Home Theater/HDTV/et al...

Great. Thanks for your insights... I'm still waffling on which type to get. :sweat:

Plasmas do have deeper blacks and color and wider viewing angles from what I have seen in the stores, but I have read that they give off quite a bit of heat compared to LCDs and their shiny screens are very reflective which could be a nuisance to some people.

Tough decision. :sweat:

EDIT: which brand of plasma is it?

bmwracer wrote:Great. Thanks for your insights... I'm still waffling on which type to get. :sweat:

Plasmas do have deeper blacks and color and wider viewing angles from what I have seen in the stores, but I have read that they give off quite a bit of heat compared to LCDs and their shiny screens are very reflective which could be a nuisance to some people.

Tough decision. :sweat:

EDIT: which brand of plasma is it?

Ah, the viewing angle, yes, I get a great picture wherever I am in the room the TV is in. It does have a reflective screen which can be a pain in the summer when it's uber bright outside. My father just got a 47" LCD which also came with a reflective screen for some reason.

Mine is a Panasonic. I also read somewhere that burn in is much less of a problem with brand name plasma TVs. The new Consumer Reports stated that the new Panasonic 1080p 50" plasma had the best picture they had seen on a HDTV.

I briefly had a PS3 hooked up to the TV, and the few games I tried looked freaking amazing in HD.

Good Luck with your decision.

Madoka wrote:Downsides, it was recommended that I "break it in" for the first 200 hours. The plasma burns more intensely when it's new and is more susceptible to burn in then. Afterwards, the risk is much lower.

1st time I've heard that. Great tip. :thumbsup:

Madoka wrote:Ah, the viewing angle, yes, I get a great picture wherever I am in the room the TV is in. It does have a reflective screen which can be a pain in the summer when it's uber bright outside. My father just got a 47" LCD which also came with a reflective screen for some reason.

That's odd for an LCD.

Mine is a Panasonic. I also read somewhere that burn in is much less of a problem with brand name plasma TVs. The new Consumer Reports stated that the new Panasonic 1080p 50" plasma had the best picture they had seen on a HDTV.

Yeah, I've got that issue: I posted the top five in each LCD size category earlier. :)

Oddly, all except the Panny do not support 1080p, whereas a lot of LCDs support that resolution... That's a BIG negative as far as I'm concerned.

Good Luck with your decision.

Thanks... I probably won't commit 'til next year. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
There's gonna be a lotta people dumping their SDTVs into the trash. :sweat:

I have this feeling that they'll hang onto it until it breaks and can't be fixed. Just a hunch...

dochira wrote:I have this feeling that they'll hang onto it until it breaks and can't be fixed. Just a hunch...

Probably.

But without the converters, they'll be just really large paperweights. :beaten:

Hmm, I was planning on buying my brother a DVD player that has HDMI upconverting and upscaling... Any recommendations?

bmwracer wrote:Hmm, I was planning on buying my brother a DVD player that has HDMI upconverting and upscaling... Any recommendations?

I don't know if this is the cheapest or the best player, but I have an Oppo-980H. It came with an HDMI cable for $170, I think it was. It's Divx certified and has a USB 2.0 port. So lately I've putting SARS' Galileo on my USB drive and putting it in the Oppo to watch on the Panny. Easier than burning a DVD. It also reads .srt files in the same folder as the .avi.

If you watch a lot of anime DVDs, you may want to get a player with a Faroudja chip as this Oppo has a Mediatak chip which has a few more deinterlacing artifacts with anime. My Faroudja equipped Panasonic RP-82 plays anime with fewer errors than the Oppo. However, on regular live action movies the Oppo looks great.

Hi guys,

question about dvd making. I have a bunch of files (VOB, BUP, IFO extensions)
[image]

If i want to burn all these stuff to a dvd blank and play it in a stand-alone dvd player. What would i need to do (instruction-wise) and what software i may need to do this task? Once again, thanks for your advise in advance.

- niko

niko2x wrote:Hi guys,

question about dvd making. I have a bunch of files (VOB, BUP, IFO extensions)
[image]

If i want to burn all these stuff to a dvd blank and play it in a stand-alone dvd player. What would i need to do (instruction-wise) and what software i may need to do this task? Once again, thanks for your advise in advance.

- niko

All you essentially need is this directory structure:

D: (root DVD directory)
|--- AUDIO_TS (in caps)
|--- VIDEO_TS (in caps... this is where you would put all of those above files)

And you're set... Pretty simple. :)

Just to be sure, do a test run with a DVDRW disc... ;)

Madoka wrote:I don't know if this is the cheapest or the best player, but I have an Oppo-980H. It came with an HDMI cable for $170, I think it was. It's Divx certified and has a USB 2.0 port. So lately I've putting SARS' Galileo on my USB drive and putting it in the Oppo to watch on the Panny. Easier than burning a DVD. It also reads .srt files in the same folder as the .avi.

If you watch a lot of anime DVDs, you may want to get a player with a Faroudja chip as this Oppo has a Mediatak chip which has a few more deinterlacing artifacts with anime. My Faroudja equipped Panasonic RP-82 plays anime with fewer errors than the Oppo. However, on regular live action movies the Oppo looks great.

I considered the Oppo, but my brother doesn't need the DivX, USB, or other stuff that it offers... He's not that discriminating a viewer, like us videophiles here. ;)

Something more mainstream like a Sony, Panasonic, etc. with the HDMI support would be more up his alley... And probably less expensive than the Oppo.

bmwracer wrote:All you essentially need is this directory structure:

D: (root DVD directory)
|--- AUDIO_TS (in caps)
|--- VIDEO_TS (in caps... this is where you would put all of those above files)

so i create 2 folders. leave the AUDIO_TS folder blank, then stuff all the files into the 'VIDEO_TS' folder, then burn?

- niko

yup

krim wrote:yup

nice an quick brah! thx, krim & beem! :bow:
I'll try that now.

have you set your mind on flat panels?

If you are one of those that thinks bigger is better, get a front projector...

I got one last year and its great for movies... not so much with tv boradcasts though...
Got to love watching films like Lord of the Rings in a dark room with a full set of surround speakers and a nice and big 120" video in your face... :hehe:

you can always buy a not so expensive smaller flat panel <=42 and a midrange front projector... that would still be cheaper than top of the line plasmas/lcd panels...

I've never ever considered a projector... Not practical for my living room.

niko2x wrote:I'll try that now.

Did it work? :sweat:

This is a plea for help. :fingerscrossed:
Can anyone recommend a DVD player that works in Singapore that will play AVI files too? And that isnt a fortune, of course :sweat:

One that also will play the soft subs like my Philips would be ideal.

Thanx in advance..... :bow:

Eve wrote:This is a plea for help. :fingerscrossed:
Can anyone recommend a DVD player that works in Singapore that will play AVI files too? And that isnt a fortune, of course :sweat:

One that also will play the soft subs like my Philips would be ideal.

Thanx in advance..... :bow:

Why not just use your Philips?

You just need a voltage converter/transformer if they don't have the same voltage/frequency. :)

bmwracer wrote:
Why not just use your Philips?

You just need a voltage converter/transformer if they don't have the same voltage/frequency. :)

I will suggest that to her. I didnt think of using a converter for constant use.
Thanx, Beem! :D