[NeilPeart]

What are some quality analog televisions within the 27” to 36” sizes? I’m willing to go as high as $1000 for a decent set, but I would prefer to remain under $700. I’d like to kill the recommendations for a digital set right now; the technology is still improving (meaning I’d have to upgrade sooner than later) and the content is simply not prevalent enough. Perhaps when HD-DVD become widespread and HDTV broadcasts become the primary method of broadcast I will consider a hi-end digital set. By then many more technological advances will occur, and the 720p/1080i debate will be settled. The Component video/DVI issue will also be behind us. Sure sport broadcasts and progressive DVDs look amazing, but I can’t justify the cost right now. I don’t mean to start any digital vs. analog wars; I simply want to explain why I wish to remain in the NTSC world for now. I was looking at direct view/Trinitron/Diamondtron sets, as 27” – 36” won’t be too cumbersome. Are Sony Trinitrons still decent in the NTSC world, or do other companies offer similar/better quality sets for more competitive prices? LCDs aren’t quite there regarding pixel response time, DLP still isn’t black enough, and plasma’s cost is too prohibitive right now. So, do you have any direct view NTSC recommendations? Thanks folks.

 

[dd3mon]

A friend of mine recently purchased a 32" Sharp set. The picture is downright gorgeous. It does not have a 'true flat' screen - but it is far from strongly curved also. He's used the S-video and component-video inputs, both yeild obviously better results than standard composite inputs (the component-video being the best). The 'true flat' TVs that are now all the rage are very much overrated except for the most expensive of them. They weigh FAR more than a similarly sized standard set, and IMO the picture on most of them is inferior (I hate being able to see pixels on a TV signal, or have to deal with aspect-ratio problems). Overall this set gives far better image quality than a similarly sized Toshiba my family owns.

I advise to stay far away from RCA tube-based sets. Their tubes are noisy and literally color distort when used at high contrast - but many look great in the store, so watch out.

-dd3mon

 

[archosman]

Get either a Sony or a Toshiba. You can't go wrong either way. You're right about holding off on HD. I work for a post house and we're getting ready to do our first HD project with Little Feat. Seeing it on a true HD monitor is just unbelievable!

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Are Sony Trinitrons still decent in the NTSC world, or do other companies offer similar/better quality sets for more competitive prices?

I've seen a whole bunch of high-end Direct-View TV's, and I still see that Sony is clearly ahead of the competition, my 40" XBR really shines, but it also is a bad tv to have, since it shows how bad the quality of the source is, some things are just unwatchable on it because they look exactly how they are, terrible, but if you use high-quality sources (DVD, DVI...) then you'll be into HDTV goodness, and it's 16:9 window is bigger than a 16:9 only 34" tv, so it really kicks ass, and has the best sound system out of any TV I've ever heard, it has a kind of tube subwoofer (for got what it's called) that's mounted at the top (took me about 12 minutes to find it yesturday...)...well, I know that is out of your price range, but I think it's worth saving up for it.

 

[blessingx]

I chose the Panasonic Tau's over the Sony's when comparing them about 10 months ago. The Sony's, Toshiba's, and Panasonics were all great. It just depended on the blacks and color gamma you prefer. You live in a good spot to test them before purchase with Fry's, Video Only, and a ton of other dealers nearby.