Buying a TV

[rjwood]

You geeks are pretty smart. I've gotten good advice here before.

I'm replacing a TV in my Family/Pool room. I'm looking at LDC's (I like the picture of lcd's), but BB employees try to talk me into plasma. I want 1080p but they say it's a waste.

Advise me!!!! It will be a 40" or 42" inch and must be thin for cue stick room.

[eriefisher]

LCD, at least I think so, has a better picture. Plasmas will burn easily from network logos. I have a 42in Sony, it has a great picture but I would not buy another one. My first choice would be anything with DLP. Watch what the sale staff tell you about bulb life. I was told it was approx. 8000hrs for sony. Not true. The repair man said the they usually last about 2000hrs and I actually got 3000hrs out of my first and 4000hrs out of my second. Bulbs are not covered under any warranty.

[rsambuca]

If you must have "thin for cue stick room", then you will be looking for either a flat-panel LCD or Plasma.

Which one you want depends on the room conditions. LCD's do not have as good contrast as plasma displays, but are better if you have a lot of light in the room. ie bright windows during the day.

Plasmas, on the other hand, have much better contrast than LCD's, but due to the gas-filled screen, all have a shiny reflective screen that isn't as good in certain lighting conditions. Some of the higher end plasmas have pretty good anti-glare coatings, though.

Most plasmas today have a special anti-burn-in feature that shifts static images by a pixel or two so you don't get logo's burnt into your screen coating, but if you leave it on a channel with a news ticker or something, it will definitely burn in after a while.

If you are getting a 42' TV, I definitely would NOT bother with 1080p, as for television viewing, you would have to be sitting very close to notice any difference between that and a 720 or 768 TV.

I also happen to agree with eriefisher, if you can afford the space, I would look at a Rear Projection DLP as they have great contrast, and you can either get way bigger for the same price, or save a ton of cash for the same size as a flat-panel display.

A few months ago, I was originally looking for a 42" plasma or LCD because of all the hype, but after a ton of research and sampling a few, we ended up getting a 65" 1080p DLP and we couldn't be happier!

Good luck with your purchase!

[Bezmotivnik]

I have to say that I hate LCD TVs for several reasons, not least the on-axis viewing problem. If you're moving around, or with a room full of people watching a movie, someone's going to see a lousy picture.

I don't normally watch television more than an hour a week or so, but the guys I've talked to who make their livings selling all sorts of HDTVs say that the latest-generation plasma sets are the best values in terms of picture quality per dollar and have hugely increased life expectancies.

[~LoKe]

Don't buy a plasma. PLEASE don't buy a plasma. Short lifespan, and once it breaks, it probably can't be fixed.

[teet]

If you must have "thin for cue stick room", then you will be looking for either a flat-panel LCD or Plasma.

Which one you want depends on the room conditions. LCD's do not have as good contrast as plasma displays, but are better if you have a lot of light in the room. ie bright windows during the day.

Plasmas, on the other hand, have much better contrast than LCD's, but due to the gas-filled screen, all have a shiny reflective screen that isn't as good in certain lighting conditions. Some of the higher end plasmas have pretty good anti-glare coatings, though.

Most plasmas today have a special anti-burn-in feature that shifts static images by a pixel or two so you don't get logo's burnt into your screen coating, but if you leave it on a channel with a news ticker or something, it will definitely burn in after a while.

If you are getting a 42' TV, I definitely would NOT bother with 1080p, as for television viewing, you would have to be sitting very close to notice any difference between that and a 720 or 768 TV.

I also happen to agree with eriefisher, if you can afford the space, I would look at a Rear Projection DLP as they have great contrast, and you can either get way bigger for the same price, or save a ton of cash for the same size as a flat-panel display.

A few months ago, I was originally looking for a 42" plasma or LCD because of all the hype, but after a ton of research and sampling a few, we ended up getting a 65" 1080p DLP and we couldn't be happier!

Good luck with your purchase!

I pretty much did the same thing a year or so ago. I did my research and looked at the LCDs, DLPs, and Plasmas but ended up going with a "plain-jane" 55" high-definition rear projection TV.

I hated the fact that you would HAVE to replace the bulbs in the DLP in a couple years time and plasmas and LCDs were just too expensive. Sure, the rear projection TV didn't have QUITE as good of picture when you compared it to an upper end plasma, but the picture quality looks great once you get it home and don't have anything to compare it too. Also the LCDs/plasmas were all like $2500+ (for a smaller screen, might I add) while the rear projection was only $1600.

Things could have changed a lot in a year's time, but if you have the space I would go with a rear projection TV still. I have been very pleased with mine. HDTV looks superb and regular DVD's look almost as good. Regular TV kind of sucks though...everything is still broadcast in 4:3 and not widescreen 16:9 so the TV has to chop, squeeze, stretch, and generally distort the picture.

-teet

[vayu]

it's a waste.


I stopped watching television in 1993 when I realized that I couldn't sit in a room without turning it on. Television robs being. (It also breeds consumerism and desensitizes one to the horrible ills of our times)

[Bezmotivnik]

Don't buy a plasma. PLEASE don't buy a plasma. Short lifespan...
Once true, but no longer. 60,000 hours on the current generation stuff.

[Bezmotivnik]

I stopped watching television in 1993 when I realized that I couldn't sit in a room without turning it on. Television robs being. (It also breeds consumerism and desensitizes one to the horrible ills of our times)
Television is about 95% pure, dedicated mind-f__k: Raw socio-political indoctrination, manipulative sensory hyperstimulation, sophisticated exploitative advertising, propaganda and "entertainment" that will leave you pliantly stupid and your tastes vulgar.

And yes, it really is that bad.

It's poison. I watch almost none, and what I do watch is recorded so that I can FF through the muck. Saves time in picking out the little of value.

[Beamerboy]

LCD, at least I think so, has a better picture. Plasmas will burn easily from network logos. I have a 42in Sony, it has a great picture but I would not buy another one. My first choice would be anything with DLP. Watch what the sale staff tell you about bulb life. I was told it was approx. 8000hrs for sony. Not true. The repair man said the they usually last about 2000hrs and I actually got 3000hrs out of my first and 4000hrs out of my second. Bulbs are not covered under any warranty.
I would go with LCD too, but if you have any morals whatsoever, do NOT buy a Sony. Also I think he means LCD TV not LCD Projector.

Paladine

[eriefisher]

I would go with LCD too, but if you have any morals whatsoever, do NOT buy a Sony. Also I think he means LCD TV not LCD Projector.



I do mean TV. I have not seen a projector with a picture good enough to justify the price.

[taurus]

I would go with LCD too, but if you have any morals whatsoever, do NOT buy a Sony.

Sony is just way overpriced and it's not any better than Sharp or Samsung!!!

[insane_alien]

what i'd do (and have done) is get a TV tuner card. that way you can record on to your PC and with some you can pause it and come back later if you need to do something badly when its just getting to the good bit. also gives you an excuse to buy a kick-*** monitor or TV to hook up to your PC as well. ubuntu looks so much better in 42"

[Beamerboy]

I prefer Ubuntu on an 8' x 8' screen via my projector :p

Paladine