LCD vs Plasma - New TV Help

[anonomoose]

I don't know about "HD and Full HD", but there is a difference between 1080p and 1080i, but it only shows up when you are watching things shot in 1080p. Remember, the picture you view will only be as good as the weakest link. Meaning if it is shot at 720p then 1080 means nothing as the best you will ever get out of the image is 720p. If it is shot at 1080p and broadcasted at 720p, then the same thing. The best you will ever get is 720p. That is why right now 1080p means nothing to broadcast TV (as most broadcast signals are 720p and some are 1080i, but almost none are 1080p) and really for that matter means nothing until you step up to a BluRay player and have a BluRay disk in the player. At that point you have something that was shot in 1080p, playing in a player that can send a 1080p signal to the tv, which can in turn display at 1080p.

As for the refresh rates, same thing. Unless the program is being shot at frame rates that make 240 Hz advantageous, then you are still bottle necked by what ever the initial programming was shot in. TV's cannot make things look better, then can only take what they are given and reproduce it. If you have a very good signal to start out with, then a very good TV will make that look good. Otherwise, crap in is crap out. Just on a more expensive TV!

-John

Everyone hooking up TV, Home Theatres and DVD players, should read this little article to "try" and understand what the electronics industry is doing...and learn, hopefully where it is going.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/features/2402/video-upconversion-facts-and-fallacies.html

It is a good article and might help you solve some problems, or get your expectations in-line with reality...or blow the whistle on a salesman trying to sell you something you don't need, or won't be able to get.

One thing is for sure, and that is that the broadcast biz and electronics biz is moving at light speed on this, and if you bought stuff only 2 years ago, you are already holding stuff that won't take advantage of things being delivered today, and likely the same will be true in 2 more years. For example, the true hi def platform is set at 1080, which will soon be the new broadcast by nearly all stations that have enough cashflow to install it and begin broadcasting...so if you buy the cheaper 720 you will already have a "lesser quality" tv. Of course, how much definition can really benefit from...most people can't tell the difference now!

While that hasn't changed much, the digital switchover has really excellerated this change. Refresh rates, definition, and modular components are all changing much faster than even some of the industry is able to process it.

Therefore...watch out. You might be getting sold on stuff that is already being fazed out...or won't take advantage of things coming down the pipe in only a few months.

 

[michaelbbbb]

M8Man,

I spent 12 years in the broadcast industry from mid 80's to mid 90s, and to see
what we can now buy as consumers for these new TV's blows me away....
Hope you are having fun shopping for your new setup.

Not sure if you have looked here for research, but...
Here's a handy website that I use all the time when shopping for home electronics:
www.cnet.com

They do reviews on things like TV's, etc. and then also have a list of online vendor prices for the models that you are looking at....You are correct about the model number confusion...it's ridiculous trying to keep it all straight. One digit difference in a model number can make a difference. I recently went from a Hitachi rear project HDTV beast to a Samsung DLP because I didn't need flat panel, and wanted a really BIG screen (72") So the DLP was the way to go....for flat panel, LCD is the sweet spot right now...Plasma = hot, heavy, older tech. LED is future, but not affordable yet.

Sears, Amazon, etc...all good places to buy. Stick to buying either online or storefront from someone you feel good about returns, etc....If these things fail, they are usually in the first month or two of usage. Once they are burned in (used) most modern electronics are rock solid.....not sure how you feel about "extended warranties" but I avoid them everytime....I figure the money I save not taking the upsell warranty more than pays for any failures I might have in my electronics after the manuf. warranty expires. Spend your money on a decent surge suppressor power outlet for your new toys.
good luck,
Mike

 

[Admin]

I second the advice about cnet.com

I use that site for just about any electronics research I need. Non-biased and very informative.

-John

 

[Snowdee]

Just bought a 52" Panasonic LCD for my Mother-in -law. Nice TV. I personally have a plasma as the picture color is superior. Also, do some research on LED TVs. No such thing. The TVs advertised as LED are really LCD TVs with LED backlighting instead of flourescent lighting. This makes them much thinner and improves the black coloring over the flourescent backlit LCDs.

 

[sxrron]

Whatever you buy here is a great site to save a ton on wall mount brackets and HDMI cables.
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp
They are highly rated. I have several of their wall mount brackets and the quality is great.

 

[formula5]

Sanyo, Phillips and Visio on sale at Walmart for around $700.00 Go get it. Oh by the way, 42"

 

[lofsfire]

I did not have time to read all the above post but this may help you, I was just a my uncles over the weekend and we were working on my new PC anyways he took me to a store by his place called Fry's.

I saw this one in person
http://www.frys.com/product/6075368?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
and for LED at 1900 did seam like a good price might want to give them a call see what else they have. They carry just about every brand. This place was the size of 2 SAM's Clubs put together. Had everything from a flashlight to a TV or Washer/ Dry.

Also My sister just bought and LG back at the end of summer that was 46"(I think) LCD for $800. She has been very happy with it!

 

[umdivx]

Ok where to begin....

First off LED, is just an LCD tv with LED back lighting. So when you hear LED its not LED technology per-se, its just a back lighting technology.

With that said, power consumption, is the next biggest thing, LCD vs. LED LCD vs. Plasma, in the end, most plasma tv's will only use about $15 - $20 more energy a year, yes per year, not like per month, just per year. To most that is something but to someone like myself its a moot point.

here's a good chart on power consumption and costs based on diff tv models: http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/

now we get into quality, to most this will be superfical and won't matter to you, but for an enthusiast and a movie buff it might. Plasma's have always been the better tv, in terms of color reproduction, contrast, black levels, ect... The defacto "king" of tv's was the Pioneer Kuro Elite line of Plasma's. The Kuro had the best black levels of any tv out there. We're talking black inky black levels, not gray blacks like you get with LCD's. Now that Pioneer no longer makes the tv the new "king" of tv's is the Panasonic Viera G10/V10 models.

Here's a great read on the V10: http://hdguru.com/the-new-king-of-hdtv-displays-panasonics-tc-p54v10-reviewed/458/

For anyone doing any research on tv's read over all of what is at http://hdguru.com has, he knows his stuff.

Now in terms of 720p vs 1080i vs 1080p. If you have a 1080p tv, it will always display at 1080p, however the source input will be whatever the feed its, could be 480i (interlaced standard def), 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p(currently only blu ray). So even if your feed is 720p which is most ABC content, the tv will upscale it to the native resolution of the tv, so you are still getting a great picture even if it is not 1080p.

Also as sxrron said, I will re-iterate, WWW.MONOPRICE.COM!!!!! do NOT I repeat do NOT buy hdmi cables, or anything from any retail store. you can get a wall mount for $25, and hdmi cables (good quality cables too) for under $10 for 6ft cable.

Do NOT buy monster cables that is like someone buying an Arctic Cat

With all that said, I am a fan of bigger is better, and I'll throw my recommendation of a projector setup. 106"+ screen full hi-def, nothing better!!!

Granted a projection setup isn't the best for normal every day tv use, but if you have a basement, no or little windows, its the best thing ever!

- Josh

 

[whitedust]

My wife would throw me out the house if I brought that set up home.lol:>)

 

[umdivx]

My wife would throw me out the house if I brought that set up home.lol:>)

The first thing I have learned is always play her favorite movie on the setup and she'll get hooked quickly.

- Josh

 

[m8man]

Josh,

Awesome set up...I will take my current 50" samsung dlp to my man area in the basement..I'm just about set with the man cave...I've purchased a 50" plasma samsung from sears during their 2 day sale and got the 650 model for $1059. The tv is now 1500 on their site...I also ordered the Tv stand to match it..Now what I need is to buy a blue ray player and pick up some HDMI cables.. Will I just pay more for these cables at Walmart or is the quality not as good...Oh, and on the wish list is a new surroung sound as well...I'm not a fan of downloading stuff from netflix or whatever and playing it on my dvd player..I would like to purchase Blue ray dvd's to fully use the quality of the TV.. I heard that some you can't play on the cheaper players and they have problems connecting them to a network in their home...I don't want any of the computer download stuff, I just want to watch some HI Def movies on the new tv...Any recommendation on a reasonable blue ray player too??

Thanks for all the help...If I hate this TV I will deal with it for a tad then put it in the man area..

later

m8man

 

[umdivx]

Josh,

Awesome set up...I will take my current 50" samsung dlp to my man area in the basement..I'm just about set with the man cave...I've purchased a 50" plasma samsung from sears during their 2 day sale and got the 650 model for $1059. The tv is now 1500 on their site...

Nice tv, not a bad price for a 50" either. I'm sure you won't be disapointed at all with it.

Now what I need is to buy a blue ray player and pick up some HDMI cables.. Will I just pay more for these cables at Walmart or is the quality not as good

Its not that they aren't any good, they are no better, no worse than monster cables, if you are paying $30 for the convenience of having the cable right away, not a big deal, I can understand that, just don't go paying $50 or more for a 6 foot hdmi cable is all.

Oh, and on the wish list is a new surround sound as well...I'm not a fan of downloading stuff from netflix or whatever and playing it on my dvd player..I would like to purchase Blue ray dvd's to fully use the quality of the TV..

Nextflix does blu ray rentals you know but its always nice to get HD streaming from netflix via your blu ray player so don't keep that off the tables.

What i'd look for is a faster player, something that doesn't take 3 minutes to boot up. I am a huge fan of the LG 370 and 390 players, however they are still on the tad expensive side hovering around $200 - $250 but honestly still all worth it if you ask me.

I heard that some you can't play on the cheaper players and they have problems connecting them to a network in their home...I don't want any of the computer download stuff, I just want to watch some HI Def movies on the new tv...Any recommendation on a reasonable blue ray player too??

Most of the issues with playback have to do with firmware updates, if you plug in the player to a broadband internet connection, it will update the firmware and get you on your way.

What you want is a BD live 2.0 player that way you will have less of a chance to have issues, some players are BD live 2.0 ready, which means they'll need a usb thumb drive 1gig or more that plugs into a usb port on the back of the player, most 1gig usb thumb drives can be had for less than $10 shipped online, so not really a big deal.

follow this list: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/best-blu-ray-players-top-ten-blu-ray-players/2/

if you get any one of those 10 players you'll be good to go. If you want, look for one with wifi, that way you get get it connected for firmware updates so you don't have to run an ethernet cable to do them.

- Josh

 

[m8man]

Thanks for the info...I'm researching the Blu Ray players now and will buy one VERY soon.. I hope to have a cool set up soon....I appreciate all of your input.

m8man

 

[red_dog]

Bought a Panasonic Blue-Ray player on-sale from Walmart. The reason for Panasonic is that it had a port for memory cards from camera\phones and also a USB port. Also have had good luck in the past with Panasonic devices. I bought the HDMI cable there too. When you turn it on it says "connecting" and you see the menu of the movie for a couple seconds then see some static, then goes back to saying "connecting." We ended up hooking up the good old RCA AV cables and the movie played just fine (Blue-Ray and regular old DVDs). Tried a different HDMI cable and same thing. Tried all three HDMI input's on the TV. Maybe bad out of the box...argh!!!!!!

I saw the LaserVue laser set at Ultimate Electronics, WOW!!!! Then I saw the price and WOW!! again. Direct TV is coming out with a 3-D channel. TVs optimized for 3-D may be the next wave of things to come!

 

[umdivx]

We ended up hooking up the good old RCA AV cables and the movie played just fine (Blue-Ray and regular old DVDs).

the Red/Blue/Green RCA? IE component video? or just the single Yellow IE composit? if all you are doing is the single yellow you're not even getting HD video at all.

- Josh

 

[dafalls]

I have a samsung lcd I purchases 1 year ago for about 1200 same tv now around 800 1080 ect. ect. I love this tv, at the time it was a best pick for 44's. I also was told plasma's were not good for cabins because they can be damaged if they freeze.

I have been very happy with my Samsung 42" plasma. Had to move it up to the cabin due to working out of town. It has been exposed to freezing weather and i haven't had any issues with it. We do make sure the cabin is heated up before we turn the TV on.

 

[fishs_summit]

did'nt read this two weeks ago when I ordered a 50" plasma....but wanted the biggest size for the least price. It was delivered friday with a cracked screen,and promptly sent back! The cost was $700 With delivery. I'm confident this is a good price but will believe it is a good deal when I have a working unit in my home. sorry had to vent. will update when and if it all works out.

 

[98panther]

If anyone is looking a the 32" Westinghouse LCD that stores are selling cheap these days.
"BUY THE WARRENTY" It's a POS
Bought one 2-1/2 years ago, was repaired twice, then replaced, second one was repaired again, and finally replaced with another brand.

Not sure why I bought the warrenty (usually never do) but sure glad I did this time.

 

[indyxcr]

You want the new LED tv's no problems only 1 to 2 inches thick perfect color plus they will last, only $200 to $300 more than LCD's on a 46 inch Samsung or Sony, plasma's don't last more than 2 to 3 years without loosing color. The LCD's the color flexs over different shows.

 

[Banks93]

I went with the Sony PS3 for the blu-ray player. The kids can play video games, netflix downloads and you can watch the blu-ray DVD's best of all worlds.

Like someone else said it is all mostly a gimic on numbers once you get past the 720p or 1080i signal. Not much of a difference in the picture that you can notice unless you have a large screen TV.

I can still get just as great of a picture out of my 57" DLP Mitsubishi as I can get out of my LCD Sony and my Plasma Hitachi.

Sony and Samsung are good with LCD's

Hitachi is second to none in Plasma

I would agree that LCD and LED has won over the Plasma TV's.

You don't need a tech rep to set your tv.

Go to www.avsforum.com

They have setups for you on how to set your settings.