Yet another HDTV question

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:54 am

You can buy Wii component cables from Monoprice for under 4 bucks now.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:23 pm

My current setup has the Wii using S-video going through a multiport box and then to the TV. I don't really need the multiport anymore, as it's just the Wii and the XBox (original) being sued on that TV.

For $4 I'll probably try the component cables.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:29 am

Need a little advice for my brother-in-law. He just purchased a PS3, and is now in the market for a large screen HDTV. Currently, he is eyeing the following:

Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV
Model: LN52B630 | SKU: 9401658

It's on sale for $1289, down from $2099.00 Is anyone familiar with this tv or can suggest another one that is comparable?

Here's the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+5 ... &cp=1&lp=1

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:05 am

sportdan30 wrote:Need a little advice for my brother-in-law. He just purchased a PS3, and is now in the market for a large screen HDTV. Currently, he is eyeing the following:

Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV
Model: LN52B630 | SKU: 9401658

It's on sale for $1289, down from $2099.00 Is anyone familiar with this tv or can suggest another one that is comparable?

Here's the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+5 ... &cp=1&lp=1

That's a very nice TV. The matte screen on the x30 series makes it even better (I hate glossy on the x50s). The 6 series is the highest model that comes in the matte screen, so I'd definitely recommend it.

Leadfoot5 · Post by **Leadfoot5** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:01 am

sportdan30 wrote:Need a little advice for my brother-in-law. He just purchased a PS3, and is now in the market for a large screen HDTV. Currently, he is eyeing the following:

Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV
Model: LN52B630 | SKU: 9401658

It's on sale for $1289, down from $2099.00 Is anyone familiar with this tv or can suggest another one that is comparable?

Here's the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+5 ... &cp=1&lp=1

Great TV for an even greater price. I think he'll be very happy with that set. My brother has it and it's outstanding (he paid $2100). I have the 46" 610 series, and love it...

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:48 am

Thanks guys. I'm tempted to get it myself, but I have other bills to worry about at this time.

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:56 am

sportdan30 wrote:Thanks guys. I'm tempted to get it myself, but I have other bills to worry about at this time.

He can get that same TV for $1128 with a Blu-ray player thrown in at Circuit City:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1750690

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:06 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Need a little advice for my brother-in-law. He just purchased a PS3, and is now in the market for a large screen HDTV. Currently, he is eyeing the following:

Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV
Model: LN52B630 | SKU: 9401658

It's on sale for $1289, down from $2099.00 Is anyone familiar with this tv or can suggest another one that is comparable?

Here's the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+5 ... &cp=1&lp=1

Thanks guys, we ended up getting this TV today. It will be delivered Sat. Wohooo!!! Best thing about this, is the 42" now gets moved to the basement with my 360! So I go from my 22" LCD monitor to a 42" for my console

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:20 pm

JackB1 wrote:Thanks guys, we ended up getting this TV today. It will be delivered Sat. Wohooo!!! Best thing about this, is the 42" now gets moved to the basement with my 360! So I go from my 22" LCD monitor to a 42" for my console

That's a nice upgrade. I went from a 37" 720p to a 42" 1080p and that was significant. So you'll be in heaven.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:41 pm

Now that my new 50" Samsung LCD is on it's way, should I get a HDMI cable or are component cables sufficient?

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:55 pm

JackB1 wrote:Now that my new 50" Samsung LCD is on it's way, should I get a HDMI cable or are component cables sufficient?

Go HDMI. Components are fine, but HDMI is just easier to deal with. You can get them really cheap from Monoprice.com. Whatever you do don't spend a lot for an HDMI cable -- the pricey ones offer NO advantages over cheaper cables.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:57 pm

Brando70 wrote:
JackB1 wrote:Now that my new 50" Samsung LCD is on it's way, should I get a HDMI cable or are component cables sufficient?
Go HDMI. Components are fine, but HDMI is just easier to deal with. You can get them really cheap from Monoprice.com. Whatever you do don't spend a lot for an HDMI cable -- the pricey ones offer NO advantages over cheaper cables.

Not sure what u mean by "easier to deal with"? But will the HDMI give me a better picture than components? I also have to make sure my Direct TV receiver has a HDMI output.

Related question......
Just got my new Samsung 52" LCD and it's sweet! Haven't done much with it yet, but live hoops on ESPN HD looks so nice.

Anyway, the TV has a "built in tuner" so can I take my cable coming into the house and split it with a A/B switch and then have one signal going into my Direct TV dvr box and another going straight into the TV? This way I can switch over to the TV's tuner while I am recording on my Direct TV dvr. Will that work?

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:26 pm

JackB1 wrote:
Not sure what u mean by "easier to deal with"?

By 'easier' he means "not harder or more difficult; requiring no great labor or effort."

You plug the one cable into the TV and you get both sound and picture. It won't necessarily be a better picture from every source, but on some cases there are advantages (such as upconverting DVDs to 1080p or i from a BluRay player or upconverting DVD player, which will not upconvert over component).

But the main thing is that the HDMI cable can carry both HD video and sound through the one cable. (And for the content producers, the technology has very restrictive copy protection capabilities built in, which for consumers is a major negative, but as of now they aren't using that yet, and you don't really need to worry about that stuff, Jack.)

JackB1 wrote:Anyway, the TV has a "built in tuner" so can I take my cable coming into the house and split it with a A/B switch and then have one signal going into my Direct TV dvr box and another going straight into the TV? This way I can switch over to the TV's tuner while I am recording on my Direct TV dvr. Will that work?

No. You can receive over the air HD signals if you connect a UHF antenna, and you can get signals over a cable line, but apparently you have DirecTV, not cable, so the tuner won't do any good for you that way.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:36 pm

Zeppo wrote: No. You can receive over the air HD signals if you connect a UHF antenna, and you can get signals over a cable line, but apparently you have DirecTV, not cable, so the tuner won't do any good for you that way.

so the "built in tuner" will only work for cable? too bad.

thanks for the explanation Zep! As far as the connecting cables go, I see how its nice having video and audio all in one, but connecting 3 video/component cables plus 2 for audio isn't a big deal. I was just curious about better quality. If it's not, then I'll just stick with the components.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:46 pm

JackB1 wrote:
Zeppo wrote: No. You can receive over the air HD signals if you connect a UHF antenna, and you can get signals over a cable line, but apparently you have DirecTV, not cable, so the tuner won't do any good for you that way.
so the "built in tuner" will only work for cable? too bad.

thanks for the explanation Zep! As far as the connecting cables go, I see how its nice having video and audio all in one, but connecting 3 video/component cables plus 2 for audio isn't a big deal. I was just curious about better quality. If it's not, then I'll just stick with the components.

Well HDMI will be / may be better quality in the specific case of playing a DVD from a device that can upconvert that DVD image to 1080p (I assume your new TV is 1080p), such as a PS3 or pretty much any modern DVD player with an HDMI output, in that no device can send any DVD image through component at any resolution other than 480p through component.

Having the one single HDMI cable is objectively better than having four separate cables (or five if you are not using an optical TosLink cable for audio), but you are right in that it's not really a big deal; but it is better.

As Brando mentioned, buying from MonoPrice is very smart because brick and mortar stores tend to overcharge by obscene amounts for HDMI cables vs. what MonoPrice charges.

As to the tuner, it can receive digital television signals over the air, including HDTV signals over the air, if you have an antenna connected to it. The quality of the picture of over the air (OTA) HD signals is far greater than what you get from DirecTV, as well as not being subject to interruption due to cloud cover. So, for example if your DirecTV goes out due to cloud cover, having an antenna connected would make for a great back up so that you could watch the networks and local stations without the DirecTV working.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:31 am

Jack,

I am not sure, but I thought for DirecTV, you had to use HDMI in order to output a 1080p signal from your DTV box. I may be mistaken about that.

With my older 720p set, I had used HDMI and component and didn't see a video quality difference. However, like Zeppo said, I appreciated having just one cable instead of four. Plus, with HDMI, you can buy a supercheap cable and get the same picture quality as an expensive HDMI cable because the signal is digital. With componet, you need to get decent cables -- the cheap ones that come with a DTV HD box are not good and HDMI will definitely look better.

For the $8 a Monoprice HDMI cable will cost, it's worth it.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 1:56 pm

Does anyone know how I get 120hz? Whenever I change channels, it shows the resolution and the speed and it always says 60hz. Do only certain broadcasts give you 120hz? I don't understand this.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:42 pm

JackB1 wrote:Does anyone know how I get 120hz? Whenever I change channels, it shows the resolution and the speed and it always says 60hz. Do only certain broadcasts give you 120hz? I don't understand this.

The refresh rate of your TV is independent of the source material. The display will report the rate of the source. So at 60 Hz, your set will create 2 frames for every frame of information from the source material.

AFAIK, there is *no* source that produces 120 Hz (is one even planned?).

In fact, film and Blu-ray support 24 Hz. Conventional processsing would perform translation/interpolation from 24 to 60 (callled 2:3 pulldown), and your set would double it to 120. A better way to do this would be to allow the source to remain at 24 Hz ( = 24 fps ) and allow your set to handle the translation to 120 directly (as 24 is an even divisor for 120).

The method by which your set gets from 60 or 24 to 120 is dependent upon the electronics of your particular set.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:05 pm

GameSeven wrote: A better way to do this would be to allow the source to remain at 24 Hz ( = 24 fps ) and allow your set to handle the translation to 120 directly (as 24 is an even divisor for 120).

That seems to me the only purpose for 120hz refresh rates on TVs, to avoid the 3:2 interpolation problem from film sources. It would be absurd in my mind for the display to do 3:2 and then double from 60hz to 120hz, but I'm sure stupider things have been designed into electronics over the years.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:11 pm

I'm still confused. So how do I get my TV to do 120Hz or is it just doing it automatically?

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:27 pm

JackB1 wrote:I'm still confused. So how do I get my TV to do 120Hz or is it just doing it automatically?

It's in the menu's of yoru TV. If it's a samsung it's under "picture" and then "detailed setting" or something like that. If you ask me 120Hz is crap for anything but live sports. It makes every movie or show look like it was filmed in video. You get this jerky motion and the picture looks like you're watching the daily opposed to something that has gone through post production.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:24 pm

JackB1 wrote:I'm still confused. So how do I get my TV to do 120Hz or is it just doing it automatically?

Most likely, it is automatic. Although as LAking says, you might have some option to modify what processing is *done* for 120 Hz.

As I said before, the display that you are referring to reports the rate of the *source*. This will most likely only ever be 60 or, if you have a properly configured Blu-ray player (or PS3) 24. I imagine if you set up a home theater PC you could probably send in some other rates but that should suffice for here.

Now, what your display *does* with the 60 frames of info is up to how your settings are. It is perfectly reasonable for a 120 Hz display to show a 60 Hz by displaying each frame twice, filling up the 120 fps with 60 distinct frames of data.

On the other hand, many sets offer some processing that processes the 'in-betweens' via interpolating the differences between each two frames. On some Samsung sets this is called "Auto Motion Plus 120Hz". There are likely some different values you can experiment with. Setting it Off leaves the functionality as I first described.

Some people don't like the effect that the in-betweens cause (google "soap opera effect"). Some do. It is purely subjective and up to you to experiment with. Note, this won't change the 60 Hz you see displayed as this always displays the rate of the source.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:56 pm

LAking wrote:
JackB1 wrote:I'm still confused. So how do I get my TV to do 120Hz or is it just doing it automatically?
It's in the menu's of yoru TV. If it's a samsung it's under "picture" and then "detailed setting" or something like that. If you ask me 120Hz is crap for anything but live sports. It makes every movie or show look like it was filmed in video. You get this jerky motion and the picture looks like you're watching the daily opposed to something that has gone through post production.

Which is exactly what I've been preaching. LOL.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:57 pm

GameSeven wrote: On the other hand, many sets offer some processing that processes the 'in-betweens' via interpolating the differences between each two frames. On some Samsung sets this is called "Auto Motion Plus 120Hz". There are likely some different values you can experiment with. Setting it Off leaves the functionality as I first described.

Some people don't like the effect that the in-betweens cause (google "soap opera effect"). Some do. It is purely subjective and up to you to experiment with. Note, this won't change the 60 Hz you see displayed as this always displays the rate of the source.

The only setting I see related to 120hz is the "auto motion plus" settings.
So 120Hz = "auto motion plus"? I thought this feature was only useful for a fast moving picture, like a hockey game? So should I leave the "auto motion plus" off unless I am watching sports?

There are a ton of other settings to tweak. Are most of them OK left on default or are there some that most everyone changes? Of course I changed brightness & contrast.....but what about things like backlight level, black tone, gamma, color space, white balance, flesh tone, edge enhancement, etc. All the things you can adjust gets mind boggling after a while.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:52 pm

JackB1 wrote:So should I leave the "auto motion plus" off unless I am watching sports?

There are a ton of other settings to tweak. Are most of them OK left on default or are there some that most everyone changes?

Well, like LAking and DB, I'd be inclined to leave AMP off, but again, here is where the subjective impression comes in. You should experiment to find out what works for you.

As for the other options, unless someone chimes in with the same model that can give you a few pointers, you'd do better in avsforum.com or similar. The threads can be daunting, but if you are serious about maximizing your satisfaction, putting in the time in these can teach you a lot.

Here is a selection of posts that include some people's settings for your series of LCD (I believe). Of course, YMMV as each individual panel is different and no one size fits all.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... st17749578
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... st17721529
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... st17722627