Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater TV for my Axioms

Hello all. Now that I have my stereo in place (Denon 3802, m22, vp150, qs8) it's time to turn my focus towards buying a new television. Looking for a widescreen at least 50 inches. For something that big I guess it would have to be a floorstanding unit. What are some of the features I should be looking for? BTW-Wowed the crowd at my house this weekend with a viewing of the new harry potter movie. My buddy mike said the surrounds made him feel like he was in the theatre.
Regards,

bj

Got a price range?

I'd look at all the TV's in whatever price range you can afford with the following:

HDTV compatible (lacks the built in tuner. The standard is still in flux and you might not have much available depending on your area)
Component video in.
Enough S-Video and Composite video inputs for all your other input devices such as video game consoles and the like.

And that's about it. Once I've identified all of those, I'd look at the picture for myself and do a bit of research on AVS.

I know this is a big jump of thoughts, but I would suggest you seriously consider a front projector as well, provided that you can control ambient light at least part-time (for example, in the nighttime). Just like you, I was only thinking about RPTV or plasma, until one day I saw a front projector in action at one of my local AV stores. And that entirely changed my purchase decisions.

As long as you can control ambient light, a front projector can produce much bigger picture, with at least comparable image qualities. I can tell you that the large image size really brings about a serious WOW factor. Plus, the image is inherently more "film-like" (after all, what you watch in the movie theater is a front-projected image). Combine this with a surround sound system, and it will give you a truly "in-theater" experience. My wife, who was initially weary of the thought of an FP, now loves ours; she says the whole experience at home is better than those in the local movie theater.

Most importantly, excellent HT projectors are available from as low as US$1500. And they will readily throw an awesome image of up to 100"-120" diagonal. Of course, all of today's HT projectors are HDTV compatible, and many native 16:9 models available. You can always keep your existing TV for daytime or casual watching of TV shows, like I did.

I suggest you visit your local AV dealers and see if they have a good demo setup of a front projector (the demo room should have a complete ambient light control). Also, surf the AVSforum as suggested by Semi.

Happy shopping!

If you expect to use a front projector for your regular television watching, you should also factor in the price of bulb replacements into ownership. That said, if I could control light enough to own one, I would.

Yes, the bulb will cost you about $400 for every 1500-3000 hours of viewing, depending on models. If you use the projector for 2 hours/day on average, that is going to be a few years. So if you plan to keep the projector longer, it will be a factor. Plus, if you are unlucky enough, your bulb might go out sooner than its "rated" life (but longer than covered by the warranty).

Two hours a night? I think my TV is on closer to five which is closer to yearly for me.

Tought I was giving a pretty generous example... LOL

2 hours is generous? You should talk to the other "sack" of my family. I'm lucky if it is less than 4.

Saturn

Your wife has sack?

I started off watching a lot of TV on my projector, but lately I've found myself using the old 27" tube. The projector is less convenient, and there's something vaguely unsettling about hour after hour of larger-than-life war. And if you think the embedded correspondents look bad on their videophones on your television, you should see them blown up to 100+ inches. Pixels as big as your hand!

Still, I totally recommend a front projector. The picture is fantastic and it takes up zero floorspace. I'm very thankful that I didn't buy a rear projection TV.

My hallway bulbs go out about once every month or two. Darn electrical.