New appreciation of Dish.

[priester68]

I just bought a new Visio LCD 1080p 42" with 120hz refresh. The 60hz refresh was $100 cheaper but I heard it makes a difference so I spent extra for the 120. It was a Hell Mart special. Plugged it in with an HDMI and WOW!!!!!!! I was missing so much with the dinosaur I had. The picture is perfect. Even on a movie called K2 made in 1992 is perfect. Feels like your climbing K2 with these guys. I always heard Directv had a better PQ than Dish but I don't see how. At least not on my tv. Any advice on how to fine tune my settings to get the best PQ possible? I heard something about a HDNET test pattern they play but can't find it with search. Thanks to all.


Loving Dish all over again.

 

[KAB]

I just bought a new Visio LCD 1080p 42" with 120hz refresh. The 60hz refresh was $100 cheaper but I heard it makes a difference so I spent extra for the 120. It was a Hell Mart special. Plugged it in with an HDMI and WOW!!!!!!! I was missing so much with the dinosaur I had. The picture is perfect. Even on a movie called K2 made in 1992 is perfect. Feels like your climbing K2 with these guys. I always heard Directv had a better PQ than Dish but I don't see how. At least not on my tv. Any advice on how to fine tune my settings to get the best PQ possible? I heard something about a HDNET test pattern they play but can't find it with search. Thanks to all.


Loving Dish all over again.

The easiest way is to get a Star Wars or Pixar DVD and use the THX setup for brightness, contrast, tint and color.

 

[JimK2]

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[JimK2]

I just bought a new Visio LCD 1080p 42" with 120hz refresh. The 60hz refresh was $100 cheaper but I heard it makes a difference so I spent extra for the 120. It was a Hell Mart special. Plugged it in with an HDMI and WOW!!!!!!! I was missing so much with the dinosaur I had. The picture is perfect. Even on a movie called K2 made in 1992 is perfect. Feels like your climbing K2 with these guys. I always heard Directv had a better PQ than Dish but I don't see how. At least not on my tv. Any advice on how to fine tune my settings to get the best PQ possible? I heard something about a HDNET test pattern they play but can't find it with search. Thanks to all.


Loving Dish all over again.

I now, I have a sony ex700 120hz and its almost like Dish upped their bitrate.

 

[ekilgus]

The Visio TV you got is a pretty good TV especially for the price and when I'm ready for a new TV I'll also get one with a 120hz refresh rate. However, the in-laws got a Sanyo 42" 1080p from Walmart with a 60hz refresh rate because it only cost $548. When I watch this TV I see none of the issues that many associate with the 60hz refresh rate.

The picture looks really great for movies and even looks great for faster moving action like football games. I sometimes wonder if the 60hz vs 120hz issue is overrated. Aren't the TV signals transmitted in 60hz?

 

[Dah-Henny]

I bought a Phillips 47 inch LCD 120hz last year from WallyWorld, and couldn't stand the 120 rate. Took it back before my 90 day window disappeared, then went to BestBuy and hauled home a Samsung plasma. Happy camper now.

 

[KAB]

I bought a Phillips 47 inch LCD 120hz last year from WallyWorld, and couldn't stand the 120 rate.

Wouldn't allow you to set it to 60hz? Anyway, you're better off the the Sammy Plasma. Love mine! Almost got in a fight with a guy in the barber shop who maintained the inferiority of plasma PQ.

 

[navychop]

The Visio TV you got is a pretty good TV especially for the price and when I'm ready for a new TV I'll also get one with a 120hz refresh rate. However, the in-laws got a Sanyo 42" 1080p from Walmart with a 60hz refresh rate because it only cost $548. When I watch this TV I see none of the issues that many associate with the 60hz refresh rate.

The picture looks really great for movies and even looks great for faster moving action like football games. I sometimes wonder if the 60hz vs 120hz issue is overrated. Aren't the TV signals transmitted in 60hz?

No, not really. You can get an interlaced signal of 1080 lines at 60, which is really 60 fields per second, making 30 frames per second. Or 1080 progressive at 24 or 30 Hz, or 720 progressively scanned lines at the same frequency, plus a real 60 progressive frames per second. See below for all combinations under ATSC.

What matters is how the program was originally recorded. You can look up "pull down" to read about how a device displaying at 60 Hz has problems with something recorded at 24 fps.

ATSC DTV Formats (18)

Vert-lines....Pixels........Aspect Ratio........Picture Rate
...1080........1920..............16:9...........60I...30P...24P
....720........1280..............16:9...........60P...30P...24P
....480.........704..........16:9 & 4:3.......60P...60I...30P...24P
....480.........640...............4:3............60P...60I...30P...24P

Previously we had channels 2-83
In 2004 we had channels 2-69
We now have channels 2-51

 

[bruin95]

Wouldn't allow you to set it to 60hz? Anyway, you're better off the the Sammy Plasma. Love mine! Almost got in a fight with a guy in the barber shop who maintained the inferiority of plasma PQ.

That guy is absolutely clueless.

 

[bacchus101]

I think this thread should rather be titled, "New appreciation of HD."

Anyway, I wouldn't trade my Panasonic P50G25 for any LCD.

 

[Brodieb]

You can find a lot of good setting for a variety of TVs online at HDTV picture settings Forum and Discussion - CNET Forums.

Remember, setting are subjective and every panel has a different picture - I use other people's setting as a starting point and tailor them to my own likes.

 

[david_jr]

Wouldn't allow you to set it to 60hz? Anyway, you're better off the the Sammy Plasma. Love mine! Almost got in a fight with a guy in the barber shop who maintained the inferiority of plasma PQ.

2 year old 50 Sammy plasma here too. Friends and family still comment on its fantastic picture quality when they come over.

 

[Tyralak]

Wouldn't allow you to set it to 60hz? Anyway, you're better off the the Sammy Plasma. Love mine! Almost got in a fight with a guy in the barber shop who maintained the inferiority of plasma PQ.

I've been critical of Plasma PQ for years, however there are a couple of new Panasonic and Samsung models which have made me reconsider my stance. In fact, the Panasonic plasma may be the one I replace my aging Mitsubishi 1080i RPTV with next year.

 

[getstuff4less]

I have a 2-yr old HP Plasma and want to sell it because of the ghosting/semi-burn in when an image has been on the screen for a while. It goes away, but is annoying.

 

[KAB]

I have a 2-yr old HP Plasma and want to sell it because of the ghosting/semi-burn in when an image has been on the screen for a while. It goes away, but is annoying.

Those HPs were re-branded models. Don't know who actually made them.

 

[dishcomm]

Wouldn't allow you to set it to 60hz? Anyway, you're better off the the Sammy Plasma. Love mine! Almost got in a fight with a guy in the barber shop who maintained the inferiority of plasma PQ.

Plama is better. Hands down. Got that from a guy I used to work with who is very knowledgable.. He expalined it well.
LCD tv's are backlit. The white areas bleed over to the black areas. So the colors are not as sharp and neither are the edges of the images.
Plasma used to have life expectancy issues. No more. They are rated to last just as long as LCD tv's. Plasmas used to have issues with price. Cost was higher.
Price points for plasmas are competitive with LCD's.

 

[navychop]

Plasmas have their good points. But they may not be the best choice for well lit spaces. However, we've really gotten OT.

 

[concord]

I just bought a new Visio LCD 1080p 42" with 120hz refresh. The 60hz refresh was $100 cheaper but I heard it makes a difference so I spent extra for the 120. It was a Hell Mart special. Plugged it in with an HDMI and WOW!!!!!!! I was missing so much with the dinosaur I had. The picture is perfect. Even on a movie called K2 made in 1992 is perfect. Feels like your climbing K2 with these guys. I always heard Directv had a better PQ than Dish but I don't see how. At least not on my tv. Any advice on how to fine tune my settings to get the best PQ possible? I heard something about a HDNET test pattern they play but can't find it with search. Thanks to all.


Loving Dish all over again.

Check out LCD Flat Panel Displays - AVS Forum, some calibrators will post settings for some models...every TV is slightly different, but it will get you close...

 

[maximum]

Plama is better. Hands down. Got that from a guy I used to work with who is very knowledgable.. He expalined it well.
LCD tv's are backlit. The white areas bleed over to the black areas. So the colors are not as sharp and neither are the edges of the images.
Plasma used to have life expectancy issues. No more. They are rated to last just as long as LCD tv's. Plasmas used to have issues with price. Cost was higher.
Price points for plasmas are competitive with LCD's.

I heard plasmas run hotter and consume more electricity than LCDs. Is that still true?

 

[navychop]

I heard plasmas run hotter and consume more electricity than LCDs. Is that still true?

Them's Fight'n Words!

You'll get religious convictions one way or the other. Basically, I'd say plasmas definitely put out at least a little more heat, and probably use a little more power. California seems to think they use more power.