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HDTV Up Grade

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First of all, thank you, to all who responded. I really want to get this right and you have been most helpful.

1. I knew that dvd picture quality was not equal to HDTV in terms of scan lines. My question then becomes is dvd picture quality what I will see if I record a game (televised in HD) on a dvd recorder? (I can more than live with it if it's dvd quality)

2. The room I want to put this in has no windows, only the double sliders which face north to north west. Is that still too much light, even when covered by vertical blinds, for a projector?

3. Ain't no way to burn a vhs tape onto a dvd?

4. I've seen some beautiful TV pictures that are not plasma, but the sets are a minimum of 24 inches deep which won't pass the wife test. Anything other than a projector is going to have to hang on a wall and be something like 4 inches thick Max. (those of you who are married will understand this)
 
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So let me get this straight. to watch something in HD with time warner digital cable, you need an HDTV, HD cable box, HD channel, and the show being broadcast has to be broadcasted in HD?
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Bingo - but that is true of any provider. I went HD with TW just after Christmas. The diffrence with true HD is remarkable. Sports and nature programs are awesome. And if a naked woman ever appears on the screen you may find yourself hitting the pause button and leaving it there for a couple of days (or at least 3-5 minutes plus time to get some kleenex).

TW's HD channel selection right now is a big disappointment. When I signed up I was told they would be rolling out a new station every month. I haven't seen jack in 7 months (other than those times I have hit the pause button). They still don't have an agreement with ABC/Fox and that is where a lot of great sports is. Standard Def TV on a big screen really sucks IMO. All that said, TW may still be the best option around.

But it ain't cheap. You pay extra for HD channels, extra for a box and if you want the DVR service (you do) you pay extra for that too.

Questin on the cheap plasmas - is that HDTW or EDTV?

Cincy -

I have a 50" Hitachi tha tis only 16" deep and my wife has a 32" Westinghour that could be hung on the wall - both LCD.

My Hitachi is in a room with floor to ceiling wincows and I never close the blinds (even when I have the puase button on). Unless the light is shining directly on the screen I have zero problem.

You CAN move VHS to DVD, but that wont improve the quality of the picture. That is my current project in fact - taking all my old VHS family videos and putting them to DVD.
 
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Thanks again.

OH8, I understand the basic fact of not being able to enhance a picture beyond what you have. thus a game broadcast on today's TV standard is never going to be better wether recorded on vhs or dvd. ie, no enhancement quality available.

What happens when you have an OSU game on in HD and record it to a DVD? Do you get DVD quality pics? Or do you get a complete mismatch in capabilities, ie the HD recorder is a next generation product and until then you can't record HD programs in any format.

I can just see myself watching a game in HD and having to record it on vhs on a second, pre HD, TV set.
 
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I'm not positive but I think you can record HD shows on your time warner DRV box and could then send the file to a computer and burn to dvd from there. Once again don't quote me on that but I would think you could get standard DVD quality on the end product.
 
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Cinci, a complete Ohio State game in non-HD format is a hell of a lot of data for one dvd. It will be of decent quality but not that of a movie you rent from blockbuster. I record games on my computer and put them on one dvd but I have to shrink the file almost in half to do so. In the process you lose some quality. DVR's and PVR's may not be able to get the whole game onto one dvd unless it is dual layer disc. These are a little expensive and probably not worth it because of the new HD dvds on the horizon. For VCR tape to DVD you would have to buy a tape to dvd recorder or plug the vcr into a capture card on your computer.
 
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ScarletInMyVeins said:
I think plasma is way too expensive for what you actually get. What I mean by that is, I don't think the technology is where it needs to be right now and it seems that the life of plasmas right now is around 3-5 years. If I spent 6-10k on a plasma and it went out in 3 years I'd be really pissed. One thing I would recommend is to look into a DLP TV. Picture is just as clear as plasma in my opinion and is more reliable.

Also keep in mind that not every channel you watch will be viewed in HD. As of right now Time Warner only has a handful of HD channels. All others will be viewed in digital or regular over the air quality. If you purchase a TV with a built in HD Tuner you will be able to receive all of the local channels in HD over the air, some of which aren't offered by cable/satellite companies.
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DLP is a Texas Instrument technology -- trust in these guys, they are good.

As for recording to DVD -- for a newcomer - simply get one of the simplest DVD Recorders for on-the-air stuff. Most are made in Japan or Korea, though Philips has the easiest instructions (they are Dutch).

OSU Game in HD recorded to DVD may or may not get put down on disc at the same quality. A good recorder will "intelligently" select the correct compromise between recording length requested and the capacity of the media in the recorder. As others have told you, HD, full length game and DVD discs are a poor match. You could switch the discs if you are doing this by hand, more likely you will end up with MPEG-4/2 or similar dropped onto the media with lower quality video than actual HD TV.

If you really want to do HD-TV into DVD-9 the best option now is going to be a PVR with HDTV capability, couple of those on the market. You then record the files from a large HD (like one of the Seagate 300GB externals) onto the media of your choice. Because its in a computer the cost of changing to a new DVD drive is less. Thats important, as there is one of those damned format battles shaking out (Beta/VHS, but in DVDs), so the best set-top DVD recorder unit is a difficult item to select as of now.. Otherwise, wait - when the high capacity DVD disc technology gets straightened out you will have a clearer choice.
 
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ScarletInMyVeins said:
I think plasma is way too expensive for what you actually get. What I mean by that is, I don't think the technology is where it needs to be right now and it seems that the life of plasmas right now is around 3-5 years. If I spent 6-10k on a plasma and it went out in 3 years I'd be really pissed
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The new generations of plasmas do not have this problem near as much as previous ones.
Burn in has been virtually eliminated, and they should last years.
Plus, you can get some sweet plasmas for well, well under 6k.
The price has dropped a ton in the last couple of years.
 
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do what I just did, buy a HD projector and you can have a 100" HD tv, it's the greatest thing ever. Only really will work in the basement or where it's dark. My screen is 49" tall and 87" wide and the picture is mind blowing. Cost for everything is about $6000.
 
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ScarletInMyVeins said:
I think plasma is way too expensive for what you actually get. What I mean by that is, I don't think the technology is where it needs to be right now and it seems that the life of plasmas right now is around 3-5 years. If I spent 6-10k on a plasma and it went out in 3 years I'd be really pissed. One thing I would recommend is to look into a DLP TV. Picture is just as clear as plasma in my opinion and is more reliable.

Also keep in mind that not every channel you watch will be viewed in HD. As of right now Time Warner only has a handful of HD channels. All others will be viewed in digital or regular over the air quality. If you purchase a TV with a built in HD Tuner you will be able to receive all of the local channels in HD over the air, some of which aren't offered by cable/satellite companies.
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Complete myth from the old days of plasmas. The average plasma has a "life" of 20,000 hours. What they mean by life is the brightness is reduced at that point. This is as good as any picture tube. Plasmas are a not a bad buy. Of course wait a few years and you can get one about $1000 cheaper. The manufacturing process improves everyday and that allows cheaper prices. In the old days of plasmas 9 out of every 10 produced had to be scrapped. That is much better now, but not near a picture tube. In a few years manufacturing will allow less than 10% scrap, and price will drop. Really it comes down to your viewing angle. If you have a very large room just get a DLP. If you have some large viewing angles not much beats a plasma. Only LCD compares, and I still get annoyed by pixelizatioon that can plague LCD. It is very prevelant in fast moving pictures that happen often in sports. DLP does not suffer from this either. Hence, if you went rear projection get a DLP, not LCD rear projection. As for front projection, I have never really liked the resolution. Not to mention you will need to replace the very expensive bulbs every 3-5 years. The upfront cost is nice, but upkeep and overall resolution are poor. Of course if you really need a 100" picture you have no other alternatives.
 
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Oh8ch said:
Bingo - but that is true of any provider. I went HD with TW just after Christmas. The diffrence with true HD is remarkable. Sports and nature programs are awesome.
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Exactly. I find myself watching Discovery HD all the time just because it looks so damn cool. The under water stuff blows my mind. If they had this technology when I was in college I'd have never graduated. :pimp:

Oh8ch said:
TW's HD channel selection right now is a big disappointment. When I signed up I was told they would be rolling out a new station every month. I haven't seen jack in 7 months (other than those times I have hit the pause button). They still don't have an agreement with ABC/Fox and that is where a lot of great sports is. Standard Def TV on a big screen really sucks IMO. All that said, TW may still be the best option around.
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Could not agree more.

Oh8ch said:
But it ain't cheap. You pay extra for HD channels, extra for a box and if you want the DVR service (you do) you pay extra for that too.
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How much is the DVR per month?
 
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BuckNutty said:
Thanks.

Is it really worth it?
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Totally worth it! We hardly watch live tv anymore- just tell it to record a given show and - zap - it will tape the whole season. The ones that tw has you can tape two shows at once- which is cool too. Plus during fb or bb season you can pause the game or have your own instant replay. Get a dvr and i would be shocked if you didnt like it.

BTW- On certain higher level tw cable packages the dvr will cost you the same a plain reciever. Even the HD ones....

*Cinci-
I kinda skimmed the thread, but you'll love PBS HD! You can get it from tw or dish- keep in mind (if it already hasnt been mentioned) that you'll have to go OTA (antenna) if you want to watch your locals in hd on Dish ......
 
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