc)

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by rangaraj

There are no HD-DVD or Blu Ray players sold in the Indian market, so they will not play these disks.

Well, the PS3 can play Blu-Ray, can it not ?

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by fb1

Ok people need help, suggest me a nice 26" LCD HDTV... I already have a 32" bravia.. I need a 26" for my xbox 360 in my room... Pls suggest some good ones including links and pricing.. Thank you.

Pls. be a little cautious while choosing an LCD screen for gaming applications. I am not into gaming, but can easily notice ghost trails on sports broadcasts. I am talking about the 42" Samsung Bordeaux Art here.

So, if you are into high-speed gaming, do a little research and choose a panel with low response time.

[tadukuttan]

Had purchased a Samsung LA40R81B couple of weeks back (it only took 10 minutes in the shop after Vidyut gave me the model number, thanks dude).

Now, I use it for watching Cable, and at home I have a Hathway STB. It is really disgusting to watch Cable on it, compared to the clarity I get when watching a DVD (progressive scan, component out). Tried TataSky in the shop, that was not impressive either.

From what I have seen, the STB AV out has too many mpeg artifacts visible on sizes larger than 37 inch. Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission? Or is there any way to DIY a box like that?

[saketnagpal]

well i am myself dealing in lg and sony lcds and plasma tvs if u want to buy a 26" or 32" look out for 26lc7 and 32lc7 models contrast ratios 10000:1 and reponse time 5ms( campared to 8 ms prevailing) price range
rs.30-31k for 26" and 45k for 32"

[saketnagpal]

between plasma is better technology and picture quality on normal signal(hd signal is still a distant reality) is better than lcd

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

From what I have seen, the STB AV out has too many mpeg artifacts visible on sizes larger than 37 inch. Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission?

The first such STB that I came across (which is usable in India) is the one provided with BSNL/MTNL/IOL IPTV. These boxes also have a digital coaxial connection for Dolby 5.1 audio connection to your AV receiver. Unless you are already a DTH subscriber, you may want to give it a try, like what I am going to do. Also, they will probably be the first ones to launch HD service too!

(Refer to my recent posts on this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ion-india.html)

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Mine took less than 15 mins today. TH-42PV70H Panasonic plasma. I'm happy with it's quality.

you guys are phenomenal How much did the 42" Panasonic Plasma costed you and what is the model no?

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

Now, I use it for watching Cable, and at home I have a Hathway STB. It is really disgusting to watch Cable on it, compared to the clarity I get when watching a DVD (progressive scan, component out).

From what I have seen, the STB AV out has too many mpeg artifacts visible on sizes larger than 37 inch. Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission? Or is there any way to DIY a box like that?

Tadukuttan, Merely changing the cable will not help in alleviating MPEG artifacts (I'm assuming you are talking about MPEG artifacts like Ringing, Blockiness and Contours).

DVD picture quality is better because:
(a) They can afford higher bit rates than broadcast television. (4.7GB over two hrs is approx 6Mbps, which is higher than what is used by broadcast TV)
(b) Moreover, since most of the movie-encoding is done 'offline' they can do better quality encode than live broadcast.

By having a component (or HDMI) cable you only allow great content to be rendered onto your panel.

Originally Posted by Su-47

Pls. be a little cautious while choosing an LCD screen for gaming applications. I am not into gaming, but can easily notice ghost trails on sports broadcasts. I am talking about the 42" Samsung Bordeaux Art here.

I meant 40" TV there.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by mobike008

you guys are phenomenal How much did the 42" Panasonic Plasma costed you and what is the model no?

Don't recall the model number, but I saw a Panasonic 42" Plasma selling for 69K at Pantaloons eZone. That was the display price. Additional discounts may be possible.

[akshay1234]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

Had purchased a Samsung LA40R81B couple of weeks back (it only took 10 minutes in the shop after Vidyut gave me the model number, thanks dude).

Now, I use it for watching Cable, and at home I have a Hathway STB. It is really disgusting to watch Cable on it, compared to the clarity I get when watching a DVD (progressive scan, component out). Tried TataSky in the shop, that was not impressive either.

From what I have seen, the STB AV out has too many mpeg artifacts visible on sizes larger than 37 inch. Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission? Or is there any way to DIY a box like that?

in the shop they take 1 connection of tata sky and connect it to those samsung thingys which then give a connection for lots of tvs. in that the quality is lost. also when tata sky is installed at home they put a new wire, the shops probably dont use the quality wire for all their tvs hence another reason why quality is lost.i

have a 40" bordeaux and am using tata sky. its decent but obviously not as good as a dvd.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission? Or is there any way to DIY a box like that?

Try Dish TV. They have Kaon & Zenega STBs which are miles ahead of the TATA Sky STB, though i am not sure if your ghosts will be taken care of in your LCD TV.
I use a Kaon receiver on a 100HZ TV which is prone to digital artefacts, but i get a terrific result on my TV except a couple of channels which are running on very low bandwidth.

[sAP]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

From what I have seen, the STB AV out has too many mpeg artifacts visible on sizes larger than 37 inch. Are there any STBs which will give S-Video or Component out, instead of the AV out? That definitely will help with the cable picture quality till we get HD transmission? Or is there any way to DIY a box like that?

I use a Coship CDVBC5120 Irdeto cable receiver which has an S-video out. Even with a good S-video interconnect, the video artifacts are still there, though overall composure is better than composite. I guess the processors inside these cheap STBs can't handle complex scenes all that well.

PS: As far as audio goes, the Coship has an optical digital out, which I have wired to my Denon 1603 HT Receiver. The Denon's DAC does a decent job, but the transmission is still only stereo, so does not do a 5.1 though both boxes support it.

Esteem lover, do you know any place in Chennai where I can buy a high quality STB off the shelf? I am looking for an Irdeto embedded cable receiver, which is not what is used either by Dish TV or Tata Sky.

sAP

[esteem_lover]

The artefacts have nothing to do with the connectors & everything to do with the transmission & reception. I think the best you can get here is echostar which is available in ritchie street, but i don't suppose it will work with your SCV or hathway.

[sAP]

Though artefacts don't have much to do with connectors in this scenario, it does have something to do with the STB's RISC processor though. For example, in complex scenes, the same free to air channel have less artefacts when I connect the cable directly to my HDTV than when I run them via the STB. So it appears that the STB's processor is the weak link in that situation, not just the transmission/ reception.

[Ajaybiz]

Waiting for the right time as now no money and also i want full HD instead of HD capable.
Need to upgrade my handy cam too for HD.