HDTVs
I want one. You got one? What would you get and why?
After some research I feel that I'd get a 40+ish LCD since it is better for a bright room. Plasma almost won out though, but the reflective screen is problematic. I'm disappointed in the native resolutions of all sets. It looks like I'll have to go with some odd, stretched 1024x768 screen, although I've seen some sets with at least a native widescreen aspect ratio. Nothing is 1080p native.
After some research I feel that I'd get a 40+ish LCD since it is better for a bright room. Plasma almost won out though, but the reflective screen is problematic. I'm disappointed in the native resolutions of all sets. It looks like I'll have to go with some odd, stretched 1024x768 screen, although I've seen some sets with at least a native widescreen aspect ratio. Nothing is 1080p native.
Comments
Got it because I like big, but no way I could afford that size in a plasma. Comparing side-by-side to the Sony plasma it was just a tad less bright and a slightly dimished viewing angle. Neither of which are a big deal.
The HD picture looks great, but regular TV shown on that size screen really looks grainy. The motorola DVR box doesn't help because it has a very bad analog tuner. Analog looks better if i play it through the old VCR.
The only thing that is a minor issue is that certain very busy scenes get a sploch of pixilation. Generally, just a little hiccup. I think this is the TV's fault not the DVR. This happens rarely, usually only in big war scenes or such with many moving objects. It happened over and over once while watching Master and Commander (maybe you can use that DVD as a test DVD?). I think it was all those moving straight lines from the ropes on the ship. I was watching live HBO-HD, but some portion that got recorded seemed to play better - so maybe the DVR has something to do with it??
Originally posted by Xool
I want one. You got one? What would you get and why?
After some research I feel that I'd get a 40+ish LCD since it is better for a bright room. Plasma almost won out though, but the reflective screen is problematic. I'm disappointed in the native resolutions of all sets. It looks like I'll have to go with some odd, stretched 1024x768 screen, although I've seen some sets with at least a native widescreen aspect ratio. Nothing is 1080p native.
If you expect to do any standard definition viewing, try, if at all possible, to see how the display you're interested in handles it.
There are lots of HD displays that make SD look completely unwatchable (and I don't mean "blow up the existing imperfections so you can see them better" unwatchable, I mean "do such a hideous job of scaling you appear to be looking at a fourth generation low res copy" unwatchable.
Also, you might look at the Panasonic-TH 37 and 42 PX50U, street around $2000 and $2300, respectively.
Plasma, yes, but over LCD you get much better blacks, to my eye a more "natural" looking picture (less edge artifacting) and (typically) much better SD performance.
Some plasma manufacturers seem to like that "high gloss" screen covering, but Panasonic looks reasonable to me.
Xool, since you're in Berkeley you can check them out at the Magnolia in the Bay Street shopping street village theme park thing (next to the IKEA).
They also have a slew of LCDs, which get better all the time, so there might be something that addresses what I think of as their shortcomings
Originally posted by Xool
Plasma almost won out though, but the reflective screen is problematic.
Reflective screen? Each time I have compared things, plama tvs have had the lowest level of reflection of any set. Which plasmas are you looking at?
In fact, that is one of the primary selling points for me - you can watch plasma tv in a room with windows without the reflections from the windows ruining the experience.
Originally posted by e1618978
Reflective screen? Each time I have compared things, plama tvs have had the lowest level of reflection of any set. Which plasmas are you looking at?
In fact, that is one of the primary selling points for me - you can watch plasma tv in a room with windows without the reflections from the windows ruining the experience.
A lot of plasmas have glass screens which reflect ambient light too well. I'd primarily be using the TV for day-to-day viewing in standard viewing conditions, so glare is a big concern.
I do believe I'd get better and more accurate color (especially truer black levels) with a plasma, but I don't do home theatre all that often and so LCDs deficiencies may not be a big issue.
Also, thanks for the tip addabox. I've walked by that store plenty of times but never hopped inside. I'll definately take a look the next time I'm over there.
The GF is keen on getting HD for the olympics, so maybe I'm getting the HD TV sooner rather than later.
Last night I was looking at the Sharp Aquos LC-45GD6U, a 45" LCD that's about $3K and has native 1080p support! It also has received good reviews regarding color levels, but at this point I'm not exactly sure how it compares to standard plasma sets. This model also has HDMI and all the other inputs, see the specs on epinions. Here's the specs on Sharp USA Site
Thoughts?
Specs: epinions and
Sharp USA
It's very nice.
Originally posted by Xool
Yikes, there's also the LC-45GD7U which has support for ATSC as well as the usual NTSC standard. Anybody know how that's good for me? I'm not sure about the other diffs for this model, although it has support for PC Card which I'll never use.
Specs: epinions and
Sharp USA
Is there a retailer that carries both this and the Panasonic plasmas? I want one last look before I pull the trigger on the TH-50PHD8UK 50" plasma.
Originally posted by e1618978
Is there a retailer that carries both this and the Panasonic plasmas? I want one last look before I pull the trigger on the TH-50PHD8UK 50" plasma.
You're never going to buy a new television, admit it.
Originally posted by groverat
You're never going to buy a new television, admit it.
It took me 3 years to decide on a car to buy - 2 years to decide on a TV is pretty quick for me 8)
Originally posted by e1618978
Is there a retailer that carries both this and the Panasonic plasmas? I want one last look before I pull the trigger on the TH-50PHD8UK 50" plasma.
The Panasonic plasmas have received good reviews. I'll tall all what I see when I go to the local Magnolia HiFi store this week.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=627263
Originally posted by e1618978
Sharp just announced a new line of LCD TVs - available in march.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=627263
Arg! I keep forgetting that info on CES releases is not all out there yet.
And meanwhile, while I like the new features and improved displays, I don't think I want to spend $5K on a TV that will be "old" in about 3 years.
Originally posted by Xool
Arg! I keep forgetting that info on CES releases is not all out there yet.
And meanwhile, while I like the new features and improved displays, I don't think I want to spend $5K on a TV that will be "old" in about 3 years.
That is MSRP - I think that street price is usually about half or 2/3 of that. One of the posters on the avs forum said that the MSRP had gone down on all the models.
If this is the case I'll probably pick up any old HD plasma at Costco to watch the Olympics and find out if plasma will work for me. Then, in July or whatnot, I'll take it back and purchase the real TV I want which will support native 1080p and the like.
Thoughts?
Oh, and thanks for the tip e1618978, now I'm not scared about the new Aquos TVs.
along with the Denon AVR-2807 receiver. This new TV has an LED bulb
that is supposed to last up to 20,000 hours minimum (I remember
reading somewhere that 20,000 hours may be a conservative
estimate). Bulbs on current DLPs last approximately 6,000 hours.
Another plus is that there is no color wheel which they say gets rid of
the rainbow effect. It has 2 HDMI inputs that accept a 1080p source.
It's also supposed to have a wider color gamut. And it offers a
"game mode" which I hear minimizes any lag that you may get while
playing.
I've been waiting for a while to upgrade to HD & just can't stand
waiting much more. If I had some concrete news that Canon's SED tv
was coming out this year at a price on par with plasma & LCD then I'd
probably get that instead. 100,000:1 contrast & 1 inch thick!
So when I arrived I found that the selection was pretty limited and there weren't any good candidates that were 40" in size.
However, a Panasonic 50" unit looked like it would work, the Panasonic TH-50PM50U. I could still test out the plasma in my living room and unlike the other units it had a 16:9 native pixel ratio (only 1366x768, but better than 1024x768!). Also, Consumer Reports really liked its sibling unit (TH-50PX50U) which I just learned only adds tuners.
Anyhow, the box was heavy and we didn't bring the big car, so we left Costco empty handed. But I think I'll return tomorrow and pickup the display, assuming I can cajole a friend to help me. The box has gotta weigh 120 lbs! (I don't want to think about returning it.
Think I should go through with it? I'm pretty sure the price was $3299.
Originally posted by Northgate
I just bought a 50" Panasonic plasma. Love it.
Northgate, what model did you get? Sounds highly likely you're talking about one of the two I've mentioned.
My gripe is that ( thanks to good old Hollywood pressure against piracy ) the new HD DVD players will down grade the signal to just above 500 lines of resolution through component inputs. The only way you can get full 1080 res from these discs is to have an HDMI connector which only the newest sets have. I'm sure Bluray will follow suit.
This format needs early adopters to succeed. And they just screwed those people. I really doubt I'm going to lay down another $2,600.00 for a newer TV ( Let alone $ 4,000.00 for plasma ) anytime soon.
Oh well my TV still looks good for most things.
As far as what I would buy today. Well Plasma is my first choice. Nothing looks as good. However at the rate they dropping in price in a few years they'll be down to a thousand dollars so I think for me waiting this time is the smart thing to do.