TV recommendation?

[Mobious]

My current living room TV is a Zenith 27".. It is about 5 or so years old.. It is a good TV without BTV.. But the picture is rather bad while trying to use BTV on it.. I have to set the res on the btv machine to 640x480..

I am looking for some TV recommendations to replace the Zenith... Since I am new to the HTPC arena, I would like to know what is a good "Starter" TV/Monitor.. If possible I would like to stay around $1000... What should I look for in a new TV?

I have looked at a few TVs and one that I kinda like has a DVI input on it... Can I use that connection from my PC to the TV rather than S-Video?

Thanks!

[dlandrum]

DVI is the best connection you can get from a computer. Any TV that accepts DVI as input will be a digital TV. Just be sure it is HD ready by supporting 1080i and 720p.

[omidkaab]

Hello,

Don't forget about the burn in factor etc. with plasma or other tv varieties. I found in my search that DLP was the most capable and durable platform for connecting my computer to my TV. LCD would be ideal because of the reduced depth but it also costs considerably more for a 56 in. TV.

O

[archie]

until btv supports hdtv, you will still only capture 480i at best because ss only supports analogue capture, and some digital tvs actually give a poorer picture quality than what you currently have for SD broadcasts.

what i'm saying is that switching your tv may not improve your btv experience. but if you get one with an atsc tuner, you will get hooked on the hdtv pic.

and hopefully btv will soon capture hd!

[bloodydrake]

a good entry level hdtv for around 1000 american would be the toshiba 51 inch 51h84 they have a great out of box picture for a rear projection set and are very easlily tweaked to get a really fantastic picture. it has component and 1 hdmi imput does 1080i and upscales 720p to 1080i

[nanook105]

If you are looking for something a little closer to your current TV size, I have the Toshiba 32HF73, which was under $1000. Great picture, and I currently have a BTV Server connected to it via component and a BTV Link attached via DVI (I'm testing/burning in the BTV link for another TV). Both are using a 6600GT video card, and while both have excellent PQ, I would agree that the DVI connection looks slightly better.

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisi...p?model=32hf73

[Mobious]

How is this TV?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&CMP=ILC-FPM02

It supports 1080i 720p 480p and 480i
but it doesnt have a dvi input..

[waz67]

Mobious: I *just* bought one of those from Tiger Direct. Seems pretty good so far (definitely awesome for the price), although you don't want to sit too close to it with BTV (LCD clarity lets you see the compression artifacts a lot more clearly than my old CRT TV.). The lack of DVI wasn't a big deal for me, since I figured I could connect directly to the VGA input, or get a component cable. However, for some reason you can't use the various TV zoom modes when connecting with the VGA connector, but this is true of all LCD TVs I've tried (including my much more expensive Sony projector). If I can find a cheap video card that gives me a component output, that might be a better way to go. In the meantime, I can use the aspect controls within BTV.

[nanook105]

I just got one of these:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-...oductDetail.do

It is the main TV for the basement (which is where my kids and all of their friends hang out), so it will be used almost 24/7. I was looking for something with a lot of connections (for all the games) plus HDTV monitor and component/HDMI connections. The reviews were great, and so far it is living up to the reviews.