Young Black Professional Guide

lcd
plasma
sed
dlp

which one?

ybps want our hard earned cash to go that sick high definition setup. when we come home from leading projects, dealing with co-workers, or even entertaining our brethren, the high definition setup gives a comfort of ‘yeah, im doin alright’. so what’s first?

the first question you should ask is ‘how important is high definition to me’ and ‘how often do i watch tv’. if you’re like me, you’re traveling every week, rarely get to watch your home setup, but enjoy the weekend programs (like football) in high definition. by the way, sports and discovery channel hd is currently the ONLY thing giving justification to hd right now when it comes to over-the-air broadcasts. b/c of my situation, i got a modest 23-inch lcd from samsung. its nice enough to exploit the hdmi connection and a 3000:1 contrast ratio, modest enough to fit in my 1-bedroom in downtown chicago, but also not breaking the bank at $600.

second question is ‘what is my living situation’. why? well, part of enjoying ‘living’ in a ‘living room’ is the one appliance that is more active than any other. right now, i’m still trying to get myself settled. one day, i envision myself with the nice loft, not travelling as much, and enjoying the abode where i lay may head down. if you’re currently in this situation, i’d say either invest in at least a 20 incher for the bedroom and a 32+ incher for the living room. also consider the home theater setup. if you’re looking for ‘home theater’, then you’re going to want to go at least 40+ inches and expect to pay in upwards of 3g’s for the entire setup. for basic living room setups, consider the a quality tv that can accept at 1080p connection. not just 1080i. what’s the difference? tech specs here and here. basically, 1080p is better and more rich than 1080i. in fact, 720p is better than 1080i. how? deets here. if you want a bigger picture for the price, then a dlp tv is your best bet. its a lot clunkier and imposing than flat panels like lcd and plasma, but the texas instrument technology is trustworthy. if you’re a baller, go plasma. just make sure, 1080p, contrast ratio, and number of connections is important for bigger tv’s. it’ll be noticeable (except for the # of connections) when you turn the lights out for the home theather.

third question is ‘how much can i afford’. while i’ll spare the lecture of assests vs. liabilities and going into debt, i’m a ‘bang for the buck’ kind of guy. i also prefer and prioritize quality over quantity. you won’t see me in walmart buying the 60inch westinghouse…..unless it gets a dynamite review from cnet or other people who’ve had it for awhile love it. don’t buy anything without a review no matter how good the price. remember, if its 26 and below, don’t worry about 1080p. if its above, stick to 1080p but also look at contrast ratio and reliability of brand name. if you go with a monitor instead of an actual ‘tv’, be careful of the response time. the human eye can detect at or above 17ms. my rule of thumb is 12ms and below. let’s also get real. hdtv is expensive. even if you’re a baller, spending 3-4g’s on a tv is insane. but do what it does….just do it smartly.

the last question is ‘what am i using it for’. this may seem like a silly question since most people ‘watch’ their tv (duh). but the question implies will you be watching regular tv (no high definition cable box or directv), watching a tv hooked up to a high def box (there are only about 25+ hd channels right now), playing video games (ps3 vs. xbox 360), sharing it with my computer, watching a majority of dvds (component cables needed), or watching high definition movies (blu ray vs hd dvd). if no high def signal, then no need to for an expensive high def tv. you’ll have two black lines on the left and right side, be pissed, and hate me. lol. all broadcasts right now will not be digital until 2008. ps3 will output 1080p gaming…something xbox 360 lacks. dvd’s using component cables output 720p or 1080i.

so why all the advice for a 1080p television?

well, you’re right. my thought is that you dont want to buy a piece of technology that you know will be obsolete in the future. just because are current infrastructure can’t support ‘desperate housewives’ in 1080p, doesn’t mean the market won’t push for it. you’re saying you’d like to have you’re nice sleek flat panel obsolete in a year or two?

so whats the verdict? if lcd, go samsung. if plasma, go pioneer 60 inch (so amazing). if dlp, doesn’t matter. i’m sure sony’s sxrd is great, but they turn over tech so fast, i say its not worth their sticker price.

or….

you can wait for SED technology which promises 50,000:1 contrast ratios (similar to your tube tv now) and cheap prices.

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Have those words ever come out of your mouth? Maybe in a job interview or just in conversations with friends or co-workers. Well, for a good number of years, that is the exact phrase that came out of my mouth on several occasions. In interviews, with friends… I found myself saying

“I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book.”

During college I worked at a bookstore, so I was knowledgeable of the types of children’s books already on the market. Since I aspired to write something different and creative, I thought about my own childhood experiences for ideas and inspiration. Then an idea came to me to write about a little girl who wanted to play football. The message behind the story would be that girls can play sports too. As I thought more and more about this storyline, I realized that more young girls would be able to relate if I broadened the content. Reflecting on my own childhood gave me an epiphany- I would write about my own personal accounts. I felt there was no better way to send out the message that being a tomboy is perfectly alright. Reflections of a Tomboy Turned Princess stemmed from my initial idea to write a children’s book and has blossomed into my greatest accomplishment to date.

In addition to yet another opportunity to publisize my humorous easy-read for all ages, I chose this topic as my first post to encourage all YBPs to identify what it is that you have always wanted to do, and then do it. There may be a lot of things that I have yet to discover about life, but my evolution has allowed me to see clearly that you can’t get what you want out of life if you don’t first identify what it is. And after you have identified your goal(s), you must commit to that goal and go for it! I think one of the major motivating factors to my actually deciding to sit down and publish my book was the fact that I hadn’t actually committed to the idea. I had told several people on different occasions that “I’m going to write a book one day.” Then one day I said to myself, “are you really? Or are you just talking a good game.”

“There are two types of people: those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk sometimes talk the talk but most times they don’t talk at all, ’cause they walkin’.”
- Key from Hustle & Flow

I didn’t want to be the type of person who wasn’t committed to the words that came out of my mouth. So I decided to stop talking and start walking. I set a goal, a timeline, and a gameplan in order to successfully execute my project. I just did it.

Whatever it is that you want to do, take it step by step and day by day. Remember to first identify what you want to do. That may sound simple, but you’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) at how many people complain that they can’t get what they want out of life, when the root of the problem is that they haven’t even figured out what it is that they want.

I hope this motivated you to get off your butt and just do it. If you’re interested in how I made my book happen, stay tuned to the guide…

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1st post! alllllrriiigghhtt. (quagmire for those that don’t know).

if you wikipedia either format (here and here), you’ll find out the technical details about the next iteration of digital technology when it comes to watching movies at home, playing video games, or storing your files on different media. b/c of this, i’m not going to get into the technical details, but i’ll say that hd dvd was invented by toshiba and blu-ray disc was invented by sony.

with that said, sony also invented beta max, mini-disc, the umd for the PSP (also known as universal media disc), and the walkman. 1 out of 4 isn’t bad right?

well, some feel that blu-ray is gonna win out of the format war when it comes to ‘who will win’ for high-definition. its going to be the unique format for the upcoming PS3 (coming out on Nov. 17th), it holds more data which means it has a better picture, and its from Sony…a powerhouse in the entertainment spectrum no matter how you slice it. although both formats have the backing of the companies who make the movies, sony has the might (and arrogance) to declare themselves the winner.

what do i say?

i say neither. hd dvd is going to be cheaper and ’sounds better’ than blu ray. most people who are used to dvd’s being the standard for watching their movies, are going to readily identify with ‘hd dvd’ as the next logical choice. the only thing thats going to keep blu-ray in the mix is sony’s ps3. i already complain that dvd’s are too expensive and don’t buy one until its in the bargain bin. even now, itunes is allowing people to download movies to their ipod and on that little screen, people really aren’t caring that its in ‘high definition’. so what does it come to?

home theater.

how much are you going to spend on that home theater? if you’ve got the nice city apartment with the modest 20 to 32 incher lcd hdtv, i say its not worth it. you’re regular dvd’s with the component hookups should be fine. spend the money on a decent surround setup.

if you’re a big-time ybp with the 35+ incher lcd flat panel, then i’d say wait until you can get a player that can play both medias (here and here).

if you have a plasma (which should naturally put you 40+ inches), then you can afford to switch it up when the winner comes out. i’d say go for blu-ray. bigger content. better picture. you’ll obviously need a blu-ray player. here’s a list. here’s a review. i’d suggest sticking with the brand and get a sony blu-ray player on their website.

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