hdtv question

[11south]

I am in radio, but I need a new tv set. I cable, and I can buy my cousin's lightly used sony 32" high scan tv that is hdtv compatible for $400. It will fit in our armoire in the family room.

Or I can buy a new armoire and plop down $2k+ for a 37" plasma display, so including the cost of the armoire I am over $3.2K.

My wife and I ueually watch normal cable fare like Cnn, MSNBC, HGTV, HBO and the local news and some prime via DVR. Most of this is in the 4:3 aspect ratio.

I don't see a massive switch to 16x9 in the near future. If I want HDTV can't I just buy an over the air tuner, hook up an antenna or hook it up to my cable and plug it in to the High Def plug on the back of the tv.

My gut tells me to buy the sony from my cousin and wait a few years for the prices to drop.
Thoughts?

[tpt]

Your gut is probably right.

Yes, you can buy an HDTV tuner, although they are not widely advertised. Believe they run around $200~$250

Since you mostly watch cable anyway, this makes more sense.

[11south]

> Your gut is probably right.
>
> Yes, you can buy an HDTV tuner, although they are not widely
> advertised. Believe they run around $200~$250
>
> Since you mostly watch cable anyway, this makes more sense.
>

My cable company carries hd programming...some of the local affiliates and some of the cable channels. are these on frequencies in the cable that the hdtv reciever can decode?, or are they switching frequencies to another place so you are forced to use their proprietary hd box?

[CW]

> Your gut is probably right.
>
> Yes, you can buy an HDTV tuner, although they are not widely
> advertised. Believe they run around $200~$250

Best Buy and Curcuit City have them for that price..they just dont advertise them because of the low profit margin

[amos]

I bought a 30" LCD "HD-Ready" set, and an HDTV receiver.  beautiful picture, but i paid $1000 for the tv and another $200 for the receiver.

My younger, smarter brother bought a 32" 4x3 CRT type tv that has a built in HDTV tuner.  in widescreen mode (16x9) his picture is about the same size as my 30".

But in 4x3 mode my picture is about the same size as a 26 or 27" 4x3 tv. so he got a bigger picture on the stuff you watch most...  and the same size on the widescreen.

he paid about $350 for the set.  

amos

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[Tom_Desmond]

> I don't see a massive switch to 16x9 in the near future. If
> I want HDTV can't I just buy an over the air tuner, hook up
> an antenna or hook it up to my cable and plug it in to the
> High Def plug on the back of the tv.

Either option should work, depending on where you are located -- since off-air and cable HD options both vary widely by locale.

As for the prevalence of 16x9 programming -- note that virtually all scripted entertainment programs on the six broadcast networks in primetime are now presented in widescreen.  
>
> My gut tells me to buy the sony from my cousin and wait a
> few years for the prices to drop.

I'd personally recommend going with the 32" set -- or alternatively, considering some other option that is less expensive than the plasma set.  Note that you can buy 30" widescreen HD-ready sets brand new for under $800.  And Samsung sells one with a built in digital tuner (for OTA HD/digital reception) for $900.  But if you know that the used Sony is in good condition and likely to be reliable for several years to come, there is probably no reason to bother with a new set.

[tpt]

Also keeps your cousin happy as he can take the $400 and apply it towards what he really wants....

[BoardmanDJ]

> My cable company carries hd programming...some of the local
> affiliates and some of the cable channels. are these on
> frequencies in the cable that the hdtv reciever can decode?,
> or are they switching frequencies to another place so you
> are forced to use their proprietary hd box?
>
You don't necessarily need the cable box. most cable companies will send their HD OTA channels 'in the clear'.  If you have an OTA box (like the ones from LG Electronics) with QAM support, then you can get any 'in the clear' channel.
note that it won't be the same channel as the cable box.  The cable company line their channels up differently.
So, 110 cable might come in on 87-2.  If you can talk to an engineer at your local cable company they can usually help you.  You might also check the AVS forum which has HD reception discussions going for most cities.

A nice OTA box, without QAM and a decent antenna is those Samsung SIR-T151's on Ebay for around $100.  It's not state of the art, but technology keeps moving forward.  By the time the high priced sets become affordable, there will be all sorts of new technology out there.

[Adam C.]

> A nice OTA box, without QAM and a decent antenna is those
> Samsung SIR-T151's on Ebay for around $100.  It's not state
> of the art, but technology keeps moving forward.  By the
> time the high priced sets become affordable, there will be
> all sorts of new technology out there.
>

Forgive me for asking, but what's QAM?

-A

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[xmusicmatt]

> Forgive me for asking, but what's QAM?
>
> -A
>

"Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is a modulation scheme which conveys data by changing (modulating) the amplitude of two carrier waves. These two waves, usually sinusoids, are out of phase with each other by 90° and are thus called quadrature carriers — hence the name of the scheme."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM

:-)

It's basically the transmission/encoding format... Kinda like 8SPK and QSPK etc to my knowledge.

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