Now shopping for a new 'budget' LCD/Plasma (720p/1080p?) please point me in the right direction! (1 Viewer)

[Charles S]

Hi everyone,


Well, as of today I'm considering myself on the market for a new Flat Panel TV. Hooray! Of course as usual I'm pretty much lost amid the choices out there. I just read up on all the LED stuff, so I have a handle on all that. (LED is out my price range).I've got a handle on the basic tech, but I'm still not completely sure which direction to go in.


Nearly 2 years ago my old Pioneer 60 RPTV died, and as money was really tight I could only replace it with a 26'' LCD, finally getting the Panasonic 26LX85, (after getting two "Sharp" duds and returning them). The Panny has served me very well, and I love my little Panny. However I now have a "little" extra money available, and would like to upgrade to a larger size screen. I'm still on a budget, but I haven't locked in the exact amount I'd like to spend at this point. (no more than $700, but I'm not entirely sure I want to spend that much, I'm think somewhere between $500-$600, but had originally intended on spending sub $400) I was considering just jumping to a 32 inch Panasonic LCD, as I saw one at Best Buy and thought the picture was spectacular and the size seemed good for the living room. But then I got to thinking if I'm going to spend about $400, why not spend a little more to go up to either a 37 inch or 42 inch screen?


So I guess I have two big questions, first, on the Vizio LCDs available. I can get a decent size Vizio (like 42 inch) in my preferred price range but would a 2010 Vizio be a step down from my 2008 Panny, or has the tech come so far that evena budget LCD would out perform an older Panny? I guess I'm asking about "bang for the buck". issue here.


Second, I had pretty much settled on LCD, because the TV is in well lit room, with lots of windows and we watch TV during the day, and because I watch lots of 4X3 material and don't want burn in to be an issue. But I've been reading that burn in is practically a non issue with Plasmas these days, and I've seen that 42inch Plasmas often fall in my preferred price range of $500-$600.However they are often 720p sets and not 1080p. I have a Bluray Disc Player (got it last Christmas) and don't want to short change myself by getting a 40 inch TV that "only" has 720p, if that makes a difference) If I go LCD, I'll probably aim for a 1080p on 37 inch sets and up, but I've read that with Plasmas 1080p is not necessary. I guess I'm asking is which will take the best advantage of BD via HDMI, a 42 inch Plasma at 720p or a 42inch LCD at 1080p?


I realize there is no "one" answer to these questions but i guess I'm just trying to get pointed in the right direction here. I hadn't considered a Plasma before, but some of the Panasonic Plasmas are so reasonably priced I'm reconsidering. But I'm just not sure. So any guidance would be appreciated. And I'm not married to the idea of a Panasonic, any other recommendations would be great to. Panny is just what I'm used to.


Oh yeah, BTW the viewing area in the living room is between 7 1/2 feet at the minimum distance, and 11 feet maximum. The two sweet spots are 9 and 10 ft respectively. If that helps. Plus remember I'm jumping up from a 26 LCD so anything is going to be a bigger.



Charles S

 

[Gregg Loewen]

lots of choices out there.

Samsung, LG, and Sony make some good LCD panels.

 

[elwaylite]

You can get a 42" S2 Panny (1080p) plasma for about $650 right now, and it'd be my choice. I'm a plasma guy 100%, so I'll be no help on the LCD comments. I had my trial by fire recently, and bought a nice 55" LED LCD with Local Dimming and.....Hated it. So, it's gone and I just took delivery of the 58" S2 today

 

[Charles S]

What about the issue with viewing Plasmas in a bright room during the day? I mean, I'm mainly a movie person, but do watch TV during the day, and considering during the peak daylight season, we're talking 16 hours of daylight where I am, do you think it's a big problem? That was the one thing I hated about my RPTV, was that it was a pain watching movies even with the blinds drawn. Are Plasmas generally brighter than the old RPTVs were? $650 doesn't sound too bad, and for a 1080p set...


I definitely don't want to turn this into a LCD vs Plasma thread, but I'm kind of used to LCD, although I have the backlight set at 50%, because anything above that was just way too bright for my eyes. So maybe it won't be that big a deal for me?

 

[elwaylite]

With the new AR filters, the Panasonics do quite well. My LED Toshiba I just sold off, which had the shiny screen like many Samsungs, was actually more reflective during the day than my plasma. If you have windows directly behind you, then LCD with matta screen. Off to the side, Panasonics AR filter is not bad at all.

 

[Charles S]

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately the Plasmas I've been browsing at online don't have the AR filter according to their specs. But I'm actually still leaning towards Plasma for the moment. I have one more question though, as the spec sheets have me a bit confused. Can the Panasonic 720p Plasmas also display at 1080i? My 26LX85 is 720p, but according to the set, it is displaying my BD via hdmi cable at 1080i. Will the Plasmas do the same? Their spec sheets don't show they do, while the spec sheet for the LCDs (at least my model) do say "display capability, 1080i, 720p, 480p". Or are the Plasmas just a different beast from LCD altogether hence not capable of 1080i? Sorry if that's a rudimentary question, I'll do some searching as well, but just thought I'd ask.


Thanks again,

 

[elwaylite]

The 720p plasma can accept up to a 1080p input, but it'll be displayed at the sets native 720p


Here the two I'd recommend, and both have the AR filters


http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Televisions/VIERA-2010-HDTV-Series/VIERA-X24-Series-Plasma-720p-HDTVs/model.TC-42PX24_11002_7000000000000005702


720p 42" $529 at Amazon


http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Televisions/VIERA-2010-HDTV-Series/VIERA-S2-Series-Plasma-1080p-HDTVs/model.TC-P42S2_11002_7000000000000005702


1080p 42" $650 at amazon

 

[Charles S]

Oh Wow, thanks for the info and links! Man, the first one looks especially tempting seeing as it falls right in my price range. Just a quick question, seeing as my 26 inch LCD Panasonic is technically a 720p set, how can it display at 1080i? I think I'm just confused on the whole 1080i vs 1080p thing at this point. I'll try and research it. anyways, thanks for pointing me to those 2 sets. I've had good experiences with Panasonic products in the past, when other name brands have burned me, so either of those is very tempting.

 

[elwaylite]

It not actually displaying it at 1080i/p, it just accepts the input. The tv then displays it at its 720p native resolution. One way to benefit, is you can send the tv 1080p from your BR player, then allow the tv to change it to 720p, and then you can have you BR player send the tv 720p, and compare PQ. One might do the converting of 1080p blu-rays to 720p better than the other. I've generally found, on 720p sets, they prefer a 1080i signal from the cable box over a 720p signal. It's weird I know, but thats what I've seen.

 

[Charles S]

Thanks Jason.


One more question, (sorry if it's a dumb one), with a 720p Plasma set, would I notice a big difference between a DVD and BD playing on it? SD DVD is technically only at 480 right? Or am I way off? I guess I just want to know that when I'm watching a Blu-ray I'm getting something better than DVD. I think I notice the difference on my 26 inch set, but sometimes it's hard to tell given the small size of my set. (I actually noticed Firefly on BD looked a ton better than the DVD) I actually ended with the BD as a Christmas gift, and so many BD's were becoming cheaper than the same DVD I just went with it. Anyways that's probably a really stupid question now that all this 720/1080 stuff is starting to make sense now. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[elwaylite]

You will definitely notice a difference between DVD and BR, even on a 720p set. It is kind of like viewing an SD TV broadcast, vs. an HD channel. DVD is 720x480, and your TV will be 1024x768, so more lines of resolution. Like I said, you will not see BR at its finest, but it will still look very good. My first TV with Blu-ray was a 46” 1024x768 TV, and the difference was very easy to see, between watching a DVD on the set and a BR. To see the full benefit of 720p, you would need to sit pretty close to a 42”, but that does not mean you will get a benefit. BR’s will look better than DVD, and it is still of a good size where HD programming on sat/cable will look very sharp. Not to say that HDTV does not look good, but unlike BR, there is a lot of compression nowadays, and when you start getting over 50”’s, satellite and cable HD start to show some issues.

 

[99monguse]

I was in Sears today and I saw a 50 " Panny 720P Plasma for $699.00

 

[Charles S]

I saw that TV at Sears as well! But it had no AR filter and well, my Tv room has tons of windows, and the glare is in the end what made me decide to go with an LCD. After looking pretty hard at several stores, in different lighting schemes I realized I've got too many windows for a typical Plasma with no anti reflective filter. maybe if I was coming off a CRT it wouldn't be a big deal, but I kind of got used to an LCD image. Had my budget been a little higher I'd have gone Plasma all the way and gotten the Pansonic S2 (I think it was the S2) but it was over $700 now, and in the end it was just too much for me to spend right now. So I pulled the trigger for a Vizio 37" LCD with 1080p. (E37OVL) I realize this is anathema to some people to go with a Vizio, but in my price range I really felt it was the best looking thing out there. It even looked good next to a Samsung LCD, which was $200 more expensive. Not "as good" mind you, but it blew away all the other models next to it, except for the Samsung. It was also the fastest calibration I've ever done, so it had pretty good colors out of the box. Which surprised me. I'm sure it's not a top of the line model, but I'm way more than satisfied with it. it's the exact size I was hoping for, and it looks fantastic and left me some money to buy some more Blu-rays. I couldn't have asked for too much more all things considered.