endover Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I know if you stand up 50 tv's side by side, you can nit pick all day which ones the best and I've read a jillion things to push me one direction or the other. Here's my real question to folks who've already got 'em. I'm going to by a 50 to 52 inch 1080 plasma or LCD in the next couple of months (leaning towards plasma due to motion blur issues) or so to finish out our family room remodel. I will be hooking this up to my Klipsch Chorus II"s and all the other surround goodies for a great multipurpose room. In the end, when I'm sitting at home looking at my TV only and not comparing it to the other 50 TV's, what finally matters with the TV you purchase? If it's not a "perfect" picture in the end, you stop noticing it and you get over it 'cause you can't afford to toss it out and get another one. My pricepoint for the TV is $2500 for the TV knowing good and well that I'll need another $500 to put into cables, DVD player, mounting brackets, etc. I have a 4 year old so in a few years, video games will become a part of our house but it will mostly be used for daily TV watching and movie night at my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I know my info is a little bias, but I got myself a nice samsung 46 inch 1080p lcd about 4 months ago and couldn't be happier, got myself a samsung dvd up converting player as well and all the remotes work with each machine so that might be something to consider as well. As far as gaming goes I think it'd be better on a lcd. Ever wonder why they don't sell plasma computer moniters? From what I've read they're not all that great; for gaming that is. The picture has a tendancy to burn into the screen if left sitting there for a decent amout of time. As far as motion blur on lcds, the tech is getting better so that should be less of an issue for the price range your shopping in. However plasma does a really good picture quality probably the best on the market right now and I think it looks a litte bit better in SD tv than lcds, but then like you said once you buy something you'll eventually get use to what it is. So for life expectancy and gaming I'd go for a lcd, but if you watch alot of moives and regular tv viewing, plasma would probably be the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 My experience has been with a 1080P LCD 46" Sony XBR2 and a 1080P Sharp 32" gp1U. The Sony is better than the Sharp (the Sharp has some very faint red splotches on a PC input with white desktop and needs a lot more tweeking to get the proper picture) but to the average person differences are not very noticeable. Consumers Reports says the latest Plasma 1080P by Panasonic is the cats ***. Remember this: Pixelation, banding, poor linearity (stretcho-vision), slow focus at scene changes, poor quality HD programs, showing a 2.35 x 1 film aspect at 4 x 3 (miss half the picture and increase the film grain a ton) are all broadcast problems and not the problem of your set. Remember in the 60's & 70's seeing the color video tape tinted horizontal bars on video taped programs? A lot of the sitcoms and crime shows are filmed and have an awfull lot of film grain when viewed on a 1080P set. Live is usually really great. You will notice that with shots in dark areas the noise level does go up a bunch even with live. The motion thing doesn't bother me because I am so thrilled with the quality of the HD picture. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoudnClear Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 If you want to make it easy on yourself, knowing you can get a top notch product, watch for a killer price on one of these and you cannot lose: Sony: KDL-52W3000 anything under 2500 and you're doing awesome on price Sony: KDL-52XBR4 (or XBR5) anything under 3500 and you're doing awesome on price Other than that, get a name brand TV, Sony, Samsung being safe bets. You need to get to know the different lineups. Both companies make budget models for places like kmart and walmart, these are not near the level of performance and quality as the actual top lineups, W and XBR are the top two for sony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Panasonic, Sony, would be my choices .......... all things being equal, get the most inexpensive of the two ...... a year from now what you buy today, will be second or even third grade TV's, it changes so fast ................ Good prices right now !!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 At 50" it's really a push as to whether 1080 is really beneficial. It all depends on your viewing distance. A 720p set will be cheaper and allow you to possibly step up to better features. Look for a set with a high contrast ratio, that'll give you the nice pop of a picture you're looking for. Also, the darker the blacks your screen can reproduce, the better your shadow details will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White_Hawk Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 If the room you will be viewing in is going to have a lot of sunlight or lighting levels will be difficult to control, get an LCD (matte finish and brighter). Otherwise go plasma as colors/contrast are usually better (more than 9 times out of 10). It will be hard to go wrong with any of the later models. Plasma burn in and LCD motion blur don't really exist on the newer models. Both should last 60,000 hrs to 1/2 brightness or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jreedar Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Go with the Panasonic TH-50PF10UK, this is the professional model so it doesn't have things you don't need like weak built in speakers you won't use anyway or a tuner. It also comes with dual HDMI connection, component, and PC input also an empty slot where an additional connection such as hdmi could be added if needed - very flexible. Get your HDMI or component cables and wall mount from Monoprice.com they are high quality and by far the best prices around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I've tried two 42 " Sony rear projection LCD'S.............. The one element I've learned Thur all this is weather you have cable/or dish that truly broadcasts HD signals. All I had was basic cable and all that the Larger TV's did , was show up how poor the Signal was that I was receiving! Reminded me of rain drops on the Window........... I ended up just going with a standard 36" Sony Tube TV. The Picture is awesome, even if the TV takes up lots of room.........JMHO Finally though, I would highly recommend you look at Samsung TV's . Great Picture, and price point wise they beat Sony hands down! One Other Consideration is: Are you using a Table/or stand for the TV, OR Mounting it...............don't forget to factor in the Expense of a Wall Mounting Bracket and Installation, if your not handy..................[8-)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merkin Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I went with a sony dlp 1080p . I know I know rainbows. I haven't ever seen one. Motion is great, Picture is great and price is less than lcd or plasma. The picture blows away my old samsung dlp that is a 720 p and about 4-5 years old. Just my .02. All the new ones are good pictures as far as I could tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Both plasmas and LCDs are excellent choices. I would say at this point between the two, let your eyes decide. As far as the sunlight/lighting issues, it should be noted that a number of the Pioneer, Panasonic, and Samsung plasmas now also come with anti-reflective screens - to eliminate most of the lighting issues. That being said, the anti-glare screens come with a small premium. I opted for a 50 inch Panasonic plasma with the normal screen (no lighting issues in my room) for about $1450, and I have been very happy with my choice. The anti-glare model was about $100 more. Ditto what was said about the small difference between 720p and 1080p at the 50 inch size, and if you do not view closer than five feet away. Running my HD-DVD player in 1080i or 720p mode, the picture is simply spectacular. Other myths about plasmas also relate to reliability and screen life. We have a five year old Panasonic (non-HD) plasma that still looks great and have not had a problem. Our favorable experience led me to jump into plasmas again. Good luck on your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Carl, did you buy the Panny 50PXU? I did & it's stunning. Better than the Samsung I recently destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Carl, did you buy the Panny 50PXU? I did & it's stunning. Better than the Samsung I recently destroyed. Yep, I picked up the 50PX75U and absolutely love it. Funny that you mention your tragic Samsung. I gave some thought to the 5064 or 5054, but during final comparisons, my wife noticed too many motion artifacts on those sets during HD programming in the store. Plus, the 50PX might still make it down from the main family room to the 7.1 Heritage man cave. My beautiful wife commented earlier this week that she liked the 42 inch Panny plasma better for non-HD TV viewing (which moved down to the man-cave) so…….the 50 might make it down to the man cave yet, to reside on the top of the glorious black center Belle - with the 42 inch plasma to return to the family room. Maybe........ Oh, how sweet it is…… Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Lucky man, you. I think i'll pick up the 42" version after Christmas, hopefully on sale. It will go good in my BR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Thanks, I am very lucky and very fortunate. Dean keeps ribbing me about getting some Jubs. In order to go Jub, however, I'd have to give up my modded 7.1 and a portion of my gear. No way baby, I'll keep my 7.1. I'm at a pretty happy place in the man cave now. Especially with the latest Khorn mod. That being said, I'm sure that once I hear some Jubs, they will be the cat's meow. To put on my list for ten years or so down the road........ Carl. P.S. Good call on the 42 inch after Christmas. Love my Panasonic plasmas..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Being at a happy place is very special. The jubs are absolutely incredible but I can't afford them right now. I just bought Dean's super-T & have no idea what i'll do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor.Ham.Slap Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I personally would say go for plasma. If you like sports, there is no substitution. Sure LCD technology has gotten better, but sub 1ms response time for full on/off is much better than 8ms for the comparative test (i.e. the sharp models - don't mistake this test for the published one which is between shades of grey response time). Furthermore, current plasma technologies actually have longer longevity than any competing LCD -- roughly 60000 hrs of average bulb life vs Plasmas average of an 80000 hr half brightness mark. In terms of the 1080 vs 720 idea, it all depends on what you like. I personally would take the 50" 720p Pioneer Kuro plasma over any of the matching Sony or Panasonic 1080p offerings. The color is just that much better, but then again that's just to my eyes that color reproduction is more important. Either way, finish it off with a HD player of one format or another, and you'll be set. And as a side note on that if you didn't see, Best Buy gives you $100 off any next-gen player with a television purchase. One final note to cviper: the reason they do not make plasmas for PC monitors is because it is rediculously expensive to make plasmas smaller than 32" in most cases. This is why you'll only ever see the average plasma being 42" and up. The burn-in issue has also been completely resolved (better than tube TVs) with image shifting techs and rapid phosphor aging technologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye_Nut Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 If you have a budget of $2500, why would you settle for something as little as a 50-52"?? Is your room very small? Why not something bigger?? In todays market.........you can get a 73" 1080p DLP for only $3,000!! A 65" can be owned for only $2,000!! My 2 cents....skip the little stuff and buy something big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Timely post! If you have a budget of $2500, why would you settle for something as little as a 50-52"?? Is your room very small? Why not something bigger?? In todays market.........you can get a 73" 1080p DLP for only $3,000!! A 65" can be owned for only $2,000!! My 2 cents....skip the little stuff and buy something big. * A friend has a new 65 Dlp Toshiba for less than 2k at Circuit City. Problems are optimum distance for watching is 10 foot 14 ideal but friend did not tell and sales did not ask, room size. Now wanting to keep TV he is worried about having to replace the $239 Radiance 150 lamp every 2 years, and afraid of LCD because he feels that it is like a disposable lighter. **What to do? The lamp is rated at 6,000 hours life expectancy??? Likes the Samsung also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 And as always, there may be considerations regarding price. There is no doubt that I agree that the Pioneer Kuro line is currently putting out the best picture out of the bunch. If I did not have so much invested in my "audio stuff" (and being in the middle of kitchen remodeling), I might have given those plasmas serious consideration. However, a 50 inch Pioneer Kuro 720p plasma can run almost twice as much as my 50 inch Panasonic. The gentleman has voiced a $2500 budget. Whether or not the additional expense is worth it vs. the increase in picture quality would be for the individual purchaser to decide. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.