So I'm finally getting a new TV

[DigitalCancer]

I was wanting a plasma originally but LCD's have quit lagging and started to become about even with plasmas from what I can tell.

For the money...would THIS be a good tv or should I keep looking? They have a 37" on display at walmart (properly calibrated) and it looks extremely pretty.

I was really hoping to get a 42"-46" but...40" would suffice fine I assume? Won't mess w/ the picture any?

and as always...any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[sivart]

Do you watch Hockey or Golf? Those are the only 2 sports I really notice any ghosting of images (puck / ball) when comparing LCD/Plasma. I've had bad luck with every Sony product I've bought, so I won't comment on your choice.

 

[DigitalCancer]

yea...I just liked the design and it seemed to have a decent picture. I watch no sports really...will mainly be action movies/games (ps3).

I found that the Samsung LN line of LCD's are supposed to be pretty decent...

One concern though....how long does the average LCD take to come on?? I was testing some and the Sony took 14secs and the Vizio took about 9secs so that kinda concerns me as well. =/

 

[DigitalCancer]

It'll be a pretty small living room...how would THIS look?? I know it's a bit big but the price is nice...but it's also only 720p...

I'm looking for something around 42-46" at >$1100....any ideas?

 

[Snakexor]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer
I was wanting a plasma originally but LCD's have quit lagging and started to become about even with plasmas from what I can tell.

For the money...would THIS be a good tv or should I keep looking? They have a 37" on display at walmart (properly calibrated) and it looks extremely pretty.

I was really hoping to get a 42"-46" but...40" would suffice fine I assume? Won't mess w/ the picture any?

and as always...any help is greatly appreciated!

Just a heads up, the S4100 series from Sony does NOT have a service menu, thus cannot be properly calibrated....

 

[Snakexor]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer
It'll be a pretty small living room...how would THIS look?? I know it's a bit big but the price is nice...but it's also only 720p...

I'm looking for something around 42-46" at >$1100....any ideas?

IMHO, if you are not hooking up a computer to it, a larger 720p plasma will in almost all cases be a better image than an equally price lcd and will always be larger.

 

[spidey07]

How far away are you sitting from the display?

 

[DigitalCancer]

Originally posted by: spidey07
How far away are you sitting from the display?

It'll prolly be about...6ft or so.

 

[DigitalCancer]

So i've been look at
THIS ONE now and think that I might pick it up. I *think* it's $900, but it could be $998 (can't remember from when I looked at it last night now). I think that this might be the one, what do you guys think??

 

[erwos]

Looks OK. Not really blowing me away, though. Better to wait for Black Friday or post-Christmas sales.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Well...how about this one for $100 more than the 42"....THIS ONE

It's a little bigger than I wanted, but...best bang for the buck it seems.

Think this would be absolutely too big for sitting 6ft or so away from it? It's a fairly small living room (we're moving so I'm not sure of the exact dimensions).

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I wouldnt buy a TV till the holiday sales get here, we are close enough so wait it out, your wallet will thank you.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I wouldnt buy a TV till the holiday sales get here, we are close enough so wait it out, your wallet will thank you.

So $1,100 isn't that great on a 47" 1080p??

 

[kalrith]

I'm skeptical of Phillips TVs. Some people love them, but many people have problems with them, and they don't get the same level of reviews as the top brands. I wouldn't buy a TV that's not Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, or Sony (in order of best to worst IMO). That being said I recommend the following: PANASONIC TH-42PX80U for $778 shipped. If you call, you get a free wall mount as well. At 6 feet from a 42", you don't need 1080p, and an equally priced 768p TV will look better. You will benefit much from going with plasma and from Panasonic's higher-quality TV and most-excellent customer service. I'd just like to point out that some LCDs rival the quality of plasmas, but most often unless you need 1080p, most plasmas will have a better PQ than comparatively-priced and -sized LCDs.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I wouldnt buy a TV till the holiday sales get here, we are close enough so wait it out, your wallet will thank you.

So $1,100 isn't that great on a 47" 1080p??

There was an article recently saying analysts expect BIG drops in LCD prices. I dont have the link but I read it this week, they said 32" that sell for 600-700 could be down as low as 350. Nothing is a given but think about it, the economy is in the shitter and holiday sales count for a HUGE amount of retail sales for the year. They wont go up thats for sure but IMHO waiting I feel will have its rewards.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I'm skeptical of Phillips TVs. Some people love them, but many people have problems with them, and they don't get the same level of reviews as the top brands. I wouldn't buy a TV that's not Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, or Sony (in order of best to worst IMO). That being said I recommend the following: PANASONIC TH-42PX80U for $778 shipped. If you call, you get a free wall mount as well. At 6 feet from a 42", you don't need 1080p, and an equally priced 768p TV will look better. You will benefit much from going with plasma and from Panasonic's higher-quality TV and most-excellent customer service. I'd just like to point out that some LCDs rival the quality of plasmas, but most often unless you need 1080p, most plasmas will have a better PQ than comparatively-priced and -sized LCDs.

So...I'll be using this thing for games/BluRay movies...you're saying I wouldn't notice a difference from 720p to 1080p??

I want something that's nice, but I'm not looking to spend thousands right now because like I said...this will be my first big LCD (my tv now is 27" RCA that I've had for a good 7yrs now).

I don't want to get it and be disappointed by pixelations or blurriness while watching bluray's thats for sure. =/

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer

Originally posted by: kalrith
I'm skeptical of Phillips TVs. Some people love them, but many people have problems with them, and they don't get the same level of reviews as the top brands. I wouldn't buy a TV that's not Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, or Sony (in order of best to worst IMO). That being said I recommend the following: PANASONIC TH-42PX80U for $778 shipped. If you call, you get a free wall mount as well. At 6 feet from a 42", you don't need 1080p, and an equally priced 768p TV will look better. You will benefit much from going with plasma and from Panasonic's higher-quality TV and most-excellent customer service. I'd just like to point out that some LCDs rival the quality of plasmas, but most often unless you need 1080p, most plasmas will have a better PQ than comparatively-priced and -sized LCDs.

So...I'll be using this thing for games/BluRay movies...you're saying I wouldn't notice a difference from 720p to 1080p??

I want something that's nice, but I'm not looking to spend thousands right now because like I said...this will be my first big LCD (my tv now is 27" RCA that I've had for a good 7yrs now).

I don't want to get it and be disappointed by pixelations or blurriness while watching bluray's thats for sure. =/

Viewing-distance calculators: http://www.myhometheater.homes...istancecalculator.html
http://www.carltonbale.com/wp-...s/resolution_chart.png

At 6 feet it's kind of border line for 1080p necessity. If you can view a good 1080 feed to a 1080p TV and compare it to a 1080 feed to a 768p TV at your exact viewing distance (I recommend measuring it at home and taking a measuring tape to the store with you), then that should give you a general idea of whether you'll see pixelations from that distance. When I say good feed, I don't mean the crap they feed most of the TVs at Best Buy. If you have a BB with a Magnolia Theater, then see if they have some 42" TVs with BD hooked up to them. If I had based my decision on the crap feed at BB, I wouldn't have bought my Pioneer 5080 because of the pixelation I saw in the store compared to 50" 1080p TVs at 10' away. However, when I got it home, calibrated it, and gave it a good feed, I can sit 8.5' - 9' from it without seeing pixelation (except on SD, which is obviously going to happen).

What I'm saying is that some people will do great with a 42" 768p at 6 feet away, and others will see pixelation. Be certain to see which group you fit in before purchasing your TV. If 1080p is necessary, then it's necessary. Also, be sure to measure your viewing distance. I had a friend who though the viewing distance was 6 feet, but when he measured from the couch to the wall (he was going to wall mount his TV), it turned out that it was 10 feet.

Edit: Also, try to get the remote from the employees at BB to semi-calibrate the TVs. They could have tearing and pixelation just from having the sharpness, brightness, and contrast too high. At the very least change it to movie mode. At best look on avsforum or some reviewers' websites for their TV settings and print them out and take them to BB with you.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I wouldnt buy a TV till the holiday sales get here, we are close enough so wait it out, your wallet will thank you.

So $1,100 isn't that great on a 47" 1080p??

On a tier 2 TV? No.