LCD TV input needed

[Flamehawk]

my parents want to by a TV, so I thought ask around see what everyone thinks/knows.

I asked a few friends I know, they all like LCD better than plasma(weight, no burn in, less electricity....). So I decide to go LCD route.

I searched on lcd tv ratings, didn't really find anything telling me all the things I want and not everyone of them review the same tvs. But Sony come out on top more, I also see panasonic, sharp, vizio....etc.

I know sony cost much more, but the one I saw at one of my uncle's place the quality is pretty impressive.

I think ~42" is a pretty good size for average room, anything bigger probably better if have bigger room and I will definitly suggest them get one with 1080p.

do appreciate all inputs.

[DaveMorris]

There are only a couple of companies that actually make the LCD panels themselves. I would go look at them at Costco and pick the one that looks best. Also, no need to worry about 1080p unless they have an HD source.

[sublime]

NEC makes really good displays if you are using a receiver, alot of their displays do not have tv tuners, so watch out for that. SONY is usually crap if your looking for high end. the vizio has about a 40% return rate, mostly because of defects. I would also check out LG, they make pretty good displays. If you are looking at controlling it with home automation, i would look at sharp or NEC tho. hope this helps.

[Malladawg]

QUICK ANSWER: Under 40 inches, LCD , Over 42 go for plasma TV

NOTE : THE NEWER PLASMA SCREENS ARE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO BURN

http://www.plasma.com/classroom/LCD_TV_versus_plasma_TV.htm

I have a 32in sharp aquos lcd in my room, and a 50in samsung plasma downstairs and the colors on the plasma definitely look better. Just go for 1080i unless you have a hd-dvd or blueray player.

[TaxGuru44]

Sony is THE AUTHORITY on televisions, i have no idea what anyone is saying about them. They've made the best lcd tvs for a long time. HOWEVER, samsung makes the screens for Both themselves and Sony so if you do not want to spend the extra $$ go with a sammy.



Just my $00.2 but I own a plasma and lcd...I'd never go back to an LCD. Yes you need to be careful about burn in but after the first month its a great product. Colors...ESPECIALLY blacks blow away LCDs. Lcds give a ghosty look.

But you couldn't go wrong with a Sony/Samsung LCD...And its a lot cheaper.

[Lcac_navy]

Just so you all know. I own a RCA SCENIUM TV. It is DLP and I think it is pretty darn good.... I only hear people talking about Plasma and LCD but there is yet another kind..... DLP so just thought I put that out there so you can research that type also.

[Flamehawk]

-is it true that LCD better in brighter room than plasma?
-what about what they say about plasma is better with fast moving stuff than LCD(because of the delay...)?

I know the black level is better on plasma, and color is warmer in plasma.

a lot of these articles I read don't have date on it, so not sure how recent it was written.

anyway, no matter what it will be a day/night difference in improvement, between what my parents have now(old[many many years] dim tube tv) and what I am going to help them getting. They been waiting patiently for the price to drop since they start having the plasma/lcd tv.

[Fish n' Frags]

I have a 42" Pioneer Elite Plasma. Bought it less than a year ago and i have massive burn in. With that being said, burn in aint that bad unless your watching a something with a white background. I also would recomend DLP. You can't beat the quality for the price and size.

[pk-sd]

Plasma burn-in are inherited in the technology. New TV do some funky pixle shifting to slow it down, but eventually its going to happen.

I have a Samsung LCD and Panasonic LCD. Both are very impressive. Sony and Samsung are the same screen. So go with Samsung and save some money. Samsung TVs look much better also.

When it comes tome to buy cables and mounts . Do not buy them from the store. Check out this place. HDMI cables for $4.00. Mounts for $19.00

http://www.monoprice.com

[DaveMorris]

I know from personal experience that Samsung's customer support sucks. My preference would be DLP, but the original post was comparing the pros and cons of LCD vs. plasma. It still comes down to looking at them at seeing what is pleasing to your eyes and preferences.

[TaxGuru44]

In regards to DLP. I completely agree that they look good and you can get a huge setup for a fraction of the cost. But of course that has to be a reason for that right?

DLPs are projection tvs and run on bulbs. Those bulbs must be changed every 2-4 years dependant on the # of hours run. I had a friend who has had his for just over 2 years and you can already see it dimming and my parents have a DLP that is dimming as well. Yes the bulb is just a few hundred dollars assuming you can install it yourself, but that is something to think about for sure. They are also not as low-profile as an lcd/plasma because of their depth.

I also have a Samsung 42'' plasma and have never dealt with burn-in. They have a simple program within the tv that wipes it clean if you ever get a little from watching a movie. Burn is really something of the past when plasmas first came out several years ago.

[DaveMorris]

Burn in is NOT a thing of the past. The way that plasma TVs make it "go away" is by sending the equivalent of a white screen to all of the pixels on the screen. This equalizes the portions of the screen that have been overdriven. They also utilize a scanning technique that tries to minimize it. The bottom line is that if you hook up your PSP, X-Box, or Wii to a plasma, it will be ruined eventually. It just takes a little longer now.

[jareed101]

Your choice should depend on their viewing habits. If they primarily watch TV in the daytime and/or in a brightly lit room, LCD will be the best choice by far. If they watch TV mainly at night and/or the TV will be in a room without windows, then plasma will be the way to go.

Some of the higher priced LCDs (Sony, Sharp) will employ special rendering techniques to achieve a dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1. This is an improvement over the run-of-the-mill LCD, but still not as good as plasma which have a static contrast ratio on the same order. Also, there are a couple of newer technology LCD sets that use LED backlighting (instead of fluorescent), which can achieve blacks superior to plasma. Of course being new technology, these sets still cost $$$$.

Finally, the big buzz words today are "1080p" and "120hz signal". You won't notice either of these effects watching HDTV material over the air, cable, or satellite. They only come into play with HD players like blu-ray.

Jeff


-is it true that LCD better in brighter room than plasma?
-what about what they say about plasma is better with fast moving stuff than LCD(because of the delay...)?

I know the black level is better on plasma, and color is warmer in plasma.

a lot of these articles I read don't have date on it, so not sure how recent it was written.

anyway, no matter what it will be a day/night difference in improvement, between what my parents have now(old[many many years] dim tube tv) and what I am going to help them getting. They been waiting patiently for the price to drop since they start having the plasma/lcd tv.

[DaveMorris]

"Finally, the big buzz words today are "1080p" and "120hz signal". You won't notice either of these effects watching HDTV material over the air, cable, or satellite."

Very true. In fact, most sporting events that are shot in HD are shot using 720p, not 1080p. In my case, 720p comes out of my Cox box and my Samsung TV converts it to 1080i. (It is about five years old) I don't see that changing anytime soon. The equipment changeover would be unbelievably expensive.

[Flamehawk]

Thanks for all the inputs guys...:)

[TaxGuru44]

Burn in IS a thing of the past. I have had my plasma over a year now and I run a Wii and PS3 all the time. The first month I had the television I got a little when playing sports games where the 6'' madden scoreboard got burnt in. After 30 min of having the TV off it went away. I've never had to run the "screen wipe" to take care of burn in. I also have buddies who have had plasmas for longer than myself and NONE of them have had burn in issues. I truly believe it can only come about if you played video games for 2 days straight and didn't turn off your television. AGAIN, this is just my experience and the experience of many of my co-workers and friends.

In regards to 1080p I really don't think its worth it unless you're a gamer because television won't be broadcast in 1080p for decades. Look how long AND expensive it was for them to get to high-def.

[DaveMorris]

One more swing at the dead horse...Taking care of burn in is certainly better, but it will still be a concern depending on use. My experience with this comes from working with plasmas literally every day as part of what I do for a living. It is very similar to the bulb change that will come about with a DLP TV. Yes you will need to do it, but it is completely dependant on how the TV is used.

In this case for Flamehawk, anything would be great because I doubt that his parents are hardcore gamers.

[CyberGuy]

I have a 52" Sony XBR4 LCD and it looks great.

But my next TV this year will probably be a Pioneer next generation Kuru and put it in a dedicated theater room with low lighting to prevent reflection.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/844/844444p1.html

The things that I hope this new model will have are:

1. no buzzing noise
2. kuro --- black is black

I like plasma because it will have less ghosting effect. Even with the 120 hz of the XBR4, you can still see a ghosting effect on fast moving images.

That being said, Flamehawk, you may want to look at the 52" XBR4. It has gone down a lot in price to only about $3,217.70 (at Amazon) or the 46" for $2,599.98.

[brandon0350]

i work at circuit city in the tv section and heres a little something to think about. i have heard from 3 representatives from different companies that they will no longer be producing plasmas or dlps after this year. from what i understand the plasmas are about as advanced as they will ever be and the dlp is an older technology so they are focusing their research on lcd because there is much more room for improvement

[HandyCaptPuffer]

hey flamehawk can answer any question you have and clear up any misdirection you may have gotten.

i am in the industry and have two distributors in san diego, one where we could meet up and i can take you to a showroom.

i am not worried about making money on this, just help me out when i need some corals or advice.

[DaveMorris]

And whatever you do...Don't waste your money buying Monster cable. Unless you plan on checking cables with an oscilloscope, their products are not worth the $$$.

[Flamehawk]

ok no monster cable...:)

cool....will pm you tonight or tomorrow handycaptpuffer

as for ghosting effect...I don't think will be that obvious to my parents...

[pk-sd]

And whatever you do...Don't waste your money buying Monster cable. Unless you plan on checking cables with an oscilloscope, their products are not worth the $$$.

That is so true. People also fail to recognize the fact that HDMI is transmitting digital signal. If your TV is displaying your source then the bits are making thru, at which strength, its irrelevant.

If it was analog signal, it will make some difference, but in most cases its not.

[Flamehawk]

just throught one question....will there be a difference between the image quality of sigal coming from cable box through hdmi cable and g/b/y/r/w (component)??

[pk-sd]

just throught one question....will there be a difference between the image quality of sigal coming from cable box through hdmi cable and g/b/y/r/w (component)??

Take a look at this:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.html

I am going to read it also. I use HDMI because its convenient as it carries both audio and video in a thin cable. Much easier to run behind the walls.

[DaveMorris]

In a living room, with the source 6' away, watching the crap that is on TV these days, or even a BlueRay DVD, nobody will see a difference between HDMI, DVI, or Component YRB. As a matter of fact, most people wouldn't notice the difference between any of those three and composite or S-video. I hate to see people wasting good money on cables that are driven by a huge marketing engine just to make money.