tv shopping HELP!!

I am SO confused! What is the difference between 720p 1080i and 1080p. What is the best brand for the value?

We would like to buy 2 new LCD flat screens, 1 for our bedroom, 1 for the livingroom but I dont even know where to begin and DH isnt much better. We would like a 26' for the bedroom and 42-46 for the livingroom. HELP if you know anything? Please?

also you may want to measure how far the tvs would be from your bed and sofa cause you may need it bigger...

we have a 37' for our bedroom... and 55' for the living room. The living room has a 12 foot distance and the bedroom is about 8...

it would hve been nice if i posted the link. sorry

http://bfads.net/Television-Buying-Guide-for-Black-Friday-2008

that link is VERY helpful! thanks so much!!!

I have sold several thousand hdtv's in the past since I worked for Best Buy for 4 years so I can def help you.

720p is the standard of high def, meaning if you were to subscribe to high def cable that is the resolution that you would see the picture come in.

1080p is the 'future' of high def, meaning blu-ray movies. Which you have to buy a particular player and particular movies in order to watch them in 1080p. No cable comes in 1080p but you can order some movies in 1080p through your cable company.

HDTV's are in widescreen format (16:9) so a 26' hdtv will look much smaller than a 27' regular tube tv, I think that it what the poster above meant.

Then there are two different types: lcd or plasma. Plasmas typically come in 37'+ but you can find one or two 32' plasmas. These are glass screens and may/may not have bad reflection if they are in a sunny room depending on if they are anti-glare. Plasmas are known to have blacker blacks and white whites (also known as contrast). Plasmas are VERY susceptible to 'burn in' which can happen if you pause the tv for too long or watch abc with the logo in the bottom corner for too long. As long as you don't leave the image on the screen for more than an hour or so, the tv will 'wash' the burn in away and your tv will be good as new again. If your DH/FH is playing guitar hero and then pauses it and forgets that he left it on and goes to work, you will most likely have a shadow of guitar hero on your tv for the rest of your DH's life (I say that bc if this were to happen at my house, I'd kill my DH!!!)

LCD's typically come in 15' and up. They are liquid crystal display so the screens are much more sensitive than those of a plasma. If you have kids just be careful that they dont run their fingers on it too much or throw something at it. LCD's are known to have brighter colors than plasma's but not as much black and whites. LCD's do not get glare since there is no glass on the screen, but they can look washed out in direct sun. LCD's are susceptible to burnt out pixels which look like tiny pin holes in the tv that will stay blue or white or black or red for the rest of the tv's life. Most manufacturers will not “deal with” this until it affects more than 10% of the screen.

720p tv’s are much cheaper than 1080p tv’s because they are “older”. They do not make 26” tv’s in 1080p so you’ll have to get an lcd for your bedroom. It is important to know that your hdtv’s will look pretty bad if you do not plan to hook them up to high def cable. Some tv’s look better than others and you should play with the channels in the store if you don’t plan on paying to have a high def cable box in your bedroom (I don’t blame you!).

It’s important to make yourself familiar with a few key terms: contrast ratio and refresh rate. Contrast ratio measures the black in black’s and white in white’s. The only problem is that you can’t compare say Sony contrast versus Sharp contrast because they measure this differently. Nonetheless, the higher the contrast the better the black’s and white’s. Refresh rate if really just how the tv keeps up with action on the screen. When it comes to refresh rate, the lower the refresh rate the better the tv will be at keeping up with an action scene. If the tv has a slow refresh rate you will see what is called pixelation, which looks like a bunch of small squares all blurry on the screen.

I could go on and on but I hope that this gives you a good basic understanding. Please feel free to FM me with any questions, I actually really like this kind of stuff! Good luck!

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Posted by ldrenckhahn

I have sold several thousand hdtv's in the past since I worked for Best Buy for 4 years so I can def help you.

720p is the standard of high def, meaning if you were to subscribe to high def cable that is the resolution that you would see the picture come in.

1080p is the 'future' of high def, meaning blu-ray movies. Which you have to buy a particular player and particular movies in order to watch them in 1080p. No cable comes in 1080p but you can order some movies in 1080p through your cable company.

HDTV's are in widescreen format (16:9) so a 26' hdtv will look much smaller than a 27' regular tube tv, I think that it what the poster above meant.

Then there are two different types: lcd or plasma. Plasmas typically come in 37'+ but you can find one or two 32' plasmas. These are glass screens and may/may not have bad reflection if they are in a sunny room depending on if they are anti-glare. Plasmas are known to have blacker blacks and white whites (also known as contrast). Plasmas are VERY susceptible to 'burn in' which can happen if you pause the tv for too long or watch abc with the logo in the bottom corner for too long. As long as you don't leave the image on the screen for more than an hour or so, the tv will 'wash' the burn in away and your tv will be good as new again. If your DH/FH is playing guitar hero and then pauses it and forgets that he left it on and goes to work, you will most likely have a shadow of guitar hero on your tv for the rest of your DH's life (I say that bc if this were to happen at my house, I'd kill my DH!!!)

LCD's typically come in 15' and up. They are liquid crystal display so the screens are much more sensitive than those of a plasma. If you have kids just be careful that they dont run their fingers on it too much or throw something at it. LCD's are known to have brighter colors than plasma's but not as much black and whites. LCD's do not get glare since there is no glass on the screen, but they can look washed out in direct sun. LCD's are susceptible to burnt out pixels which look like tiny pin holes in the tv that will stay blue or white or black or red for the rest of the tv's life. Most manufacturers will not “deal with” this until it affects more than 10% of the screen.

720p tv’s are much cheaper than 1080p tv’s because they are “older”. They do not make 26” tv’s in 1080p so you’ll have to get an lcd for your bedroom. It is important to know that your hdtv’s will look pretty bad if you do not plan to hook them up to high def cable. Some tv’s look better than others and you should play with the channels in the store if you don’t plan on paying to have a high def cable box in your bedroom (I don’t blame you!).

It’s important to make yourself familiar with a few key terms: contrast ratio and refresh rate. Contrast ratio measures the black in black’s and white in white’s. The only problem is that you can’t compare say Sony contrast versus Sharp contrast because they measure this differently. Nonetheless, the higher the contrast the better the black’s and white’s. Refresh rate if really just how the tv keeps up with action on the screen. When it comes to refresh rate, the lower the refresh rate the better the tv will be at keeping up with an action scene. If the tv has a slow refresh rate you will see what is called pixelation, which looks like a bunch of small squares all blurry on the screen.

I could go on and on but I hope that this gives you a good basic understanding. Please feel free to FM me with any questions, I actually really like this kind of stuff! Good luck!

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wow, VERY informative, thanks so much!!!