Comments for DVD Top Choices

Comment on DVD recorder? by ghostrider

ghostrider — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:30:36 +0000

Not sure about DVD recorders…But I would get a digital camcorder and transfer what you want to DVD.
But the Eagle above sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.
He’s the reason I look the way I do.

Comment on What type of television should i get? Is a plasma television really worth it? by gkk_72

gkk_72 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:54:55 +0000

If you’re going 30-40 inches then you’d have to go with LCD since I don’t think they make plasmas in sizes below 42 inches anymore.

Comment on What type of television should i get? Is a plasma television really worth it? by ???

??? — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:45:19 +0000

Well, the plasma screen is just very clear and big. A regular flat screen may be bigger than a plasma screen. If you really can’t decide between the two, then just get a plasma flat screen tv, you’ll have a big, high-def tv that you could watch all day.

Comment on What type of television should i get? Is a plasma television really worth it? by Old AV Dude

Old AV Dude — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:23:30 +0000

For that price you can get just about anything you want in that size range. I suggest going with a Sharp 42D62 it will only cost you about 1500 and with the money you save you can get it professionally installed.

The difference between LCD and Plasma is listed in this article. http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv-plasmavslcd.shtml Basically, LCD is good if you have a brightly lit room Plasma is good if you do most your watching at night.

Comment on Digitial TV and Analog TV? by Laissez-Faire Guy

Laissez-Faire Guy — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:32:55 +0000

OK, first thing is, is this old TV getting it’s signals from cable or satellite? If so, you are unaffected and don’t need to do anything to keep enjoying TV.

If you do get your TV signal from an antenna, you should be able to find a converter box for it.

No way your TV is too old to use a converter! Does your old analog TV have a coax cable input? If so, the converters will work just fine. Does it have those twin screw antenna leads? If so, you merely need to go down to the local Radio shack and get a twin antenna lead to coax cable converter. See the link below to see what I’m talking about.

Lastly, if you decide to get rid of the old TV, your city may offer a drop off site where you can dispose of it safely. Check your city’s web site for info.

Comment on Digitial TV and Analog TV? by link

link — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:13:01 +0000

amp9C1 is right. Your TV WILL work with the converter box no matter how old it is. Just tune your TV to channel 3 or 4, and hook it up with a coaxial cable. As he mentioned, you may need the balun, also called an impedence matching transformer, if your set has only the two screw terminals for it’s antenna connection.

Comment on Digitial TV and Analog TV? by keefy

keefy — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:23:25 +0000

your old TV will receive digital channels with a freeview box,
The only problem with your new tv (& freeview box) might be that you need a better aerial or a booster, but best try the current one first.

Comment on Digitial TV and Analog TV? by Golfer

Golfer — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:07:43 +0000

You’ll still need an antenna on the digital tv (assuming you get your tv signal from an antenna and not from cable or satellite service). If you cable or sat, you can keep your old tv. You may be able to use your old antenna but a rooftop will probably get you more channels. Checkout antennaweb.org. It’s a great site that helps you buy an antenna and lets you know what stations your likely to receive with the different antennas (they’re color coded when you go to buy one).

Comment on Digitial TV and Analog TV? by amp9C1

amp9C1 — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:27:45 +0000

There’s no need to throw your old analog TV away. Digital converter boxes are only for picking up signals on analog-only TV’s; digital TV’s can already process the digital signals. But if you really don’t want your old analog TV anymore and you don’t want to go through the hassle and cost of recycling it, I’m sure you can sell it to someone or donate it to a charity.

EDIT:
You say your TV is “too old,” meaning it probably doesn’t have a standard coaxial input, but rather two RF terminals. You can use a 300 ohm to 75 ohm balum transformer device to connect your converter box coax to your TV. You can do the same with the antenna if you’re using an old antenna.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=TV-2900
http://www.summitsource.com/magnavox-indoor-matching-transformer-75-to-300-ohm-convert-75-ohm-to-300-ohm-balun-m61005-antenna-flat-cable-twin-lead-for-offair-signal-component-connection-adapter-converter-gold-balum-part-m61005-p-6783.html
I have an old TV at home which I did this with, and it works perfectly fine. My grandmother has an even older TV but has cable, and the cable company did the same thing for her cable.

Comment on Digital Television, Third Edition: Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial, IPTV, Mobile TV in the DVB Framework by magellan

magellan — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:05:21 +0000

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Great intermediate intro to subject, April 16, 2008

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) -

This review is from: Digital Television, Third Edition: Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial, IPTV, Mobile TV in the DVB Framework (Paperback)

This is a very well written book on digital TV for the intermediate student or reader. It steers a middle course between the more technical or professional level TV books, such as the well known Whitaker volume published by McGraw Hill, and the more basic books such as The Dummies guides. For me, it was just right since the more advanced books were a bit too hard for me yet, but the easier books were too basic.

The book is especially strong on the digital compression issues, and the chapter on middleware and operating systems is really exceptional, a subject that often isn't addressed as completely in some other volumes. The second to the last chapter provides a nice summary of the main features and differences between satellite, terrestrial broadcast, and cable digital TV.

It's still a fairly technical book, though, and you should already have some basic knowledge of what digital TV is and how the three main types, which are terrestrial, satellite, and cable-based digital TV, differ from each other. Obviously, there are many similarities, but they differ most in the use of different signal modulation techniques and the nature and extent of the error correction in order to best make use of the available bandwidth.

For example, obviously satellite and broadcast TV are most susceptible to multipath interference and other types of noise, hence the signal to noise ratio of these technologies is lower than cable. Cable has a much better signal (25 to 30 db instead of perhaps 6 db), and yet suffers from internal echoes due to impedance mismatches along the long segments of cable. This implies that broadcast and satellite TV need more robust and extensive error correction, which is true. However, satellite may reach areas too remote for typical cable.

The book also has several chapters dealing with the more technical aspects of compression, error correction, etc., for those who are interested. Overall, an excellent brief book (less than 300 pages), and it's also nicely bound on good quality paper in signatures so that the binding will hold up better over time and the pages won't fall out.

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