Plasma TV

[JE78]

I'm in the market for big screen TV. I'd like to get a plasma or LCD because I don't have any room for a projection TV. Right now i'm look at getting a 42"

I don't know much about Plasma or LCD TV's. I've been looking at them the last few weeks at Best Buy, Circuit City and Sams Club and I like the looks of the Panasonics better than the others. They seem to have a chrisper picture and are much brghter than the others. If anyone has any info for me like what makes a good TV it would be apreciated. Thanks.

 

[Zap]

AVSforums

Those guys live/breathe this stuff.

To oversimplify... if you are going to use the screen with a computer, I'd suggest a 1080p LCD display. Movies? Plasmas seem nice - look for one that does 720p for higher end, unless you're on a budget. Picture quality is difficult to judge at a retailer because some units may be intentionally given a better signal than others to try to sell ones with higher margin, or some may just be set up improperly.

 

[TheRyuu]

Now lets remeber the proper order of good to bad.
LCD>Plasma>DLP

Edit: And yea, visit AVS

 

[Slammy1]

Well, the "best" invariably is a personal decision on many levels, no one can tell you the best tech for you. If you're looking for a computer monitor, LCD wins. In a dark room for DVDs plasma wins. Want something big and cheap, projection. But that is very much a simplification of the decision. Viewing distance, viewing angle, sources, and just plain personal preferrence; these are what drive the decision and it will take time to find the right display. The Panny plasmas are good displays, I recommend you research them more and figure if they're right for you.

 

[JE78]

Thanks guys, I'll check the AVS Forums. I don't plan on using this for a computer monitor just a for a TV for digital cable and DVD's.

 

[Hadsus]

I've got a Panny plasma 50 inch and am a very happy camper. When I purchased it last year, LCDs had a screen limit of 42 inches, were much more expensive than plasmas and were still trumped by the plasmas in PQ. Walk into a good showroom of HDTVs showing HD feeds of the different techs and the plasmas just stand out with color saturation, brightness, viewing angle and overall PQ.

What to look for......look at the primary colors and how well the TV does in showing them. Reds, Blues, Yellow/Green. Common errors.....red push (too much red...look at faces) and too much green (showing up in yellow....watch Spongebob, Simpsons). Look at black level and it's depth and banding (just like LCDs).

Spend lots of time reading AVS if you gonna spring a couple grand.

BTW, my Panny performs excellently with my 360. Keep contrast at sane levels are burn in is no issue with modern plasmas.

 

[Rage187]

1080P 42" LCD

either the Sceptre or the Westinghouse

you could probably afford the 47" 1080P

 

[BernardP]

I feel it has now become worth it to step up to the next size above 42 inches

The 46-inch Sony Bravia is about the same price as the 50-inch Panasonic Plasma. I would be very hard-pressed to choose between the two if I had to do it right now, but I am leaning towards the Panasonic Plasma for the following reasons:

--- Size does matter Go to TV Calculator to compare 46 inches with 50 inches. The 50-incher has 18% more surface area.

--- I can try to control the burn-in risk, but there is nothing I can do about dead pixels that will appear after the warranty runs out in a year.

--- I prefer the principle of plasma (illuminate the pixels you need) over the principle of LCD (illuminate a white background, then hide/color it with micro-shutters)

Having written the above, it seems I am leaning more towards plasma than I thought :Q

On the other hand...There are 3 fans in the Panasonic plasma. Are there any in the Bravia?

And Sony is releasing a 52-inch Bravia LCD in November. It is overpriced at $ 6500, but this will drop like a stone.

Finally, if you are worrying about 1080p vs 720p, Read This

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: BernardP
after the warranty runs out in a year.

Just use a credit card that gives you extended warranty. For instance, I used my Master Card on my Westinghouse purchase because it doubles that 1 year warranty automagically (and yes I phoned my CC company and verified it to be true).

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: BernardP
after the warranty runs out in a year.

Just use a credit card that gives you extended warranty.

Let's see how much the credit card company wants to replace a $ 3000 LCD TV after 18 months because it has 9 dead pixels

And I guess dead pixels are OK after 2 years.

More seriously, I find the (generally) One Year warranty on most big screen TV to be inadequate. Do they trust their product or not?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: BernardP
Let's see how much the credit card company wants to replace a $ 3000 LCD TV after 18 months because it has 9 dead pixels

The warranty is EXACTLY the same as the manufacturer's warranty, so if manufacturer covers a single dead pixel, then MasterCard will also. If not, then no.

 

[Craig234]

I shopped and was not quite happy with the pictures available, and finally got a Sceptre 42" LCD from Costco.

I'm happy with the picture/value - though the bastards marked it $264 less than I paid 10 days too late for me to get the difference credited.