February 27, 2005
So beautiful...should have sent...a poet.
My new television arrived yesterday, and while it almost killed the delivery guys as they brought it up the stairs to my apartment, it was all worth it once it was out of the box and set up. Last night I watched two movies specifically chosen to show off what this television can do: Hero and Days of Heaven.
Both movies were simply stunning. Hero, with its bright, bright colors and sweeping camera movements was just jaw-dropping (particularly the fight among the leaves). And Days of Heaven (in my opinion, the best looking film ever made) just popped off the screen. And because DoH was shot in a 16:9 aspect ratio, it ran totally full-screen (like most recent films, Hero was shot in a larger aspect ratio, so it's shown anamorphic, with slight bars on the top and bottom of the screen). The scene with the locusts and fire in Days of Heaven should be seen on every HDTV ever made.
I went with the Sony KD-34XS955 for a few reasons. One, that I only have room in my wall unit for a 34 - 42 inch screen. And secondly, because of the image quality on all sources. This thing makes regular television look great (except for things taped off the WB, as that comes in really dark for some really annoying reason), Xbox games look amazing, and DVDs naturally look great as well. Plus it was relatively cheap for an HDTV. LCDs, rear-projection televisions and plasmas may get all the press, but believe me, if you can support the obscene weight (this thing weighs 200 pounds!) it's worth it.
The one thing I haven't tried on here yet is a pure HD signal. Time Warner's being their usual pain in the neck, and it looks like I won't be able to get a Cable Card until Friday. This year's Oscars will have to be in SD instead. I'll live.
Posted by jason at February 27, 2005 11:44 AM
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We have an older model of one of those 32-somethingorother-510. It was the sister model to the 910 which used that nice Super Fine Pitch tube you have. We just couldn't afford that. However, I thought the 910 was followed up by the 960. I never heard of this model you have. It seems like Sony just keeps making new models of TVs faster than I can keep up.
Cable Card is.. .Eh. I'm not quite sure what you do and don't get out of it, so be sure to report on the experience. I don't have a slot but even if I did I would still use the Comcast DVR box just for HD recording and VOD. I'm curious if you get the full features of a standalone box like a program guide and stuff, or not? It would suck to have all this technology and still have to consult a web site or paper TV Guide for listings.
If you do have to consult a site, though, I reccomend TitanTV. It's basically an online TV Guide enhanced for HDTV owners, as I haven't found as much coverage as what's in HD and wasn't isn't from the others.
Lastly, watching The Show and Hilary Swank made the cliched Long Thank You Speech, even stopping to thank her attorneys. Sheesh. Your predictions are doing pretty well, as usual. :)
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at February 27, 2005 11:07 PM
I'm going with the CableCard, as I already have a TiVo and I've heard mostly bad things about Time Warner's HD-DVR. With some services on CableCard you'll get a full program guide, but Time Warner keeps telling me I won't, so that's what I'm expecting.
But it doesn't matter to me. Since I have a TiVo for standard def programming, I already know what's on when. I'll just switch over when watching something live that's being transmitted in HD.
at February 28, 2005 12:08 AM
Posted by: john luddy at February 28, 2005 08:51 AM
About 150 lbs. :)
My new television is a tube television, just like any non-HD tv. It just happens to be a high-res HD tube TV. But it's still using CRT technology, and so it weighs (literally) 200 pounds.
at February 28, 2005 10:00 PM
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