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My 20 inch 12 year old TV recently died. It was the only TV I had in my house. I'm at a loss as to what to replace it with.

While I am a professional computer geek, I have tried to keep the level of electronic crap in my personal life to a minimum.

I'm not a big TV watcher and have survived just fine with basic cable for years (a must in my area for the TV to work at all).

My den is 24 feet wide by 18 feet long with 12 foot ceilings. It's also open to the kitchen. I'm not space constrained, the room's big enough for any TV I could possibly want to buy.

I'm thinking now I'd like to assemble a nice but conservative home theater starting at zero. Some kind of fairly large (but not grotesquely so) flat-screen with a wide aspect ratio with separate DVD player, stereo (?) sound and VCR. I have a Samsung combo DVD/VCR that can stay or go.

I'm kinda overwhelmed by the choices out there. I think that I've realized that I like the smaller footprint of LCD and Plasma screens and that I should purchase an digital cable ready (DCR) HDTV (High Defintion TV).

To get any benefit out of a HDTV, I'm going to have to upgrade to digital cable at a minimum. Is that right? How much TV is broadcast in high definition?

I seriously considered purchasing a Panasonic TH-42PX50U 42" Plasma TV yesterday then stopped myself thinking I should probably do some more research because I realized there would be other stuff I'd have to buy. I didn't (and still don't) have all the necessary expenditures clear in my head to even estimate the real cost of the "project".

Can anybody out there make any suggestions or provide web pointers to articles about TV technology for idiots ?

--Christian (who's presently googling for such stuff )

There are several website which list the local over the air HDTV channels. Google away on that one. Here in the Washington, DC area I pick up about a dozen with my simple indoor antenna.

For other HDTV content look into the usual suspect, Dish Network, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS TV, cable, etc.

As far as which TV to buy, if you have the wallspace, then you might look into an HDTV projector and a screen or paint a wall with the proper paint designed for projectors. They mount on the ceiling and consume no floorspace making the room even more open and the screen size is totally up to you. A few people at work bought them and love it.

Wow, 1000 watts of pure audio! We used to fill a whole (not a multiplex) movie theater with less than that. I'm gonna invest in some hearing aid companies...

As far as TV goes, my wife and I have talked it over and when the VHF/UHF frequencies go dark, we'll use the set as habitat in the bass pond.

I'm gonna invest in some hearing aid companies...

Not necessary. 950 of those watts go to the bass and subwoofer to maximize the true artistic qualities of the rap music that the aforementioned system so frequently plays.

I think I found what you are looking for ....

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So THAT'S where old fiberglass sousaphones go!!

cjk wrote:My 20 inch 12 year old TV recently died. It was the only TV I had in my house. I'm at a loss as to what to replace it with.

I'll toss out what little I know and maybe it will spark something from someone who knows more.

Television in the U.S. used to be a single standard controlled by the National Televisions Systems Committee. Now, there are four standards, called LDTV, SDTV, EDTV, and HDTV. LDTV is what you get with a cheapie television, and it's basically every other horizontal scan line from SDTV. SDTV is usually called 480i, meaning 480 scan lines interlaced in alternate scans.

EDTV is a way to get wide-screen for less money, even in some flat-panel displays. It includes two standards, 480p and 720i. It takes an HDTV signal and cuts it down to only 480 lines without interlacing, or 720 lines with interlacing. They still look better than regular TV, but not that much better, especially up close.

The two common HDTV standards are 720p and 1080i. My understanding is that 720p, because it is not interlaced, is better for fast action, while 1080i has better overall resolution. Both look fabulous. Seems like most of the nicer HDTV displays will do both.

Some of the expensive displays talk about pixel dimensions. 1080i requires 1920x1080, while 720p requires 1280x720, both of which are wide displays. Even displays that will accept those signals don't necessarily have all the pixels to get their full capability in front of your eyes. But I think you'll be impressed anyway. 720p would be the target I would seek, making sure to avoid a monitor that conforms to EDTV. A lot of flat-panel displays are EDTV and they are attractively priced, but they do not compare to HDTV.

In terms of display technology, there are five choices. The first is the traditional CRT. They age, they are monstrously heavy and bulky, they are now cheaply made, and only the most expensive models come in wide-screen format. None are particularly large. Image quality is quite good for the dollar.

There are two projection technologies, front projection and rear projection. Front projection uses an LCD or DLP projector that lays the image on a reflective screen like home movies. It's by far the cheapest way to get a REALLY BIG SCREEN, but there are issues, including vertical banding and dealing with ambient light. The latter is the real problem, especially for folks like you who live where there are no basements. The screen is white, and only looks black if the room is dead dark like a movie theater. Any daylight at all with wash it out.

Rear-projection units are much better. They are considerably cheaper than flat-panel displays and much less bulky than they used to be. Ambient light is still a problem, but not like it is with front projection. Image quality can be excellent. But they have a sweet spot and definitely look better from longer distances.

Flat panels come in two technologies, LCD and Plasma. LCD will probably overtake plasma eventually, but right now it's more expensive in the larger sizes. LCD supposedly lasts longer, and doesn't suffer from aging affects attributed to plasma. New plasma displays are supposed to reasonably address aging, and I suspect they are much better than old CRT displays in that regard.

Remember that to get the same size image you had with your old TV, you have to get a wide display that is 23% larger. It takes a 44" wide-screen to get the same image size as a 36" television, if you are watching normal 4x3 programming. Most regular TV is still in the 4x3 format, and it will be displayed as letterboxed on the sides on a wide-screen display. (I cannot abide when people stretch their 4x3 programming to fit the wide screen. Are they not bothered by the obvious distortion?) This is an important issue for me because I want to be able to read the on-screen guide without having to keep binoculars at hand. My 36" television is easy to read up to about 15 feet and that's all.

You will need HDTV programming from you cable provider, which requires digital cable at least, but probably more than just that.

Many HDTV displays do not come with an HDTV tuner, because many people no longer get their television over the air. You'll need either a tuner or a cable box. These should connect to the display using either component video cables or HDMI, if I'm understanding that right.

So, when we find ourselves in the situation you are in, we will be looking for a 44-48" plasma display that supports at least 720p HDTV, with an HDMI interface. I will then upgrade the satellite dish and get a DirecTV HDTV receiver. At Costco I could get that for about $3000 today. Waaaay too much, so I'm still waiting until my current TV dies or the regular old NTSC is no longer being broadcast, whichever is later.

Whatever you get for a sound system is separate from the above. Get used to dealing with a box full of remotes, like you do now.

Rick "also doing research, but have several other financial priorities and no available lottery winnings" Denney

After much research, I just bought an LCD TV. I bought the Samsung model LN-R409D. This is a 40" LCD HDTV. I compared it to the 42" plasma TVs and found the picture to be sharper on the LCD. I'm not sure that it's worth the extra money, but we are happy with it. THe price has come down several hundred dollars since we bought it and it can now be had for around $2400. Samsung makes a model 408 that has a slower refresh rate, but is otherwise the same that could save a few hundred dollars more. Sony uses Samsung screens for their LCD TVs, and I see no reason to spend the extra money for Sony.

If money were more of an issue, the DLP projection TVs seem to have some of the best pictures I have seen for their size. You can get a 50"+ DLP for around $1500. They have bulbs taht need to be replaced periodically, depending on the amount of usage, and can run several hundred dollars each time, but the total lifecycle cost of one of these is likely to be less than for a plasma or LCD.

You should definitely buy a HDTV set given that all broadcasts will be in HD by 2008. Even if you only have analog today, you will be glad that you bought HD. I would also suggest that if your DVD player isn't progressive scan that you upgrade to one that is.

Take a look at CNET (www.cnet.com) for additional reviews and information.