Buying new TV (Few questions)

[samalis]

So I'm planning to buy a new TV and just started looking. Was thinking about buying one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889102344

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889102401

I know barely anything about new TV's so any input would be great (I'm not even sure these are good tv's or if it's a good deal). I'm trying not to spend too much, I'm thinking my limit will be $1k or a little over that.

I also have a question about input lag, mainly for fighting games. Should I even worry about this when browsing for a new TV or probably not worry about it?

[octopus]

If you plan on playing fighting games on those, input lag is a huge concern. You should definitely research on it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1131464
http://shoryuken.com/f177/new-defini...ag-faq-174085/

[GentaiShinigami]

Spend the extra money and get the LN46C630 on Amazon. Its ~850 in the US (or was before Xmas for me). I love it and it has 120hz refresh rate and better quality+features all around over the c550. I like my c630 fwiw, and haven't had any problems gaming. Blu-ray is absolutely amazing in 1080p/24 (a lot of TV's don't display that properly, but the c630 can and does so beautifully). I use the PS3 with 24hz mode on, xvcc on, and super white on and it's just stunning.
This is something that plasma above can't do since it doesn't have 1080p support.

I also massively enjoy the ability to watch video files straight from a USB stick or USB external HDD without needing a computer to decode them. You just load up meda player on the TV with a button push and browse to the music/picture/video you want and there you go. Only hitch is some h264 mkvs won't decode, and for subtitles (like for anime) you'll have to rip the subs as a seperate file with the same name as the video (it's not hard just takes a couple of minutes). Stuff like xvid though plays flawlessly w/o any work done to it - subs and all.

I don't notice any input lag if it's in game mode, and rarely any outside game mode, but then again I'm not some super serious fighting game nerd either. Unless you play an assload of games that require millisecond precise timing onlin ethen I'd say I wouldn't worry about it. I suppose you always have 30 days to send it back if its too bad for your needs if you are going through Amazon. /shrug GL hope you enjoy w/e you end up with! ^^

Annnnnd cue a million posters saying get plasma and trashing LCDs. XD

[Darus Grey]

Annnnnd cue a million posters saying get plasma and trashing LCDs. XD

And for good reason!

[Appie]

I don't notice any input lag if it's in game mode, and rarely any outside game mode, but then again I'm not some super serious fighting game nerd either.

Samsung C650 (not exactly your TV, but same line)

Input lag 45ms in “Game” mode, 95ms otherwise

taken from: http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsu...0100506527.htm

Most people won't notice anything once input lag gets below 30 ms, but anything above can be noticed, especially if you do fighting games with a passion.

Seems the C530 (and probably the 550 too then) has pretty low input lag, quite awesome for a LCD actually:
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsu...0100813815.htm

Input lag Only 14ms compared to lag-free CRT!

I'd just browse hdtvtest for a tv you'd want to pick up. I love the extensive testing on that site which helped me buy my new TV about a year ago.

As for plasma vs lcd, usually nowadays easier to find a plasma with low input lag and good tv features for other stuff than a LCD in the same price range. I went with a Plasma. Wether that Plasma you linked is any good, no idea, the whole term "3D ready" looks fail to me much like "HD ready" 4years ago, Especially 50 inch and then 720p is not done in my book lol, "3D ready" or not.