Over here in the UK Panasonic LCD's are getting the best ratings. They do kinda stand out amongst the other LCD's - getting quite near Plasma quality. some other bloke...

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"How much did it cost you to build that? That 575W must throw off an ungoldly amount of heat." Around $900. I already had the wood, sheet metal, paint, and thermostat in my garage. That saved a bit of dough. Yes, the exhaust fans do pump out a good amount of heat, but the extra heat generated isn't noticeable in the large room which the unit is installed. If there's an ungodly amount of anything that the 575 watter does throw off, it's light. Couldn't believe the difference in brightness that it--as well as the stripping of the LCD's anti-glare layer--made over the 400w bulb/ballast combination that was previously used. Please, get a Blu-Ray player and put your 58" Plasma to good use. 1080p upscaled DVD is, well...720x480 video blown up to 1920x1080. Homebuilt projector: Samsung 1080p panel Pixelworks controller 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 1 VGA Homebuilt enclosure 120" 16:9 screen Connected to: HTPC w/ BD, satellite receiver, XB360.

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Totally unrelated, but I've noticed that CN no longer takes IE7 down! Thanks, Justin (if you actually changed anything :))! Homebuilt projector: Samsung 1080p panel Pixelworks controller 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 1 VGA Homebuilt enclosure 120" 16:9 screen Connected to: HTPC w/ BD, satellite receiver, XB360.

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Jack, yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me. I need a BluRay player to see my nice new TV shine. But the truth is, from a normal viewing distance I never see much of a difference between BluRay and 1080p DVD on store displays. The animated Disney movies they put on every other day are noticeably sharper, but non-animated movies don't seem to benefit much from the Blu treatment. Maybe I'm blind.

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"Maybe I'm blind." I'm beginning to think so. :P Or maybe, the store you were visiting didn't have its TV display set up properly. Perhaps they were using a component video distributor to connect a large number of TVs to the BD player. Analog component cables generally limit video to 1080i, and don't look as good as HDMI when used with digital (LCD, plasma) displays. And of course, store display TVs are never properly calibrated. How big were the TVs at the store? Who were they made by? Blu-ray won't look much better than DVD on a Walmart 32" 720p DayTek special running cheap component cable. With a proper setup, a HUGE difference in image quality can be seen between BD and upscaled DVD. Even older movies benefit greatly from high definition. 2001, for example, looks absolutely insane on Blu-Ray. It just blows the doors off the standard DVD. Samsung makes some of the best plasma TVs out there. I can guarantee that you'll be blown away by what you'll see when you connect a Blu-Ray player to your 58" Sammy. It's a sin to use an upconverting DVD player with such a gorgeous (and expensive) TV. Homebuilt projector: Samsung 1080p panel Pixelworks controller 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 1 VGA Homebuilt enclosure 120" 16:9 screen Connected to: HTPC w/ BD, satellite receiver, XB360.

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Anyone else remember the days when you had to wait 5 minutes for the TV to warm up so that you could choose one of four channels. AND...you had to get your butt off the couch to turn the dial? My parents had one that the knob broke (okay..my brother did it) so we used a pair of vice grips to change the channel. When I was in high school, (after we had moved and got cable), I would sit in the kitchen on Friday nights watching "Friday Night Videos" with Wolfman Jack...on a 20 pound 9" B&W. I had that TV until I was "cleaning out" a closet in 1990 and got rid of it. Darn thing still worked too. These kids today have no idea what "roughing it" is. :) "So won’t you give this man his wings What a shame To have to beg you to see We’re not all the same What a shame" - Shinedown

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The real entertainment value of old TV's was having several relatives all trying to adjust the antenna at the same time. Helluva lot more fun than watching Jack Parr or a Floyd Patterson fight. Skip

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Hey Jenny, I remember my parents first TV around 1953 and it only had "one" b&w channel.... Much later I did a roaring trade in my spare time repairing the dual standard valve (tube) sets which ran both 405 & 625 lines - VHF & UHF. some other bloke...

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I remember the old B&W's well. As a kid getting up early Sat mornings to watch Beanie & Cecil, or the whole family staying up late to watch Boris Karloff in Frankenstein & eat JiffyPop...those were the days. I remember that whenever my dad saw a TV or radio in the trash, he'd rip it open & take out all the vaccuum tubes. He had several shoeboxes full of them. Every once in a while one would blow out on our TV & he'd rummage around in the box looking for a replacement. Do you remember the old vaccuum tube testers that were in some stores? Sometimes I'd ride my bike to the store with a lunchbag full of them. I don't know how long he kept that old Admiral TV running before we finally got a color set. If you really wanna get nostalgic, check these out: http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-59-ADM...

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jam, I never heard of that TV show, so I Googled. It aired for one season; the year I was born. LOL "So won’t you give this man his wings What a shame To have to beg you to see We’re not all the same What a shame" - Shinedown

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Jam I have several analog TV's still running (with digital converter boxes on top). I took them out of skips etc many years ago (often wet) and repaired them. They are old but all beyond the days of tubes, although some pre-date remote controls. I'm under some pressure from my wife to dump most of them and/or replace with modern LCD sets.... some other bloke...

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Being able to see Elizabeth Montgomery in color was the highlight of my childhood. Assume that I already did an Internet search.

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Jennifer, I not only fondly remember the old B&W but also remember the first TV we had with a remote. The remote worked by sound. It only went in one direction. My dad discovered by accident that he could change channels by jingling his car keys. In Detroit we had three network channels and also had a Canadian station (9-CKLW) that actually targeted the Detroit audience. Still does, to a degree. Then came the UHF channels. We eventually had all of about 9 channels. WOW. Those were the days. Of course I also remember listening to the radio shows. Especially on Saturday morning. I record Gunsmoke on the DVR to this day. That is because it was one of my Dads favorite shows. I Have an assortment of CRT TVs ranging from 32" to 13". All are color. I do have an MGA 25" that is so old it has a separate UHF tuner. My entertainment center uses a 58" Pioneer HD CRT rear projection TV that is 720P max.

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@ OtheHill, "In Detroit we had three network channels and also had a Canadian station" I'm in Buffalo & with a good antenna, we can pick up 3 Canadian channels...5, 9 ,11. I remember when my dad installed a rotary antenna on the roof & we were able to pull in all those channels relatively clearly so we doubled the number of channels we could watch...lol. I can still remember the sound on that motor turning the antenna while I laid in my bed at nite. Funny the things we remember. "I record Gunsmoke on the DVR to this day. That is because it was one of my Dads favorite shows" Ah yes, my dad loved the old westerns too. We used to watch Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc. And we loved the old Red Skelton show! A couple of my/our other old favorites were Sky King & Combat...remember those? :) He passed away in 2000 at the ripe old age of 90. He was still tinkering around with small engines & electronics right up to the end. I learned SO much from him...more than he probably ever realized. I miss you dad! EDIT: I just thought of another...The Real McCoys!

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Yep, all those shows, especially Red Skelton, plus more. How about the Rifleman, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train?

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Wow, Bat Masterson...there's one I haven't thought in a LONG time!

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jam, Bat Masterson is in syndication. Look below. Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. It was produced by Ziv Television Productions, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol. In October 2007, the series was televised in the United States on the Encore Westerns channel, with two episodes on weekdays, between 5-6 pm (Eastern Time).

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Ha Ha !!! You guys bring back a lot of memories. Our first tv had a fluorescent light around the scree and we only got 3 channels, 3 / 6 and 10 which were local Philadelphia stations. Like Jennifer, we changed the channels with a pliers, because my brother broke the knob. We spent a lot of Saturday nights lying on the floor with our pillows watching Walt Disney and the Milton Berle show. Saturday mornings were Looney Tunes. Then our neighbors got a color tv and we all turned green with envy. It took quite a few years, but we eventually got one too. When I moved into my current residence in 1995, there was no cable and we still used the old antenna rotor. A year later we finally got cable ( I live in the middle of 700 acres of woods ). I used a 27" crt for many years.I still have it down in my garage. Last year i bought a 42" Panasonic Plasma and never experienced any burn in or excessive heat problems. I love the natural colors with a plasma and subscribed to HD. I could never go back to the old set unless I had to. I don't have a Blu Ray player, we use an older Sony home theater setup with a standard DVD player. The tv is only capable of 720 dpi, but I enjoy it just the same. I really enjoyed reading your posts. It gives me a little more insight on the human side of you guys and gals. Keep up the good work, it is appreciated.

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Jennifer, I not only fondly remember the old B&W but also remember the first TV we had with a remote. The remote worked by sound. It only went in one direction. My dad discovered by accident that he could change channels by jingling his car keys. ROFLMAO A very good friend of mine had a TV with a remote that worked off of sound. For a short period of time my son and I lived with him. My son was about 3 at the time and had this little toy parking garage that had a little elevator that you raised and lowered with a hand crank. Each time you cranked it, it hit a little bell making this lovely "ding" sound. My son loved that sound.........lol So one day, we're watching a TV program and my son's playing with his garage. Every time he cranked the elevator and dinged the bell, the channel changed. It took us about 15 minutes (and some swearing) to figure out what was going on! Once we did, I broke the bell that night while he was sleeping..... I remember the first "remote control" I saw. It was connected to a box on the TV via a long cable. It had push buttons. Growing up in the 60's all we had was a B&W TV and originally, one channel that came on about 6 am and shut off about 11 pm..............

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re: The remote worked by sound. It only went in one direction. My dad discovered by accident that he could change channels by jingling his car keys. Our car keys changed the channels and the vacuum cleaner changed the volume. This was unfortunate since the remote set the volume in 5 increments: TV On, Soft, Medium, Loud, TV Off. Regardless of whether the TV was on or off, it would cycle through these 5 settings while we were vacuuming the living room! Anybody ever take one of those old clacker remotes apart? Mine consisted of 2 huge "buttons". With a mighty push of a button you activated a spring loaded hammer that smacked the back of a metal bar, one tuned for the channels, the other for power/volume. Just for fun I once took it apart and switched the metal bars. Confused the snot out of my mother!

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My collection: living room - 42 LCD" home office - WinTV card in computer work office - WinTV card in computer bedroom 1 - 19" bedroom 2 - 13" DVD combination unit bedroom 3 - 27" basement - 19" workshop - 13" garage - 13" VCR combination unit On the shelf - a 5" B&W battery operated unit that I have actually grabbed a few times when I had to pick up a kid or 2 and didn't want to miss a show - before the days of DVR's etc. Working but not currently in use - a massive 27" floor unit that was replaced with the slick 42" wall mounted LCD. All TV's (except for the 5") have basic cable run to them with the 42" LCD getting the HD DVR cable box. I also have a cable outlet in the kitchen, plus one on the upper deck and one on the lower deck for use with the 13" TV that's usually used in the garage.

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The story behind the 5" B&W TV from my earlier post... Many years ago my elderly aunt got a letter in the mail. "Order a 2 year subscription to any 3 magazines in our brochure and get a free 25" TV." She subscribed and received what was promised: A 5" x 5" screen is a 25" TV if you do the math right, isn't it?

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lol I still have the 36" black and white consol t.v. that my dad had when my parents got married in 71. It must weigh 500lbs. Remote control, give me a break. It was 1976 before we even got color led alone a remote. Didn't have cable until around 81 and that was our first remote. I remember dad brought home this big outdoor anatanna that was mounted to the side of the house. It took two people to change the channel, one to turn the dial and one to turn the antanna. No matter where we lived, moved alot dad was navy, we only got three channels not counting the maybe sometimes one pbs on uhf channel. I remember before the folks got married dad had some friends over to watch a ball game, I was like 4 I think. Dad was ribbing this one guy that had placed a loosing bet with dad on the out come of the game. The guy got ticked and picked up this old square wine bottle and attempted to slam it on the hardwood floor to break it. It bounced and hit the big ol' consol t.v. and broke the screen. That screen was more than an inch and a half thick. The t.v. still worked though just got brighter lol. It still works now but we don't use it. I don't remember all those old shows ya'll mentioned but I remember enough!! Practice makes perfect but only if you practice perfectly!

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