$2500 budget (1 Viewer)

[Brad_c_g]

I am just starting to learn about the world of big screen TV's its all pretty confusing to me still.

I have a $2500 budget for a tv that will be 80% movies 20% tv/sports. I want a 50"+ because I don't want to regret goign to small. That pretty much rules out a Plasma screen I would assume. I want something that is going last me more then 3-4 years. What should I be looking for? is DLP a must? Are some brands better then others?


Why would someone get a 56" for $100 more then a 62" for example from Costco:

Toshiba 62" 16:9 DLP HDTV-Ready Projection Television $2,399.99

Samsung 56" 16:9 HDTV DLP Projection TV
w/ Matching Stand $2,499.99

Panasonic 50" 16:9
HDTV-Ready LCD
Rear Projection TV $2,199.99

Whats the difference between an LCD Panasonic and a DLP Samsung?

 

[John S]

What you should be looking for? You should be looking for a display that meets your requirements and has a picture quality you think you can live with for several years.

Is DLP a must? All display technologies have trade offs, DLP is no different. Many of us don't prefer this technology, so not even close to a must here.

Brand perception differences are a much larger factor than actual brand performance differences in todays world. Brand loyalty just doesn't make a lot of sense anymore as any brand or display is really just about as likely to have issues as any other brand or display. With maybe RCA being more prone to issues, but most others really come out even when the statistics of failure are concerned.

A 56" Samsung display just may fit into the desired space better than a larger one, there can be remote and feature differences as well, that would make one gravitate to the smaller Samsung over a larger Toshiba as well. Also, picture quality is somewhat subjective, somebody may also like Samsung's color or picture better, and another may like Toshiba better.

I'm on board these days with LCD RP, I prefer it vastly over the DLP RP offerings I have previewed. Sony is the hottest / best to me in LCD RP, but the Panasonics are real good as well as I installed a 60" Panasonic LCD RP, and once it was user calibrated it was very impressive in the home indeed.

 

[Arthur S]

Of the 3 technologies, plasma, LCD, DLP: plasma may have an edge in overall PQ. Having said that, the impact of a 62 inch screen compared to say, a 50 inch screen is so great that you just might want to go with the biggest display.

On the other hand, I believe that DLP can suffer from a picture defect called rainbow effect. Some people see it, some don't.

You might want to spend some time at various stores looking at LCD and DLP and see if you are satisfied with DLP. If you don't see the rainbow effect, the 62 inch DLP from Costco is a good value.

There are an awful lot of DLP sets being sold, in fact, Parker Clack, one of the co-owners of this forum is very happy with his 62 inch DLP.

 

[John S]

I 2nd the importance of screen size on HT impact and that is a great point indeed Arthur S has made in his post.

The jump from 50"-ish to 60-ish is extreme, more so than the 10" difference may indicate to most.

 

[Brad_c_g]

Thanks, those were the responses I was looking for. I realize I will have to view them all before the final decision I just wanted an idea on what I should be looking for and to narrow down what I should be looking at. I will check out the LCD's. I don't see any rainbows on teh DLP's that I've noticed so far but I don't want my guests seeing it and thinking I bought a piece of crap too lol.

 

[Victor Ferguson]

Go front projection

 

[Dave Moritz]

Hey Brad, if you have the space I would go front projection as well. The only thing keeping me from getting a nice DLP projector is that I am living in a small apartment now. Maybe a few years down the line I will be coming home with a awsum projector?

As far as DLP or LCD, I am not sure it is far to say that most of the people here prefere LCD over DLP. It also depends on how far you will be sitting from you new tv? DLP's mostly have better blacks, more detail and do not nave problems with individual pixels burning out. DLP's also do not suffer from screen door effect. Mainly if you sit to close to your LCD you will have what looks like you are looking through a screen door between you and your tv. I the pursuit to have a more theater like exsperience that is one thing about my old crt display that irritates me. That is seeing visible pixels when paying alot of attention to the video on my crt display. I have seen LCD displays that have that screen door effect and IMHO have a more raw and grainy look to there pictures than DLP. Not to say that there are not some good LCD's out there.

I to am still just starting looking for the next tv that will that the place of my 11 yr old sd 31" tv. I would look at Mitsubishi and Samsung DLP's as well as other LCD's and buy the tv that you prefere. Also keep in mind that LCD's for watching sports can suffer from a blurring effect. I would also make sure that you next tv have a HDMI input as that seems to be the input of choice for the next HD formats. Depending on your budget you might look at Pioneer Elite if your budget allows. IMHO I believe that there is a reason that DLP's curently outsell LCD's. And like it was stated earlier there are advantage for DLP and others for LCD. But if I am correct DLP has the slight edge on picture performace over LCD. Hope this helps, and I hope you find a tv that you will enjoy for the years to come.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

If you have good light control in your room I would recommend you give front projection a try. You said you wanted at least 50" in order to not be dissapointed by going to small...how does 9' wide sounds? Thats my screensize with awesome picture quality and around $1000 (normally a bit less). You want plasma like image then project a smaller screen an youll have IMHO better than plasma quality at a fraction of the price.
Regards

 

[Brad_c_g]

thank for the replies again.

The room this is going in will be my bonus room. The dimensions are about 10.5 feet wide and about 20 feet long. So I'm figuring viewing distance to be about 15-18 feet.

I haven't ruled out a Projector but, it just seems like a wiring nightmare as I would have to have everything hidden in the attic.

I managed to make it out this weekend and look at some TV's. I think I am liking DLP the best right now. I love the 62" Toshiba, but I am disappointed in some of the features. At the moment I have it narrowed down to the 56" Samsung or the 62" Toshiba.

Can anyone tell me how good/important the Built in HD Tuner is? This is one feature the Samsung has over the Toshiba.

Another feature the Samsung has is computer hookup. The Toshiba has no hook up for a computer. The Toshiba has better sound then the Samsung but I am not too worried about that as I have a serperate system for that anyways.

I saw that the Toshiba has a newer chip HD2+ DLP™ Chip to the Samsungs DLP chip? Anyone got any comments on this?

 

[John S]

I'm still voting screen size here... Most other things being equal. But if having a VGA type connection is important, don't do without it.