Big flat screen of choice?

[SLO-BOB]

Sorry, had to milk that cow a bit more. But the question stands - What is a good flatscreen? I'm not talking state of the art. Just one with a good picture and works well for video games. I'm thinking about $1500-$2000 and as big as I can afford. So far I've seen a bunch of 50/52 inch models in my range from Samsung, Panasonic, Sanyo, etc. My viewing area will be 6-7 feet away from the screen. We just got Wii and want to enlarge the picture as much as is feasible to enhance the experience without having that "too close to the screen" feeling. We also subscribe to "Dish".

This is my first foray into anything beyond conventional TV and there are soooo many to choose from. Many stores carry the same model too, but they will have a slightly different model number confusing matters. It's impossible to get good info from the typical Best Buy type sales person and the 'net reviews are overwhelming. Just....too......much.....information! Heck, I don't even know if I should get LCD or Plasma! The Pelican collective has always offered better advice than the topic specific forums, which tend to overthink things. I just want to watch it - not fly it to the moon. All help appreciated.

[Moses]

I wouldn't buy a plasma that wasn't made by PIONEER. A little more expensive, but brilliant pictures.

Amazon has a 50" Pioneer KURO for about $2,400.

[nostatic]

If you're going to do a lot of Wii, I actually would go LCD rather than plasma. If you're going to watch a lot of movies, I'd go plasma. And as much as I usually agree with Moses, I've been quite happy with my Panasonic 1080p plasma, which at the time was almost $2K less than the equivalent Kuro. If you've got the extra cash however and watch a lot of movies, I think Kuro is the first choice.

[rnln]

Sony LCD

[SLO-BOB]

It's a tough call on what that TV wil be used for more, but if I had to say, it would probably be video games. But, it certainly will be used for movies. It will almost never be used for just plain old tv watching - rare in my household. It's going in a "viewing room" that right now is mainly used for games, but It would be cool to ocassionally watch movies there. I'll probably get some sort of surround sound system as well.

[Rot 911]

The Samsung LCD's always get positive reviews on almost every board you look at. Decent prices too.

[nostatic]

Can you control light in the room? Will there be a lot of viewing from far off-axis? Do the games tend to have a lot of static content (like persistent menus, scores, etc)? Is Dish HD, and do you have an upscaling DVD player?

Welcome to the slippery slope. Here's my advice in no particular order:

The general rule is LCD is better for games, plasma better for movies. LCD has gotten better over the past few years, but the blacks still aren't that black and it just doesn't look "filmic" to me. Others have different opinions, but I have a pretty strong feeling on this one. If you want to watch DVDs, a Kuro will crush any LCD out there. Other good plasmas will beat them as well imho. For TV viewing it is more of a wash.

If you can't control light in the room, and LCD will fare better. I have a pretty dark living room and am able to keep it that way during the day. Plasma works great under those conditions, less so if you have a lot of ambient light.

With an LCD you can't sit way to the side and get a good picture. Plasmas tend to have a wider viewing angle.

Games often have persistent things on screen, and these will "burn in" to a plasma screen. This is a temporary thing, but you will notice it. Not a deal breaker, but it is something to be aware of, and I am rather careful about not leaving a static image up on my screen for long periods of time.

Don't underestimate the sound side of things. Most current movies are at least 5.1 surround, and having a decent sound system makes a BIG different in the experience. Even a good 2.1 or 2.0 system will help a lot. There are all-in-one surround systems but I personally wouldn't go that route. I think the minimal setup is:

decent AV receiver (I have Cambridge Audio, like NAD but Denon, Marrantz, etc will work fine)
good upscaling DVD player (I have Oppo 981 and love it - oppodigital.com)
good main speakers and sub, but if you can swing it, a 5.1 setup. Check av123.com, ascendacoustics.com, or any number of other online places

Then you're all set. Plus you can listen to music using the DVD player and the stereo setup. For the life of me I don't understand why someone will spend $2K on a tv and then just listen to the built-in speakers. Sound provides about 60% of the "experience", so you budget should reflect that at least to some degree. With my setup I have about 80% of my budget in the audio side of things, but I'm picky that way.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Honestly, unless you're a real videophile, I doubt you'll really notice any difference. After dragging my wife through multiple stores, it dawned on me that she thought they all looked the same. I'm a geek, so I had to see it all in person.

Cnet is the best source for good reviews. From my reading, the brands to look for are Toshiba (what I have), Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp, and Sony. Those were the ones I keyed on, there's probably other good ones as well.

Before you buy in a store, check newegg and cdw. I saved $200 over the big box store sale price when I bought my Toshiba online from newegg, with free shipping.

[T77911S]

i heard that you need to have someone come setup the plasma, for about $300. or was that the dlp?

[HardDrive]

Sony 52" LCD. Just got it this past summer. Very pleased.

My sister and her husband are movie fanatics. They have a Samsung LCD and they love it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

For the life of me I don't understand why someone will spend $2K on a tv and then just listen to the built-in speakers.

Because they're married?

I had an incredible surround sound system when I was single, back when 5.1 was the big new thing. Sony 5.1 DTS receiver, Yamaha main towers with side loaded 12" woofers, sound matched Yamaha center, Yamaha surrounds, and a JBL powered sub with a 12" woofer. My roommates and I laid out our living room around proper sound staging and it sounded incredible. Excellent for music as well in pure stereo mode, but it would blow your head off for movies. When I got married, I sold it to my former roommates to promote domestic tranquility. Big speakers and women are natural adversaries.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Big speakers and women are natural adversaries.

you just hang out with the wrong women

I dated a woman last year who had a bigger HT setup than I currently have, and the current g/f totally understands why I have $1500 mains sitting on custom stands.

[RWebb]

doing the same thing as you

my view is "WHAT to get to use for 5 years while I wait for OLED to get big and affordable"

Here is a snapshot of what I've come up with so far...

[RWebb]

one thing I'd like to know is exactly how much more power is "wasted" by a plasma screen...

[herr_oberst]

Just bought a 52 inch samsung plasma 720p for about a grand. I love it for movies, my signal from the Dish network is a little lame, so speedvisoin is a little fuzzy. I did a TON or reseach and it came down to Pioneer and Samsung. Plasma.

BTW - You dont want to lay a plasma screen flat, so keep this in mind when you go pick it up - toyota pickup with a shell? Not tall enough.

Also, read up on Burn In.

Also, get a calibration DVD preferably with the colored test strips.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

you just hang out with the wrong women

I dated a woman last year who had a bigger HT setup than I currently have, and the current g/f totally understands why I have $1500 mains sitting on custom stands.

Girlfriend?

[vash]

i have a big sony LCD. the picture rocks, especially with bluRay.

the stock speakers are lame. i got a regular BOSE system to fill in the blanks. not spectacular but not MONO sounding like the TV speakers.

[MOMO3.2]

I liked the crisp pictures on the Sony LCD TV's. I ended up getting a 42" Sony Bravia for our "extra" room two years ago with a relatively cheap Sony 5.1 Home Theater. In a small room, this set-up is nice.

When I first installed the 42" screen, my family commented that it was "too big" for the room. Now, it seems a little too small. So, GO BIG!

Remember, the wall mount is kind of pricey too.

Mike

[Moses]

Originally Posted by MOMO3.2

Remember, the wall mount is kind of pricey too.

Mike

I got a Peerless wall mount for mine. Worked perfectly at less than half the price. I also put a 2" PVC pipe in the wall for snaking HDMI cables to and from the TV.

[jyl]

Test the TV on a DVD with a lot of dark scenes (moody and night shots). My main complaint with our flatscreen is that it is bad at smoothly displaying dark tones - looks like a contour map with distinct shades of gray. Also black isn't very black.