[mythtv-users] LCD HDTV recommendations (that are Myth friendly)...

[Jason]

> i've been given the 'ok' from the CFO to upgrade our 10yo CRT to a
> modern day LCD HDTV.
> currently, 95% of what we watch is SD content captured by Myth.  the
> other 5% is DVD and Internet content.  i know that a lot of the
> earlier HDTV's really struggled to make SD video watchable.  is that
> still the case?

My CFO approved that kind of upgrade last year.  We went with a 40" Sony 
Bravia that I've absolutely loved since getting it.

My impression was that there wasn't a lot of variation in the the actual LCD 
panels in the sets (only a few manufacturers make panels).  The big 
difference was the scaling and line doubling circuitry.  I've been very 
impressed with how the Sony handles both SD (both analog and digital) and HD 
content.  The analog SD content does not necessarily look as nice as 
digital, but in some cases, digital SD via QAM looked worse than analog SD 
processed by Myth.  That may have been due to Comcast's (over)compression of 
the digital signals, though.  In general, when it comes to the scalers and 
line doublers, you get what you pay for.

The real trick is to get out and look at the TVs.  Bring along some examples 
of content that you'll be watching (DVDs, etc.).  Don't be afraid to ask the 
sales folks to put different content on the set so you can compare.  In a 
good store, they'll do this without question.  In a big box store, it'll be 
more trouble.  But, it's got to be done because you're the one that is going 
to be sitting in front of the thing for several years, and if something 
annoys you out of the gate, you're gonna be mad.  :)

AVSforums.com is a very good source for TV reviews in general.  There will 
generally be a forum thread for specific model of TV, which you can read to 
become familiar with the issues in each set and get some feedback from folks 
that look way too carefully at their TVs.

Jason