Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Got the video upgrade itch-Lotsa info and ?s

I figured I'd ask my questions here, since this place even though more geared to audio is friendlier than most other places I frequent...

I probably shouldn't even be asking yet, as my purchase is a good 6-9 months away, but what the heck...

Some background: Okay a pic is worth a thousand words, so here it is, but first a couple notes: yes, speaker placement is less than ideal, but I had to balance asthetics with performance, and it was a compromise-plus it keeps them out of harms way from knee-biters..Also, the "hollow" space above the TV has been closed off with a 6x1 and have acoustic dampening foam inserted in front of it both for asthetic reasons and to keep sound out of the "hollow" behind the TV, and to allow a mounting surface for a center channel. The Quintets have been sold and replaced with 5 identical mini-bookshelves with larger midbass drivers for a better "blend" with my sub, and now also own M60s flanking my stereo cabinet as well, and an SVS sub (not shown).



Okay, when I started this mess in '03 I just wanted something "cheap, but better than your typical HTIB". So far, I have been EXTREMELY PLEASED with the results of all my purchases EXCEPT my Quintets; a hard lesson learned-but they are long gone.

Now that my audio is just where I want it, now I find myself wanting to upgrade the video (damn this hobby). I have done the requisit research, and for various reasons think I am wanting to go with a LCD RPTV. Here is why, and here are my questions as well:

1) Cost: When my house was built, obviously it was before the era of "flat panel" TVs took off. I have the space for a convential TV in that "cubby". So my PRIMARY reason for RPTV is cost: CHEAP-I don't have any specific need for a "flat panel", so I figured why waste $$$ if I can help it.
So, aside from bulb replacement issues, is there some other reason I should steer away from this technology?

2) WEIGHT: When I put our existing TV in the cubby, it took FOUR OF US. Yes, the TV is a 2 man lift, but when we had to life it that high, that 200+ pound monstrosity took every bit of what we had to get it in there. Not that you move a TV much, but if for whatever reason I need to, I would like to be able to. Our current TV cannot be moved again, period (until I have a replacment, and have to gather 3 other guys again).

3) SIZE: I thought a 36" TV was pretty big, but as I get older, I find I have a hard time seeing it. For whatever reason our 24" in our bedroom seems easier for me to see. Maybe our living room is just too big. Anyway, so far, I have found one specific model TV that is the largest screen I can fit in the given space: 42" widescreen. The largest flat-panel I have found that will fit there is currently a 40" (and it costs almost twice as much), so currently I can get a larger size LCD RPTV for cheaper than I can a smaller LCD flat panel.

Some specific concerns:

I know viewing angle is very good on these newer sets, but since my TV is higher than normal, how is viewing angle from UNDER a projection screen (not by a lot, but sometimes a little can make the difference bewteen watchable and unwatchable!).

How do they look? okay, I haven't shopped yet, but...and this goes a ways back...every RPTV I have seen (all CRT based i think) all are very dark, which isn't a big deal since we rarely watch TV in there, its mostly movies at night, and all have seemed "fuzzy" our badly out of focus. I have never saw a RPTV that I thought looked good, but its been a good 5 years since I have seen one.

Last question. This concerns cabling, and not the TV itself. I have about 30' cable runs in wall going behind my current TV. I have one each of: RF, composite w/audio, S-video w/audio, component w/audio. Obviously I will want to add a couple cables. HDMI for one, and the other VGA for our Xbox360. Has anyone successfully ran a good length of VGA cable without serious degredation to PQ? My runs are about 27' in wall, and with 3' "jumpers" from the sources to the wall plates makes about 36' total length run.

Thanks for any answers and suggestions!

-Alan

You may have to do some research on those cable runs because they are so long. You may find that high quality VGA cables work better than HDMI over that lenght.

You may want to go to Blue Jeans or one of the other companies and ask a few questions and see what they have to say.

Thanks ratpack!

Coincidentally, all my inwall cable runs are from bluejeans. I did send them an email this morning concerning the VGA, and they gave me an option I never thought of: Breakout the VGA to individual RGB+Sync coaxes on both ends, and use the high-quality normal size coax runs for the distance.

They also did say HDMI at that length is a crapshoot...

-Alan

For long runs take a look at Mux Lab. You can use CAT5 for long runs.

www.muxlab.com

LINK

Thanks. I tried the /url and it didn't work and got lazy...

A few weeks ago I added IOGear brand, the CAT5 cable from the HTPC to the coffee table is a 65' run and have had no problems or visible loss in signal, also solved the wireless keyboard problem of not working at the distance I had.

I'm not surprised that Blue Jeans told you that about HDMI. It seems that 25-30 ft is pretty much the limit. You get over that length and you start having issues.

Well, just took some time and stopped by to see one. The horizontal viewing angle is pretty good, the vertical is going to be close...

Also, the picture quality isn't bad at all. I still think CRTs have a slight edge (not counting HD content, but they didn't have a HD source on), but it could have also been the settings were jacked up on the display model.

Now the only real concerns I have is 1) That HDMI cable; no way to use a shortened length in my application and 2) is it worth the expense and trouble (I figured I will need about $500 in cables/prep work to really take advantage of its capabilities). I found a nifty little screen calculator that I have been staring at, because unfortunately, I couldn't compare this 42" widescreen side by side with a 36" 4:3 TV.

http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi

Anyway, basically this website tells me that for 4:3 content, I will actually loose size, but for 16:9 content (reguardless of the actual format) I will gain size...

Ahhhh, just give me a sledgehammer and I will make more room! (just kidding)

Other concerns: Lamp life, and "dead-pixel return policy". I know how manufacturers reguard this, but will a store "take it back" if I am not satisfied reguardless of the reason (salesman said they would, but you know how that goes...) I do NOT like dead pixels-Even ONE is a defect IMHO.

Thanks again for the input from everyone, and keep em coming, especially if anyone has direct experience with LCD RPTVs.

-Alan