Question about televisions (HDTV)

My old TV crapped out, so I have been looking around for a new television to replace it. I've been checking all the online sites, and found a couple of televisions that seem like pretty good deals for the price. Unfortunately, I'm not too technically-advanced when it comes to these newer televisions, so I was wondering if any of you guys could answer some questions for me?

I was looking at this:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_1/601-2246034-6183367?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000H2HVLC

Or possibly this:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_3/601-2246034-6183367?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000B6JJNC

I have a couple of quick questions:

(1) It says they are both HDTV ready. If I only have a normal cable hookup, would I still be able to receive the free broadcasts (like on ESPN) that come in HD? Or do I have to buy a digital tuner or something like that from my cable company to receive those HD broadcats?

(2) How does the normal 4:3 broadcasts look on a 16: 9 TV? Is there letterboxing on the side or something? I don't watch too many movies, so I'm wondering if watching a 4:3 broadcast on a 16: 9 TV will be too big of an annoyance?

(3) Does anyone have any opinions on these two televisions? I've never heard of the manufacturer, but I've read some pretty good reviews, with only a handful of bad ones mixed in. The price seems to be really good when compared with all the other places I've checked for similar TVs.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

"Check if you DO NOT wish to use emotion icons in your message" so that your 16:9 ratios came out correct. :D

Yeah, you're right :p Oh well, at least it spiced up the message a little bit!

I got the 27 inch about 2 weeks ago, it is awesome. It has HD included, so you don't need to add anything.

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=940644&Ntt=television&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=940651&Ntt=television&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text

Bookmarked for later..please keep us updated if you have any problems outta this brand. It looks good. Wonder if they have them in the stores; I'd like to take a closer look.

So, once I get it, it will really only be 500 bucks.

I think I've narrowed it down to two types. I've looked thru tons, but these seem like good deals for the price. I was up over $1k, but now I've decided to spend a little less, even if it means I have to buy a new one a few years down the road. I've decided between:

The Olevia in your link:
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=940651&Ntt=television&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text

And the Sharp from this other company:
http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com/catalog/122/5671/

It's about $200 bucks different, but Sharp is a bigger brand so I figured maybe more reliable? What do you guys think? I'm not sure if there is any noticeable difference between the options between the two TVs. If any of you guys that know a lot more about this stuff happen to check, can you tell if there are any big difference between the two TVs that should sway me one way or the other?

Otherwise, the time will come when you will have wished you had spent that extra money to get the bigger screen. Also you should make up your mind what kind of tv you are going for, such as an lcd or the old crt. Widescreen 16x9 will have the black bars on the sides for 4x3 material, but it is not a big deal. All of the networks are showing widescreen HD during primetime and for sporting events. My cable company (Charter) offers HD for a few bucks more a month to get all of the nonpremium channels they offer. If you are going to spend the money, then do a google search about HD or the sets you are looking at. Check out places like epinions.com or avsforums.com or amazon.com for information and opinions about HD sets. HD is where it is going, so you may as well get there. I have a 30" Samsung hdtv that I bought about 4 years ago and it is not HD ready, so I use a receiver to get HD. I also do not have cable or satellite, so I get all of my HD over the air using an antenna on the roof. Some people can even get local HD using an inside antenna. I also have a front projector which I use when a want to watch on a really big screen (7') and although it is not HD but ED (extended definition which is equal to that of a dvd player; ED is between SD and HD) the picture still looks spectacular. This is an investment you will have for years, so do the research.

its market speak for saying, yeah, its TECHNICALLY capable of getting a good image, but doesn't have all the equipment. Also, the quality of the HDTV affects the quality of Standard Broadcast signals. Yeah, many do letterbox 4:3 transmittions, and, for the cheap ones, it looks WORSE than a standard TV.

1) You need some sort of HD receiver--if it's through your cable company, you'll need a digital HD settop box. These usually cost exactly the same as renting the regular analog box, so it shouldn't cost you any extra.

2) There is pillar-boxing of 4:3 images. You can set the tv to stretch the 4:3 image to fit the full width of the screen, and you can do it in a "smart" way such that the edges of the image get stretched much more than the middle of the image (which is where most of the action is centered, usually) so you don't get as much of that short and fat people look.

3) Olevia is ok, but among the cheaper brands, it is universally considered by videophiles that Westinghouse makes the best cheap tvs.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7679951&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat95100050006&id=1134703181662
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7680011&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat95100050006&id=1134703181778

These are cheaper and better than the Olevia models you found.

Are there any televisions that come with everything included for the HDTV, so that I could watch the HDTV broadcasts from like ESPN without going through my cable company to buy it extra? I know every now and then ESPN has like football in HD; would these TVs not display those games in HDTV? I'd have to buy another tuner from my cable company to take advantage of that? Or are there TVs out there that I can buy that can display those HDTV broadcasts on the normal stations that already come with my cable package?

Thanks for the help again everyone.

Some tv's have a built in tuner so you can hookup an antenna and get your local abc,nbc,fox,cbs digital signal (free!). Others are "hd ready" and you need to buy a tuner. To get cable channels such as espn-hd you need a hd cable box from your cable company. Another option is the cablecard, which is a card you can plug into your tv (only tvs that are state "cablecard" can do this). Then your tv acts like the settop box. Yea, I know, confusing!


Your best bet is to find a local audio/video store and someone can probably show/explain a lot of this. I avoid bestbuy/circuit city because whenever I'm in one I overheard their workers incorrectly explaining something.

...sometimes regular 'ole ESPN has a telecast in HD (as I said, usually their weekly football game). I get normal ESPN, and they say they are broadcasting in HDTV tonight. Would I STILL need something from my cable company to watch that, even if I already have the channel and an HDTV? Or can I get no HD broadcasts through my current cable configuration without buying another converter box?

I know you have to have the box for their HD "tier," but for stations I already have that sometimes have a broadcast or two in HD, I still need to have the box from my cable company? I think that's where I'm confused.

Go as big as you can afford. When we bought our new house, we bought a 50" RCA HDTV (projection). It is so damn awesome. When the wife said we should get a big one to fit in the space above the fireplace, I nearly fainted.

We have an HD tuner through our cable company (Time Warner) which didn't cost any extra than a non-HD tuner. The GOOD HD channels (ESPN, duh--and a couple movie channels) cost me like $4 more a month. I am wathcing the Vikings game right now in regular (Fox does not broadcast in HD in our area which is fucking stupid) and it looks GREAT.

In a year or so, boradcast signals are being phased out entirely.