Looking into HDTVs

[Heavencloud]

So I'm trying to decide on a good affordable HDTV that's practical. I don't really want the best of the best or anything, honestly I hardly notice a difference in 1080p and 720p (unless people think otherwise). My main concern is viewing quality from angles, longevity, & size, 42 inches preferably. I've heard bad things about Plasma which makes me think that an LCD would be the way to go.

Anyway, does anyone have advice on TV purchases and what to look out for? Price range ~$600 max, but lower is better.

[Skie]

Dont buy into the whole LCD vs plasma debate.

Plasmas have better pictures over all. They are best suited for HD moves in dimly lit rooms. Plasmas use to have more issues with burning images into the screen but this isant as big of an issue as it use to be.

LCD's are more for casual tv viewing in my option. If the tv is going to be in a well lit room with lots of sun and stuff go with this type.

Personally i prefer Sony bravia's. Also just get a 1080p most are 1080p anyway. They arent much more expensive as 780p if at all.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony/13422987

[Holly Short]

I had the same questions, and ended up getting a 42" Panasonic s2 series 1080p that was on sale on best buy. LOVE IT. It is a great TV. As said above, don't buy into the plasma's are bad debate. Also, if you play video games plasmas are better cause they generally have a better refresh rate.

[kareface]

Jesus, it's amazing how the LCD vs Plasma thing gets brought up so often and every time someone corrects people on it a month later someone else mentions "hearing bad things about plasma." I need to get the LCD guy who started that rumor to run marketing for some of the sites I manage.

Skie hit the nail on the head. Unless you plan on playing an MMO on it where the content on the screen never changes for 12 hours at a time for days on end, or if you plan on using in a room that's as bight as the morning sun, you're better off going with a plasma.

[Heavencloud]

Wow, good to know. That definitely helps me because Plasmas seem to be a bit cheaper, glad I asked here lol. Do those of you who have had a 720p vs 1080p notice a big difference? Although as it will be a Plasma I'll likely go with 1080 now.

Also I live at 1000 ft, and I read something about plasmas burning out quicker at higher elevations? Although I doubt at 1000ft it would be a big difference...

[Tidane]

Jesus, it's amazing how the LCD vs Plasma thing gets brought up so often and every time someone corrects people on it a month later someone else mentions "hearing bad things about plasma." I need to get the LCD guy who started that rumor to run marketing for some of the sites I manage.

Skie hit the nail on the head. Unless you plan on playing an MMO on it where the content on the screen never changes for 12 hours at a time for days on end, or if you plan on using in a room that's as bight as the morning sun, you're better off going with a plasma.

I tell every person that asks me about TVs to avoid plasmas because of my personal experience with plasmas when they were the new technology. The one plasma TV I had would get anything and everything burned into it. I had the screen replaced four times, hoping that I was just an unlucky sonofabitch that kept getting defective screens. A bad experience turns people off to things and it sticks with them. Even though I've had numerous people tell me that they don't have issues with their (newer) plasma TVs, I don't think I would be able to buy another unless they gave me a few months to try it out before finalizing the purchase.

Get a 1080p TV, there's no reason not to. You should be able to find a 42-46" 1080p name-brand plasma for around $600. I saw a few in the Sunday paper that were around that price, but I didn't do any research into the quality of the TVs.

[kareface]

By that logic no one should buy LCDs because the image will tear and distort and the input delay will make it impossible to play any games. Holding technology to standards it had a long ass time ago doesn't make any sense.

[Vandole]

if you want to get one right now for a good price, this is a fucking steal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-LC42SB48UT...m2000036#_rtop

[Heavencloud]

if you want to get one right now for a good price, this is a fucking steal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-LC42SB48UT...m2000036#_rtop

That really does look like a good deal, is 60hz too low? That's the only thing that looks significantly different from others around that size.

[Skie]

On a side note lcds are more kid friendly, they don't. Show fingure prints and don't glare much. Plasmas are horrible with both but the glare is where lighting comes in

[kareface]

That really does look like a good deal, is 60hz too low? That's the only thing that looks significantly different from others around that size.

60 is pretty damn low now-a-days. 120 at least. Unless we're talking plasmas, then hz doesn't matter at all.

[Heavencloud]

60 is pretty damn low now-a-days. 120 at least. Unless we're talking plasmas, then hz doesn't matter at all.

Yeah, kinda a turn off, gonna go shopping this weekend hopefully and look for a Plasma, I get 10% employee discount where I would + they usually have a coupon the week of Christmas, so I should be able to do pretty well.

[Adajer]

I was looking up the differences between LEDs and plasmas lately. I was pro-LED w/o any real knowledge about plasmas besides they have burn in problems. After some research I found out plasmas are really great for games. I then later found out that you have to spend 100 to 200 hours breaking in your TV to avoid any burn in problems. And that you have to do some weekly/monthly maintenance burn-in proofing. I also hear that even after breaking in the screen that if you play FPSs with HUDs that stay on screen for a long time or MMOs you may still get some burn in probs. Anyone that owns a plasma able to confirm any of this stuff? I do like the pros of a plasma screen but I'd rather not have to do all that maintenance.

[Skie]

I use to play halo3/reach on my 2 year old plasma. would play for around 1-5 hours at a time. I would have my radar and sometimes matchmaking lobby symbol burned into screen when i turned it off or on but it went away after 5-10 minutes. No permiment burn ins. Also i never do any proofing shit. Turn on TV and use it.

[Isiolia]

I started looking into Plasma as well, since my LCD is getting old enough that I can justify moving it somewhere else and getting a bigger TV for the living room. Plasma is certainly not without issues, and not just image retention/relative dimness/etc. Wasn't as gung-ho about it after spending some time on AVSforum, lol. That said, LCD/LED has issues too. It's just a matter of picking which you want to live with, much as it is between LCD techs for desktop monitors.

I then later found out that you have to spend 100 to 200 hours breaking in your TV to avoid any burn in problems.

If I recall, the break-in period is more a pre-calibration thing, with image retention simply becoming less of a problem after the TV has had some use.

[kareface]

I was looking up the differences between LEDs and plasmas lately. I was pro-LED w/o any real knowledge about plasmas besides they have burn in problems. After some research I found out plasmas are really great for games. I then later found out that you have to spend 100 to 200 hours breaking in your TV to avoid any burn in problems. And that you have to do some weekly/monthly maintenance burn-in proofing. I also hear that even after breaking in the screen that if you play FPSs with HUDs that stay on screen for a long time or MMOs you may still get some burn in probs. Anyone that owns a plasma able to confirm any of this stuff? I do like the pros of a plasma screen but I'd rather not have to do all that maintenance.

All you need to do to burn in the screen is make sure during the first 100hours you don't do anything that would promote burn in. It's easier to burn in during the first 100hours so just take it easy with the games until after then. You don't need to do any maintenance after that. It is true if you play an MMO for hours on end every day on your TV you're better off with an LCD. If you have your display calibrated it's a lot less likely to burn in. Most displays have the brightness turned up too high, when it's calibrated you need very little brightness to generate the correct colors. You use less power and have much better image quality. At the same time the lower brightness levels helps prevent burn in. If you play a lot of games having the screen calibrated isn't a bad idea to help reduce the chances of it happening. It's worth it, the image looks much better after calibration. The only people I know who have managed to burn in their screens are ones that had the brightness cranked up. Even if you don't calibrate the screen you can just keep the brightness down for things you're worried about burn in for. Most newer TVs also have pixel switching or shifting to options to prevent burn in.

All I did for the 'burn-in period' on my screen was watch movies and playing games with no problem. I got the screen calibrated but I was planing to get one anyways. I have the pixel shifting for games. I haven't done anything for maintenance otherwise. My friend comes over to play through games he doesn't own and he'll spend 12+ hours playing the same game. I've never had any problems with the games burning in and I don't do anything to the screen.

[Caiyuo]

While the topic's on the table, what's the recommended way of calibrating a TV? Having someone come in or is it practical to do it yourself given a guide or instruction?

[Mabubeezareel]

Though it can be a bit pricy, the best route to go for calibration is to enlist an ISF-certified tech to do it for you. I recently had my TV calibrated, and while it cost me $200.00, it was very well worth the money.

[Omnipotent]

What does LED do for you compared to LCD/Plasma debate.

[Mabubeezareel]

LED-backlit sets are actually LCD panels, just that they have LED backlighting instead of the standard CCFL. They're thinner, use less power, and............that's really about it. Pay no mind to their over-inflated dynamic contrast ratio claims - they're just marketing BS.