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Will Your Local TV Stations Go Dark Tonight-Feb. 17, 2009?

Gary — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:27:27 +0000

Tonight, at 1159:59 PM over 400 of the 1796 U.S. television stations will permanently shut off their analog signals. If you currently receive broadcast television from a cable or a satellite TV provider, your reception will not be affected. However, if you are among the 5.8 million households (source Nielsen) that receive broadcast TV signals via an antenna, and stations in your market are shutting off their analog transmitters, you’ll need to have a digital tuner converter box or a TV with a built-in digital tuner to continue to get receive free broadcast TV programs.

Tonight’s shut off affects many small market stations, but also includes more populated areas including San Francisco and San Diego CA. For the complete list of the TV stations shutting off their analog transmissions today, use this link .

If you are in one of the affected markets using an antenna for TV reception, you will need to purchase a DTV converter box. They sell for around $40-$60 each and are available from a local stores including Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. The government offers a program that will provide up to two $40 coupons that may be applied towards the purchase of (up to two) converter boxes per household.

The program recently ran out of funding, a problem that was rectified in the economic stimulus bill signed by President Obama today. To learn more about the coupon program, go to this link. Of course, it will take several weeks to receive your coupon.

Which Converter Buy Should You Purchase?

The HD Guru tested five converter boxes. They are the Zenith DTT901, Apex DT250, GE 23333, Digital Stream DTX9950 and the Dish Network DTV Pal.

All the boxes tested came with remote control (w/batteries) and a coax cable. All picked up at least 5 local stations using a Silver Sensor (by Philips) indoor antenna and 15 with a rooftop antenna. All produced outstanding crystal clear video, except the GE, which produced some visible video noise.

The two outstanding performers were the Zenith and DTV Pal. Both had the excellent on-screen menus and top overall performance.

Once you connect your converter box to your analog TV and scan the tuner for all the digital channels in your area, you may discover one or more of your local TV station’s digital channels do not appear. This is indicative that your present antenna is not up to the job of receiving the digital versions of your local stations. Perhaps your old rooftop antenna is bent, needs to be re-aimed, or the connections have rusted. You can go to antennaweb.org to learn more about choosing an adequate antenna for your locale.

They’ll Keep A Light On For You

In the markets where all of the four major TV network affiliates (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX) are dropping their respective programming tonight, one station has been picked to keep its analog transmitter functioning. However, instead of broadcasting programming, there will appear a scroll telling viewers that they need to tune to the station’s digital signal to receive programs. The FCC refers to this as Night Light service.

When Will The Rest of The Analog Stations Go Off The Air?

All remaining analog TV stations must permanently sign-off by June 12, 2009 with the recently enacted DTV Delay Bill.

Copyright ©2009 All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademark. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission. The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable. HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

Verizon FIOS Announces Many New HD Channels

Gary — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:36:59 +0000

Verizon will significantly grow its national high definition channel line-up next month, increasing its regional and national HD network count from 23 to 44. The new channels include: TBS HD, Lifetime HD, Animal Planet HD, Science Channel HD, TLC HD, Bravo HD, Smithsonian Channel HD, History Channel HD, Sci-Fi Channel HD, CNN HD, CNBC+ HD and the Outdoor Channel HD. New premium HD movie channels include Starz Kids and Family HD, Starz Comedy HD, Starz Edge HD, Showtime West HD, Showtime 2 HD, The Movie Channel HD and others.

In addition, Shawn Strickland, VP of Video Solutions Verizon FIOS, (in a letter to subscribers) wrote, by the end of 2008 Verizon FIOS will have more than 100 HD channels as well as 1,000 HD Video-On-Demand titles per month. Current FIOS HD subscribers will see new channel numbers assigned to many of its existing channels beginning July 23, though not all of the new HD channels will be immediately available.

In the NY metro area, FIOS will continue to offer the seven major local HD network broadcast channels bringing the total available to 51 HD channels.

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Confirms HDMI Cable Scam!

Gary — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:43:45 +0000

The HD Guru™ has been warning readers since November 2006 about false claims made regarding the superior HDTV performance of expensive name brand HDMI cables when compared to a cheap ones. Canada’s public television network, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) has extensively tested a brand name, very expensive HDMI cable against less costly ones and confirmed the HD Guru’s advice. It found that a generic $6.00 (plus shipping) HDMI cable obtained from an internet retailer provided exactly the same high definition performance as the name brand cable costing $216!

In a report by CBC’s Erica Johnson, three HDMI cables were rounded up for testing and supplied to Maxine Caron, a CBC production engineer. The group consisted of a well know brand name cable ($216 Canadian), Best Buy’s house brand (Rocketfish $110 Canadian) and a the generic 15 ft. HDMI cable obtained via the internet for $6 plus $6 shipping (BTW Canadian dollars are currently exchanging around 1:1 with the US dollar).

Caron compared his source HDTV test signals to the output of each HDMI cable being tested at CBC’s test facility. The findings, all three HDMI cables tested reproduced every single pixel of the HDTV source. Caron commented that all three cables reproduced exactly the same image, including color quality, sharpness and black level. There was no performance advantage using the higher priced HDMI cables!

There may be differences in construction quality of the most expensive HDMI cables as compared to the cheapest, and perhaps if you plan to disconnect and reconnect the same cable dozens or hundreds of times, expensive cables will hold up better. However, the HD Guru™ has been using a number of inexpensive HDMI cables including ones made by Philips (about $20 at amazon.com) that have been disconnected and reconnected to different sources and displays dozens of times. To date, there has been no product failure.

One final note, buying a cable capable of passing a wider bandwidth (also referred to as speed or expressed as Gbps) than required, provides no image improvement.

You can see the CBC report at

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/marketplace/packing_the_deal.wmv

Cable Industry’s Plans to Cheat HDTV Owners Part II : Cable and Consumer Electronics Industries Debate the Issue

Gary — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:28:54 +0000

Cablelabs and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) have locked horns over the HD Guru’s CableCARD article “How The Cable Industry Plans to Cheat 10+ Million HDTV Owners-an HD GURU™ Investigative Report”. Cablelabs disputes the HD Guru’s findings with comments that include “Your article above has a few errors”….and “…CE companies chose to implement receivers that lack the necessary circuitry to provide a full two-way cable experience with the CableCARD.”

The CEA has responded and disputes Cablelabs statements, claiming “HD Guru is quite accurate in his description of the situation” and “Any assertion that the CE industry CHOSE to implement one-way devices is blatant revisionism”.

You can find the Cablelabs complete response as it appears in the comments section of the April 15 post at
http://hdguru.com/how-the-cable-industry-plans-to-cheat-
10-million-hdtv-owners/233/#comments
as written by Michael (Mike) M. Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Communications, Cablelabs.

Brian Markwalter, V.P. of Technology and Standards for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has written its response.

Below is a copy of the complete CEA statement, followed by a reprint of Mr. Schwartz’s comments.

The CEA writes:
“HD Guru is quite accurate in his description of the situation. Any assertion that the CE industry CHOSE to implement one-way devices is blatant revisionism. Despite the fact that CableCARDs were two-way capable and standards had been written to use them that way, the cable industry refused to allow the CE industry to make use of the upstream capability for simple interactive services like VOD. Digital Cable Ready (CableCARD) TVs are one-way because of license terms and not lack of foresight by the CE industry.

CEA believes that HD Guru writes from the perspective of the consumer and got it right. More than 10 years after the law was passed, consumers still cannot buy a TV at retail that competes on equal terms with a middle-of-the-road set top box.”

Mr. Schwartz placed his comments within a copy of the HD Guru text. Here are his words from the comments section in its entirety.

“As of March 19th, the total number of actual subscribers using CableCARDs with retail products is only 347,000 units based on reports by the ten largest cable operators who serve 90% of the cable subscribers. http://www.ncta.com/DocumentBinary.aspx?id=717

Actually, nothing is being “disabled”. These sets were never intended or designed to receive content that requires a two-way connection. Content available on cable networks is changing all the time. New services are added, some are redesigned and others are removed.

Actually, this SDV technology is designed to expand the range of services offered by cable operators, not reduce them. This new technology will enable cable operators to add a virtually unlimited number of new services – services that are very specialized or designed for niche audiences. These services will include both HD and SD programming. Unfortunately many CE companies chose to implement receivers that lack the necessary circuitry to provide a full two-way cable experience with the CableCARD. Since those unidirectional receivers are not able to support many of the advanced features and services available on digital cable systems today, the FCC had enough foresight to mandate that the manufacturer properly label the product accordingly so that consumers of these products are not disappointed. If the consumer is dissatisfied with he limited functionality of those sets, they should complain to the manufacturer. [CFR Title 47 part15.123]. The other option, available to all CEs, is to build a fully capable tru2way device that will ensure subscribers can receive not only today’s cable services, but also tomorrows innovations.

Not exactly. It really happed like this: In response to the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC required the Cable industry to offer removable security cards available for subscribers who requested them for retail devices built to the CableCARD standard. The FCC was specifically mandated NOT to prohibit Cable Operators from being able to also offer their STBs. The cable industry defined and delivered the required removable security CableCARDs (at the time called POD modules) by the July 2000 deadline after investing millions in the project. However since there was no mandate by the FCC on consumer products, there were no retail products produced to make use of CableCARDs.
Notwithstanding the lack of precedent in the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC moved to ban the use of “integrated” security in Cable operator set-top boxed in the name of “common reliance” (which phrase does not appear anywhere in the law or regulations); Cable Operators would have to use separable CableCARDs instead. This requirement was enforced as of July 2007, forcing the cable industry to pay over $600 million to redesign their set-top-box products in a way that offers no benefit to subscribers. The cable industry met this requirement and in the 9 months since has successfully deployed over 4,184,000 operator-supplied set-top boxes with CableCARDs (recall the CE industry has only produced about 347,000 units to date). Now that is some “common reliance” insurance policy.
The same CableCARDs are used by both consumer products and operator-supplied boxes. The CableCARDs have always been capable of providing two-way services, but the manufacturers of UDCP products chose to design and sell products that lacked the two-way features needed to fully support advanced digital cable services. The first fully two-way cable-ready consumer product was certified by CableLabs in August 2005. [Press Release]

Perhaps the Guru asked the wrong questions? No product was ever originally designed to work with this new Tuning Adaptor including the exiting Tivo UDPC products. In order for them to work, they will need new firmware to connect to this new device. Think of this new firmware as the installation of a USB driver. Since consumer products don’t use Microsoft Windows, they don’t have plug-in drivers. Instead a new firmware update is needed to include the necessary driver controls to interact with this new external device. Makers of any existing UDCPs that already have a USB port (there are many) are just as able to provide new firmware as Tivo, if they chose to do so.

Q2 includes a portion of “this summer”.

Instead, complaints should really be directed to the manufacturer of the products that lack the necessary two-way circuitry to fully interact with advanced cable systems. Instead consumers should look for products identified as to ensure they will be able to get all the new and advanced services their digital cable systems can deliver.”

HD Price Drop: New High Definition TiVo Digital Video Recorder for $299

Gary — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:38:09 +0000

TiVo, the industry leader in hard drive digital recorder technology announced its new CableCARD ready high definition DVR for just $299 retail today. The current Series 3 Tivo high def DVR retails for $799. TiVo is taking orders for early August 2007 delivery of its second generation high definition DVR. It is called the TiVo HD DVR an is equipped with a 160 GB hard drive for recording and storing 20 hours of HD content, and will be available for future expansion capabilities for additional storage. It has dual CableCARD slots for reception of encrypted cable with a subscription to your local cable carrier as well as ATSC over the air tuner. The HD DVR can record up to two programs at the same time. Below are the specifications and service pricing of the TiVo HD DVR. More information can be found at tivo.com,

Ultimate accessory for your HDTV
Easiest way to search, record and watch shows in HD
Record 20 hours in HD (or up to 180 hours in SD)
Replaces your cable box and works with over-the-air antenna*
Download thousands of movies directly to your TiVo box**
TiVo Service features
Schedule your favorite shows online
Control cable TV with record, pause, rewind and fast-forward in HD
Automatically record every episode of your favorite show.
Play mp3’s and view digital photos on your TV**
What-you-need
Phone line or broadband connection
Program source:
Digital cable service (requires up to 2 CableCARD™¹ decoders from your cable provider )
Digital antenna
Video output modes include: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
Note: Not compatible with satellite. Also supports basic cable (non-HD) and analog antenna (non-HD)

*Cable service required to receive cable channels. TiVo does not provide cable service.

**Broadband Internet connection required

¹CableCard is a trademark of CableTelevision Laboratories, Inc.

Not all TiVo Service networking features are currently available on the TiVo HD DVR.

Note: Early termination fee applies, along with terms and conditions of TiVo® Service Agreement and TiVo® Service Payment Plans at www.tivo.com/policies.
Questions?Get answers here

Monthly Plans Offer Details
$16.95 per month
1-year monthly plan
$14.95 per month
2-year monthly plan
$12.95 per month
3-year monthly plan

Prepaid plans Offer Details
$179.00
1-year prepaid plan
$299.00
2-year prepaid plan
$299.00
3-year prepaid plan. Special offer – 1 year free!
Service plan: $16.95
Box fee: $299.99
Subtotal: $316.94

CES Part 8 Sony

Gary — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 14:56:59 +0000

Sony CES 2007

Sony showed two new HDTVs and a number of prototype displays at the 2007 CES. Technologies included LCD, SXRD and OLED.

Bravia LCD

Sony showed two BRAVIA LCD flat panels at its booth. The first will be available this spring, its model KDL-70XBR3. It is a 1920 x1080 progressive 70 inch panel with a 120HZ refresh rate, 10 bit processing and panel (1024 levels) and uses Sony’s Triluminos LED backlighting for better dynamic range (7,000:1) and a wider color gamut. Sony’s name for this is x.v. Color and is said to be used in conjunction with the wider gamut coming available in future Playstation 3 games using HDMI 1.3. The set is (ridiculously) priced at $33,000 making over twice as expensive as the currently available LG 1080p 71” plasma ($15,000)

Sony again showed a not ready for prime time 82” LCD Bravia flat panel. No price or availability was given.

It also displayed an unimpressive LASER driven 55″ 1080p SXRD rear projectior with about 10″ depth. The promise of LASER, really bright images, wider viewing angles and outstanding color were not seen by the HD Guru during the demonstration.
Most impressive were the 2 OLED (organic light emitting diode) prototype displays. The was a 1080p (1920 x 1080) monitor with around a 1/2 “ depth. The contrast, brightness, color saturation and viewing angle were outstanding, far exceeding Sony’s best Bravia LCDs. OLED technology has always had a useable life issue and Sony representatives did not say if this problem has been solved.

Looking closer to mass production than the 27″ model were 11” panels with a 1024 x 600 resolution. This units were wafer thin measuring about 1/8” depth. Again no lifetime numbers or possible availability was given.

Sony also announced coming this summer would be its own proprietary internet downloading of content including HD directly to your Sony TV. This capability will be available on most of its yet to be released 2007 Bravia flat panel LCD by purchasing an extra cost download module (price to be announced later).

CES Part 6 Philips

Gary — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:58:18 +0000

Philips announced significant HDTV products at the 2007 CES, including 1080p Plasma, three 1080p LCD flat panels with 120 Hz backlight and a wireless HDMI transmitter/receiver called the SWW1800
The HD Guru predicts the SWW1800 (and others like it that will in late 2007 or early 2008) will revolutionize home theater. Here is how it works. You connect a small receiver to rear HDMI input of your flat panel HDTV (or any HDTV). It is shaped like a thin slice of bread and is designed to easily attach to the rear of a flat panel. The small (included) transmitter section connects to your HDMI equipped source component, or surround sound receiver. The SWW1800 will send the full HDTV HDMI audio/video signal wirelessly from the transmitter to the receiver. The result, once the SWW1800 is connected to the source and flat panel, just connect the HDTV to AC power into the wall outlet and your good to go. No longer will you need to purchase an expensive long-length HDMI cable, or need a custom installer to open your wall to snake the HDMI cable. The SWW1800 uses ultra wideband to send/receive the signal. It will be available by August 2007 with a suggested retail price of $299-$399.

Philips broke the big screen plasma 1080p price barrier with its 63” 63PFP7422D panel available in June at just $5499. This panel has been widely reported to cost $3500, due to an incorrect press release. The Philips PR department today confirmed the new panel is priced at $5499. Philips will carry over its 2006 63” 768p plasma, model 63PF9631D at $3500.

Philips announced a new line of Ambilight flat panel LCDs. All new 42” and larger models have 1080p resolution, new LED Ambilights and three models will have Hot Cathode Fluorescent backlights that operate at 120HZ, greatly reducing motion blur found on all 60 HZ LCDs.

32PFL7332D 32″LCD 60 HZ 768p $1199 March

42PFL7432D 42″LCD 120HZ 1080p $1999 April

42PFL9832D 42″LCD 120HZ 1080p $2999 June

47PFL7432D 47″LCD 60HZ 1080p $2499 April

47PFL9732D 47″LCD 120HZ 1080p $2799 June

52PFL7432 52″LCD 120HZ 1080p $3599 September

Latest Addition to the HDGURU.com, An Interactive Connections Guide

Gary — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:49:06 +0000

New Connections Guide. An easy to use, interactive tutorial to teach you how to make the best connection between your HDTV and source devices. The Connections Guide button is located on the top button bar.

The HD Guru

What Retailers Don’t Want You To Know About HDMI Cables

Gary — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 02:07:16 +0000

If you’re planning to buy a upconverting DVD player, PlayStation 3 or high def tuner for your HDTV this holiday, expect the salesman to say you’ll need an HDMI cable to make the connection. The upconverting DVD player will cost as little as $70, but the six to eight foot HDMI cable he’ll be pushing will cost around $100 to $120. Why is the cable so expensive? So the retailer can make a greater profit on the sale. The fact is, you can purchase an HDMI cable for less than one tenth the price and get the same great picture. Here’s what you need to know.

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is generally the best connection between a source component and a high definition display. The cable carries digital audio and video with a copy protection. These wires are available in lengths from one and a half feet to over fifty feet. What the store salesmen will not tell you: no matter how much or how little you pay for a cable, you can only see one of two types of pictures –Perfect or Bad.

Perfect means no artifacts such as sparkles. Bad means artifacts or no image. Electronics store salesmen will tout you on gold plated connectors, thicker shielding, heavy-duty construction, name brands and so on, but it really wouldn’t make an iota of difference in picture or sound quality. It’s that simple. The signal running through an HDMI is digital, just a series of ones and zeros. No matter what anyone tells you, getting all the ones and zeros from one end of the cable to the other is all an HDMI cable is supposed to do. No matter how expensive and fancy the HDMI cable, the image can’t improve! The cable can only be good or bad.

So how much should you pay for an HDMI cable? As little as you can. A quick search of online retailers, found the lowest price at monoprice.com where a 6 foot HDMI cables start at $9.29 including shipping and handling, in single lot quantities. (This is informational only we have not sampled their cables). Wal-mart sells a 6ft. Philips HDMI cable in-store for $26.85. Monoprice and other retailers also sell heavier duty cables with thicker gauge wires, though as stated above, an HDMI cable either works perfectly or doesn’t. Paying more will not provide any improvement, if your present HDMI cable functions properly. Save your money for more important things, like HD movie discs and video games.

HD Guru’s Top Holiday Picks for Flat Panel HDTVs

Gary — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 17:42:24 +0000

The HD GURU has chosen the best HDTVs to purchase based upon performance and features. The choices have been broken down by technology: LCD flat panel and Plasma panels. All products have earned a ♥♥♥ or ♥♥♥♥ HD Guru rating. The HD Guru Rating System
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥ Product is exceptional. The HD Guru says “Buy It”

HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥ Product is good, The HD Guru recommends it

HD Guru Rated ♥♥ Product is just satisfactory; The HD Guru says, “Proceed to buy with caution”

HD Guru Rated ♥ Product has a flaw that’s serious, “Don’t Buy It”

LCD TVs
In the past LCD flat panels have suffered from “image blur” seen during fast motion when viewing sports and movies. The first three picks have new technologies that virtually eliminate blurry images.

JVC LT-37X987 37-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

The LT-37X987 has a 1366 x 768 resolution panel. To conquer image blur it uses 120 –hertz illumination, which is twice the rate (60 hertz) of most other LCD panels. JVC rates the response time of this display as 6ms (milliseconds) The LT-37X987 features a black cabinet with a thin frame covering all four sides of the screen. The speakers are hidden behind the bottom of the display. (MSRP $2,700)

Hitachi UltraVision Director’s Series 37HLX99 37-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

Also all black, Hitachi includes remote-controlled power-swivel stand. The 37HLX99 has 1366 x 768 resolution. To reduce motion lag it also incorporates 120-hertz refresh rate (like the JVC). Other features include Advanced Super In-Plane Switching, which provides a wider angle of view than many competitors; a CableCARD slot, TV Guide On-Screen program guide, IEEE 1394 and a roll-and-click illuminated remote control. This LCD properly deinterlaces 1080i signals (MSRP $3,000)

Philips 42PF9831D/37 42-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥

This attractive, integrated HDTV has 1366 x 768 (720P) resolution and has a very fast 4ms response time, which virtually eliminates motion lag. It also has Philips’ unique Ambilight panel background lighting. The new Ambilight 4 produces a surrounding glow of light behind the TV that complements the image and creates a “floating display” effect. (MSRP $3,499)

Samsung LN-S4696D 46-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥
The LNS-4696D has full 1080P resolution. It also features Samsung’s S-PVA technology, which offers wider viewing angles than many LCD panels. The Super-Patterned Vertical Alignment system has wide 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles. It 8ms response time helps reduce blur with fast-moving video. The all-black LCD TV comes with its own swivel stand, has a CableCARD slot and IEEE-1394 two-way interface so you can connect a next generation high def disc recorders. (MSRP $4,399)

Plasma TVs

Hitachi Director’s Series 42HDX99 42-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

This HDTV plasma is loaded with features and sits within an all-black cabinet on a power swivel stand. This HDTV has 1024 x 1080 resolution—the best in the 42-inch plasma size. An anti-reflective system called a Deep Black Natural Color Filter effectively absorbs ambient room light. It has TV Guide On Screen, IEEE-1394 HDTV recordable interface and many inputs including 3 HDMI inputs. (MSRP $3,499)

Panasonic TH-50PX600U 50-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

It’s an integrated HDTV with 1366 x 768 resolution. Like all Panasonic plasmas it has the deepest blacks of any brand of plasma. The TH-50PX600U has a built-in high-def tuner, a CableCARD slot and the TV Guide On Screen program guide. It also has an SD Memory Card for viewing photos. This Panasonic properly deinterlaces 1080i content (MSRP $3,600)

Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1 50-Inch PureVision HD Monitor
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

The PRO-FHD1 is High Definition monitor, it has no built-tuner. It has full 1920×1080P resolution. This all-black plasma is under than four inches thick. It has Includes CableCARD and TV Guide on Screen interactive guide and Pioneer’s exclusive Media Home Gallery to control music, movies and photo through a connected home network PC. This Pioneer properly deinterlaces 1080i content (MSRP $8,000)

Panasonic TH-58PX600U 58-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

The TH-58PX600U is an integrated HDTV with 1366 x 768 (720P) resolution. Like all latest Panasonic plasmas, it features very deep. Like other members of the Panasonic 600 series, it has a built-in HDTV tuner, a CableCARD slot, TV Guide On Screen and an SD memory card slot. It properly deinterlaces 1080i content. (MSRP $5,500)

Panasonic TH-65PX600U 65-Inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥

For very large plasma HDTV, look at this Panasonic 65” integrated HDTV with 1920 x 1080 resolution, the highest resolution of any plasma size above 50”. Features deep blacks, CableCARD, TV Guide On Screen and an SD memory card reader. This 65-inch plasma HDTV is only 5.7 inches deep yet weighs more than 175 pounds. This Panasonic Plasma properly deinterlaces 1080i content (MSRP $9,999, Note Unlike the other Panasonic plasma models listed, the TH-65PX600U, is sold without a table stand and speakers. They are listed as extra cost options.)

Pioneer Pro-1540 60-inch HDTV
HD Guru Rated ♥♥♥♥
This Pioneer plasma features 1365 x 768 resolution, accepts native 1080p/24 signals (from Blu-ray player), can be set to a 72 hertz display rate for smooth motion with film based content, produces a stunning image, great color and has full ISF controls for tweaking. Includes CableCARD and TV Guide on Screen interactive guide and Pioneer exclusive media Home Gallery to control music movies and photo through a home network. This display, like all Pioneer plasmas, properly deinterlaces 1080i signals (MSRP $7,500)