Buying HDTV

This is stuff I would have liked to know when I began shopping for a large-screen HDTV. You may or may not agree with me, but at least you will have talking points when you go shopping for one, and can make your own decision.

Viewing distance: About 2 times the diagonal measure of the TV. Our viewing distance is 8 feet (96 inches), so screen size should be 48". We got a 50" - close enough. If you buy a TV too large, you will lose the detail you are buying it for.

1080i: The same as 480p or 720p, depending on who you talk to. 1080i is no big deal. My impression is that "i" (interlaced scan) is old school, and "p" (progressive scan) is better. Our HDTV is 720p.

1080p: Won't be available for a while on cable or satellite. Only practical if you have a BlueRay DVD.

HDTV broadcasts: Some are good and others are bad. Right now from San Franciso on DIRECTV, FOX is great, NBC is poor. Both claim to be HDTV. Sometimes grass blurs badly, depending on the camera being used. It isn't necessarily the TV.

Plasma or LCD? For fast motion, plasma tracks it better. I went out planning on LCD because of bad things I heard about plasma, but bought a plasma. When we asked which is better between LCD and plasma, they mentioned reflection off the screen. Plasma is glass and reflections can be a bother in the daytime. I think it's better to go plasma, and then deal with the reflections.

What brand? I went on the internet and Googled for HDTV, quality, rating, plasma, LCD. A Pioneer was rated the best, but too expensive. We got the next one down, a Pioneer.

Burned out pixels (plasma): The TV is supposed to last 20-30 years. You will be buying a new one before that.

How much to spend? I figured the HDTV will be obsolete in five years. Not worth buying the very best.

HDMI: At first there were "composite" cables - yellow for video, red and white for audio. Then came "component" cables - red, green, blue for video, red and white for audio. Now HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) does both video and audio, but the cables are expensive. I couldn't see a difference between a cheap and an expensive HDMI cable, but I wanted to feel like we had the very best connection.

Cable vs. satellite? I heard that cable looses quality going from relay station to relay station. Also that if cable isn't fiber-optic, it is split into 3 signals for transmission, and put back together in the receiver. Cable is part analog and part digital, satellite is all digital. Cable keeps getting more expensive, and goes out frequently. They don't need to change underground cables for satellite HDTV. We chose DIRECTV, a 5-LNB dish for local station HDTV (San Francisco), and an HD-DVR receiver.