Advise needed for a big screen TV

[danastas]

I went through this same thing a couple weeks ago, spent half a day researching, and ended up with a Phillips '48 Plasma.

All the good stuff about them is true, and so is the bad stuff (weight, heat, careful with burn-in). Personally I think the picture is better.

You really have to do something invasive to get that thing hanging off your wall. If I were to do it over again with the idea of putting it over the fireplace, I might go LCD.

[YetAnotherOne]

Actually, I'm finding the plasmas a lot cheaper than LCD. For example, a 60" 720p Vizio is $2119, and the 52" Sharp 1080p is $2898 at Sam's Club. I know there is a resolution difference there, but that is quite a bite more real estate for a lot less money.

So now I'm thinking of extending my budget to $3K in order to hit the 52" screens with 1080p. I'll take a cruise through some of the links mentioned.

You can save a bit if you can live with a 47" rather than 52" 1080p, the price jump seems pretty drastic across that range.

[DonP]

You can save a bit if you can live with a 47" rather than 52" 1080p, the price jump seems pretty drastic across that range.

I'm beginning to think so. A Philips 47" LCD 1080p at WalMart goes for $1,697. I'm nearly doubling the price just to get 5 more inches.

My current set in this room is a 32" Panasonic curved screen. I measure the diagonal when a letterbox movie is playing, and I get 27" diagonal, so my 32" is the equivelent of a 27" widescreen (does that sound about right?).

Jumping to a 47" is going to be a huge upgrade as it is, and will leave cash behind for other things. Wife wants a new $1400 washer/dryer, kids want an $1199 jungle gym, etc. After all, we spend too much time in front of the tube as it is. I think it might be a bad idea sinking so much into a TV. Besides, prices will keep going down. The longer you wait, the better the deals will be out there.

[Spivonious]

Plasmas used to not last nearly as long as LCDs. That has changed now that the technology is more mature. They are pretty much equal in lifetime. LCDs cannot display true black. This is due to the way LCDs work - by shining a backlight through a sheet of liquid crystal. Plasmas actually create the light themselves, so they can display true black. Because of this, they tend to get better contrast and colors.

However, in such a bright room, LCD or DLP would be the way you want to go, since plasmas don't perform well in high ambient light.

It is a fairly large room, but the more important part is how far away you'll be sitting. There are some suggestions on http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS...placement.html for sizes, but bear in mind that this is a TV store, so they are pushing you to a bigger size. In my house we sit about 10 feet away from the screen and I have a 37". It looks a little small, so I probably should have gotten the 42".

If you want to hook the computer up, make sure it has VGA inputs. Sure, most computers output HDMI/DVI these days, but then you'll always be scaling your computer screen to a TV resolution. Don't get me wrong, 1080p (1920x1080) is plenty high enough for computer use; it's just that most TV screens actually have a different resolution than that, so using the TV's native resolution (for instance, mine is 1366 x 768, which is more than the 720p it displays for TV pictures) will give you a slightly better picture. VGA input lets you choose whatever resolution you want to use rather than being stuck with either 720p or 1080p.

Speaking of the TV resolutions, no TV programs are currently broadcast in 1080p. The only things I know of that do exist in that format are video games (Xbox360/PS3) and next-gen movies (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray). If you don't have any of those machines, it's wasted money IMO. Also, most people can't tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p except on very large (>60") screens. It's just not worth the price premium right now.

Do you have anything that is in HD? Does your DVD player upscale to an HD resolution? Keep that in mind. Most cable/satellite companies charge extra to send you the HD channels and require a different tuner box to interpret those channels.

Another thing to keep in mind if you are going to be upgrading cables too (such as from composite to HDMI) is that you should never buy cables at a big box store. HDMI, DVI, optical audio, and digital coaxial audio all travel through the wire digitally. Therefore there are zero advantages to paying more for the cables or getting fancy overpriced Monster cable. I bought a 6ft HDMI cable on www.newegg.com for $6 and it works perfectly.

Heat is not good for electronics. The TV may look nice being over the fireplace, but over time the heat from the fireplace (assuming you use it) will damage the TV.

In my most recent search for a TV, I did a lot of reading and researching. I found that the pictures in the name brand TVs (e.g. Panasonic, Sony, LG, Philips, etc.) is slightly better than the no-namers, but they usually cost as much as 40% more. It wasn't worth it for me and I ended up getting a Vizio for half the cost of the comparable name-brand. The picture isn't as good as it could be, but the Vizio came with more connections and overall better features.

Let us know what you decide!

[Ralph E.]

Sony rear projection.

End of story.

[DonP]

It wasn't worth it for me and I ended up getting a Vizio for half the cost of the comparable name-brand. The picture isn't as good as it could be, but the Vizio came with more connections and overall better features.

Let us know what you decide!

Well, after reading a bit on the AVS forums, I'm thinking plasma might be the right way to go.

I don't have any HD content at all.
I don't like the idea of upping the cable bills for HDTV. I think my Direct TV bill is too high already at $68.
We will be sitting about 15' away from the TV. Big screen is a must.
The room is bright, but I can tint the windows. We have the solid blinds and they work good.
I am happy with 1024x768 for all of my PC's.
The 60" Vizio at Sam's Club was $2119, and had VGA and other nice inputs.
I'd say the usage of this TV would be 75% Standard Definition Direct TV signal, 20% DVD Movie (I'll get a new DVD player), 5% PC/Games (this might increase).
The fireplace is there for looks. Maybe used twice in two years. It's one of those flush mounts, turns on and off with a light switch.

I'd like to get a "movie theater" experience with this setup. Big screen, big sound. Also, having a big TV makes it easier to watch TV from the kitchen area.

Ralph,

Can't hang a rear projection on the wall. Flat panel is a must.

[Newc]

Can you gut the fireplace and stuff a tv in that spot?

And just to jump on the bandwagon, I'm thinking of upgrading my 2-year-old 28" Sanyo HD. It's starting to crap out where the screen gets horribly shredded/pixelated (think of applying the "Matrix effect" to the screen - that's what it looks like but without the funky text and it's not green

Anyhoo, I took the back off this morning and canned-aired it out, but I've still got sparklies in some areas, which was the first thing it did before shredding the image.

It's a CRT, so it's huge and heavy, but I was eyeing the LCDs at WalMart this morning. Only thing I wasn't sure of was the Contrast ratio, but thanks to this thread, that 1500:1 32" for ~$600 was better than the 700:1 32" for $500 that was sold out

Only other thing I was stuck on was the 720p resolution of the "in my range" sets. 1080i is obviously better (especially for the 360, which is all I use it for) but if there's no major difference until you get above 50", I'll take the 720 for the 360 for 600 and 86 the 32

[Spivonious]

Okay if it's mainly for movies then just make sure it has a few HDMI inputs. Look into upgrading your DVD player if it doesn't upsample. I'd still wait at least a year for the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars to settle down before getting one of their players.

Just a general comment for resolutions, i = interlaced, p = progressive. So a 1080i picture has the same number of lines that a 540p picture does. 720p has more lines. 1080i will look sharper than 720p but you lose some brightness, since only half of the lines are lighting (it tricks your eyes by alternating odd/even line numbers every frame). Since you're sitting far away and it's for movies, I'd invest in the biggest 1080p set you can find.

I've had nothing but satisfaction from the Vizio I got. Coupled with Costco's great return policy, I'd say go for it.

[DonP]

Can you gut the fireplace and stuff a tv in that spot?

No, that isn't going to happen. The fireplace mantle is 55" above the floor, and there is another 53" above that. Plenty of room. It might be high, but at a viewing distance of 15', the angle would be very slim. I've seen it mentioned that couches recline back (making you head look upward) and that your eyes look up, not your neck.

[DonP]

Okay if it's mainly for movies then just make sure it has a few HDMI inputs. Look into upgrading your DVD player if it doesn't upsample. I'd still wait at least a year for the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars to settle down before getting one of their players.

Just a general comment for resolutions, i = interlaced, p = progressive. So a 1080i picture has the same number of lines that a 540p picture does. 720p has more lines. 1080i will look sharper than 720p but you lose some brightness, since only half of the lines are lighting (it tricks your eyes by alternating odd/even line numbers every frame). Since you're sitting far away and it's for movies, I'd invest in the biggest 1080p set you can find.

I've had nothing but satisfaction from the Vizio I got. Coupled with Costco's great return policy, I'd say go for it.

The 60" Vizio has 4 HDMI inputs. I'll be upgrading the DVD player for sure.

I know all about interlace coming from the Amiga. There was a high resolution interlaced mode, but because computer screens have no movement compared to TV, you would see "flicker". Many companies made "flicker fixers" to reduce the effect.

You do know Costco's policy is only 2 years? From what I've read, before March of this year, it used to be 4 years. Guess they were losing their shirts.

You say get the biggest 1080p I can afford. That would mean the Sharp 52" LCD I've been eyeing, but the price is $2898 at Sam's. I can get a 60" Vizio plasma for $2199, but it's 720p / 1080i. Should I spend extra money for the hi-res LCD, or go for more screen and the plasma, saving some cash at the same time?

[YetAnotherOne]

Isn't 1080p the actual HD standard that's going to rear its ugly head in a couple of years? If so I'd go for the standard as I'd hate to be shopping for a set with a higher quality pic when the standard becomes the standard. Sure it's overkill now but how long are you going to keep the set?

[Spivonious]

As far as I know 1080p has no plans to be broadcast. With that said, in a few years once the format has been decided, it will be the movie-watching resolution. It is already the video-gaming resolution.

Don, most people can only see the difference between 1080i and 1080p on larger screens, and since you're getting a larger screen mainly for movies I'd lean towards a 1080p set. Otherwise you may find yourself wanting to upgrade in a few years. Of course, since you're coming from a non-HD set, everything above 480i will look good, so maybe in your case the Vizio is the right decision. I'd try to find both TVs hooked up to a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player and compare the pictures for yourself, remembering to stand as far back as you would be sitting. I know Sears sells some Vizio stuff (that's where I got mine) but I don't remember seeing the 60" there.