11/1/07

A checklist for the buyer

 

Pioneering designs

Some units have DVI without HDCP, others have IEEE 1394 without DTCP.  These units were designed before these options were defined.  There is additional risk in buying one of these:  Hollywood might some day disable these units for hi-def films.  If you are considering a 1394 unit that lacks HAVi, get a complete list of the units it will work with.  That list might never change.

 

Attention all sports-fans !!

If watching sporting events is important to you then so is 720p.  This is the only hi-def format that displays 60 frames per second.  Most HDTVs will draw either 1080i or 720p, and convert the other.  A good STB will allow you to select 1080i or 720p output.  (ABC, FOX, and ESPN broadcast sports events in 720p.)

 

Note that if the display monitor is 1080i then the 60 fps advantage of 720p is lost when the tuner converts it to 1080i.  A 1080p display can preserve the 60 fps advantage, but make sure the tuner is not converting the image to 1080i.

 

Before you go into the store

  1. Decide how much you can afford to spend.
  2. Decide what your HD programming source will be: satellite, cable, DVD, or Over-The-Air.
  3. Make a tentative decision on what STBs you want.
  4. Research the STBs.  Find out what the output connectors are.  The internet is a good source.  (Google the product number.)

 

When you go into the store

  1. Ask for the HDTV expert. Get his business card or write down his name.
  2. Ask to be shown the HDTVs in your price range.
  3. For each set that interests you, ask what horizontal resolution, in pixels, is truly visibly achieved.
  4. Ask how the set draws each of these: 1080i, 720p, 480i, 480p.
  5. Ask what formats the set will accept from VGA or component video inputs.
  6. If he ever says the phrase “1080p”, ask him if that is 60 frames per second, and ask him if the set “will accept 1080 60p from an STB”.
  7. Find out if the set has enough connectors for all the STBs you want.
  8. When you know the set you want, go home and look it up on the internet.  Verify that what you were told is accurate.  Countless people, perhaps millions, have reported that what they were told in the store was wrong.  Most likely it was incompetence, not dishonesty.
  9. Don’t buy anything until you are sure all the units fit together.

 

 

 

 

This page is part of “An HDTV Primer”, which starts at    www.hdtvprimer.com