Gaming TV - Trying to Catch Up on New Technology (1 Viewer)

[Joey Millison]

Hey everyone

I haven't been around in *forever*, as I've been out of the Home Theater upgrade game for a while. I still have a Toshiba TW40X81 (try not to laugh too hard) in my bedroom that I watch HD programs on...and it actually still looks pretty dang good for my taste honestly.

Anyhow, I need something for the living room, and due to the shape of the room I need to find something that will fit on my mantle above the fireplace (hence my Toshiba having to be located in the bedroom). There's a gap between it and a beam, and I'm pretty sure I can squeeze a 40-42" in there without any problem.

However, it's been AGES since I've been in the market and technology has obviously taken off. I'm not really after the end-all-be-all TV as I have a projector/screen in the living room that I do all of my DVD viewing on. Mainly I'm looking for something to play the Wii on...hopefully making it a little easier for multiple people to see if I have others over to play Rock Band/Guitar Hero or something of that nature.

And on the Guitar Hero note...I've noticed that while some newer TV's look *great*, there tends to be a big amount of lag involved. I've taken my Wii to other people's houses to play and it seems like no amount of calibration in the game (manually or otherwise) ever quite syncs it up completely, whereas on the 27" CRT it's bang on. Granted, this may be my own fault. PerhapsI didn't spend enough time tweaking the game settings. It's just something that I've noticed.

So out of the options available, which technology would be best suited for playing the Wii (or any other gaming system) given the latency I keep reading about? I did a search on 'gaming tv' here on the forum before asking, but most of the results I found were pre-2004 which wouldn't be much help in my case. I'm hoping that something other than CRT has a minimal amount of lag, and preferably no streaking/ghosting.

I hope I'm not asking the obvious here...if so feel free to shake your head, ignore this post, and move on to the next Any nudge in the right direction would be extremely appreciated!

J6P

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi Joey!!
Consider LCD if not a controlled lighting environment, plasma if controlled.
Lots of $1K stuff out there in the 42-46 inch size.

Gregg

 

[Clinton McClure]

Hey Joey, welcome to the Forum!

There's nothing to be ashamed about with the 40x81. I bought one the year they came out and finally gave it away last fall. It never gave me any problems and still had a pretty good picture and had the original guns in it. I got my money's worth and then some out of it.

For gaming I would recommend an LCD in your situation. Plasmas and static images like those produced by video games generally do not mix and it is easy to get bad and irreversible image retention on the screen. LCDs are not as susceptible to this, although it can happen with static images left on the screen for months at a time.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

this is kind of a weird post.

Joey has been around here for ever..

I believe he was the first / originator of the Joey6pack title. ??

Anyhow....Joey, glad to see your still alive and well. Email me if you ever need anything.

G

 

[Joey Millison]

Clinton,
Thanks for the info! And yes, I can honestly say the same thing...I *definitely* got my money's worth from my Toshiba as well. If I could just get it to fit up on the mantle I'd definitely see just how much more time I could squeeze out of it.

Gregg,
Yes sir, it's me, and I've got WAY too many J6P stories for my own good I'm the same cat who knocked over a new speaker which resulted in it splitting open, and tried to troubleshoot a new receiver only to find that the mute button had accientally be hit, and the same guy who's got your back when the local Denver hotel employees try to start a fight with you

So with the options/restrictions available to me I am currently trying to decide between the Sony KDL40V5100 and the Samsung LN40B550. I'm reading up on all of the reviews and both seem to be pretty good choices. If there's any input on either set I'd love to hear it...but I'll keep doing my own research as well.

Thanks again for the assistance, I'll update soon

J6P

 

[Gregg Loewen]

the Sammys are quite nice.

also consider the LG THX certified panel.