Please say more about HDMI. Why is it so bad? Because there’s many faulty cables (never heard about this) or is it because it doesn’t do what it claims? What? And how would one “pretest HDMI connections”?

Thanks!

What the heck is with #1. HDMI is a ripoff? Huh? This is the most confused I’ve been all day (and it’s been one HELL of a bad day).

Here is some more information. As stated at the beginning, I will follow up in a couple of days with a more in-depth article.

The problem with HDMI? It does not work reliably. There are untold combinations of sources, switches (Audio/Video receivers) and displays that wouldn’t work together, resulting in either no picture or an image of just snow. Some combinations will work sometimes and others times not, requiring a power off on of the components and crossed fingers.

The solutions are as follows. Before you hang a flat panel on the wall or install a A/V receiver and a source(s) (i.e HD. cable box) in a wall unit or stand, connect all parts together with your HDMI cables and test them to make sure everything works together via HDMI. If you have failure, use the process trial and error to determine where the problem lies. For example, connect the cable box directly to the display (bypassing the receiver) an see if that produces a picture. Then follow with other combinations. Its better doing it this way than keeping your fingers crossed after you mounted everything and possibly snake HDMI cables into the wall.

You want to avoid  placing all components in a wall unit or stand only to find out the HDMI does not operate properly. I also recommend a back-up connection of component video cables from your main source to the HDTV in case you experience a problem now or later, you will still be able to get a picture on your HDTV

HD GURU 

I’m very surprised that 120hz and CableCARD TVs didn’t make the list.

Do you have specific examples of devices where they didn’t work together via HDMI? After following this stuff for months building up to my TV purchase, this is the first I have ever heard of it.

I agree with most of the above, however I would like to comment on 1, 5, and 8.

1. 99% of the time, purchasing expensive HDMI cables over the cheaper ones is a waste of money. The only time I would disagree and purchase the better quality cables(and I dont mean crazy expensive) is if I am going to run in walls such as in a retrofit situation. You may get by with cheaper cables for now but if you upgrade components later you may be sorry that you didnt get the higher bandwith cables.

5. The only time I would buy a 1080p TV below 42″ is if I am going to be attaching a computer to it. 1080p will give you a lot more screen realestate than 720p.

8. I have done many retrofit installs where line conditioners have made certain, sometimes random problems go away. I have also achieved better bass response with some installs. This doesnt mean that you have to go out and purchase the most expensive one, but they do provide a lot more features than your average “surge protector”.

I have a 1080p monitor that is 37 inches and I can clearly tell the difference when there is 1080p content versus 720p. It also looks better than a 720p 42 inch set I have.

I should probably mention that it’s mounted above my desk on the wall above my two computer monitors and I sit about 5 feet from it. I also have better than 20/20 vision.

I was actually going to get a larger monitor but I found that at this close an angle the 42 inch one (which I previously had above my computer) was getting to the point where it took up so much of my field of view I physically had to turn my head to see from one extreme edge to the other. That’s why I went with the smaller when I replaced it.

Below is example of HDMI not working

I just purchased a new Sony 52″ Bravia HDTV, everything seems to be working ok, but when I tried hooking up my apple TV using HDMI all I get is snow. HDMI woks ok with my PS3 and Xbox 360 though, I ended up connecting my apple TV to component.

@ Mario: My Apple TV works just fine with my Sony via HDMI.

And on that HDMI is rip off if you pay for a “brand” name cable. I have never had an issue with HDMI, in fact with out it I could not use the uncompressed audio from my PS3. Frankly the all in one cable makes things cleaner and easer to hook up. I agree with most of your list but I think #1 is off a bit.

FYI I use HDMI from an XBOX 360/PS3/Apple TV/ DISH VIP 622/ Monoprice switch to an onkyo receiver into a Sony TV. No issue it was all plug and play.

mmm…FUD

would you suggest component video over HDMI then given the incompatibility issues? FYI, i found my HDMI signal to comparable to component tho my TV’s response time when changing video sources is MUCH slower with HDMI over component.

I disagree with number 1. I have hooked up countless HDMI connections, and I have never had a problem with snow, no image, or fuzziness where there shouldn’t be. I have used both cheap, Wal-Mart level cables, and the expensive Monster cables, and nary a problem to date.

Can I add 1 more point?

NOT enough plug-in’s.
the idea that 1 HDMI is enough, is WRONG.
you have VHS still around, you have DVD players, and other devices that can be used on the LCD.
BEST would be to have at LEAST 2 of each, composite, component, HDMI, DB15, DVI…

another point of interest, is that MOST of those Inputs can do ‘as much’ and ‘more’ then HDMI…IF THEY LET THEM. but no one give the INFO on those plugs from the manufacture..

AMEN!!!!

AMEN!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Biggest question from your knowledge is why are gov’t agencies, i.e. consumer protection preventing companies from pushing this ?

Companies are totally ripping people off

PC Inputs:
While maybe not technically a ripoff or scam, I think one of the most confusing things is hooking up a computer to your HDTV, something which is increasingly common.

People think they are supposed to use the DVI input (digital is “better” don’t you know) and now there are cards that output HDMI (and the fact that the ATI HD3870 has an onboard audio solution that ONLY puts out movie audio via the proprietary HDMI dongle further adds to the confusion.. )

Unlike monitors, using your digital DVI or HDMI inputs won’t allow you to scale to different resolutions such as 640×480 up to 1920×1080. You have to choose your resolution and stick with it, such as 1280×720 (720p). I believe you also get overscanning issues with this method. Worse, if you have a 1366×768 resolution then scaling your 720p input results in blurry text. I think you can see all sorts or problems, especially with games.

But, if you use the VGA input you can’t use the increasingly popular Home Theater PC for watching your BluRay movie due to copyright protection (HDCP). For this, the best solution is to have two sets of inputs; one should be HDMI for BluRay and the other VGA for all other needs then toggle as needed with your TV remote.

Where’s the HDMI PC input? I’m sure it’s coming but what’s the delay?

I can’t help but wonder if I’ll get this all sorted out only to have DisplayPort kick HDMI’s ass.

If you haven’t yet purchased an HDTV, I’d wait for an HDMI PC input as a must-have feature. I’d also wait for OLED.

HDMI? Huh? I don’t get it. Do you actually mean HDCP? Granted my experience is probably way less than yours, but i’ve never had a problem with any HDMI connection not working.

I pretty much agree with all of the rest though.

I must say that while some of this information is true, items 8,7,3,2, and 1 are very untrue. To start, power conditioners make a huge difference in overall HD picture quality, such as color, sound, and digital feedback. In addition having a power conditioner is the only way to truly achieve 120hz capabilities if your TV is compatible due to the dirty power within America’s power system. In addition, deep color does make a large difference to the picture quality in anything above 32″. Deep color along with a higher color bit-rate in the TV helps take away color gradation and makes for smoother and more evenly flowing colors.

HDMI cables are widely miss-led to the public. There are differences out there. Monster cables are proud of their price but their performance is proven. Most of the connection issues with HDMI are due to poorly made cables. Nicer HDMI cables provide better signals, sharper details, and better connections. In addition, HDMI cables are different when it comes to 120 Hz. Only cables that are truly rated for 120 Hz will support such. Sources such as a Blu-Ray that support 120hz technology make big differences on how well Sony and Samsung’s 120hz TV’s perform.

Just keeping everyone informed of some more true information

Just a little fyi-

120hz cables are a joke. There are currently NO 120hz sources and therefore no need for a 120hz cable. 120hz TVs change 24 or 60 hz sources into 120hz by either using 5:1/2:1 pulldown or Auto Motion technology. Blu-Ray is most definately NOT 120hz technology because there is nothing currently shot in 120hz (24hz for movies and 60hz for tv). Power conditioners consequently have nothing to do with 120hz technology and have no more effect on this than any other TV, which is little to none unless the power in your area is particularly atrocious.

HDMI cable do vary in quality but there is no reason to spend more than $15 on any HDMI cable under 10 ft. long. Monster cables are a joke and offer no better quality than any other good cable. Blind tests have been run that confirm this. Heck, in one test a bent coat hanger actually produced a better signal than a monster cable. When you see comparisons in stores (like Circuit city’s current in store comparison) look closely. They compare monster HDMI cables with generic COMPOSITE cables. Yeah, thats a valid test…

Example of HDMI that didn’t work: LG BH-100 to Pioneer Elite TSX-82 (or whatever jumble of letters goes with 82) to Sony A-2000. The LG wouldn’t do the copy protection handshake dance with the Sony with a component in the middle. A firmware update several months after purchase finally got HDMI to work.

Isn’t it time that you dropped off brand models from that list. Then take it one step further and retract that absurd “throw-away Tvs” article which was innacurate, heavily biased and poorly researched. Fact is that post warranty issues with so called “name brands” are no less prevalent and more costly that with off brand models.
Please appologize for that nonesense article and stop making claims that are simply not true as presented.

Color is a hugely complicated issue. Let’s work backward from your eyes to what the camera sees.

First, your eyes have rods and cones that see brightness and color. Everyone knows that. What people don’t remember is the cones for color are more sensitive to certain wavelengths than others. This means really deep reds are dim – duh. It’s the same with the other colors. Between red and green is a dimmer yellow but displays make up for it by giving yellow light from both red and green pixels.

The light that gets to your eyes is the light from the TV plus the light in the room that reflects off your TV. Big deal, right? Wrong. The light from the room reflecting off the TV “pollutes” the light coming from it. Not only does that light drastically reduce contrast from the advertized number, it fades (desaturates) all the colors.

The TV, as stated in the Top 10, can only show what it was designed to. The three primary colors and how bright each of them are, dictate the starting pallate all the other colors and gray shades are made of. No software trick such as re-mapping the gray levels to make the image more “vivid” is going to improve this. It just distorts the image color-wise.

Of course, you have to know what the original signal was generated from to know if the television is distorting the colors. HDTV uses the color space defined by SMPTE which is significantly less saturated (colorful) than NTSC’s older standard which was much more ambitious and challenging being based on phosphors.

So, in summary, what you see in real life is converted to color by a camera (through film or directly) to “camera color” – which is then processed by the studio to make the colors look “better” for the show – which is then transmitted to your television using SMPTE standards – which your TV tries to replicate based on its physical limitations – which you can muck with in TV settings – which you might want to do to make up for a dim TV in a bright room so your eyes will pick it up in their own natural way and your brain will just say “whatever.”

Do watch out for TVs that look especially vivid and colorful because they’re probably distoring the gray levels for color. And TVs with huge color space claims, right or not, may distort the video content by giving it more than the original camera recorded.

Some of the items are less of a “scam”, but more of a “not yet necessary future feature”. Or they make sense in certain environments. E.g. Deep Color can provider better shades in computer games. Also, last month the CEA specified new 1080p modes with 100 resp. 120 Hz vsync rate, they use a pixel clock of 297 MHz, which is twice as much as the current 1080p signals. There are currently no devices that support this, but this would be attractive to send real 120 fps from a video game to a 120 Hz LCD without frame interpolation at 1080p.

As for HDMI being in the #1 spot, I can see this due to all the HDCP synchronisation problems over corrupt connections (bad cables, connectors, etc.) Aside from that, I think HDMI provides a much higher picture accuracy than analog component signals. Why don’t you lobby against the use of HDCP on your otherwise unproblematic HDMI connection?

One more thing about the “120 Hz” cables mentioned above. “Normal” HDMI cables support 720p and 1080i at 60 Hz and 1080p at 24 Hz. “Better” cables support 1080p at 60 Hz and 720p at 120 Hz, which use twice the pixel clock frequency of the “normal” modes. So, basically, if a HDMI cable supports 1080p, it also supports the current 120 Hz modes.

As I mentioned, there is now a new 1080p at 120 Hz with an again doubled pixel clock, which will require even better cables. Watch for it at you local BB or CC, probably labeled as “Extreme HDMI” or similar.

Oh yeah, and deep color ups the ante by another 150% with respect to the clock frequency.

@ Jeffrey B

Use a DVI to HDMI adapter cable and run your audio through the optical out on your sound card to your receiver. I’ve never had any issues with my SLI 8800GT’s using this method.

I install DirecTV systems for a large amount of customers in the spokane area. The HDMI connections only have problems on older HDMI TVs. Non of the newer ones experience this issue from what I have seen. Also USA HD is HD image. Its not up scaled. I use this channel after setting up every receiver and its definitly one of the more better looking HD channels there is.

I’d just like to point out that many HDMI compatibility problems have to do with the hardware and not the cables. Specifically many SONY products. They make some great looking TVs (if you’re into LCDs), but 97% of the HDMI problems I’ve had as an installer were with SONY TVs. Not sure why this is and i’m not trying to bash Sony, but it’s been a common problem with their equipment. Unfortunately they screwed up a lot of things with HDMI (i.e. the standards and the connector) but it’s a moot point now. It’s become the standard for HD video even as Firewire and USB keep getting higher bandwiths and other features (such as power transfer) that may have been beneficial to HD and HD products.

I’m also a fan of “good” HDMI cables. This doesn’t mean I’m a fan of high priced cables. Length of the HDMI cable is also important. The shorter the distance, the less likely you will have an issue. Any HDMI cable purchased today should be 1.3 certified. You can buy them from Monoprice for cheap or you can buy expensive ones. That’s a personal choice. It comes down to quality. I’m personally a fan of Ultralink cables. The cables I use continually outperform other (cheaper or more expensive) cables. Monster is just the big name in the game. I have very rarely ever gotten really good quality results from their cables except for maybe their new 1000hd line. I don’t care what the so called “experts” say on HDMI cable quality compared to picture quality. I will continue to suggest to customers to go with a quality cable, until someone shows me actual DATA that supports all cables are created equal… and just remember (and everyone agrees on this) that if your HDMI cable run starts to get too long (20ft or more) you need to use a better quality cable. Better quality copper and other conductors = better and faster signal transmission. This goes for the WHOLE cable since part of that HDMI cable is supposed to be transmitting other data back and forth telling each device what its’ sending and receiving.

As for the no 1080p under 42″… I basically agree on the reasons… your eyes technically won’t be able to see much of a difference if any, but I will point out that sometimes 1080p sets are just better overall quality sets which should turn into a better quality picture.

CableCards (to those that posted about it) are not a ripoff… the cable company would like you to think that so they can charge you more for a settop box that has all THEIR programming in it. CableCards are the future whether people like it or not. There are many, many possibilities for them. And that time is soon.

Line conditioners are also not a ripoff. Sometimes their affect can be over-exaggerated, but there are a multitude of benefits which i believe a previous poster all ready went over. They have different effects on different types of TVs. On PDPs they can clean up the picture in very subtle ways, but noticeable. On LCDs the subtle picture improvement is less noticeable except when there is a major electrical distrubance. Also, line conditioners (spcifically AVRs) should increase the longevity of your equipment by decreasing any electrical spikes, even small ones. A basic surge protector may not be able to handle the power requirements of some of todays equipment.

Deep color and x.v. color are future benefits that have no practical application today. If you’re buying a TV for the long haul… these may be considerations in your purchase, but if you purchase a new TV every 4/5 years then there’s no reason to spend the extra money (as was the case with 1080p a few years ago.)

Don’t agree with me or have more questions…
josephiannotti@gmail.com

The problem is NOT with HDMI. The real problem is with HDCP. The signals being passed over an HDMI cable are no different than those being sent over DVI, and you don’t see anybody complaining about DVI do you?

The reason there are so many incompatibilities with HDMI devices is because implementing HDCP is not a trivial task. On the HDCP transmitter side it’s actually not that bad. However, HDCP capable receivers must re-authenticate the link every 3 seconds over DDC – a slow, outdated, and often under-designed interface.

Don’t blame HDMI. Blame Hollywood for pushing HDCP down our throats.

I work for Best Buy and I find it so funny the stuff you put on this website. Honestly. We push so much stuff on customers and you are the reason people dont get it. If they need it or not we are going to make sure the get it. Cause of your website poeple dont buy protection plans, well guess what it is worth it to get the monster conditioners cause they cover you for some 500,000 dollars if they TV surges. Manaufactor does not. Hmmm… HDMI cables make a difference, mostly when you are putting it behind the wall. Cause you know it’s fun replacing a cable you bought for 10 bucks cause the tip fell off or it just stopped sending signal.

SO what dude… This site should be banned cause of all the lies. But then again we do the same thing and taught the same thing at Best Buy. So oh well… And customers still come to us instead of the struggling Circuit City.(funny is Circuit City is more knowledgable, we go there to secret shop,aka learn some things, haha)…

But again you suck and should stop feeding people these lies. Cause that is all they are. LIES!!!

About the conditioners, if you buy a decent surge protector, which anyone should when they build an HT setup, it will come with the same protection (I bought a $10 surge protector at Costco and it comes with a $500,000 warranty too). And on top of that, it’s probably something you NEED anyways.

Also, to the point about 720P vs 1080P, I really have to disagree. I can clearly tell the difference, especially when the TV is streaming from a HTPC — even on a 37″ at about 10′. And I use another 37″ 1080P TV as a monitor for my computer and it is perfect whereas 720P would be worthless.

I don’t know how it’s in US or other countries, but in my country, I rarely see an expert salesmen. For instance, not all the TVs have the same display conditions (cables, noise reduction etc). While a football game was playing, I saw imediately which TVs had noise reduction on, because on the constantly moving camera, the NR was making “ghosts”. And the salesmen recommended to see how much better the Samsung TV was compared to another brand (Samsung had NR on, the other off). If salesmen can’t see this difference, then we’re doomed.
Also, a 1080p FullHD TV means it will accept 1080p/60Hz. It does not mean it can display independently each pixel. I bought a 26″ LCD TV which states 1080p, but with a physical resolution of 1366×768. Although I don’t really mind this underscaling (I’m bothered more by the upscaling of 720p), I did find out that the TV was only 18-bit/pixel (6-bit/color). This WAS in the manual, but it’s no easy way to check. So a “deep color” functionality is out-of-question.

I am convinced that the guy who wrote the above article still lives in his parents basement watching an 21 inch CRT.
and #1 regarding HDMI? I replaced 15 component connections with 3 HDMI’s. amen.

One of the problems with HDMI is it takes both audio and video to the TV. Nine times out of 10 I want to drop it off at a reciever for surround sound. I hardly ever use a TV/Monitor for volume control or tone control.

There is plenty of other quality cable out there (belkin,GE, Blue Jeans). Don’t buy over priced, over hyped Monster Cable.

Buy a small UPS for your investment. It’ll protect from surges/brownouts and have multiple outlets so you don’t need a power strip. As an added bonus, some can talk to Home Theatre Control system such as Crestron and AMX.

And last, if you’re comparing sets in the store, reset them to their default settings (or same color settings if there is no ‘default’). Some stores will tweek the sets to look better and some sets get all messed up by other people playing with the controls. Start on a level playing field.

DVI to HDMI is the same thing as DVI to DVI. I use this method to connect to my Toshiba 1080P HDTV and the resolution is perfect, Pixel per pixel display. Overscanning is a result of the HDTV which does not accept native 1920×1080 resolution.

HD. Reminds me of the people who are convinced what’s not HD. Any kind of display that can do resolutions over 640×480 is HD. Boom, just got over some other HD advertising. HD advertising is so deceitful really it gets to the point that people don’t even know what the hell they’re buying assured from advertising gimmicks that they know what they’re getting. Do people not know how to do their studying before buying this stuff?

“You….should stop feeding people these lies” but whether your customers “need it or not, we are going to make sure they get it.” Wow, Best Buy, you really have no clue what you’re talking about, do you? I swear every employee I’ve ever talked to in a Best Buy has learned something from me. I know what the markup is on Monster Cable. I know how much BB makes off of every warranty they sell. And I know how little profit just about anybody makes on a TV sale with no add-ons. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out why they train you & your fellow salespeople to push the Monster HDMI cables and power conditioners and extended warranties. By the way, I wouldn’t brag that people choose BB over CC–that doesn’t say much…CC has gone downhill a long way in terms of the quality of the products they sell. Both companies pay their sales staff hourly, so unless you just have an amazing work ethic, why bother becoming educated on the products and the technology involved?

Please don’t misread this comment though. I have a $70 Panacrappic DVD player that outputs via $225 worth of Monster interconnects. The retail value of all the Monster interconnects and speaker wire in my theater system is easily over a grand. ( I’ve since been made aware of some shady business practices that Noel Lee and his Monsters employ, and have become an Audioquest customer.) My point is that you do usually get what you pay for. Theoretically, since HDMI is digital, and since digital is just ones and zeroes, all HDMI cables are the same. But throw in heavier gauge conductors, higher quality/purity metal for the conductors, a better dialectric to separate the signals, and a thicker sheath to protect all those expensive parts, and you can’t tell me that a $200 HDMI cable from Monster/Audioquest/Ethereal/Kimber Cable/Nordost/Ultralink is no better than a $10 HDMI from monoprice. (ever heard of Nordost, Best Buy? I didn’t think so.) There’s a reason the ones from monoprice look just like the ones that come free with a sat receiver or DVD player. Either way, at least make sure that the HDMI cables you buy are certified for the 1.3 spec, and you should be good to go.

As far as power protection goes: Best Buy, has one of your customers ever taken out a claim under Monster’s $500k warranty? Do you know how many hoops someone would have to jump through for Monster to pay for a few thousand dollars worth of equipment? Once again, don’t get me wrong; I use a Panamax surge protector/line conditioner that goes for $700, and I still say you get what you pay for.

Eric is right; the real headaches that are blamed on HDMI concerning compatibility issues actually stem from HDCP. HDMI would be a pretty nice connection if it weren’t for the HDCP “handshake” problems between components (and if they had designed it to screw down onto its terminations like DVI and VGA). For those of you who said you’ve never had issues with HDMI not working, walk in an installer’s shoes for a week or two. After that, you’ll be a fan of component video for life.

When i worked for a high end store, i was told by my boss that not to subsitute computer UPS’ with AV UPS’ because the shape of the power wave was too square for projector bulbs liking (bulb could blow), probably applies to rear projos – just thought i put out there – great list for consumers, keep up good work!

i don’t think that was an actual best buy employee, just someone to make them look bad. the whole thing with power protection and guarantees are this: if you’ve had to deal with insurance claims, just imagine the nightmare with a cable company like monster. Monster earned their place marketing wise by pioneering the concepts to mass mainstream at the beginning and with fairly decent products, but their products aren’t as high value anymore as other lesser known brands.

Hello HDguru,
I have a delemma. I previously owned a Samsung 46″ LCD Tv Model # LN-S4692D. The screen got cracked as did my world of HDTV viewing. As everyone knows, a cracked screen on an LCD TV is like a train derailing! I couldn’t afford to buy another one at $1700.00 so I set out on a mission to find a replacement screen to repair myself. I am mechanically and electronically able so I disassembled my set and removed the broken screen. Now all I had to do was find a set on ebay that was selling at a reasonable cost ($200.00-$250.00) that had a good screen with the guts shot.
After weeks of surfing the net my legs got tired but I kept riding the waves in anticipation of finding my prize. I first wiped out when I fell for a Chinese fortune cookie SCAM from a online store that only accepts Money Orders or Bank Transfer. Finally I was getting a replacement screen for $275.00? If it sounds too good to be true, well it was. A month later and no screen, will not answer email and I’m out $300.00!
My next find was more positive. I won a bid for a new LCD Panel for $275.00 that I paid for with PayPal for local pickup. The panel is new and the part number matched with exception to the last three digits. My TV calls for a part # LTA460WS-LH1. What I received was a LTA460WT-L11 which actually fits a Samsung Model # LN-T4642H. Now I am trying to find this model with good guts and a cracked screen!I am asking you or any of your loyal guru’s for your help locating Samsung Model # LN-T4642H as I have yet to see anything online.
Thanks for listening, and any help you can offer, will be most appreciated.
Tony

Interesting points of view.
How about writing up on the 10 Best HDTV features to look for when purchasing a new set, particuarly in 2008 Models 40″ plus size range.
Regards

Ok about the HDMI cable fiasco, I bought a off brand cable for FREE! from ecost.com, paid the rediculous shipping and it works great, I use it with my XBOX 360 to my off brand Dynex 32″ which also looks amaizing, given it doesnt look nearly as good as a high-end samsung or sony, but if you mess around with the brightness, contrast and saturation you can make the $470 Dynex look pretty close to a Toshiba. I also bought a hugely discounted Belkin HDMI cable at ecost.com for 10 bucks, it performs just as well as the free one. High end HDMI cables are a ripoff, my close friend works at a home theater installation store, they also sell only very very high end a/v equipment, he said that they sell Monster cables for one reason and one reason only, customers are to stupid to realize that there is no difference so they can make more money. He said that at his own home theater he uses a cables to go HDMI cable that he bought for $5 online. So if my friend who has been installing a/v equipment for 20 years and also CNET.com uses off brand HDMI cables there is no way in the world I am going to by a $120 Monster cable that just looks pretty.

By the way…120hz….haha, what a joke

another note, I use the belkin HDMI cable for my Denon DVD-757 upconverting DVD player, which also looks amaizing

There are HD camcorders available that shoot in x.v.colour / me personally own one, so if I record such a movie, make a AVCHD disk and feed it to a x.v.colour capable display/ say PZ800, will i be getting a better picture ?
If yes, than x.v.colour is not a ripoff.

I’ve noticed #9 on your list quite often for quite some time now. It drives me crazy when a channel is broadcasting a HD signal, but they are still showing the show in SD.

I know it’s expensive to convert some of the older programs into HD, but some of the channels broadcasting HD signals don’t even bother converting their newest programming into HD. Among the worst offenders of this off the top of my head is Spike HD.

I wanted to check out your page on off-brand HDTVs. I tried to cut and paste the link for my browser and found that right click was disabled! If you are going to do that to keep people from ripping (which certainly is your right), at least make your links clickable. Shame!
Charlie Noah

Hey Charlie Noah,
Just left mouse click, then go to edit on toolbar, copy ,then paste no problem.

Well said Eric. HDPC is really the only problem right now, not HDMI. Personally, I love HDMI ecause it send audio and video through just 1 cable. I just wish I could have the same quality with just 1 cable without copy protection junk!

Most of the problems I hear are all related to the stupid consumer still setting the tv on channel 3 or 4 DUH? hit the input button stupid!

Thanks for a great article. Yesterday, I was shoping for an HD converter boxes. Sears sells the number one scam online until I pointed this out to them ( to their credit ) they removed it.
Sears, Target and someone else in my area has nothing instore as of yet. Kmart and Walmat sells only the SDTV scam. The Walmart employee was full of it based on the bull he tried to shovel my way. Best Buy sales person claims their store “brand” is the same box as the Zenneth that Circuit City is selling for the same $60 for a true HDTV converter box, Radio Shack looks like the front runner for honestly, and product so far at $60. But, I am holding out to see what Meijer’s has to offer for $50 which they only get two units in at a time, and that was “weeks ago”.

I wish Consummer Report would get on the ball and print some information about specific converter boxes. The SDTV ones are flying off the shelves. If SDTV boxes stop working in Feb, I hope those comsummers will have the sense to return that product, and not buy the expensive tv sets from those stores that sold them garbage.

Question for the author

would you class the LG scarlet marketing campaign as a scam?

In some ways it definitely was… pretending to be a TV show, in other ways it was a stroke of genius in terms of getting interest for the product

hi, i bought a panasonic 26″ Tv model 26LX70…is this a good LCD TV even at 26″? thanks from peter

On the 120Hz refresh rate: It’s slightly more complicated but basically a 3:2 pulldown (more accurately 2:3) is the process of converting a 24 fps signals (like film) into the 60 interlaced frames (TV content) needed to display on most TVs which refresh at 60Hz. The process doubles the first frame and triples the second (so of the original 24 fps: A B C D E… equals AA BBB CC DDD EE after 3:2 pulldown). Though, it may be difficult to tell at all times, the 3:2 pulldown process can certainly make slow motion pans look jerky because of the extra frames.

So we have the 24fps of film and the 60i or 30fps of TV. Obviously it would be best if one could come up with a handy dandy number at which to refresh TVs such that no “funny math” (i.e. 3:2 pulldown) needs to occur. How about, I dunno… 120!

The 120 Hz is not some gimick to make people think they are getting more frames – it’s so you can multiple 30 by 4 (I suppose called 4:1 pulldown) and 24 by 5 to get the 120 fps signal the 120 Hz TV needs. No pulldowns! Yay 120 Hz.

FYI, refreshing at either 60Hz or 72Hz like some TVs is another way to defeat the need for pulldowns.

finally. someone who explains 120Hz. i have been waiting. Its not the broadcast that matters, its the way the TV handles the data.
if you ever have the opportunity to view multiple TV’s with 120Hz-60Hz-720- and 1080 you will see where the differences come into play. 60-120, watch a hockey game or a HD panning camera shot. you wont ask again. any HD movie with a relatively static seen you will never see a difference.
good luck shopping.

I was tired of multiple salespeople contradicting each other so I went to “a one brand only store” and compared. i told the salesman “please hook up those two TV’s on display and feed them both with identical HDMI cables from the Blue Ray player. I tried several blue ray disks with multiple types of viewing at varying distances. i went first thing in the morning and found very helpful salesman who complied. i managed to compare most variations of 120-60 and 720-1080. its tough to trust salespeople because who knows where they got their info. trust your eyes. look for yourself.
:ramble over:

Hi,

I have been reading about the HDTV and LCD,rather researching on the web for this.
I am a porspect buyer from India and til recently there were only HD ready TV were available.Full HD just came out. By and Large people here prefer to go for 26″ or 32″ TV.Others are too big to put up in the bedroom.
Irony is that there is no HD content in India so far and not expected for next 1 year,also Full HD does not come in those small sizes,then why to Buy LCDs?

I take issue with statement number 5 on this list, about 1080p TVs under 42″; see my post here:

http://hdguru.com/the-ten-worst-hdtv-scams-lies-and-video-ripoffs-explained/239/

I am surprised that HD Antenna’s did not make the list.

I got Monster speaker wire and, oh boy, it was the best sound ever. The tones were smoother, the distortion was lower and the mid range was out of this world. As regards durability, I stepped on the cable by accident last week and would you believe it, the sound quality remained intact. Monster cables are worth every penny and they really are an example of, you get what you pay for.

My friend said I should do a double blind audio comparison test with other cables and I told him that double blind tests are ’snake oil’ I believe, these tests are only to catch people out.

sun valley idaho

I discovered your site on faves.com bookmarking site…I like it and gave it a fave for you, I’ll be checking back regularly

I just bougth a new Vizio 42″ LCD 1080p 120hz tv. We had a Samsung 60″ projections tv and the color wheel broke into tiny pieces. The part is only $160 but they want $295 to install it. The Samsung was 4 years old so I decided to buy the new TV. I hate to see the TV sent to a land fill. Is there a technical school or some other organization that wants these old tv’s for teaching or parts? Do you have any other suggestions?