The Pool House: General Chit-Chat.

[Mr._Bubbles]

Looks like the 1080P TV's are really starting to drop in price. You can get a low end 52" LCD for just over $1000 and a top end unit for around $2000.  Last year at this time, they were about twice that much.

As Boniebelle Said, Circuit City is not looking too good. You problay can get a really good deal there too.

[Mr._Bubbles]

Sure has been slow around here, where has everyone been? Anyone seen wewannahottub, I wonder if she ever bought a spa.

[96SC]

This is a good thread to bring up nominations for POY.  Unfortunately, I don't have one, but I'm sure somebody does.  Ladies and gentlemen, let the nominations begin.

If we should start a new thread for the nominations, someone can do that too.

[ndabunka]

You can get a pretty decent 720p HDTV 50" Samsung (Plasma) for as little as $798 @ Wal-Mart.  You can get a "nearly" top-of-the-line 52 LCD for $1,500.  It seems that even only the "ultra-expensive" ones are only $2400 (Elite).  Heck, I saw a 65-inch LCD on sale for $3700 @ BJ's.  You may think that $3700 isn't cheap but to put it in perspective, I paid $3,400 for our first 42-inch plasma (Toshiba) just 5-short years ago.

For those trying to understand how the resolution makes a difference, here is a good outline...

1. Standard DVD's are 480p and they do show a decent image.  You can tell the difference between SD (Standard definition) and DVD's 480 resolution on a screen as small as 32-inches.

2. The next step up is 720p (p stands for "progressive" and odd as it may seem, many older DVD players only operation in (I) mode...interlaced.  You can't typically tell the difference between 720i or 720p on a typical 42-inch screen.

3. Until this year, the typical LCD or Plasma screen was 1366x768 and therefore the HIGHEST resolution any of those could accomplish was/is 720p and that requires a progressive scan DVD player.  You CAN run 1080i to most all such screens.  This is because the TV itself will accommodate 1080i on a 720p screen with no problem (This is how EVERYBODY watched the 2004 Olympics and you remember how visually stunning that coverage was!)

4.  1080p display's are those that have the ability to show more individual lines but ABSOLUTELY NO content from ANY provider will come from ANY of the current channels (not Time Warner and not Satellite).  The ONLY providers capable of offering ANY content at the higher resolutions would be the fiber optic vendors that offer FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home) such as AT&T U-Verse or Verizon FIOS.  HOWEVER, none of these currently offer this due to the extreme amount of overhead required for such a signal.  So, the ONLY format you can watch in 1080p is BluRay. (PS - I work as a consultant to service providers who are considering the complications that trying to offer such higher-resolution services will place on their networks in the future).

5. Seeing the difference between 720p and 1080p is virtually impossible from a typical viewing distance of 8 feet away on a 42-inch set.  It is only "barely" discernible on a 52-inch set from that same distance.  By "barely", I mean that only a professional trained eye can tell the difference from that distance on the larger set.

So, unless you are planning on watching a LOT of Blu-Ray material (or alternately require high text resolution from a PC display), you will not see a significant benefit from a 1080p set.  But, even the lower formats are still stunning in the lower Hi-Def resolutions (480p, 720p, 1080i).  Having said all this, the other issue is that the 1080p sets are getting pretty darned cheap and I would recommend that anyone considering buying a new set to go ahead and get it in 1080p because they are SO cheap (Good name-brand 52-inch 1080p sets are available as cheap as $1,299). However, if you don't have the extra cash, you can also be comfortable knowing that there simply is not really THAT much difference watching "typical" HD content on a lower 720p set.  So, don't expect to see ANYTHING in 1080p UNLESS you are watching Blu-Ray content.

As you may be able to tell, one of the sites I am on when I am not on this one is the Audio-Video forums.  Here is a link to one of the best.  This is for the "tech" area of the flat-panel screen section of this site.  If you want something more specific to LCD or Plasma, move up one directory level from this link...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Reference (Equipment I have)
1. A 1080i/720p 42-inch Toshiba plasma in my living room.  
2. A 1080i/720p front-projection overhead projector in my dedicate Home Theater room displaying the image on a screen that is 120-inches diagonal (in 4:3 mode) or 110-inches diagonal (in 16:9 mode) or 87-inches in 2:35 (Cinema) mode.
3. A 1080p 37-inch LG LCD in my office (I use the display as both my Computer monitor as well as to display video content).
4.  A Home Theater PC HTPC running Blu-Ray outputting at the higher 1080p resolution.  Note: I also output this 1080p resolution to my 720p front projector which "down-converts" it to 720p when it is shown in the Home Theater room. This also controls 12-zones (24 speakers) in 12 different areas in the home and on the grounds outside the home as well as controls 2 different 5.1 and one 7.1 (Home Theater) sound systems.
5.  I am considering replacing an older 36-inch non-HDTV tube-style TV in the play room with one of the newer 52-inch screens and even though my kids use it for gaming, I am likely to only put in one of the lower-end 720p displays since the Wii cannot make use of any additional resolution.  The one caveat is that I have an xBox 360 on order for my oldest boy and I "think" that it may be capable of the higher 1080p resolution (but don't know for certain yet).

[Bonibelle]

So the down turn in the economy hasn't had an effect at your house..huh?

[Chad]

As all you NFL fans know, the team that resides in my home city is an absolute disgrace this season. I recieved this in an email from a friend of mine(he's a Chief's fan, btw). Some pretty funny stuff.

The Missouri State Police are cracking down on speeders heading into St. Louis .
For the first offense, they give you two Rams tickets.  If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.


Q. What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The St. Louis Rams

Q. What do the St. Louis Rams and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell 'Jesus Christ'.

Q. How do you keep a St. Louis Ram out of your yard?
A. Put up a goal post.

Q. Where do you go in St. Louis in case of a tornado?
A. To Edward Jones Dome, they never get a touchdown there!

Q. What's the difference between the St. Louis Rams and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q. What do the Rams and a possum have in common?
A. They both play dead at home, and they get killed on the road!

[Bonibelle]

Have faith Chad...My son went to the EAgles game tonight with his friend. If they lose tonight..I will be singing the same song and switching the Rams jokes for Eagle jokes!!

[In Canada eh]

Chad,

  Don't feel bad, remember I'm a Lions fans

[Mr._Bubbles]

Chad,

  Don't feel bad, remember I'm a Lions fans

Umm, me too! Now where did I put my paper bag?

[dax]

Have faith Chad...My son went to the EAgles game tonight with his friend. If they lose tonight..I will be singing the same song and switching the Rams jokes for Eagle jokes!!

So those were the two I saw the cops dragging out on Monday night.  

Just think Boni, three weeks ago those jokes did apply to the Eagles.  Now three weeks later, we're right back in the hunt.  Root for the Vikings this weekend, and of course the E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

[Bonibelle]

OH man Dax, my kid sent me a text picture of where he sat...right on the 50 yard line. It turns out that his friend's Dad is good friends with someone in the Pittsburg Steelers organization..and they gave them their seats that night...Amazing..He always lucks out!

I wish there was a way to get tickets for the Dallas game, but I figure that is pretty much impossible at this point.   :-/

[Mr._Bubbles]

Too cold and snowy here to do anything but watch football. I'm ready for spring 8-).

[Mr._Bubbles]

Bump Bump.  Well, the weather is starting to warm up, thankfully.

[dax]

Bump Bump.  Well, the weather is starting to warm up, thankfully.

Played golf yesterday for the first time since October, but it was a lot colder than the 53* they said it was.  A lot of wind and the sun was in and out all day.  But I'll take it.

Heading down to Ocean City, Maryland this upcoming weekend with a group of guys from work for a golf getaway.  Sure hope it warms up by then as it was in the high teens here today.

[wmccall]

Played golf yesterday for the first time since October, but it was a lot colder than the 53* they said it was.  A lot of wind and the sun was in and out all day.  But I'll take it.

Heading down to Ocean City, Maryland this upcoming weekend with a group of guys from work for a golf getaway.  Sure hope it warms up by then as it was in the high teens here today.

I've played golf, both of the last two weekends.   Oh, people here are talking about Stanley cup playoffs for the first time ever.  We are way past the usual choke point.