I have a new....

Monitor! But, I have been able to plug in my new flat panel ViewSonic Monitor because my HDTV is in the shop, so I am using my new Monitor as my TV because it can produce 720P (HDTV) pictures. Oh yeah, it is a lot smaller than my normal TV (33 inches smaller to be exact heh heh), but we can get by.

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Several people are asking my what is wrong with my TV and the truth is...well....there are really two reasons (one more than the other one)

1. I am a Home Theater freak and I even calibrate my TV every 2-3 months to make sure the picture is the best that is can be with a specifically designed DVD that helps me calibrate it (DVD Video Essentials) (great DVD for those of you who want the best picture out of your TV that you can possibly get with out opening it up and messing with the cannons etc...) Any way when I calibrate my TV I am seeing some horizontal lines of resolution in the picture when there is a very bright white light on screen. It was not like this when I bought the TV, so I want it fixed, because it is buggin me.

2. With the extended warranty that I purchased they will replace the TV if it costs more to fix it than to repair it, and the new TVs made from Toshiba (my TV now is a Toshiba) actually have a DVI with HDCP as an input in the back. (Now I know I will go much deeper here than any of you care about, but guess what I am me and I will explain it for you so you will be able to know what to buy in the future if you are planning on buying a TV in the future or even today.)

Ok, here is the deal... You need to go High Definition (HDTV) with the next TV you buy, because it will be main stream with in the next 5-7 years and you need to have a TV that you can use during those times.

Now right now there are three inputs on the back of TVs that will allow you to see a HDTV picture, and they are:

1. Component Inputs
2. DVI
2.1. DVI with HDCP
3. HDMI

Now, Component Inputs look just like the ones you are used to (RCA Composite cables) you know the ones that are colored yellow (the video signal) red and white (stereo with both audio signals) EXCEPT component are only video and they are colored green, blue, and red. This splits out the various colors in each cable and allows for more information to be transferred (i.e. HDTV)

The difference between component cables and DVI is that a DVI cable keeps all the information in the digital form so the image will be a little clearer because it is not having to be transferred from digital to analog like it does for component cables.

The less times any signal has to be messed with it is better.

Now DVI (Digital Video Interface)with HDCP other is not a change in the cable, but HDCP means, "High Definition Copy Protection" This is a copy protection scheme that will not allow people to record anything in High Definition if the producers of movies don't want them to, for example, Hollywood is scared that people will be able to make perfect copies of their movies because a movie in HD is an almost perfect replica of a movie (it is a perfect copy of those movies that are shot entirely in HD, i.e. Star Wars)
So if your buying a TV or projector that is HD-Ready or true HD make sure you get one with DVI-HDCP. This will be a large step in allowing your TV to last longer into the future. You might not see very many DVD players or HD receivers right now that require DVI-HDCP, but with in the next 2-3 years they will be bringing out HD DVD movies/players that will require HDCP in the DVI input, or you will not see any movie when you try to watch it because the movie people will not allow for it to be viewed unless you have the HDCP on the DVI.

The last option is something new (that I saw on the latest HDTV in Walmart just yesterday, so it is becoming bigger and bigger at a fast rate called HDMI. This stands for High Definition multimedia Interface. This one just like DVI is all digital so you will get an amazing picture and will even allow for 1080P picture resolution (i.e better than 1080i the best out there right now to consumers) But HDMI takes it all up a notch, because this one cable allows for HD signals AND surround sound!!! All in one cable! This is amazing the amount of data that can be transferred through this cable, but I have questions about how to get the sound through my receiver and then how to get the video through my TV when they are all in the same cable, so I guess I just need to do more research.

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OK...so I know most of you will skip to this part because I just spoke over most of your heads, but if your looking into a new TV and go to Best Buy with this knowledge they will not only be impressed, but might actually not mess you over when you are buying....but I must tell you all....PLEASE do not buy anything dealing with Home Theater (TV's, DVD players, receivers, speakers, etc.... without talking to me!!! Please I love this stuff and I do not work on commission, please see me....OH and if you want to buy a computer?... do what I do and call my brother Jay, heh, or Thor, or Chris, or etc..... I can give you their numbers if you are serious about it all)

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Jay Update:

Well I did not talk to Jay today, but I did talk to my parents and they said he is doing good, but gets tired some days and others he is fine, so today he got a little tired so my parents went back to the motor home early and my Mother got to do some swimming. Jay seems to be doing good, and did not complain about his legs hurting as much today, so hat is good news, but please KUTP because he is going in for the test to see if he still has cancer on Friday. (they will not get the results until a few days after that, so I will let you know as soon as I know)

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I will be leaving this Friday and gone through Tuesday, because I have been asked to lead the White Rock UMC (Tiffany's Church) in a church wide retreat, so please pray for me as well as Tiffany and I teach the church members on how to realistically share the love of Christ by developing relationships with people in there everyday lives and change the way they live theory everyday lives for Christ. It will be cool, and if they accept the cool way of sharing the good news, then White Rock and Los Alamos better be prepared for God to do great things in their community, because people's lives will be changed!

Ok, going to bed now, and love you all take care and God bless! (note to self: get all the pictures you want to get up on the bloc up so others can see them...Lots of good stuff, If I can just think of it.) God bless yah!