Ichinisan wrote:Flat panel LCD's do not have "lamps". They have a luminescent panel. If it dies, it's dead.

Thankfully, they are not expected to burn out as projection bulbs do.

You're joking right? LCDs currently sold in this price range have fluorescent backlights which can and do fai l. Same technology as laptops. Some laptops are switching to LED backlights which should last much longer. I really doubt an LCD display of this vintage uses LED backlights. Count on it being fluorescent backlit, and expect about 5 years life out of it. It may dim over time, and eventually burn out.

I"ve had mine for about a year and the picture quality looks on a par as good as anything I've seen on display models. No ghosting or dead pixels and the picture is vibrant especially in HD format despite the low contrast rating it has. It was well worth the 800 I spent on it.

Bought this exact model 2 years ago at SAM's for $1750. It was worth it then and I have no regrets which is unusual for tech products. This TV isn't great at really dark colors, but for the most part, I highly recommend. No issues in 2 years and my satelite feed is 1080i... so big deal.

poofacemom wrote:Um, there's a 37 inch 1080p on buy.com for $590 shipped, decent brand too, at least comparible to Westinghouse. Much, much better ppi. If you're going over 25 inches you should be getting 1080p, its stupid not to.

1080p at 25 inches? Only if you have the content and sit with your nose to the screen. I have a 37" and the web-wide consensus is even that's pushing it for justifying 1080p at a normal viewing distance. So mine's 720p/1080i and I have no regrets because of the HUNDREDS of dollars I saved.

Plus there is a lot of talk about OTA here, which is how I get my TV. OTA picture looks awesome, but...not that many channels are even doing 1080i. And 1080p OTA? Where do they have that?

Just for reference in case anyone is actually being swayed by the comments on 720p vs 1080p vs 120hz vs Batman... Don't listen to the 720p haters.

720p is perfectly good for a huge majority of the TV watching public. Only some game consoles and Blu-Stink players support 1080p right now and cable/satellite will not be going 1080p native until they find a lot more bandwidth, even after Feb 2009. 42-50" TVs with 720p resolution look very similar in quality to a 1080p set displaying the commonly broadcast1080i signal because it's being up/down converted anyway.

If you are serious about TVs and regularly view 1080p/24 content, you wouldn't be spending much less than $2,000 on a 46" set and would also require an expensive digital video processor to get a clean native signal to the TV from a video source.

So back to the Westy 46" LCD. If $800 is a big investment, consider spending more for a 1080p set that will have a longer useful life. But if you're looking for a good TV to use now, you can buy another one in a couple years when Woot is offering 60" models with 10 times better specs for the same price and put the 46" in the bedroom, or garage, or hang outside on the deck, or...

poofacemom wrote:Um, there's a 37 inch 1080p on buy.com for $590 shipped, decent brand too, at least comparible to Westinghouse. Much, much better ppi. If you're going over 25 inches you should be getting 1080p, its stupid not to.

The guys at CNet would probably take offense at being called stupid. In side-by-side tests they've found that for TVs under 50 inches (with a small caveat about viewing distance) the difference is barely noticeable, which means that people who don't need the fanciest toy can save a good deal of money on 720p.

these tvs are ok, but u get a blank screen every time you change the channel for like 2 secs and the remotes suck and i mean S-U-C-K you have to point exactly in the middle of the tv for the sensor to pick it up... DO NOT BUY

Westinghouse doesn't have the best track record. Might want to google it first. Specially the model. look through forums. I had a chance to get a 1080p 52" for 600 but after the reviews i found...... i decided not to.

llo...everyone has these tales of finding 65 inch 1080p LCDs for like 27 bucks...makes me laugh

jstrasen wrote:llo...everyone has these tales of finding 65 inch 1080p LCDs for like 27 bucks...makes me laugh

Your right, it is funny, but I would think there is a reason,so FYI the actual price listed was $684 on Ecost.com which is a pretty cool website.

jstrasen wrote:llo...everyone has these tales of finding 65 inch 1080p LCDs for like 27 bucks...makes me laugh

Pssh that guy got ripped off! I got two for that price

# Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
# Brightness (Nits): 500 cd/m2
# Color Gamut: 75% NTSC
# Lamp Life: 60,000 Hrs
# Viewing Angle: 178° Horizontal, 178° Vertical

The tv only is going to last 6 years? with 60G hours and a really good one would have a contrast ratio of 5x better.

Someone tell that guy he suited up, backwards!

P.S., anyone that owns a 720p projector will tell you, 720 is still a great resolution, i have a 120" screen and bluray content looks absolutely gorgeous

to the guy who claims he bought a 50 inch 1080p from circuit city


no you didn't, you liar.

Most LCD lamps run for about 50,000hrs, the bulbs in the projection tv's are the ones you have to replace often, these should never have to

I'd buy this in a second if it was 1080p. In fact, I almost did until I noticed it wasn't 1080p.

I currently have a 1080p 37" Westinghouse and love it, I paid $600 for it and that was a steal. To upgrade the size but downgrade the resolution wouldn't make sense though.

ATTENTION:
To anyone planning on buying this and using it for video games.

I have a 42" Westinghouse LCD HDTV. When any game system is hooked up with a signal of 480p or higher, there is absolutely no lag. I'm a professional gamer, I do male stuff like count frames in fighting games. I can assure you that Westinghouse is a fantastic brand if you're going to be doing some serious gaming.

Edit: I'd also like to mention that my TV, which was advertised at 1080i, actually accepts a 1080p signal through my DVI connection for some reason. I'm not sure if it works through HDMI, but if I'm on DVI and I set the resolution of my computer to 19xx by 1080, the info on my TV displays it as 19XX by 1080p. In contrast, if I have a 19XX by 1080 VGA connection, it displays it at 1080i.

The more you know.

~Dac

justincredibleg wrote:1080i isn't better than 720p slick

exactly what i was thinking.

I don't understand the arguement between 1080p and 720p going on...first off, the only way to reach a 1080p resolution is to have a blueray player or a gaming system (like the PS3).

Otherwise, all over the air HD channels are broadcast in 1080i or 720p. So for those of you who say they can see a difference watching TV, you are wrong.

manfro wrote:I don't understand the arguement between 1080p and 720p going on...first off, the only way to reach a 1080p resolution is to have a blueray player or a gaming system (like the PS3).

Otherwise, all over the air HD channels are broadcast in 1080i or 720p. So for those of you who say they can see a difference watching TV, you are wrong.

Exactly, Most people think they get 1080p over the air when all they get is 720 and since they bought a 1080, they think they're getting 1080. Why spend big the big $$if you not gonna use it?

is this available only in us ?

I have both 720p (1080i) and 1080p TVs and I can't tell a damn difference, and they're both 42".

That guy in the TV is stupid. Does he know his tie is not straight? :D

buister wrote:I have both 720p (1080i) and 1080p TVs and I can't tell a damn difference, and they're both 42".

That guy in the TV is stupid. Does he know his tie is not straight? :D

I really don't know why everyone is so excited about 1080p. If Fcc minimum is 720p OR 1080i (up to each network) why would they EVER broadcast higher than SOME Customers could view? and can the human eye even tell the difference?

Is the write-up a Satre reference? Really>?

Somebody must be insane to buy this from woot where you can get Scepter 46" with 1080p and 1280X1024 resolution at Coscto.com with 2extended year of warranty from Coscto and 90days return policy

RICH531 wrote:Barking Old Cronies!!

...wait until the holidays and a 46" 1080P will be $699 - guess I'll wait for the 100" 1080P when it comes on woot next year for $2,499.99 :-)

With TVs you can always wait 4 more months for the same tv to be cheaper... Just buy a TV you can stand and don't lament when it is half the price a year later.

Dacvak wrote:ATTENTION:
To anyone planning on buying this and using it for video games.

I have a 42" Westinghouse LCD HDTV. When any game system is hooked up with a signal of 480p or higher, there is absolutely no lag. I'm a professional gamer, I do happy fun-time rainbow pony playtime stuff like count frames in fighting games. I can assure you that Westinghouse is a fantastic brand if you're going to be doing some serious gaming.

Edit: I'd also like to mention that my TV, which was advertised at 1080i, actually accepts a 1080p signal through my DVI connection for some reason. I'm not sure if it works through HDMI, but if I'm on DVI and I set the resolution of my computer to 19xx by 1080, the info on my TV displays it as 19XX by 1080p. In contrast, if I have a 19XX by 1080 VGA connection, it displays it at 1080i.

The more you know.

~Dac

lmao!

i bought a 32" Westinghouse the last time it was on wood. waited 3 weeks for it to get here and it was broken in 2 days. all the buttons stopped working. dont know if i just got lucky but in not going with Westinghouse any more

How many stations currently broadcast in 1080p?

Is anyone really watching 1080P at the moment if they aren't watching Blueray movies?

I don't know alot about tvs, but if its broadcast in 720P won't it look the same on a 720p tv as it does on a 1080P tv?

I bought this TV from Sam's Club sometime back (at a much higher price). My set had several problems, one being that it would freeze up using the internal tuner as well as when watching Direct TV. It was most frequent when using the ATSC tuner. The only way to fix it was to unplug the AC from the wall.

After about six months the freezing became intolerable so I contacted Westinghouse Customer Support ( a real misnomer). My TV warranty very clearly stated "In Home Service" for the 46" set. After hours on hold and many phone calls, Westinghouse finally had a few suggestions. First they suggested it was my AC power but dropped that when I gave them the model # of my large UPS with AVR. Next they suggested that I buy a "cheap" VCR and use the VCR tuner rather than the TV tuner (so much for HDTV through a digital tuner). When I finally explained to the WAFFLES! TASTY WAFFLES! why that was not an option to be considered, he said their was no more that he could suggest and that they would have to look at the set. He told me that they had not been able to isolate this problem so it might take several months for them to fix it but he would have someone call me back with my packing instructions to return the TV to California at my expense. I explained that I had the in home warranty which he said was not possible because they had nobody that was trained for that. After I faxed him my warranty, I was told that they would send a "team of engineers" to my house to catch the TV mafunctioning. I explained that they might have to stay for a few days but that the team could share our guest room.

They never did complete plans to send the engineers so after a month or so I contacted Sam's Club. Sam's Club was unable to get anybody to talk to them at Westinghouse and suggested I return the set to them and try another. Needless to say, I selected another brand.

Horah for Sam's but I'd sure be nervous buying from anybody that involves shipping for a return. Westinghouse has no customer service so you will be totally dependent on Woot for resolution of any issues.

The lamps cannot be purchased separately they are part of the panel. It would be covered but you would most likely be without your TV for several months. Thats is you can even get the part. I do not recomend this product.

Kessler's last line should have been "What?! Smartpost ships here?!!?"

That's just their policy. Theres a couple million pixels on the screen, so having one off to the side somewhere probably wouldn't even be noticeable.

I have a 42" Westy 1080p respiffied and it's been a great TV for me. I don't use the supplied remote (I have a Logitech Harmony 550), or the built-in speakers. I have an external box for watching OTA HD-TV content and a HD-DVD player (hah!).

If you want a nice monitor, then this is the choice for you. It's only $800 for a 46" set, which is a great price point for the size.


edit: just like the guy above, I bought mine from ecost.com. My family has bought a total of 4 different sets from them, all refurbished Westinghouses. They've been the best bang for the buck.

conhopper wrote:Anything sub-1080p tends to be looked down on now. Even 1080p is starting to look mainstream.

120hz is where it's at, mostly because it renders 24p footage properly (5 refreshes per frame as opposed to 2.5 with 60hz)

However, $800 is pretty awesome, so who knows. If 720p is your cake, go for it.

The human eye cannot regognize the difference between 720p and 1080p on a sub 50" TV.

nmumark wrote:How many stations currently broadcast in 1080p?

None, at least over-the-air. Its not part of the HDTV broadcast spec. Blueray/Game Consoles are the sources today. Dish Network does carry a couple of pay-per-view channels that are in 1080P, if you consider that a "station".

For a good article on this see: http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/hdtv_reference_guide.htm

particularly the last paragraph that addresses this directly.

Wow. A Sartre reference? I did not see that one coming.

No Exit? More like No Sale, amirite?

Backwards man, the backwards man
I can walk backwards fast as you can
Backwards man the backwards man

720p vs. 1080p HDTV: The final word!

meh. you might just wanna wait for a 1440p. pause. not.