Looking for a TV

[Aylee]

In sometime in August or December i'm looking to buy a new tv for a theater type room i'm trying to put together. The room will mainly be used for console gaming, movies, and occasionally some television. Nothing big and extravagant just a small bed room, cheep old surround sound, a couch, and some blackout curtains. I was wondering what are some good tv's now and days and get some recommendations to be looking into over the next month or two. I don't want to go into the whole Plasma/LCD/LED debate, I Know the pros/cons of LCD/Plasma (not so much LED). Like I said earlier the room with be painted dark colors and only have 1 window using blackout curtains. The room is small about big enough to fit about a full size bed and a dresser with a little room to walk. I'm torn between a higher end 46' and a lesser quality 55'. The budget is around $850 USD, maybe SLIGHTLY higher if the benefits condone it. Due to the darkness of the room I was thinking Plasma would be the best way to go due to the cheaper prices and better image quality although the heat from plasma's are a big turn off and I don't really know much about what LED's have to offer. I do use netflix and pandora occasionally although I plan to have a ps3/wii/360 hooked up along with a tower for internet purposes so a internet tv isant a must, although it would be a nice bonus. As for 3D i'm not really into it although I would considering paying ~$100 more for it just encase the whole thing takes off. So BG what are your recommendations? Please justify your recommendation and again please no LED/LCD/Plasma debate.

[Cayos]

Be careful with buying huge TVs if you plan to game seriously. They have input lag which can a lot of games. My 42" was so bad that I avoided it altogether and just playing on a 17" CRT.

[Aylee]

Be careful with buying huge TVs if you plan to game seriously. They have input lag which can a lot of games. My 42" was so bad that I avoided it altogether and just playing on a 17" CRT.

Any gaming wont be to serious maybe some black ops or reach but not hard core only for fun and with friends. Although if its going to add a second or two of lag then i appreciate the heads up. Is there anything I could look for that would lower the lag rate? like higher mhz or contrast ratios?

[Cayos]

That's what sucks. None of the info they give you even hints at the presence of input lag. Some TVs will tell you their Response Time, but that has nothing to do with input lag. The only way you can really find out is to look up the TV reviews of people who game, or find a site that does it themselves. If you find a TV you think you like, ask the store if you can bring in your console and hook it up.

Shooters are really where it's most noticeable. It really bothered me in MW2 and Black Ops, but my brother said he never noticed it. Or atleast until he moved to my new TV without the lag. Now he won't switch back.

Try googling '46" gaming TVs" or something like that. You might even have some luck checking out newegg's customer comments.

The truth is it might be difficult to find the right TV this big for gaming. Someone will probably chime in with a good TV, so your best bet might be to just wait for comments here.

Edit: Input lag usually comes from post-processing. The less your TV does this, the less lag there will be.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18392...r_monitor.html

[Tymon]

I have a Trinitron TV from Sony that I use for competitive gaming.

As far as general use and light, non-competitive gaming is concerned, I think you could find a pretty good Vizio 1080p for that price.

Probably a lesser quality, or smaller, in a more well known brand (Samsung, etc)

But fuck if that Trinitron isn't glorious for old school gaming.

[Astarael]

Be careful with buying huge TVs if you plan to game seriously. They have input lag which can a lot of games. My 42" was so bad that I avoided it altogether and just playing on a 17" CRT.

wuh? I was selling TV's years ago, while gaming fairly competitively, and never noticed this on any modern models (fault free models at least). As long as you buy LCD, 1080p and a high refresh rate you'll be set for years. Ideally go LED if you can budget it.

[Isiolia]

Many newer TVs have a "game mode" where they bypass post-processing. You still want to research online about the particular model(s) you have your eye on as input lag is not something that's fixed as a whole (check here for example). Non-native resolution input will also add to input lag - if the TV has to scale the picture up to 1080p, then that's necessary processing to do.

You aren't really talking a second or more - more like being several frames (16ms per) behind instead of maybe one.

LED is just an LCD backlighting method, and unless you're paying for a local dimming model, is not going to do much for you over CCFL.

[Cephius]

Like Isi said, the input lag on newer TVs isn't horrible. It's really only crippling if you play hardcore street fighter type games where you need to have very fine reaction times. Game Mode helps, but it also makes the screen look like shit. I usually turn off some of the post processing effects manually and it works well enough.

Recommended it in other threads before, but I got a Samsung UN46C7000 and love it. 3D and the whole shtick for around $1100.

One thing though on the size of the TV. You make it sound like you're in a relatively small room. The optimal viewing distances for a 55" TV is around 10 feet. If your room is small and you sit relatively close to the TV, get something smaller. If you sit 5-7 feet away from the TV, go for a 42 or a 46.

[Aylee]

One thing though on the size of the TV. You make it sound like you're in a relatively small room. The optimal viewing distances for a 55" TV is around 10 feet. If your room is small and you sit relatively close to the TV, get something smaller. If you sit 5-7 feet away from the TV, go for a 42 or a 46.

This is big thing i'm torn between. I've been looking at ones at Walmart and they have a nice 46' LED Sony bravia internet tv beside a 55' sanyo tv. I try to stand as far away as I would be siting when i purchase one. I really want the theater experience (or as close as I can get to one). I'm not 100% positive on the distance from where the tv will be to the siting area but i'm estimating at about 7'-8'. I don't want to have to look all around the place while watching a move (Thing I hate most about Imax) but I don't want it to be to small and not get that experience i'm looking for.

Also any recommendations on where to buy one from (assuming multiple places sell the same tv). My Fiencee works at Walmart so we have a 10% discount there (They sell the majority of the Vizio tvs). Sadly no friends work at BestBuy.

[Cephius]

I like online retailers like Newegg or TigerDirect, if you keep an eye out for sales you can usually nab a pretty good deal. The 10% discount you get at Walmart may make it a winner though (plus you don't pay shipping)

[Salodin]

At what point do projectors become better then a normal tv? We have a dedicated "Theater Room" here, with a projection tv that comes out to 1080p 108". Obviously it's way past the size any TV would be reasonable, but at what point do you think it's better to ditch the normal TV and go projection?

[Cephius]

Projectors need dark rooms to be best, and the true 1080p models can get very expensive. You also have to consider bulb life, which usually is 1500-2000 hours before you have to shell out money to replace it.

[Skie]

nvm

[Aylee]

I would love a projector but the size of the room is WAY to small for it. Also I wont be able to run wires and stuff threw the ceiling or mount a projector. With my budget Shipping would kill the tv (at least i think). So I would prefer recommendations that either have physical locations and or free shipping.

[Senji]

Newegg, tigerdirect, amazon should all have free shipping, likely no tax as well.

a pretty good Vizio

lmao, funny stuff.

[Aylee]

Ok got the where out of the way, anyone have recommendation on which tv?

[Cayos]

Buying online or local?

[Aylee]

Buying online or local?

Either is fine, although If online needs to be free shipping (and preferable tax free to compete with the Walmart discount). Walmart discount is 10%, local tax is 9% so basically anything will be 1% off advertised price and tax free.

[Aylee]

I was looking at these two in store:

Sanyo MFG Corp 55'
Resolution: 1080p
contrats ratio:5,000:1
120Hz refresh
3 HDMI, 2 component, 1 A/V, 1PC
69lb w/o stand
----------------------------------------------------------

Sony Bravia 46'
LED
1080p resolution
60Hz refresh
4 HDMI, 2 c omponet, 1 PC
internet Connected
31.5lb w/o stand

[Aylee]

Thee purchase might have got bumped to tonight, how shitty is that 55' and how much better is the 46'? Anyone know of any better 858 price range tvs?