OTA content?

bkunkle,

I am not sure the person that recommended a Vizio knows and made you aware of the history of fire hazard and un-repairable cases of that brand, but if I would be you I would never leave the set unattended:

http://hdguru.com/are-vizio-hdtvs-catch ... #more-4660

http://hdguru.com/vizio-disposable-hdtv ... #more-5596

http://hdguru.com/disposable-tvs-vizio- ... able/5485/

Regarding 3D, I agree in that 3D content is being offered at a slower pace than expected, but a 3DTV is actually a good quality HDTV with the capability of showing 3D “as a feature”, so one should never consider it a bad investment because 3D content is not available as fast as one expected.

Check Amazon for dozens of 3D movies, although with the exceptions of Avatar, Hugo, and the feature films, most are actually documentaries and cartoon types such as Rio, Ice age, Owls, etc.

In a similar case I just ordered a 4K projector that I am planning to review and own, and would be able to show a 3D Blu-ray movie in 4K quality per eye even when the 3D movie is not in 4K, and although I am hoping to eventually buy 4K-Blu-ray discs and possibly 3D-4K-Blu-ray discs, I could not possibly demand them to be available now or in quantity just because I decided to be ahead of the curve with such feature.

Regarding your question about 3D broadcasting, the standard for 3D broadcast is being developed now as ATSC 3.0, which would include more features than 3D and is being designed not as an upgrade of the current ATSC 2.0 for HDTV but rather from scratch with a blank piece of paper approach.

I hope the standard will finally implement a 3D broadcast format using a higher and better quality compression like H.265 for the 3D content to be of much better quality than the half-resolution side-by-side or top-bottom frame compatible formats cable and satellite are using. In addition it is expected for the content to also be compatible for HDTV viewing of a 3D broadcast without having to broadcast two different versions for HDTV and 3DTV viewing.

However, you existing tuner most probably would not be abe to be firmware upgradeable by the TV manufacturer and you would need an external tuner that would convert the incoming signal to a format your TV would accept, such as full resolution frame sequential 3D (as Blu-ray).


Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

Thank you, Rodolfo. I did not know about that.

bkunkle ....

RE: ".. Never Leave the TV Unattended! "

He is being "Far Too Subtle/Delicate/Kind/Gentlemanly, etc......!"

In A word, recall the very-old-days whenever melted "Curtis-Mathis TVs" were discovered in the SMOKING Remains of Homes of the time??? THESE were then same "MESS" as what YOU now have bought!!

Since you obviously can't remain awake 24/7 to observe when the thing may ignite, it's electrical power S/B unplugged 100% except whenever YOU will "watch" a Program .... then, unplug it as you leave the Room!

Very BAD Choice, in so many ways! { "..IF.." less than ~ 15 days, most "Stores" would permit an exchange ... COSTCO, of course, allows a full 89 days with a "No Questions Asked" 100% cash refund!!}

eli

.. bkunkle ...
RE: 3D Content ...

Reading some of the "many" posts herein regarding "3D" since the outset?

.... it was intended as an Excuse to make us all discard perfectly-adequate as well as relatively-brand-new HDTVs in favor of the Now "..Latest & Greatest.." invention since Sliced Bread ....

NOT the fantastic sales success that the manufacturers were "betting-the-farm-on!!!" ... a very-dismal commercial failure so far, with most major makers STILL on the verge of Bankruptcy, literally!

UNLESS one IS able financially to continually-buy 3D content via those Special DVDs ... it's a "bragging" Toy over coffee at work but, Not At All something to consider as a Feature to enjoy for the majority of one's Viewing now or in any future time frame, in my own opinion!

This on-going Global Economy and the Outlook of it ONLY becoming very-much-worse doesn't encourage a lot of spare millions of $$$ to "expand" the Medium!

eli

eli

bkunkle ....

RE: ".. Never Leave the TV Unattended! "

He is being "Far Too Subtle/Delicate/Kind/Gentlemanly, etc......!"

eli

You are right Eli, I deleted the following part of the statement that said

"but if that TV was mine (which it would never be due to quality) I would probably get rid of it".

I deleted it because if I would have said that there will be negative posts accusing me of being too harsh, although realistic, specially from the Vizion proud owners, not to mention the ones that recommended it.

In my role at the magazine I have to be careful about how my honest opinion can be misinterpreted or misused for returned artillery, and of course I never win, reason by which I rather stay with the facts.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

Hi and a wonderful, Sat afternoon to you !!

I totally-understand the "legal" implications + constraints involved, to-be-certain!

It's an absolute horror at the relative "speed" with which that Brand of "..assembled-from-a-potpourri-of-parts.." has become nonetheless The Top Selling HDTV of them all....

Oh well, at least, back when out Men were walking on the Moon for the very first time, SONY Corp was then The Name in Electronics, huh?

'til next time!

eli

Eli,

The main problem with 3DTV was the misguided approach of ignorant industry people that promoted, retailed, advertised, and wrote about, that the 3D feature of a good HDTV is more than “just a feature”, and in most cases it was blown out proportion by the press that said that 3D is the new TV.

Shorty later, the same press prematurely tried to kill 3DTV and continues doing so (and their own initial positive articles) when using sales stats that are incorrectly measured, using comparisons of the lines that are 3DTV with the overall TV sales of previous years, rather than taking just the higher-line models of the previous year with the higher-line new models that have the 3D feature, which were actually higher.

Why didn't they do the same comparisons with the models of the 240 Hz feature for mitigating LCD blurriness? Or the LCD angle of view weakness? Or the Internet connectivity of TVs that actually do not allow you to connect to any URL but just some apps? Or the LED local-dimming feature? And many other features manufacturers keep adding naturally to TVs every year to create an incentive for upgrades. Just features, nothing else. 3D was and still is just one feature more for occasional viewing of 3D.

The same ignorant approach is being done by uninformed kitchen bloggers and analysts looking for cheap blood when they prematurely declare the dead of Blu-ray as pre-recorded media because many viewers are starting to stream for convenience (without analyzing the whole picture), or the premature dead of 4K because the human eye could not have acuity to resolve the small pixels (forgetting about overall picture quality, larger color space, etc.), or the premature dead of OLED because it would cost close to $9K, perhaps by those that bought a cheap Vizio this year rather than buying the first HDTVs in 1998/9 for $10K, Pioneer Elites for example, as a true early adopter of ground breaking technology (like OLED), and the list goes on.

Internet Forum posts should be read cautiously, the same as the ignorant press. In order to be properly informed of facts read the articles of this magazine.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra