Please Help a Moron!

I'm in the market for a new TV. I am looking at a 35 inch but not sure of what brand. I do have a fair amount of RCA items and I'm very pleased with it all. Then on the other hand.... I have friends that are 100% Sony people! You folks wanna throw an opinion at me? PLEASE!
I guess I should ask another question. I saw one TV that had a sign on it. It read "Digital Component Ready". What percentages of the TVs aren’t capable of handling digital components? The whole reason that I am looking into a new TV is because my DVD player doesn't work with the one I have. Every time there is lighting or an explosion on the movie the picture jumps. I want to avoid this in the future. Guess I need to buy the Digital Ready models?

Please Help Me! I want this new TV by the time The Matrix is released. I want that to be the first DVD I watch on my new TV!


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Master of DVD
"Hail To The King, Baby"-Ash

The Master's Collection

[Taxi]

Every time there is lighting or an explosion on the movie the picture jumps. I want to avoid this in the future. Guess I need to buy the Digital Ready models?

Oh, no! Don't let anybody tell you that. I've got a rinky dink old Sharp 25" tv, and it does DVD just fine. Well, except that the screen is too small, and the picture sucks, but that's a different matter.

All a digital ready TV does for you is that it means you're ready for HDTV, or probably more precisely, DTV signals. 1080i and 720p and all that glorious other DTV stuff that hardly anybody can watch very much of now, because the TV stations aren't broadcasting it much, because there aren't that many DTVs out there in the world, because there isn't much programming for DTV, because....Catch 22. Get it?

Anyway, don't worry about digital, unless being prepped for the future is important to you. Like, for example, if you live in a city where the is a reasonable amount of HDTV being broadcast. If you're not too concerned about (H)DTV, then I'd say go with a regular set that you like. (Personally, I like the Toshiba TW40H80 or TW65H80, both wide screens, and the 65 incher is even DTV ready. Now, I only need five or six thousand dollars just laying around...)

[Blade]

Taxi,

I have to disagree with you somewhat. (Not about needing a digital connection for the DVD-you're dead on right about that!)

If you plan on laying down $5-6,000 on a TV right now I think you should make sure it has HD TV support (or more likely, HD TV capable-ie it will still need a digital tuner).

I would think, when you pay that kind of money for a set you expect to be using it for a good long while.

And it will still come in handy for any 16:9 enhanced DVDs you happen to have.

By the way, there were a few brands (I think it was RCA and one other) that actually had a problem correctly accepting the DVD signal.

I don't think this will be a problem with your new TV.

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-David

I've had the Sony 32" Wega Fv-1 since February and it is "digital ready", they have a great 35" model as well. They are pricey but I love the picture on mine, and several of my friends comment on the sharp picture as well. It has all the component jacks you could ask for, speed surfing, 2 tuner PIP and many extras. It is still a 4x3 TV though, and as soon as the 16x9 HDTV drop under $3000 that will be what I want!

[Taxi]

Blade said:

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If you plan on laying down $5-6,000 on a TV right now I think you should make sure it has HD TV support (or more likely, HD TV capable-ie it will still need a digital tuner).[/quote]Well, that's true. I guess I was coming at the problem from the point of view of not wanting to spend $5-6K on a TV, since that's the boat I'm in. Sure, I'd like a nice big expensive set, but most folks can't afford one.
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Taxi

[Blade]

Taxi,

I hear you on that one.

I'm just praying that my 2nd hand 9 yr old 50" RPTV can hang on for a few more years. After just building my own HT system I don't have money left for anything but buying DVDs.

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-David

Digital component ready

Hm. You guys are probably right about it meaning that the TV is ready to accept an add-on HDTV receiver, but if I were in the market for a TV, I'd be careful of that. Sounds like marketing-speak - as in, "yeah, this baby, she's got everything. PIP, RF remote, and inputs for digital components like DBS and DVD. Shore is a beaut', ain't she?"

I could be wrong, but caveat emptor. Hucksters are everywhere.

I read the title of the post "Please help a moron" and I saw it was posted by MasterofDVD......enjoyed the juxtaposition

Ready for HDTV means that the display will accept the set top HDTV decoder boxes when they become available. You will need the external box with these sets to get HDTV (which, by the way, is incorrect....it should be called DTV or Digital television, because the resolution will fall below HDTV standards).