I don't have cable. I've NEVER had cable. I'm simply not going to pay those pirates for crap I don't want or need in exchange for a couple of things I might want.

I've always been the high-tech guy. My friends always knew that if they had a question about anything tech, I was the guy to talk to. Even more than that, I've always been the movie guy. I pretty much eat, breath and crap movies. So it would seem only natural to combine the two.

My friends always gave me crap for having an HDTV. Of course, they all have HDTVs now. And one thing above all others spurred me to buy a Toshiba HD-A1, my friend got HD programming. Since I've never gotten cable (and I probably never will), this got me jealous. He was a Johnny-come-lately and he just surpassed my ass. That just doesn't make sense in my world.

I've got a Toshiba 65" 1080i rear-projection HDTV and he just bought a Toshiba 54" 768 DLP. he then upgraded his digital cable so that now he has all the movie channels in HD along with several other things. He invited me over to check it out and I brought along Starship Troopers Superbit. When it hit the screen, my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe how fantastic it looked. I don't know how an HD disc could make it look any better frankly. It looked almost 3D.

That really ticked me off! I got home and spent 4 hours tweaking my set. I adjust manual and electronic focus, did convergenace till my eyes bled and even cranked the sharpness. I ended up with maybe half what he had through no effort at all.

He likes to call me up and say things like "Yep, I'm going to watch Battlestar Galactica in HD now" or "I can't talk long because Land of the Dead is coming on in HD". This more than anything made me go "Screw it! I'm buying HD DVD!" So today after work I'm driving an hour to the closest Best Buy with one in stock and taking the plunge.

My question is this: Will I finally regain my rightful place as King of All Things Tech?

I've heard that broadcast HD is mixed way down. Is this true? Can I rub that in his face? I have to say that when he showed it to me at his house....I was impressed. He can also record these things on a DVR. How is it possible people can record HD content prior to HD DVD and Blu-ray coming out?

Thanks for making this its own thread again though it appears nobody gives a crap anyway. *hunches shoulders*

I too have HD cable (with DVR), and currently have no plans of buying a hi-def disc format. What I've seen on the HD channels looks nice (I have a 30" Samsung, maybe 4 years old), but it's just not enough for me to take the plunge. Even if there wasn't a format war, I'd still likely not buy just yet. Maybe if they can do something really innovative with the extras, it might make me more interested.

Just another POV.

Satellite HD is usually downrezzed to 1280x1080i and heavily compressed, but cable delivers in full 1920x1080i with better quality. Nonetheless, most HD DVDs look much better than anything I've ever seen on cable.

As for why that Starship Troopers DVD looks better on his set than yours, there's too many factors at play there regarding your different displays to draw a conclusion. CRT and DLP have different "looks" to them. His set is smaller, which helps with picture quality (the larger you blow up a picture the more flaws you expose). His set is also newer.

So we can tell you that HD DVD is a better source than cable HD, but that doesn't necessarily mean that HD DVD on your set will always look better than cable HD on his.

Hmmm, alright thanks.

It's been very irritating to me that I've had this HDTV for about 2 1/2 years and a 47" Panny HDTV for 2 years before that, yet the only HD content I've ever had access to is a some games on my XBOX. Of those only one, Dragon's Lair 3D, was 1080i.

Guess I was just sick of sticking my toe in the pool and decided to hit the high dive!

I think it's a good bet that it will look better, though. Especially since it sounds like you are more PQ concious than average. Concensus is that HD DVD looks much better than cable HD because it has few (if any) artifacts... unlike heavily compressed sources such as cable HD or Blu-Ray discs.

Ok, that's essentially what I was looking for I guess, that HD over cable/sat is compressed a lot which causes artifacting.

I am PQ conscious and have my TV tweaked about as well as can be expected. It kind of steams my bean that he just decided one day to buy an HDTV and only had to plug it in to get a better picture than mine is capable of simply because it's new technology. Oh yeah, and his cost about the same as mine. Of course, mine's a lot bigger, so there is some semblence of balance in the universe.

Well, IMO, the bigger the better. Mine is blown up on a screen 7.5 feet wide. And it looks great. Much better than the display the used at BB (Westinghouse 42" 1080p plasma)... my 1024x768 projector smokes it.

Anway, let us know what you think after you get it running...

7.5 ft. wide.......dayam.

I've been waiting for my local BB to get some in. Yesterday they teased me by saying there was a truck coming in. Today I called first thing and nope, nothing. I called the east side and again they teased me by saying there was a couple on the computer and they'd call me back once they located them. Nope, for mysterious reasons they didn't actually ship. So I just started calling around the state because I'm getting a goddamn HD DVD player today! I found one in Janesville about an hour away. I'll begin my quest in the next few minutes actually. Now watch, I'll get there and they'll be like "Wha? Who told you we had one set aside?"

Don't think of it like that. CRT and DLP have different looks to them, but one isn't necessarily better than the other. His DLP may be brighter and have more "pop", but I bet your CRT has richer black levels and deeper colors, which give it a better sense of depth to the image.

Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages. There isn't one available yet that's perfect.

It's not a CRT it's a rear-projection, as in 3 guns reflected on a mirror and converging on the screen.

If his DLP TV looks better than your set with a Superbit DVD you're set must not be properly calibrated. CRT is the hardest to calibrate and most people who own a CRT rear projection HDTV are not coming close to its true potential. Get that thing ISF'd. Of course, depending on how old it is the electrostatic focus tubes may have lost some focus. Then again it just might not be focused as good as it could be.

Hate to break it to you, but that is a CRT. CRT rear projection. I have a CRT front projector and a CRT rear projection TV. They both have the same type of guns.

If your set is not surpassing his DLP it's not calibrated properly or has lost its focus. Either way, with dark scenes it should crush the DLP.

BTW, my screen is 9'.

But it doesn't contain a Cathode Ray Tube.

Yes, it does. Three of them. Here's a picture of a CRT Front projector. Same technology (although the front projector is superior since it can do 720p and in some cases 1080p with electromagnetic focus):

Alright, guess it's CRT. I've just never heard that term applied to rear projection TVs before. But as I'm sure you know, it's very difficult to get perfect focus because the blue blooms. If for no other reason, DLP is gonna trump it there. But yes, I have perfect blacks.

If you looked through the lenses you'd see 3 small 7" CRT tubes. They just use a lens to focus the light. Regular CRT TVs use one large tube.

About the blue focus. The fact that it's slightly more unfocused than red or green really doesn't matter that much. Blue is the hardest color to see on a projected image and it makes almost no difference (tests have been done) at long as it's as focused as it can be. The slightly out of focus blue gives more brightness and better greyscale. Still, your blue may not be as focused as it could be and your set may just need a good mechanical calibration as well as white and black level balance. It also helps to have a DVD player with gamma correction if the set is not gamma corrected.

If the tubes are in the first couple thousand hours and the set has been properly calibrated it should put out a better picture than a DLP. HD-DVD should look superb on your set at 1080i. After a couple thousand hours ES focus tubes begin to lose their focus. This is why in the CRT front projection world EM focus tubes are preferred, because they don't lose their focus like an ES set does. Unfortunately, all the CRT RP HDTVs I know of all use ES focus tubes.

Even if the tubes have lost their focus a CRT has its advantages over DLP and one is a big one. Black level and on/off Contrast. CRT projectors are generally rated at 15,000:1-25,000+:1 contrast. DLP is barely a fraction of that 90% of the time.

I'm happy with my TV, it's just that it's not as sharp and crisp as my friends DLP. It's just a difference in technology. I've tweaked mine as far as it will go and it looks good, just not AS good as his. It can't because it is manually converged and the blue can never focus very well. It's not that mine isn't sharp, it just only crosses the jumping off the screen 3D effect after HD DVD and his did that with a fricken Superbit.

Have you had the lens focused and done the electrostatic focus (not to mention greyscale)? These are inside the set. Convergence is the final focus. It will never be quite as sharp as a DLP, but it can come very close if ISF'd in the first couple thousand hours or so and should look far more 3D than a DLP. DLP lacks the on/off contrast to give it as much picture depth, which is why dark scenes look "ok" at best compared to a well calibrated CRT.

BTW, if you want your DVDs (superbit or otherwise) to jump off the screen more. Get an HTPC (home theater computer), run DVDs through Zoom Player pro and FFDShow. FFDShow is AWESOME. Its unsharpen feature makes DVDs look like they are higher resolution. It'll take a 480i DVD and make it look like 960x540 to 1024x576p. No upconverting player comes close. You can even check and uncheck a little box to see the difference in sharpness. It brings out the sharpness in smaller details a lot.

It works fantastic with my CRT projector. Of course the better calibrated the set the better the FFDShow results. Just a suggestion.

I've been thrilled with my HD cable service although I am paying out the wazzu (nearly $120 per month included internet). I get HD-HBO, HD-Starz, Discovery HD, HDNet & HDNet Movies, ABC-HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, Fox-HD, WGN-HD, UPN-HD, PBS-HD, TNT-HD, Comcast Sportsnet HD, Food Network HD, and Home & Garden HD. I used to have Dish Network for several years, but became a bit disgruntled at the slow if non-existance of new HD channels being added.

Having TNT and Comcast Sportsnet has been fantastic since I got to watch all of the NBA playoff games in HD between ESPN, TNT and ABC. With Sportsnet, I now get to watch most of the Sox and Cubs games in HD between that channel, WGN, and ESPN.

With the HD-DVR, I have more than enough HD movies queued up that I want to watch. HDNet Movies has a fantastic movie selection, and HBO & Starz are obviously good at having recent movies, although many are pan&scanned into 16:9.

If I wasn't able to time-shift with the DVR, I probably would own a HD-DVD player, but as it stands I feel comfortable waiting out for a second generation unit and for the selection of movies to increase. Since I also own an older tube-based HD set, I don't feel I will notice the picture quality increase as much until I replace my set with a 1080p digital set which is also in my plans for the next year.