TV Shopping, Part 3
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006In light of latest developments in my little world of interactive entertainment, here is a revised list of TVs I am currently perusing:
Samsung LN-S4095D, around $2000 new on eBay:
- 40" widescreen LCD
- 1920x1080 pixel resolution
- 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
- 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 2 S-Video, 2 Composite, 2 R/F and 1 VGA input
Samsung LN-S3251D, around $1000 new on eBay:
- 32" widescreen LCD
- 1366x768 pixel resolution
- 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
- 2 HDMI, 1 Component, 2 S-Video, 2 Composite, 2 R/F and 1 VGA input
Samsung LN-S2738D, around $500 new on eBay:
- 27" widescreen LCD
- 1366x768 pixel resolution
- 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
- 2 HDMI, 1 Component, 1 S-Video, 1 Composite, 2 R/F and 1 VGA input
Yes. That's a 40 incher up there. The smallest 1080p TV I've been able to find, that isn't way more than I want to spend. Heck, $2000 is almost too much. Man, if I bought that, I'd feel guilty for spending so much on a TV. On the other hand, it would be unbelievably incredible! I could even use it for computer monitor use. I believe DVI can be converted to HDMI (according to Google, at least), but if that fails, then there's always VGA. It would be a 40" widescreen computer monitor that can play literally every video signal you throw at it!
The downside? It's gargantuan. It's massive. It's really, really big. It's also huge. It would take up the entire desk extension I made. Granted, it's thin, so I could put things in front of it... but it's REALLY BIG! I can't believe I'm even considering this. TVs aren't something I've ever actually considered a necessity. I guess they still aren't, but, see, I have to get a TV that could be used as a computer monitor, also. Then I would be getting twice the use out of it for the forseeable future.
...and then there's the price. I don't know how much mainstream TVs cost. I've never paid much attention. I've seen expensive TVs at Walmart and Best Buy that were... well, total crap. Off brand monstrosities that I wouldn't trust if my life depended on it. (Well, maybe I would if I was going to die otherwise... but you get the idea.) Granted, I've never seen a Samsung display in action. Well, I have, technically... I believe they're being used as Xbox 360 kiosks right now. They're really nice. The 32 inch model is #1 on the PCWorld.com Top 10 32" TVs list.
It would be 1080p. It would be something that would last a very long time. It seems that video equipment is peaking out at 1080p, right now. Computer monitors, TV screens, HD media... it's all leveling out at 1080p. Maybe, just maybe, it'll stay 1080p for a while. I'm sure it won't stay there forever, but I'm sure (I hope) it doesn't progress as fast as computer processors.
Okay, points for getting the 40":
- It's big. Almost too big, but if I ever move into a house of my own, it won't matter.
- It's 1920x1080. The resolution I use on my computers right now.
- 1080p ensures the TV would be useful for longer.
- It can double as a computer monitor.
Points for getting the 32"/27":
- It's cheap.
- It's small. Seems to compliment the size of my room.
- It's 720p, which may be good enough for me.
- It can double as a computer monitor, but at a lower resolution than what I use.
Apparently, Microsoft doesn't plan on offering native 1080p in their games, and they don't see their third-party developers doing that, either. Although it does remain a possibility in the future. Right now, the upgrade only enables the 360 to output at 1080p. If what you're playing isn't natively 1080p, then it will upscale the resolution if it needs to. Seems as if they'll sort of stretch the video to make it 1080p, if you can view that. So... I don't know.
Looks like I'll have to wait and see what develops over the next two months.