Help me find a good tv.

[RavenGuard]

My brother is moving shortly, and he's in the market for a 50" tv. We're looking for a flat panel television (LCD or Plasma) and we want to keep the cost under $2000 including taxes (which gives us about $1800 CDN to work with).

I'm generally one of those guys that believes companies like Sony don't really have an edge when it comes to TV's and I can't justify their "overpricing".

The definite technical REQUIREMENTS include:

1.) Atleast 1 HDMI input

2.) A resolution of 1080i (If you can convince me that 720p or 1080p is a better choice, perhaps this will change. At 50" I don't see a benefit in 1080p over 1080i)

3.) Preferably a way to change brightness, contrast, and black levels separately. (This is something his previous 50" 1080i plasma could not do for some reason)

4.) Decent picture quality. Obviously any 1080i picture will be "good" but hopefully we can maximize the investment. Like previously stated, if I can be convinced that 1080p or 720p will allow me to maximize the value of the display (cost : quality) I may opt for a different choice, possibly if it means dealing with a smaller feature set.

If there is any information that would help let me know and I'll do my best to find out.


Thanks!

 

[BATCH71]

$2000

Just a tad over your budget but I am sure that you will find the extra 200 clams more that worth it. If I wasn't knee deep in debt from moving to new house, I would have this sumbiatch on my wall already. Awesome display for the $$$.

Dave

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: BATCH71
$2000

Just a tad over your budget but I am sure that you will find the extra 200 clams more that worth it. If I wasn't knee deep in debt from moving to new house, I would have this sumbiatch on my wall already. Awesome display for the $$$.

Dave

You're not going to get any better set than this at this price range. End of story.

Tell your brother to save up the extra 200 clams. It really is worth it.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: RavenGuard
The definite technical REQUIREMENTS include:

1.) Atleast 1 HDMI input

They all have at least 1 HDMI input.

2.) A resolution of 1080i (If you can convince me that 720p or 1080p is a better choice, perhaps this will change. At 50" I don't see a benefit in 1080p over 1080i)

Flat panel displays are fixed-pixel, so they convert any inputted signal to their native fixed pixel resolution; 99% either 720p or 1080p.

3.) Preferably a way to change brightness, contrast, and black levels separately. (This is something his previous 50" 1080i plasma could not do for some reason)

Almost all have separate brightness/contrast settings; most newer ones have a black-level setting.

4.) Decent picture quality. Obviously any 1080i picture will be "good" but hopefully we can maximize the investment. Like previously stated, if I can be convinced that 1080p or 720p will allow me to maximize the value of the display (cost : quality) I may opt for a different choice, possibly if it means dealing with a smaller feature set.

If there is any information that would help let me know and I'll do my best to find out.


Thanks!

LCDs are out of your price range; 52" LCDs are mostly 1080p, and are typically over $2000.

Plasma HDTVs are your best option. Brands to check out are Panasonic (#1), and Samsung (a close #2). Both have 50" 720p models around the $1400 mark; even less if you find a good deal. 1080p models are closer to $2000 and might push your budget.

Batch mentioned the Pioneer Kuro 50" 720p; any Pioneer Kuro display (720p or 1080p) are the best HDTVs you can buy. The sale price at Best Buy for $1999 is a great deal; not sure if its available in your neck of the woods (are you in Canada?).

 

[RavenGuard]

Yes, in Canada.

That Pioneer is way out of the ballpark (atleast from bestbuy.ca) they're looking for over $3000 for it.

Screwed as a Canadian again



What exactly is it that makes it possible for a 720p tv to have better picture quality than that of a 1080i?


PS It is likely that sitting distance will be 10+ feet. I assume at that kind of distance I'm best off looking for a high-end 720p because the higher resolution is only noticeable from a relatively close distance. Is this correct?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: RavenGuard
What exactly is it that makes it possible for a 720p tv to have better picture quality than that of a 1080i?


PS It is likely that sitting distance will be 10+ feet. I assume at that kind of distance I'm best off looking for a high-end 720p because the higher resolution is only noticeable from a relatively close distance. Is this correct?

Thanks again for the help.

There are no "1080i" plasma HDTVs (well, except a line from Hitachi that got bad reviews).

Plasma HDTVs accept 1080i signals, but they are converted internally to either 720p or 1080p (depending on the native resolution of the TV) before they are displayed. In fact, all signals (480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p) accepted by the TV are processed in some way by the internal circuitry of the set. That is why it is important to choose a brand that has good image processing hardware; in your price range, Panasonic is #1, followed by Samsung.

And yes, at 10+ feet, you will not notice a difference between a 720p and 1080p HDTV.

Just browsing Futureshop.ca's website, I see the Panasonic and Samsung 50" 720p models I was talking about; unfortunately, both are $1999. In the US, on BestBuy.com, they are $1599 and $1799; and I've seen them as low as $1399 in the past month (holiday sales). I hope you have other options.

 

[Wuzup101]

I have to agree with the above... with your budget and size requirements, a good 720p 50" plasma is what you want to look for. Samsung and Panasonic would be the brands that you'll be looking for (as Pioneer will not be in your budget - as previously stated). I wouldn't buy any off brands or tier 2 brands with a Plasma (you can get away with this more with LCDs it seems).

Also note, as stated above, no digital TVs are going to be "1080i". I wasn't aware that there was a Hitachi plasma out there that was interlaced... but other than that... they are going to be progressive scan. You should always look at a digital TV's resolution first and foremost (instead of what they advertise it as - IE: 720p, 1080i, etc...). Marketing a digital TV (be it LCD/Plasma/DLP/etc...) as a 1080i set is generally a marketing gimmick because consumers see the bigger number. These TVs generally have a native resolution between 720p and 1080p (1280x720 and 1920x1080, respectively). Often "720p" TVs will actually be non standard resolutions (LCDs are often 1366x768). In any case... the TV will have hardware and software inside of it to convert the incoming signals to fit the TV's native resolution (via scalars). If you can get a 1080p plasma inside your budget, and you like the picture quality of the set, than go for it. However, as others have stated, you won't really notice any great increase in PQ at 10"+ with a 50" set. There is the future proofing benefit though... and the price of mind that you can sit closer for things like video games (or if you change up the viewing room).

I would HIGHLY recommend that you join the AVS forums (www.avsforum.com) and start looking and asking questions on either the plasma forum, LCD forum, or the general flat panel forum. There are users threads on pretty much every TV on the market over there. Furthermore, you will be able to read about the strong points of the sets, any problems that users find, calibration information, and of course first hand reviews from users! Jpeyton answered your questions pretty well above. Don't be particullary worried about having at least 1 HDMI port or having separate calibration settings... almost all (if not all) modern TVs have this. I don't know a single new 50" TV on the market that doesn't have at least 2 HDMI ports (except for some of the industrial/commercial packages that have customizable boards). Likewise, I don't know of any that don't have plenty of adjustments (you can always download PDF manuals before you buy just to make sure). I can tell you that you won't have a problem if you go with current Samsung or Pannys... they definitely have plenty of calibration settings.

 

[RavenGuard]

I've found a 47 inch westinghouse television within the budget, but it's LCD. Are there any major benefits to LCD over plasma or vice versa?

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: RavenGuard
I've found a 47 inch westinghouse television within the budget, but it's LCD. Are there any major benefits to LCD over plasma or vice versa?

It won't even hold a candle to any current Panasonic, Samsung, or Pioneer plasma (especially the Pioneer). The LCDs that do come close to the picture quality of a plasma are much more expensive than a similar-looking plasma (probably $2,500+ for a 47" and more for a 52"). Also, there's no LCD that can match the picture quality of the Pioneer 5080 (I guess I'm biased since I have one sitting in my livingroom , but the professional reviewers agree with me). It really is worth it to pay the extra $200. Just tell him that it was $2,700 just one month ago, and that should show him how good of a deal it is.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: kalrith
Just tell him that it was $2,700 just one month ago, and that should show him how good of a deal it is.

He lives in Canada. Deal isn't offered there.

 

[Illusio]

I just bought a 50" Panasonic TH-50PX75U and I couldn't be happier. The picture is beautiful. It's going for about $1800. I looked at a lot of TVs and settled on this one. Consumer Reports gave it a "Best Buy" for 50" Plasmas.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: kalrith
Just tell him that it was $2,700 just one month ago, and that should show him how good of a deal it is.

He lives in Canada. Deal isn't offered there.

Sorry about that. I kind of skipped over the middle portion of the thread. Both the Panasonic TH50PX75 and the Samsung HPT5054 are $2,000 on the Canadian Best Buy website. Either of these would make a fine TV. However, I would personally go with the Panasonic. It seems to have fewer reported problems than the Samsung, and I don't think the Samsung can accept a 1080p signal (it doesn't list it in the CNET specs here). Accepting a 1080p signal won't matter to some, but it would be a big deal to me since a lot of content I pass from the PS3 is 1080p. Here's a thread on avsforum comparing the two TVs and linking to several other comparison threads.

Edit: I just remembered that you want $2,000 after taxes. Your local Best Buy might have a lower price on these TVs. These TVs are worth way more than $200 more than a 47" Westinghouse LCD, so it would really be worth it to stretch the budget a bit. If the budget can't be stretched, then it might be worth it to wait for a good sale on one of these TVs.

 

[sdifox]

try Quasmo's method?

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2141201&enterthread=y