Help picking out new T.V.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

i know you said plasma, lcd - but for 50"+ i'd reccommend DLP! they have the BEST BEST picture.. IMO of coarse.. and if you think about it, look at Plasma or LCD, they came out, it was $5000+, not its like $1500 etc.. DLP pricing stays the same... so w/ that logic, i think DLP had it right, and they keep going in that direction.. so i'd look into DLP, i reccommend Samsung.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Also you might ask the Mods to move this thread to the "Display Devices" section, as HD hardware is focuses on Blu Ray players, HD-DVRs and the like. The TV gurus hang out in "Display Devices"

Regards,

Joe

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

I recently got a philips LCD. I love it very much. now is the time to do some research. I would suggest expanding your search to other stores besides best buy. I got my tv from sam's club. also suggest trying costco if you have that store. I would stay away from DLP and rear projection.. go with either a plasma or an LCD.

have you seen the new tv sets with the 120 refresh rate? they are on som lcds. some people like it and some do not. I would look and see if you like it or not. works great with animated features.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Plasmas generally have better contrast and color than LCDs; although, LCDs are rapidly catching up in those departments. LED LCDs are getting quite close to Plasmas in the contrast department; however, they are pretty pricey. Traditionally backlit LCDs have also greatly improved their contrast ratios.

LCDs did have a problem with motion blur on fast moving objects or fast pans: Plasmas don't have that problem. The 120Hz refresh rates have helped to eliminate motion blur problems on LCDs, but a lot of guys don't care for the look because the 120Hz refresh rate also helps to eliminate a kind of "judder' that occurs when a film camera is rapidly panned. The loss of the "judder" makes a lot of people think they are watching HD video instead of film.

I watched a clip of "Prince Caspian" on a Samsung LCD with the refresh rate set to 120Hz. The picture looked rock solid with no motion blur; however, I felt that it did not look entirely natural either. It looked a little too good.

Plasmas have one big disadvantage compared to LCDs. They are energy hogs. A friend of mine has a 65" Plasma and it consumes 800 watts/hr. Watching for 5 hours is like having a toaster turned on for that entire time. The other big problem is that Plasmas are losing market share. LCDs outsell Plasmas at a rate of like 8 to 1. Several Manufacturers have dropped out of the Plasma market, with Pioneer being one of the more notable ones.

If you want the absolute best picture quality and don't care about the power consumption then a Plasma is your best bet. An LCD would be the best bet if you can live with a slightly lesser PQ and are concerned with cost and energy efficiency.

Personally, I really like the Plasmas but if I was in the market for a TV I would probably go with a LCD set. I think Plasmas are on their way out. I think within a few years (maybe less) the remaining manufacturers in the Plasma market are going to drop the technology.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

I recently purchased the Sony KDL-52W4100 a couple of months ago and I can say that I absolutely love it. Not only does it have the 120 refresh rate, but the picture quality is absolutely stunning for games and movies (I use the PS3 so I'm covered on both fronts ). You can also adjust the power save functions so that it doesn't hog the power too much. The price for them is also within the range you're asking for. It's well worth checking out. Good luck in your search.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

It's not the 120 Hz refresh rate that causes that "too real" image, it's the motion processing. Most (if not all) 120 Hz LCD sets have a feature that can interpolate frames. Some people really like the effect, but it's far from perfect and causes what is often called the soap opera effect (looks like a soap opera shot on video tape). This effect can be turned off (though you cannot turn off the 120 Hz refresh rate, the processing can be turned off).

One advantage of some 120 Hz sets is that, if you turn off the motion processing, they can do 5:5 pulldown. This gets rid of the judder introduced by the 3:2 pulldown process and results in a more film-like image for 24 Hz material.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Thanks for the clarification regarding the refresh rate. The Samsung I was looking at did allow a person to adjust the refresh rate between 60 and 120Hz.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no 120 Hz LCD TVs that change refresh rate. I did quite a bit of research on TVs last year, including extensive research into Samsung LCDs. Their LCDs do not change the refresh rate from 120 Hz to 60 Hz. There are a great deal of people, including many salespersons, who believe that, when you turn off AMP (Samsung’s motion processing), you are switching to 60 Hz. They are mistaken. The refresh rate remains 120 Hz.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

I would stay away from sears.. they have some problems of not giving you the right deal. I was going to get a receiver from them.. but they gave me the wrong item.. I had to take it back. best buy might have some good tvs.. but they are more expenstive then what you can find elsewhere.

Jacob

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Can I throw in my 2 cents?
How big is your room? I would suggest a projector and screen. You may lose some picture quality between a projector at $2000 and a 52 inch at $2000, but in my opinion, it is worth it for a huge screen. Just a suggestion, but I LOVE my projector. Most now have tons of features and great picture.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

If you go DLP, you have remaindered Samsung DLP bulb-based models (A650 line), and the Mitsubishi DLP bulb-based line to choose from. If you're lucky, you might uncover a Samsung A750 DLP LED light engine (no bulb) for cheap as Samsung has discontinued production on all their DLP models (bulb-based, and LED engine-based).

Bulbs can last 2-4 years depending on how you use your TV, with replacement bulbs in the $150-$250 range depending on where you look to buy them.

At this point, no reason not to get a 1080p model, and just ignore the 720p DLP models, especially if you go for a large sized model.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Well the set I was looking at had a menu where you could select 60Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz and I believe one other lower setting. I just can't remember what it was. I'm pretty sure it was a Samsung. I just can't remember the model. I thought it was a series 6 or 7, but the user manual for the 7 series makes no mention of settable refresh rates and I couldn't find an easily accessible on-line manual for the 6 series.

All I can say is what I saw.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

if you are going to get a new set.. I would go with 1080P. a least you would be set. I think you will be fine with it. this goes with either plasma or lcd.

Jacob

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

Here is a link to a graph that explains when the benefits of 1080p start to become visible.

1080p and the Acuity of Human Vision - Page 3 - Audioholics Home Theater Forums

According to that graph at 10 ft the full benefit of 1080p is realized at around a screen diaganol of 78"; however, the benefits of 1080p would start to become noticeable on a 50 to 55" inch screen @ 10 ft. Whether the difference would be worth the extra cost is something that only you can decide.

In my case, if I was in the market for a replacement set, it would be a 1080p set. Most likely an LCD set because I believe that will become the standard for the foreseeable future. Plasmas are on their way out.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

For video, a rate of 80Hz wouldn't make any sense. I wonder if these had to do with using the TV as a computer monitor? I do know that, as of a few months ago (I haven't researched these since September when I bought my DLP-based RPTV), the 120 Hz LCD sets always used a 120 Hz refresh rate for displaying video.

Re: Help picking out new T.V.

its called the rule of 2. If you are 10ft away (120"), your ideal screen should be 60". If you buy a 52", you are less likely to notice the difference between 1080/720.

But most people do not notice the difference anyway. be carefull before buying DLP's. they're just not as good. You would be better off moving your panel 6"-12" closer.

this article does a decent job of explaining distance / screen size / resolution

What size TV should I buy?