New TV... UHD ????

[CPanther95]

NBC & CBS are 1080i, not p. Also, just because the network is sending one format, doesn't mean the local station is using that format. As locals are squeezing more into the same bandwidth (HD subchannels, 3-4 subchannels, etc), one way to make up the difference is to broadcast 720p instead of 1080i.

I also believe Dish does offer 1080p, but it's on their PPV channels. Also, the providers will "bit starve" certain channels (making them look worse) to help the "hungry" (ESPN, Fox Sports, etc) ones.

Sorry, meant 1080i. No channel has a 1080p standard.

If people could see an NFL game broadcast with full 1080i & full bandwidth like they had in the early years, it would WOW them almost as much now as it did then. Outside of a Blu-ray player, we aren't seeing HDTV anywhere near as good as possible, or promised.

I miss the HD Demo channel on DirecTV. A 90 minute loop of HD samples and movie trailers that blew you away with the picture quality.

 

[BrianL]

All this talk of stuff I don't understand makes me yearn for the days of a HUGE 19" black & white TV screen in a cabinet that was an actual piece of furniture, complete with radio and record player. The 3 main networks, plus PBS, and three or four UHF channels. Either rabbit ears or an antenna rotator box on top of the set. The first unit I remember my parents having was something like this.

I miss console TVs! Let's face, a beautiful as new TVs are when they are on, they look pretty ugly when not in use. A nice finished cabinet is great in any room!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Just want to thank you guys for all the good input and info!
It does surprise me to think that many networks are not even putting out anything like a real 1080p.
I do know that when we got our TV, the picture did look a lot better than the old 720 we had before that!

We do watch ABC/FOX etc.

And, thanks for the updated article about the UHD. I had noticed that the first one mentioned was older.

I would love to be able to have one of these UHD televisions hooked up hare at home, and see if there is any real improvement.
That seems to be the real kicker!

 

[Micca]

Just want to thank you guys for all the good input and info!
It does surprise me to think that many networks are not even putting out anything like a real 1080p.
I do know that when we got our TV, the picture did look a lot better than the old 720 we had before that!

We do watch ABC/FOX etc.

And, thanks for the updated article about the UHD. I had noticed that the first one mentioned was older.

I would love to be able to have one of these UHD televisions hooked up hare at home, and see if there is any real improvement.
That seems to be the real kicker!

Any chance you could purchase from a retailer that would allow you to do that?

 

[ChrisFL]

Currently Ultraflix has the most 4K content, and they're adding more all the time

 

[RedAngie]

I miss console TVs! Let's face, a beautiful as new TVs are when they are on, they look pretty ugly when not in use. A nice finished cabinet is great in any room!

When that combo unit I posted above died, we got something that looked liked this. B&W TV in the middle, radio on right, sliding door hiding phonograph underneath on left. TV was probably 19". It was a Magnovox.



First color TV was something like this, with I believe a 23" screen. Zenith.





While searching for photos, I came across this awesome German space-age model.

 

[Micca]

Those old consoles may have some retro chic, but if you watched the tv, or listened to the radio/phonograph you'd realize they were

 

[RedAngie]

Those old consoles may have some retro chic, but if you watched the tv, or listened to the radio/phonograph you'd realize they were

Yeah, but the time we didn't know any better. For home use they were probably the highest quality available.

 

[bsblady01]

we just got a Samsung uhd tv today after our tv in the family room died we got a 55 inch one. so far so good

 

[Skippy918]

We bought a Vizio 4k TV. It's really nice and was much cheaper than the samsung.

 

[sam_gordon]

was much cheaper than the samsung.

Just so everyone knows, sometimes "you get what you pay for". Although I am reading good things about the Vizio M series.

 

[bsblady01]

Just so everyone knows, sometimes "you get what you pay for". Although I am reading good things about the Vizio M series.

this is so true. I don't get the people that buy the cheap TV's on back Friday just to have them die in feb. if you are going to buy something buy the best or you will end up buying another one sooner

 

[KBoopaloo]

I recently had a salesman at Costco talk me out of a more expensive UHD for most of the reasons mentioned here. I appreciated him going out of his way to explain the difference between the UHD and the 1080 especially when it resulted in a less expensive purchase for me! He said there is no way to know for sure but he expects the prices on the UHDs will drop significantly in a year to 18 months and in the meantime nearly nothing is broadcast in 4k anyway so sticking with the 1080 would not make for much of a difference in picture quality right now.