The First sub $200 HD Player

[kn]

Dodece said:
I would like everyone to know that this thread finally pushed me over the edge. I finally gave in and joined the High Definition nation. I decided to go with a 37" High Definition LCD flat panel. The price was reasonable in that it did not cost me over a thousand dollars. That said I am mired in some buyers remorse. Please let me have no regrets lord.

Seriously I had put it off for far too long. My old clunker was going on twenty years old only supported cable, and the sound and visual were not up to par. Sound was cutting out during gaming, and the games themselves looked scratchy. Even a brand new coaxial was not helping all that much, and who knows how long my VCR will hold out. That would be my primary by the way. Everything runs through the VCR. So the choice was getting to be one of I was going to be spending money so why not invest upwards.

I have some questions for the peanut gallery. The model I bought only supports up to 1080i. I seriously considered buying a model that supported both however the price difference was fantastic. I was already determined to stick to a budget that, and I was pushing with screen size. Push come to shove I would rather have a bigger screen rather then support a expensive format.

From what I understand BluRay runs on 1080p. Does that mean on my television that both formats will look exactly the same, or would the BluRay actually look worse. Would I notice any visual difference at all. Has my television made the format choice for me? Even if both formats play equally well I think I would defer to the cheaper format.

I am also curious that since the PS3 is a BluRay player. Would there be any visual difference between a PS3 game and 360 game at all? Curious if the format has a bearing on the quality of gaming visuals. Obviously with the dent in my wallet it will be some time before I make a decision. Just curious have I already made the decision.

Cograts!  I think you made a wise choice.  In the 37" field there are a lot of great sets that aren't 1080P and the price reflects it.  Unless you feel you HAVE TO HAVE THE ABSOLUTE TOP OF THE LINE, don't look back.

2 pages up, there is a thread from avsforum that does a pretty good job of explaining the difference between 1080i and 1080p.  I'm fairly technical but even I admit I'm still confused other than it is clear that at least on digital sets, 1080i and 1080p aren't going to be distinguishable from each other (assuming all recorded video is 1080P 24fps) unless you have a defective player.  I'll leave it up to you to read it and figure it all out.

The general consensus is that broadcast TV will never go beyond 1080i because it is too much of a bandwidth hog.  Never is a strong term indeed, but until the mass majority has fiber optic to their front door, there isn't enough bandwidth to send dozens upon dozens of channels down the current pipes in 1080p.

The only thing I see you might miss is 1080 60fps from your game console -- i.e. your PS3 or your 360 -- assuming you have one or the other.  Of course you can run at 720P or 1080i which are still hugely better looking than standard def and I don't think you are going to be able to easily discern 720P and 1080P on a 37" set.  Others will disagree of course.

Finally, I would encourage you to look elsewhere -- say avsforum -- for information as the gaming sites are so bitterly locked in battle that the truth is hard to find.