buying first HDTV

krabby5

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I still have an old-fashioned CRT. I have a 4 year-old 36" Toshiba flat screen with component output. The picture is fantastic, but I can't help but wonder what I am missing by not having hidef..

I'm thinking of rear-projection (DLP, LCOS, SXRD) and really liked the Samsung DLP noted here:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HLT5075S-Slim-720p-HDTV/dp/B000N50R6O

Since I play video games, I think I am gonna leave out plasma because of the burn-in worry...also..I'm not sold on 1080p, either...I'm wondering if I would ever use it, and if I would even notice the difference from 720p..I have XBox 360 and digital cable...and watch a fair share of DVD movies (not HD)

I'm assuming LCD flat screens look better, but once you get up to 46" and higher, yer gonna pay for it..plus LCD has it's problems too..

I've never been so overwhelmed with a buying decision in my life.

what's the general consensus here?

engtaz

Each format has it's own issues.
LCD drops pixels
Plasma gets dimmer
Rear Projection has limited angles of view
Most have bulbs the burn out eventually.
Front Projection gives the biggest picture and does not have limited viewing angles.(DLP or LCD)
DLP is done with a spinning color wheel. 5-6-7 segment and various speeds.
1080P = 1,920x1,080 pixels
720P = 1,280x720 pixel

engtaz

dane_peterson

You're going to find pros and cons in any display. I honestly can say I prefer plasma now after owning a 1080p Samsung DLP. The picture is incredibly bright, the blacks are blacker, and I've not noticed any burn in. Not to mention I feel the 720p/1080i picture is just as impressive on my plasma as 1080p was on the DLP.
The two things I'm not a huge fan about with my TV is the slight buzzing sound and the reflection. But more volume and closed blinds make both of those issues disappear.

doug lang

I have to say the panny 58 looks great to me. Beware this debate will go on forever. What looks good and what is in your pocket will be the deciding factor. Best of luck, Doug

disneyjoe7

Love my 42" Panny Plasma looks Super Great too me also.

JimBRICK

the panasonic th42px60 plasma and the sony klv40s200 are on awesome deals right now

personally I own a kdfe42a10 lcd grand wega, the grand wegas are an awesome deal and look great from all angles as long of you 5 or more feet away

Systems

I currently have both the Panasonic 37PX60 plasma and LG 37LC2D LCD on thirty day trial period.So far it is a tough call both are very good, but either will be a big step up from my 27" Pan CRT.

hockeyboy

I have a Sammy LCD (1080i) and a Sammy 50 DLP (1080p). The DLP is much better in HD. In fact I love my Sammy DLP!

Why waste money on a tv that isn't 1080? The cost upgrade isnt that much and it will likely make your purchase relevant for many more years. Eventually you will pop an HD or Blu Ray into your game machine and really watch something in 1080, or at least fire up some HD content-soon to be the standard for all tv. Then you will be looking for a new tv.

disneyjoe7

Why stop at 1080p when they are working on 1440p that would be the next best thing someday?

G-2

We've got a 42" Samy Plasma and we love it. We selected it after spending some time viewing a friends 50 Pioneer (not the Elite). Good luck and enjoy the search!

Joelsbass

I'm in the same boat man. Being a gamer too I've been looking at the 42" Sharp Aquos LCD, for a serious gamer you've kinda gotta avoid plasma due to the burn in issues. And if the store you get it from offers an extended service plan that covers dropped pixels you're covered on the main complaint of the LCD. DLP is great too if space isn't a huge concern.

AndyGwis

I'm also a plasma fan for brightness, viewing angle, cool factor, good prices, etc. I think my Samy 42" (not even very highly regarded in plasma community) looks better than the better DLPs out. But, I don't play video games often and could see burn in being a concern for gamers.

I don't care for the viewing angle or that buzzing sound of DLPs. I like my LCD, but it's not as bring and a softer picture than my Plasma. Nice, but not as impressive (but, it is Westinghouse so maybe another brand would be marginally better).

steveinaz

I have a Samsung 50" DLP (720p), I love it. Movies are incredible. Lamps are going down in price, $239 for a lamp for my set.

MikeC78

Krabby-

You won't be disappointed in any route you take, especially when you get in the larger screen sizes. Anything in 720P(1080i) over 480P is going to be a breath taking experience for you. I'd say since you are a gamer, I'd get a 1080P LCD. Calibrate your LCD using DVE/AVIA or even consider an ISF calibration, and sit back and enjoy what you've been missing!

Good luck!

Mike

steveinaz

MikeC78 wrote:

Krabby-

You won't be disappointed in any route you take, especially when you get in the larger screen sizes. Anything in 720P(1080i) over 480P is going to be a breath taking experience for you. I'd say since you are a gamer, I'd get a 1080P LCD. Calibrate your LCD using DVE/AVIA or even consider an ISF calibration, and sit back and enjoy what you've been missing!

Good luck!

Mike

+1 on Mike's recommendation of DVE or Avia--they are a must have if you want a good picture. I dialed my DLP in with DVE.

Willow

hockeyboy wrote:

Why waste money on a tv that isn't 1080?

Not sure about that, you probably won't see much difference in 1080P and 720P as most stuff is not yet on 1080P.

krabby5

Willow wrote:

Not sure about that, you probably won't see much difference in 1080P and 720P as most stuff is not yet on 1080P.

true...but all new tv's will be 1080p anyways...and with each new generation, I assume last year's problems and issues are less prevalent...

jhw59

there is no broadcast 1080p today period. Also the distance you watch the set from makes a difference. hdguru dot com has good advice. Warning: Once you watch a sporting event in HD, you'll never be happy watching a non high def source again. I bought a 42" Panasonic plasma a few months ago and have been quite pleased but the broadcasters are still catching up to the TVs , IMO. I'm watching OTA HD until FIOS comes in this summer. CBS seems to have the best HD transmission. Given that OTA HD is considered superior to cable and satellite due to its uncompressed format (it's all about bandwidth in HD land), it will be interesting to see how the FIOS HD signal compares.

MikeC78

jhw59 wrote:

there is no broadcast 1080p today period. Also the distance you watch the set from makes a difference. hdguru dot com has good advice. Warning: Once you watch a sporting event in HD, you'll never be happy watching a non high def source again. I bought a 42" Panasonic plasma a few months ago and have been quite pleased but the broadcasters are still catching up to the TVs , IMO. I'm watching OTA HD until FIOS comes in this summer. CBS seems to have the best HD transmission. Given that OTA HD is considered superior to cable and satellite due to its uncompressed format (it's all about bandwidth in HD land), it will be interesting to see how the FIOS HD signal compares.

You are right to a point, until you get into HD DVD or Blu-ray. Then 1080P will make a difference, especially 50"+

Mike

jdhdiggs

Krabby,

I'm ion the exact same boat you are as I also only have a 4 year old 32" flat screen Toshiba. I saw plenty of DLP's while working at TI and they look pretty good, and probably the best pic/$ of whats out there in the 40"+ land. That said, I prefer the LCD and SXRD displays. As far as plasma goes, I have never seen one that looks really good. Almost all of them look "staticy" or something.

As for 1080P, well, you could use the argument that an EDTV is enough since it handls 480P which is higher than what you'd watch 90% of the time, but you wouldn't do that because I'm guessing you'd want to future proof yourself a bit. Me? I'm waiting for a fully compliant HDMI 1.3 60" or bigger 1080P SXRD TV.

cheddar

krabby5 wrote:

true...but all new tv's will be 1080p anyways...and with each new generation, I assume last year's problems and issues are less prevalent...

Since you've already ruled out plasma, there really isn't any reason not to go 1080p. The only reason would be if you buy a 40" or smaller set as they tend to not have a 1080p choice and you wouldn't notice the difference in such a small screen if seen at anything but computer use distance.

50" and above, you will definitely notice the difference between a native 1080p source (blu-ray, hd-dvd) on a 1080p screen vs. a 720p screen. It's not that a 720p source vs a 1080p source is so bad, but that 1080p SCALED down to 720p guarantees a degraded picture. Internal scalers inside most TVs these days just aren't up to the task of making 1080p source material scale down without some loss in quality. And the larger the screen size, the more obvious the difference will be. I guess there's a grey area between 40" to 50" sets depending on your seating distance.

And with games in 1080p that's at least two sources that you will need the extra resolution for (PS3 or trade up to the 360 elite?).

PolkThug

Hold out for 1200p.

krabby5

PolkThug wrote:

Hold out for 1200p.

I'm waiting for the hybrid, plasma/LCD/DLP/Lcos/LED tv that has no issues:D

Systems

I'm liking my 42" Samsung Plasma. I looked for months before buying this unit and got a killer deal on it to boot. Only $1000.00 out the door. The picture has been great, colors are vivid and great from any angle. It has burn-in protection with the use of a screen saver. I'm not saying this is the one for you. I'm just saying this is the one for me.

cheddar

krabby5 wrote:

I'm waiting for the hybrid, plasma/LCD/DLP/Lcos/LED tv that has no issues:D

I saw that one once in a movie called Logan's Run. You just keep switching channels 'till you find something you like, then reach out and grab your new girlfriend for the night...now that was a cool wall TV!

halo

cheddar wrote:

I saw that one once in a movie called Logan's Run. You just keep switching channels 'till you find something you like, then reach out and grab your new girlfriend for the night...now that was a cool wall TV!

There is NO SANCTUARY!!!

danger boy

krabby5 wrote:

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I still have an old-fashioned CRT. I have a 4 year-old 36" Toshiba flat screen with component output. The picture is fantastic, but I can't help but wonder what I am missing by not having hidef..

there is help for those of us CRT hanger's on... who love lifting up a 300 pound behemoth glass tube

as for you not having high def yet.. well you're on your own. and we'll make fun of you now.

disneyjoe7

krabby5 wrote:

I'm waiting for the hybrid, plasma/LCD/DLP/Lcos/LED tv that has no issues:D

Even old style tube sets have issues, just freeze frame something for awhile, then watch TV normally. :rolleyes:

Shizelbs

There are reasons for and against every kind.

We are very happy with our 1080p Sammy DLP.

krabby5

finally decided on the Sony Bravia S2010 720p..they were pushing me to get one of the new models (of course), but couldn't justify spending the extra for 1080p...they had about 12 tvs in 2 rows displaying 1080p content, I couldn't see the difference...(other than the Sony Bravia XBR2, which is top of the line and about $3800. That TV is top notch..) The salesman was a pretty cool guy..he pushed for 1080p displays, but could tell I liked the 720p Sony that was marked way down to make room for the newer 1080p models, He told me that most people probably won't see a difference with displays under 50" anyways..

After setting the output to 720p in the Comcast DVR box, I immediately went to some HD channels...one word..WOW...I can't believe what I've been missing..

Plus the XBOX 360 was amazing as well..

Today I just realized I don't even have a progressive scan DVD player:eek:

Is it a no-brainer to get the Oppo 971HD upconverter?

halo

krabby5 wrote:

finally decided on the Sony Bravia S2010 720p..they were pushing me to get one of the new models (of course), but couldn't justify spending the extra for 1080p...they had about 12 tvs in 2 rows displaying 1080p content, I couldn't see the difference...(other than the Sony Bravia XBR2, which is top of the line and about $3800. That TV is top notch..) The salesman was a pretty cool guy..he pushed for 1080p displays, but could tell I liked the 720p Sony that was marked way down to make room for the newer 1080p models, He told me that most people probably won't see a difference with displays under 50" anyways..

After setting the output to 720p in the Comcast DVR box, I immediately went to some HD channels...one word..WOW...I can't believe what I've been missing..

Plus the XBOX 360 was amazing as well..

Today I just realized I don't even have a progressive scan DVD player:eek:

Is it a no-brainer to get the Oppo 971HD upconverter?

Congrats!

I think that for the price the Oppo is a no brainer. Good luck!