TV Options

[Kor]

Re: TV Options

Plasma's are getting much more reasonable these days. I hate the feeling like I got the wrong thing after the money is down. Thanks for all the opinions.

Kor - What's your opinion of LCD Projection?

I haven't looked at LCD Projection personally so I don't like to offer opinions on things I don't know about :(

[James]

Re: TV Options

Ya, i tend to agree with Kris that DLP is going to be your best bang for the buck. I could have got a 60inch good quality DLP for what I paid for my 42 plasma.

That said, prices on plasmas are pretty decent, much better than LCD for what you get IMO. I paid 2100 for my 42inch panasonic plasma.. a similar quailty LCD is at least 400 more than that (although my buddy got a 42inch sony lcd on boxing day for 2200)

If you're in the market for a pretty cheap plasma, check out the Westinghouse line. Ive heard they arent bad quality at all and they have a 1080p plasma now which is pretty uncommon, unless you want to spend 3200+

[Billip]

Re: TV Options

Oh the 1080p thing again... lol. Most of the time 1080p is not going to be noticed by you, but some of the time it is. Depends on the size of your screen and how far away you sit from it.

Here's a GREAT article on this, with easy to understand charts:

http://www.carltonbale.com/blog/2006...p-does-matter/

[James]

Re: TV Options

Oh the 1080p thing again... lol. Most of the time 1080p is not going to be noticed by you, but some of the time it is. Depends on the size of your screen and how far away you sit from it.

Here's a GREAT article on this, with easy to understand charts:

http://www.carltonbale.com/blog/2006...p-does-matter/

hah ya I didnt notice a difference...I got my xbox running on 1080i and I dont notice a difference in that either really :P

[Simon]

Re: TV Options

we picked up a 37" sharp aquos LCD couple weeks ago and are loving it. great picture and sound.

[hifiguy]

Re: TV Options

1) If you are in a room where you are unable to control the light coming in the windows and you watch during daylight hours, then LCD flat panel will be your better bet. If you are able to control the light, then Plasma is definately a better picture.

2) Most ratings on contrast ratio are all BS. There is no freeking way any TV on the market is better than 2000:1 in real TV watching conditions. All the suppliers that are rating higher than that are giving you "dynamic" ratings which basically means they measured the TV with an all white screen blasting it as brightly as they possibly can, they then turned the TV off and measured the blacks. Needles to say, a BS measurement. The only "true" contrast measurement is to calibrate the TV to ISF (image sciences foundation) standards and then put a black and white checker board display on the screen and measure the difference between black and white. Currently impossible to shop TV's based on contrast ratio becasue all the numbers as sku'd and mean absolutely nothing.

3) DLP is available in Rear Projection or Front Projection. The thinnest rear pro is currently about 14" in depth for a 42" vs. a flat panel LCD or Plasma which average about 4" in depth excluding their base.

4) DLP rear pro vs. LCD rear pro.
a) DLP can not reproduce grey scale very well, LCD reproduces grey scale extremely well. Real life example: Star Wars movie; the stars in the black sky are ALL visible on an LCD and not all visible on a DLP
b) LCD can not reproduce perfect black (black being the abscense of all colour), DLP reproduces black perfectly. Real life example: Star Wars movie; the sky is perfectly black (except the stars of course) on a DLP, on the LCD it is "almost" black.
c) DLP is a reflective technology and therefore is VERY bright, LCD is a translucent technology and therefore is not as bright.
d) DLP has a million moving parts, LCD has very few (service issues in the future?)
Bottom Line: Calibrated to ISF standards, I would suggest that you would be happy with either one and could really not tell the difference with the same source playing side by side.

LCD rear pro supporters: Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi
DLP rear pro supporters: Toshiba, Samsung, LG

ALL DLP TV's use the Texas Instruments processing chip. I would suggest that if you are comparing pricing on an LCD rear pro vs. a DLP rear pro or equal suppier weight, you will find pricing VERY comparable. Ie: Sony to Toshiba. Not fair to compare Sony to LG for example as they are just not the same. Sony being a massive Japanese company vs. LG being a massive Korean company.

50" LCD rear Pro you can expect to pay $1499 and up.
50" DLP rear Pro you can expect to pay $1399 and up.

5) Top brands for LCD Flat Panel: Sharp Aquos, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba. There are, of course a plethora of "off brands" that do a terrific job for less money.

6) Top brands for Plasma: Panasonic, Pioneer Elite, Hitachi. LG has had a very bad run of luck with their plasma over the last couple of years so I would stay away from those until they have figured things out. Toshiba is currently using LG panels so I would avoid Toshiba too, however, there have been some great prices for Toshiba Plasma lately.

Sorry for the long post, but there is no short answer to the question "What TV should I buy". Your TV purchase should be well researched based on your needs and the environment that it will be in. Not all TV's are created equal, so don't necessarily buy one brand because of price. There is probably a reason why brand X is so much cheaper than brand Y.

[Kor]

Re: TV Options

Some corrections.

Samsung makes a 46" DLP rear projection that is 12 inches thick. BUT this is only at the thickest point, at the bottom in the center. Along the edges its like 2-3 inches thick. Many plasmas are quite thick, on best buy you can find a 50" plasma that is 16 inches thick at maximum! And many are more than 12 inches thick! Samsungs 46" LCD is 14 inches thick. According to the thickness in the specs on their site at least. I think its not that different. Some people don't even realize how thick their "flat panel" is at the back.

Its hard to describe the shape of the DLP TV but MOST of the tv is NOT the full thickness. Its not a box. It tapers.

This is a picture:

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.en...slimdlp_06.jpg

[hifiguy]

Re: TV Options

Some corrections.

Samsung makes a 46" DLP rear projection that is 12 inches thick. BUT this is only at the thickest point, at the bottom in the center. Along the edges its like 2-3 inches thick. Many plasmas are quite thick, on best buy you can find a 50" plasma that is 16 inches thick at maximum! And many are more than 12 inches thick! Samsungs 46" LCD is 14 inches thick. According to the thickness in the specs on their site at least. I think its not that different. Some people don't even realize how thick their "flat panel" is at the back.

Its hard to describe the shape of the DLP TV but MOST of the tv is NOT the full thickness. Its not a box. It tapers.

This is a picture:

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.en...slimdlp_06.jpg

I appreciate the "correction", but if you note my exception "excluding their base." The base of the TV is where you are getting the thickness on a flat panel TV. Take off the base and the panel is at maximum 5", on average 4" thick. I appreciate the fact that the base (the part keeping the TV standing) is "16 inches thick". This piece of plastic is not part of the TV when hanging on the wall. I'm sorry I missed the Samsung (Korean import) that is 12" thick vs. my claim of 14" (the 2" differece will be a pretty big deal in most peoples' houses). Still that rear pro at 12" is still taking up at least one entire foot of your room space (if you sit it on the floor, most people buy the matching stand that is 18" deep) vs. the flat panel that is taking up 6 inches (including wall mount) of room space. Any person actually going into the store with their measuring tape vs. reading the specs on the internet will notice that there is absolutely no comparison, what so ever, between a rear pro TV and a Flat panel Plasma or LCD.

It doesn't matter that your rear pro is 3" at some points on the cabinet. When you set it on the floor (without stand), it still takes up a minimum of 12" (your quote) of room space. I am not computer savey so can not post links to pics on this site, but if your were to compare thicknesses, it is like comparing the thickness of your LCD computer monitor to the thickness of yor CRT monitor. "Don't even get me started on refresh rate claims."

Bottom line: Flat panels are not thick at the back, their stand is but the TV is not. Get out of the house, enjoy the sunshine (the bright thing in the sky), and actually look at the TV's that are displayed in the stores.

[Kor]

Re: TV Options

I didn't mean to be too critical so please don't take my post harshly (if you did). It seems like you're getting a little too excited. Just trying to show both sides and if you quote numbers then of course someone is going to quote other numbers. Saying the thinnest DLP is 42" across and 14" thick is a fair bit different from 46" across and 12" thick.

On some flat panel TVs yes the base is much thicker, which is why in my post above I said that depending on how people set up their TV's (on a base vs the wall) they won't notice the difference vs DLP. Many people put them in the corner which is ridiculous and takes up the SAME space then as a DLP tv.

But some panels are thicker than 4 or 5 inches for example they have a bracket or a cable box or are just thicker by a couple more inches - particularly the cheap ones. Can you REALLY say that its at MAXIMUM 5 inches, as in, no flat panel TV exists that is thicker than 5 inches? If so then I can appologize but I am guessing you are just picking some number from the air.

Regardless of your insinuation that I need to "get out of the house", I have seen side by side in home comparison of a rear projection DLP thin TV versus a flat panel and I am giving my opinion that, in person, side by side, when you realize the cost of both you can't help but think why would any sane person buy a flat panel TV unless they just like that it hangs on their wall. The picture and experience is just as good from the rear projection tv at half the price. Or better because the TV area is MUCH larger and still the same price. Period.

I personally don't own a DLP TV and I don't really want one. I don't even own a TV in my whole house as many people on here know, I don't spend much time at home at all. I'm simply giving my opinion.

Looking at TV's in the store is not like having them in a house. Of course they want you to spend twice as much at future shop and buy the latest thing in plasma TV's. Use your own judgement and think about what you want from your TV and where you will be putting it.

[Kor]

Re: TV Options

Companies are announcing 2007 products so you may want to wait. Here's Sharp's 8th generation mfg technology TV's

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/07...-aquos-lineup/

In my opinion LCD is more or less replacing plasma this year with TV's like this.