Big flat screen of choice?

[targa911S]

I have a Toshiba Regza 46" 1080 p and it looks real fine.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&resnum=0&q=toshiba+regza+46&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3608042485275291341&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=3&ct=result#ps-sellers

[mb911]

Originally Posted by 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.

samsung series 4 LCD is a nice unit good picture and not as expensive as the series5-7 which are wonderful but too expensive. I bought one not that long ago and was happy with the quality

[Craig 930 RS]

Samsung or Panasonic. I've researched these pups more than humanly (humanely?) possibele.

[legion]

I like my 61" Samsung 1080p DLP.

[Paul T]

If you want REALLY big and can control the light, I highly suggest looking at some front projection units. I just installed a 100" in the basement and the picture is incredible!

Like anything, you can spend a little or a lot, but you can get a really nice projector setup nowadays for the same price as a 50 or 60 inch plasma/lcd. I spent a little more on mine than I should have, but I tried out projectors that cost $1200 that looked great. And my screen was only $300. I'm picky, but I'm not videophile picky...I don't have the time to worry about a pixel here or there like people on the avs forums - if it looks good to my eyes, I crack open a beer and enjoy it. I used to get nuts with it, as Nostatic said, it's a slippery slope...

[therotman]

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 you live in a condo! Or at least I did when I bough my Plasma but it was $3000.


When I bought a house I added the stereo, but when I sold the house the buyer wanted my stereo and plasma. Oh well, I was just lucky to sell a house in san diego.


LCD's are supposed to be the better picture. I looked at a ton of them and the plasma looked better to me so that's what I bought. Real blacks, can see it from the side and I didn't have windows behind the TV to reflect sunlight.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by Moses

I got a Peerless wall mount for mine. Worked perfectly at less than half the price..

Oddly enough that's what I use for mounting big (last one was a "50" in a GI room) flat screens to pendants in hospitals. I modify them somewhat but they work better than the GCX stuff (in that case only) and like you said, for a lot less.

Peerless is exactly what I plan on using to mount whatever I get.

[porsche4life]

We have a Vizio 42" And the Picture quality playng XBOX is amazing. Movies and tv shows are dam fine too. So dont totally over look the cheaper tvs.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by 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. .

All great questions and I kind of figured that stuff factors. I can easily control the lighting - cans and dimmers. Limited off-axis viewing. Games for an hour at a time (house rule). I believe HD is available for Dish, but it's an upcharge. As I understand it, it's all going HD soon. I was looking at upscaling DVD players - again, clueless. Sounded kind of goofy, but figured I would look into it and Blu-Ray.

My middle name is Slippery Slope.
Seems I can't buy a toothbrush without getting drawn into some high dollar extra.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by therotman

Because you live in a condo! Or at least I did when I bough my Plasma but it was $3000.

naw, no excuse. I live in an apartment. It isn't about sheer volume, it is about imaging, depth, and clarity. I rarely cranky my system up very loud (and have the sub set fairly tame), but even at quiet levels a good system will let you hear things that a cheap one won't.

[SlowToady]

SLO-BOB, if you decide to go to Abt, as Rick suggests, shoot me a PM. My brother works there, and lives and breaths this stuff. He'll tell you anything you ever wanted to know (and more).

I think we just picked up a Pioneer, maybe an Elite model..?, but there's no video games to be found in my house. All movies + tv.

[Moses]

I mostly watch movies on mine.

The deciding factor was when I put two Blu-ray copies of Iron Man (the dark cave scene) on a Pioneer and a Samsung and then a Panasonic. The Pioneer Kuro colors are intensely deep. For movies the Pioneer has been wonderful.

Some of the best reviews are on Amazon.com

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by SLO-BOB

All great questions and I kind of figured that stuff factors. I can easily control the lighting - cans and dimmers. Limited off-axis viewing. Games for an hour at a time (house rule). I believe HD is available for Dish, but it's an upcharge. As I understand it, it's all going HD soon. I was looking at upscaling DVD players - again, clueless. Sounded kind of goofy, but figured I would look into it and Blu-Ray.

My middle name is Slippery Slope.
Seems I can't buy a toothbrush without getting drawn into some high dollar extra.

If you have a titanium toothbrush then there is no help available...

If you don't watch much tv, then don't both with HD Dish. I am still on regular old DirecTV and it doesn't bother me at all. The reason I got my system was that I wanted to watch movies and really pay attention to the cinematography, sound design, etc. Since most films aren't available on HD (at least older ones), then an upscaling DVD player along with a 1080p display is the way to go. Getting 1080p gives you some amount of future-proofing (I'm already shooting 1080i content), and most upscalers target 1080p as their output.

Imho if you sit down with a decent player and a movie with really good cinematography and switch between plasma and lcd, you will see a difference. With typical broadcast tv (even HD), less so. As has been said by others, black is your friend, and sadly is a challenge for displays...more so for lcd than plasma.

That isn't to say that there aren't great LCD displays and that you can't get a good experience using one. But to my eyes, plasma has a bit more of a "film" look to it.

Controlling light isn't so much about dimmers as it is about windows and stray light. An open/airy room is great for sitting and chatting, poor for viewing a movie. Also consider your sitting position/distance. You need to be a fair bit away from a 52" screen. I don't have a deep enough room so I stuck with 42" but that was also a cost/weight consideration.

[RWebb]

re: upscaling DVD player...

do Blu-ray players automatically play DVDs also?

and do they upscale?

[turbocarrera]

Blue-rays play ordinary dvd's and upscale them too.

I like movies just as much as gaming(thinking about a PS3) so what to do? I never watch tv. I think I want a plasma 'cause the dark(and other colour gradients) is noticeably better than LCD. The guy in the store says that with the screensavers that most games/plasmas have and better-built plasmas thesedays, there is no problem with burn-in anymore. That true?

I want the best possible picture and my bro's 52' Aquos SE(120HZ and million:1 contrast) doesn't cut it.

[myamoto1]

Blu-Rays will play standard DVDs and upscale. Do some searching on the upscaling as some do it better than others. I haven't made the jump to Blu-Ray yet, but in "regular" DVD players, the upscaling chip used makes all the difference (not the the average user).

I bought my Hitachi plasma about 4 years ago and love it. However, I went with Hitachi over Panisonic because standard def looked better on the Hitachi than the Panny. of couse std def won't be an issue for much longer... I think the panel was made by Panny. Also, keep in mind when you're viewing stuff in the store, they're usually jacking the brightness and contrast through the roof. This is to "catch your eye" and to compensate for being under a hundred floresent lights. I usually check out http://www.avsforum.com/ for candid reviews on whichever model(s) I'm looking at. It's geared for the techie weenie, so if you're just an "average" user, you may not find it more frustrating than helpful.

[myamoto1]

burn in is technically an issue w/ any type of display/TV. plasmas just happen to be more susceptible to it. As long as you don’t keep the same image on the screen for extended periods of time, it’s not a long term issue. As someone mentioned above, burn in (more correctly called “ghosting”) will occur, but can be reversed. My plasma has a “white wash” feature that blasts the entire screen in bright white. If I leave the white was on for a few minutes (5 is the max I’ve done), it’ll eliminate any ghosting I have. However, I don’t play games on mine, so I haven’t had to deal with scores and other such constant menus.

[Axeman]

Originally Posted by legion

I like my 61" Samsung 1080p DLP.

I agree. After tons of research on LCD/Plasma and debating the pros and cons we went with this Samsung:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HL61A650-61-Inch-1080p-Slim/dp/B00141765G/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229640898&sr=8-2

Got it for $1599, best decision we made. Beautiful picture! Best bang for the buck.

[dad911]

Monoprice for mounts & cables.

Amazon has free blueray players with some models, and free shipping.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Also consider your sitting position/distance. You need to be a fair bit away from a 52" screen. I don't have a deep enough room so I stuck with 42" but that was also a cost/weight consideration.

How far should one be from a decent "50" TV? I guess the real question is - what size TV should I get if the seating is about 7 feet away?

As far as windows and other light - non issue. This is in our converted basement. No window in that room at all.