[Kntr]

With all these good deals on TVs lately, Ive been thinking about getting a LCD or Plasma. I was looking at the Samsung Touch of Color in a 50". Ill be getting a Blue Ray player too. I would upgrade the cable to HD.

What does everyone reccommend?
I want a 46" or 50".
I dont want it to pixalate either.

 

[Transcend]

Size really depends on what distance you will be standing from the TV. Even the best SD up-sampling hardware still makes up-sampled SD (regular cable) look terrible. This is accentuated on over compressed sattelite or cable networks.

Plasma's will suffer from some level of burn-in as they still use phosphorous based screens, LCDs will not. You have to watch a plasma for the first few dozen hours especially. (Try not to leave it on CNN with the ticker, or a video game etc for extended periods of time. However, plasmas will give you better color and deeper, richer blacks.

 

[stinkyboy]

I asked my DirecTV install guy what the best TVs he seen and without hesitation he said Samsung. I know several others that feel the same way.

I wouldn't go plasma and will prolly end up with a 46" Sony Bravia since they're getting affordable, and have bad ass ads...

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/ele/934153797.html

 

[Transcend]

I picked up a sharp Aquos LCD because at the various showrooms I went to it blew everything else away in terms of color and black levels for an LCD. (Wanted an LCD for gaming).

 

[SLAYER2003]

The plasma burn-in is pretty much non existent these days as they have evolved to avoid this problem. arguably some LCD's are able to get burn-in as well.

If you get any sort of name brand plasma, especially if you want to pay for the good stuff, burn-in will not happen unless you are retarded. They have video game settings and I have left mine on for extremely long periods as well as ESPN and CNN (tickers).

If you want to keep the same $1000 - $2000 price range, it will come down to choice (or brand loyalty) among Plasma or LCD as they will all be comparable. It may also depend what you are after as far as inputs, outputs, etc.

However, if you want to spend more, NO LCD even comes close to a high end Plasma like a Pioneer (Kuro or Elite) or a high end Panasonic. You may read that some LCD's can or do come close, but go to a high end home theater store (not best buy) and see for yourself. In fact, I recommend this no matter what you get to see them in a better environment and not have the settings jacked over like Best BUy does to try and make some look better.....

I do agree with Transcend that if you go LCD, the Sharps are about as good as it gets. In fact it is the best deal as far as price, features, quality, picture, etc......and you can get them at Costco!

 

[Transcend]

The plasma burn-in is pretty much non existent these days as they have evolved to avoid this problem. arguably some LCD's are able to get burn-in as well.

If you get any sort of name brand plasma, especially if you want to pay for the good stuff, burn-in will not happen unless you are retarded. They have video game settings and I have left mine on for extremely long periods as well as ESPN and CNN (tickers).

If you want to keep the same $1000 - $2000 price range, it will come down to choice (or brand loyalty) among Plasma or LCD as they will all be comparable. It may also depend what you are after as far as inputs, outputs, etc.

However, if you want to spend more, NO LCD even comes close to a high end Plasma like a Pioneer (Kuro or Elite) or a high end Panasonic. You may read that some LCD's can or do come close, but go to a high end home theater store (not best buy) and see for yourself. In fact, I recommend this no matter what you get to see them in a better environment and not have the settings jacked over like Best BUy does to try and make some look better.....

I do agree with Transcend that if you go LCD, the Sharps are about as good as it gets. In fact it is the best deal as far as price, features, quality, picture, etc......and you can get them at Costco!

No argument that burn in on plasmas has been drastically reduced, but it is still present to a degree, especially when new. Most Plasma manufactureres now claim that plasma burn-in is equal to that which you can get on your CRT tv.

"Burn in" is not possible on an LCD, as there are no phosphors to burn. The image persistence (ghosting) you may get on LCD will go away as other things are displayed and the pixel memory is reduced. Burn in on a plasma will not as the phosphors are destroyed.

Also, never buy high end electronics at costco, the manufacturers will not honor their warranties 99% of the time (although costco will allow you to return it no questions asked for a year).

Here's a great plasma buyers/owners tip guide for anyone looking.
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-burnin.html

 

[stinkyboy]

Just got a call back from Craigslist boy. He has a showroom and will be there sunday. Thanks for the kickstart Kanter. My Superbowl experience thanks you!

I'll hook it up next weekend and let ya know what I think on the 46" Bravia.

 

[SLAYER2003]

Good article. I am aware of the differences in technology and maybe I should have referred to it as "image persistence as tis article has...

http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/a/LCDBurnIn.htm

We have LCD monitors at work that have this issue and it will not go away. Since this is the same tech. as LCD televisions it does happen. Actually, I have seen more LCD's with this than Plasmas with burn-in and a guy at Magnolia hi-fi confirmed this to me as well.

Whatever the case, opinion, or what you want to call it, it does happen.

I agree about the high end electronics/warranty comment at Costco for the most part, however I have had the manufacturers warranty accepted......On a Sharp Aquos with dead pixels. However since Costco does not sell "high quality" electronics I do not think this is an issue. I do not consider any TVs, sold at Costco, including Sharp Aquos LCD's to be high end.

I mentioned dead pixels, which are also more of a problem on LCD's than Plasmas, which is whole other thing to consider. I am sure this will be debated as well.

You can find any article about anything and pros and cons of each, so it all comes down to your own research....

 

[Kntr]

What LCD or Plasma will look the best on normal cable TV?

 

[Transcend]

A CRT.

Here's why:

LCDs do not have adjustable resolutions like your CRT does. 1 pixel = 1 pixel, otherwise things start to get fuzzy.

An NTSC tv signal broadcasts at a resolution of 648 x 486. Most LCD tvs have a native resolution much higher than this. Technically a 720p TV is not actually 720 lines, but 1366x768. However, a 1080p tv is 1920x1080. Ya, it's confusing. Anyways, your regular, broadcast TV signal must be upsampled to fit on the higher rez of an HDTV LCD. This up-sampling makes it fuzzy. Some up-samplers are much better than others, but it is really hit and miss.

If you had fancy CSI like infinite photo zoom capability, you'd be good to go though!

 

[Kntr]

A Crt.

Hu????

 

[Transcend]

Hu????

Cathode ray tube. Regular old big ass tube TV.

 

[Kntr]

What about a DLP?

 

[Transcend]

DLP will have the same resolution problems as they are usually 1080p.

They are much deeper & need the bulb replaced after about 36 months of regular use, but are usually a bit cheaper. This is especially true at the larger end (46", 50", 52" +).

Some people can see color rainbows & a screen door effect at close range on some DLP sets. Not sure how prevalent as this is as i wasn't really interested in DLP. The contrast on these sets is usually a little worse than the best LCDs, and much worse than the best plasmas.

 

[jimmydean]

The Panasonic TH-50PZ580U, 1080p Plasma TV was rated the best plasma flat screen TV by Consumer Reports. They also rated the Onkyo TX-SR606 the top receiver. I picked up both yesterday and just finished hooking them up.

I am running digital cable coax to the amp and HDMI to the tv. The upscale is nice and the picture is incredible. I got both for $1725. I will hook up the Wii I bought my daughter for x-mas and see how cool it really is.

<edit>
I need to snatch an HDMI set top box from work tomorrow and I will get a new blu-ray player next weekend.

<edit2>
The Onkyo remote works the TV and cable box, too. I didn't even have to program anything. I haven't tried the DVD player yet.

 

[Sandwich]

I have a westinghouse that I've been extremely pleased with. We got it from the GF's uncle for a song and dance and have watched cable and HD cable on it. It looks friggin amazing, especially HD, with little ghosting and good image clarity.

It's probably not up to par for TV snobs, but it's 1080p and at some point I think it becomes chest thumping over who's got the most TV horsepower...quite frankly the improvement from a standard CRT to a 1080p LCD is immense, whether you get the one with the pixels or the plasma or the flamoygen shamoygen gadoygen.