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From what im realizing here now..(and from reading everyone incuding all the FAQs), it seems real HD content wont be around for a few more years....and thus buying any new tv right now at these prices doesnt make any sense. I just got a new Hits 51f520 and other than the great PQ, true HD doesnt come thru and everyone ive shown it has said the same thing.
Im thinking...better to waste a year and a half and buy that plasma 50 incher at todays CRT prices and by then mostly every program will be shown on true HD.
my 2 cents....

Well that's your decision.

I can now watch over 90 Network shows in HD and I can watch a ton of sports in HD plus lots on PBS.

I'd say 95% of what I watch is HD.

You really don't need to have every programme in HD to enjoy an HDTV. I've had mine for 4 years and at that time there were only a few hours a week and it was still exciting. Today there are roughly 100 hours per week of new HD programming on most Canadian Service providers.

The HDTV is also excellent for watching DVDs.

The timing decision is yours, but I made mine long ago.

Does the Toshiba 52hmx85 downconvert a 1080i signal to 720p? How does it work exactly?

All incoming signals will be converted to the native format, which in this case is 720P. Many people wouldn't call it "downconversion" when referring to 1080i to 720P, since both are HDTV formats and both have advantages, disadvantages.

Whenever talking about 720P/1080i I simply call it conversion.

The process is relatively straightforward via firmware, algorithms, scaling (if necessary), etc. and is done all the time.

Granted, you don't want to be converting the signal many times, but every consumer HDTV only has one native HD display format so one final conversion is often happening in the display.

Please post model and manufacturer specific questions in the appropriate manufacturer forum. We have a Toshiba forum for members to discuss Toshiba sets.

thanks for the replies hugh and 57..you guys really know your stuff...
what i was trying to say was...my tv (new one) is awesome as far as PQ goes...way better viewing and dvd watching experience. But im saying that even though there is 100 hours a week in HD...some is upconverted (dosnt show as well and bars) down converted, and some really isnt HD (like TSN sometimes does)...dunno, im gonna do the dvd essentials tune up and then wait a month for a texhie to do a once over...

hey guys,

I'm totally a newbie in the whole HDTV field but I'm on my way to buying one.

Here's my case.

I don't really want to spend more than 2000(before taxes)

I would like something 40"+.

So far, I looked into the Toshiba 51h85c. the JVC I'Art AV-48P575 and the Hitachi 42V525.

I'm leaning more towards the Toshiba, but when I went into my local futureshop yesterday to see how it looked, I noticed that the picture was really really grainy and would kind of pixelate or artifact when the picture would move. Is this normal?

Is the 51h85c a good tv for the price?

Thanks.

Verbose, I know but...
Hello,
I have just purchased a Panasonic TH50PX500U Plasma television set. I am a subscriber with Shaw Digital Cable services and HDTV in Vancouver, and have the associated Motorola set-top box with DVI output. I have read the instruction manual, however I still require some assistance with setup. PLEASE.

First: Initially on installing, I had a coaxial cable from the wall to my set-top box and only a DVI-HDMI Monster cable from my STB to the PX500 and received only static (formerly clear picture on my ancient 25" CRT). I changed to coaxial input and got adequate reception. I tried again with the DVI-HDMI cable (only), ensuring the cable was secured and that "Input" was listed as being via HDMI, and would get static and the occasional flicker of a picture at the top one quarter of the screen only. Then, spontaneously after about 10 minutes I got a picture with only the HDMI connected. Why the delay? And... with the DVI-HDMI connected from my STP, am I supposed to hook up the coaxial cable as well???

Second: In the Picture setup menu, I do not have access to the 3D Y/C Filter option: the rectangle is "greyed out" as is that for Color Matrix below it no matter WHETHER I'M ON an ANALOGUE, DIGITAL or HDTV channel. What am I doing wrong? How do I access these controls?

Third: No matter which channel I'm on (including the dedicated HDTV channels [301-307 for Shaw here in Vancouver] and including any "HD" programming which comes on)when I press the "Info" button on the remote, I am told that I am receiving 480i in Cinema mode [which I'm currently set to] in Just Aspect ratio. It does not tell me which channel, and I'm never in 480p nor 720p, according to the info. Again, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Incidentally, no matter whether I'm in Cinema, Standard or Vivid mode, I'm still unable to adjust the 3D Y/C of my earlier question.

Fourth: (and relating to my 3rd question above) Does the TH50PX500 AUTOMATICALLY upgrade the signal from 480i to 480p or is there something that I have forgotten to set for this (some of my analog shows look relatively good, some look absolutely TERRIBLE on the set)
Fifth (and last area of questioning, I promise): was I supposed to run the Channel Scan on the TV? I did so when I first hooked it up (see above) to HDMI-DVI from the set-top box alone, and got only static. Then I did it again with the coaxial to set-top box attached and got ONLY STATIC in the little preview box of the channel-scan screen but actually got all my channels when it finished. THEN I tried again with only the DVI-HDMI connection from the set-top again, again got only static on the channel-scan screen, but actually got all my channels when it finished. Have I messed something up?

Basically, I'm asking for you to PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME with the above 5 major questions, and to just generally help with how I can optimize my viewing on this beautiful big TV. As I said, I'm currently getting all my subscribed channels, but some look absolutely horrible, and occasionally I have a white flickering band at the top of the HDTV channels, and am told in the "Info" bar that all I'm getting is 480i. Please help.

Thankyou so much.

mojovonious, I believe several threads already exist discussing these sets. I recommend you search on the respective model numbers and the toshiba, jvc and hitachi forums and discuss there.

Also check out the sticky on what are people buying threads in this forum and the HT FAQ forum.

sandman, your questions appear to mainly around the Panasonic TH50PX500 so I would recommend you post your questions in that forum since other Panny owners will be posting and searching there.

For questions about using your set top box, I recommend searching the Shaw forums as hundreds and hundreds of posts exist about these units.

Final note. The TH50PX500, as you know, is an expensive unit. For best results and quickest response, I recommend contacting the dealer that sold it to you and speak to them personally about your issues.

Any decent dealer will gladly spend 10 or 15 minutes on the phone with a customer that has spent that much on a set and with they are probably teh most experienced with that unit.

I searched the forum for information regarding the Hitachi 42v525 and came up with nothing. I went to the local Brault et Martineu and was enticed by the Sony KF 42we620.

Same price as the Hitachi.

Which one is a better set?

I have a questions before i get a rogers digital cable box with hdtv. At my friends house, on almost all HD channels, the programs were in 4:3 even though his tv was 16:9 and the sandard definition channels played at 16:9 why is this? are only hd programs 16:? also, are any of the non-hd programs on the hd channels broadcasted at 16:9? And why were the programs broadcasted at 4:3 anyways? also, Let's say judge judy is showing on the hd fox channel (judge judy doesnt even broadcast in hd even on the hd channel), will it be higher quality then judge judy on the SD Fox channel?

Hi,
I recently purchased a Samsung T451, and have it hooked up to my Sony Widescreen HDTV using a DVI to HDMI cable. I can tell that the picture is not calibrated well as brightness, contrast, and red level all seem a bit off.

I started thinking about it tonight and realized I have no way to callibrate that input as my DVD player doesn't have a DVI or HDMI output.

Any ideas on how I can go about callibrating? I'm debating switching to component cables for the set top box as I'm not confident I can calibrate well without a callibration disk such as Digital Video Essentials.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

harrydude,
if a standard definition program was showing in 16:9, then your buddy probably has the tv in stretchmode. Read some of 57 FAQ's in the HT FAQ forum and you should get a pretty good understanding of what you are seeing.

Brewmaser,
from what I understand, every input requires calibration so unless you have player with HDMI output I can't see how you would do it. I recommend a search of the forums using the search term calibration and you should find some threads that might be able to help you out.

Sandman: I'll take a stab at your questions. Some of the (esp. about the TV, which I don't know) are educated guesses.

1. Don't know about the delay. could be a HDMI/DVI handshake problem. Anyways if it works don't screw with it :). I don't really understand your coaxial connection question - coax from the box or coax from the wall?

2. I'm fairly certain about this but the y/c filter I believe is meant for analogue composite or coax (RF) inputs. Don't worry about it.

3. Your TV set will never tell you what channel it is tuned to as you're tuning from the STB. As for 480i - this sounds suspicious. How does HD look? Does it look ... HD (make sure that it's a program in HD, like Monday Night Football or non-rerun ER or Lost or ...)? There's a setting on the box that modifies the resolution of the signal that is output. RTFM; this is something that is adjusted with the box off (but plugged in).

4. Yes. Your tv is an inherently progressive device. It cannot display 480i so it deinterlaces and scales it. In other words, it does some fancypants math so you can watch the World Poker Tour.

5. can't help you much here, but remember that you're tuning your TV with your STB, not the TV's internal tuner. Now you can connect coax from the wall to your TV and use the TV's internal tuner but that will only give you the analogue channels.

See the following Thread.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26993

...I have no way to callibrate that input as my DVD player doesn't have a DVI or HDMI output.

Any ideas on how I can go about callibrating?Brewmaser, the signal generating equipment for calibrating DVI/HDMI inputs in HD is still pretty expensive these days. A DVI/HDMI-equipped upconverting DVD player could be used for DVE or Avia use, but the problem is the test patterns themselves, which would not be appropriate for HD calibration. So, DHCers like me convinced Marc (our beloved CBC DHC member) to schedule an authentic HD test pattern on CBC-DT in Toronto awhile back. Unfortunately due to the CBC strike this may not happen again for awhile but check out this thread that deals with how we dealt with the exact same issue: http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27924

I'm a noob to this forum, didn't know it exsisted until tonight. I have been in the market for an HDTV for about 6 months now.. I've done a lot of research and have learned much etc... fast forward to now... LG's 44SZ8D (http://ca.lge.com/en/prodmodeldetail.do?actType=search&page=1&modelCategoryId=010301&categoryId=010301&parentId=&modelCodeDisplay=44SZ8D&modelNameLocal=&enlarge=%2Fen%2Fdown%2Fproduct%2F010301%2F62SX4D%2FSX4D-L.jpg&model=Select+a+model#), FS has it on for $1999.99 and it seems like a steller set for the price tag (as compared to the sony, samsung and tosh for similar specs). It also has a 2 year warrenty standard. Why isn't there more buzz about the LG's? Am i missing something??:confused: