Purchasing an HDTV.

[kareface]

I am looking to purchase a HDTV but I am not sure what to get.


This will be my main TV for movies, sports and games. Looking to get a 40 or 42 inch 1080P TV.

LCD or Plasma? Which would be a good choice if i intend to play PS3 / 360 on it. Looking to spend about $1000-$1200. Also, what stores could I go to, to check out the TV's. ( Los Angeles) What is the best time to purchase a TV, should i wait for black friday sales or are there better sales out now?

For movies and sports I would use plasma, for games LCDs are better. I wouldn't buy a HDTV in the stores, the prices are so much better online and any TV you could get that would be worth the money on black friday would likely require you camping outside the store for a few days. If you play a ton of games with something on the screen that never changes for hours at a time then you might try an LCD. The picture will be better on a plasma and things like sports you won't run into the triple puck effect but if you play a lot of games it's safer to use a LCD.

After looking around and comparing TVs side by side I decided to stick with my original choice. And I couldn't be happier. Got it home and set up and was pretty amazed by the picture. The TV looks bigger in my room than it did in the store lol which always seems to be the case.

Nice, sorry I wasn't able to provide a little more help, I'm in the middle of moving and setting up my new place. I'm currently building a sound dampened room for my home theater. I'm about 9 days away from finishing it up, once it's all done I'll post some details.

[Darus Grey]

For movies and sports I would use plasma, for games LCDs are better. I wouldn't buy a HDTV in the stores, the prices are so much better online and any TV you could get that would be worth the money on black friday would likely require you camping outside the store for a few days. If you play a ton of games with something on the screen that never changes for hours at a time then you might try an LCD. The picture will be better on a plasma and things like sports you won't run into the triple puck effect but if you play a lot of games it's safer to use a LCD.



Nice, sorry I wasn't able to provide a little more help, I'm in the middle of moving and setting up my new place. I'm currently building a sound dampened room for my home theater. I'm about 9 days away from finishing it up, once it's all done I'll post some details.

Just curious by which criteria you say that LCD>Plasma for gaming? Cause at least in the fighting game scene, Plasma Blows LCD away in terms of response time and input lag.

Or are you speaking strictly from a screen burn-in standpoint? Cause I really think that's a non-issue these days, you just gotta be alittle conscious of it and not play shit for 15 hours straight, which is only an issue if there's no loading screens and such(Such as mentioned: Prototype) where the UI *never* disappears for long stretches.

[kareface]

Just curious by which criteria you say that LCD>Plasma for gaming? Cause at least in the fighting game scene, Plasma Blows LCD away in terms of response time and input lag.

Or are you speaking strictly from a screen burn-in standpoint? Cause I really think that's a non-issue these days, you just gotta be alittle conscious of it and not play shit for 15 hours straight, which is only an issue if there's no loading screens and such(Such as mentioned: Prototype) where the UI *never* disappears for long stretches.

It's less of an issue now-a-days, but it can still happen. If you don't break in the screen you can easily burn it in right off the bat. Also, some games tend to be a bit too dark on plasmas which usually result in people turning up the brightness and contrast only making the issue worse. If you are a hardcore gamer or play for hours at a time the LCD would be a better option. However, I do agree that in every other instance plasma is best.

[Arkanna]

Newegg.com - Samsung ToC 58" 1080p Plasma HDTV w/ 4HDMI - PN58A650

What's up with the price on that thing? I'm trying to spot its weakness in the specs and whatnot, but I'm drawing a blank..

[Darus Grey]

Plasma after 40inch is just significantly cheaper than LCD, that's the "difference".

You can get a 50inch S1 series Plasma for $999 for instance. Which is why I've said they're the best value.

I agree with Kareface, but what he's essentially saying is don't buy a Plasma if you're too dumb to treat it properly, which sadly, applies to most people.

[octopus]

Just curious by which criteria you say that LCD>Plasma for gaming? Cause at least in the fighting game scene, Plasma Blows LCD away in terms of response time and input lag.

I've been wondering about this issue. I have a Panasonic plasma. One thing that I've noticed since I have both PS3 and a 360 version of SF4, I've found that I'm getting some display lag on the PS3 side of things, compared to the 360 version. Which doesn't really make sense because it's the same game.

My hypothesis is this: It seems like the PS3 version of the game forces the display to use 720p, while the 360 version uses the internal hardware scaling to go to 1080i (I have the old, non-HDMI version of the 360). So when the PS3 game runs off of 720p, it turns to the plasma scaling the display from 720p to 1080p, and the scaling within the display is creating the display lag that I'm experiencing with the PS3 version.

Does this make sense? Or do you all think I'm off base ;o

[Darus Grey]

Well, there is the whole camp that SF4PS3 runs almost non-noticeably slower than 360 in any circumstances. I tend to agree with this just based on personal experience with both.

You're scaling the picture on both instances, and in-fact you're adding an *extra* step in the 360 version(720p->1080i->deinterlacer->1080p) vs 360 (720p -> 1080p). I'd recommend setting the 360 to 720p output and see if you get the same "lag" under similar circumstances.

Also are you using HDMI for PS3? many TVs have odd issues with the HDCP handshake causing input lag compared to component.

[Xplicit]

Nice TV

[Freeko]

Anyone have a opinion on this TV


VIZIO 42" LCD HDTV | VIZIO

About $880.00 at Sam's Club, Costco

[Aikar]

Anyone have a opinion on this TV


VIZIO 42" LCD HDTV | VIZIO

About $880.00 at Sam's Club, Costco

I just bought that exact TV but I got it in a bundle for 800$ that also came with that wall mount, hdmi cable and a sound bar (my bar didnt have sub though)
Walmart sells the TV alone for 700$ iirc.

Its pretty decent and good colors, no issues with it so far.

One downside is only 2ch audio ports, nothing higher.

[raginbull]

I read on another forum that LCDs are now way ahead of Plasmas in sales. Said LCDs have something like a 74% market share for HDTVs. Anyone know if this is true?

[Dolmen]

I purchased this one from Costco in July for $700:
40" LCD TV LN40B540 40" 1080p LCD HDTV - LCD TV - Televisions | SAMSUNG

The biggest selling point was the price for me, but it's given me more value than $700. Only thing that isn't great are the speakers, but I don't care really about that.

As for plasmas, I've had numerous friends tell me to only get a plasma if the TV is over 50". Personally, I've always found plasmas a little too pixelated, but those are in-store displays.

[kareface]

I read on another forum that LCDs are now way ahead of Plasmas in sales. Said LCDs have something like a 74% market share for HDTVs. Anyone know if this is true?

It's very true. Plasmas used to cost an arm and a leg and don't usually come in smaller sizes. LCDs are smaller, were cheaper in most cases and the average person doesn't know enough to understand the difference between the two. Think about it like this, how many people on this board know enough about computers to know what is good and bad to buy, my guess is the number is in the thousands, most of them likely don't even bother responding to threads because there are so many others to take care of it. On the other hand, how many people on the forums can offer real expertise in the field of AV, a handful, maybe more who don't bother to respond. Knowledge of things like LCDs and plasmas is like knowledge of washer dryers, most people can live fine w/o knowing anything about it. You see numbers like dynamic contrast and hrz and think "omg, LCDs will kick plasmas ass".

However, companies like to present things like that in the best light possible, not mentioning that even with 'dynamic contrast' LCDs still look very washed out, overly white and colors aren't as crisp when contrasted against blacks or whites. They don't mention that plasmas and projectors don't need to have huge hrz because of their display format and that in a lot of cases having higher hrz can have negative effects on the quality of the image on LCDs creating the triple puck effect or making the images look surreal and out of place. There isn't one hrz setting that works for everything (sports/movies/games) and it can create input lag and odd delays in interactive situations.

Personally, I've always found plasmas a little too pixelated, but those are in-store displays.

If you are talking about artifacting or motion blur then plasmas will do better pound for pound vs. LCDs when comparing similar products. If you are talking about having 'smooth edges' on all the images that's smoothing and smoothing is knida crap, lol. Both LCDs and plasmas have options for it, but it usually just makes things worse.

Edit: Almost done with my sound room for the home theater! The second layer of drywall and the acoustic insulation are going in tomorrow (starting work at 8am /sadface). I'm gonna post a huge update once the room is finished.

[Minions]

Plasmas were generally hit with bad impressions off the get-go. They originally had some pretty bad issues with burning in (which is now pretty much remedied) however, most people still believe they can ruin a plasma easily just by leaving it on. Another issue plasmas are still having, is the amount of power they use. Its kinda like a hidden cost, and many "average" consumers would rather not pay more "additional" costs outside of the initial investment. TV's with LED back-lights are making the difference between the two even larger as far as power consumption.

[Jak]

Another question.. I've been reading about "calibrating" your HDTV or whatever and Best Buy offers to do it for like 200 bucks which seems outrageous considering the TV I want is only 600 bucks. Is calibrating it yourself pretty easy? I know I'd probably never get the results like a professional but.. is it easy enough to just get info. off the interweb or BG and do it myself for nothing? Now I'm all worried when I get my LCD TV my PS3 will not look like it would at the store...

[Weeks]

Find a copy of the Avia Guide to Home Theater (DVD) and use that to calibrate everything. You could just download a torrent, but it comes with color calibrators that you'll miss out on. Avia II can be had for $27 at buy.com. I can't vouch for II, but the original I have is very good for setting a system up.

[kareface]

Another question.. I've been reading about "calibrating" your HDTV or whatever and Best Buy offers to do it for like 200 bucks which seems outrageous considering the TV I want is only 600 bucks. Is calibrating it yourself pretty easy? I know I'd probably never get the results like a professional but.. is it easy enough to just get info. off the interweb or BG and do it myself for nothing? Now I'm all worried when I get my LCD TV my PS3 will not look like it would at the store...

It's not easy to do it right, but you can do it yourself and it'll likely be better then having it on the default settings. I'm not sure about your specific TV but I did read up about my own and there was some decent info on this forum: Calibration Forums - Powered by vBulletin

Also, don't have bestbuy do it. They use a really crappy light sensor and that makes me a sad panda.

Calibration is great, it's something that anyone who has a decent TV should do. In the mid end and higher (I'd say 1.5k+) TV's I'd rather take one for 200$ less that's calibrated properly then one for 200$ more that wasn't. It makes a big difference and in most cases your TV will use less power then default settings as you won't require the black light cranked up to see things clearly.

Find a copy of the Avia Guide to Home Theater (DVD) and use that to calibrate everything. You could just download a torrent, but it comes with color calibrators that you'll miss out on. Avia II can be had for $27 at buy.com. I can't vouch for II, but the original I have is very good for setting a system up.

That really isn't calibration because the human eye isn't a good tool to use to calibrate anything really.

[Darus Grey]

If you want actual professional calibration, call up TV shops and ask if they're ISF "certified".

Price varies wildly between different calibraters so shop around if you can, but I paid $150+50 per additional device(they do it per input, per input device, console/dvd/etc). Me and most people agree it's some of the best money you can spend on enhancing your TV.

[kareface]

If you want actual professional calibration, call up TV shops and ask if they're ISF "certified".

Price varies wildly between different calibraters so shop around if you can, but I paid $150+50 per additional device(they do it per input, per input device, console/dvd/etc). Me and most people agree it's some of the best money you can spend on enhancing your TV.

Not just that, you should ask about their equipment, if they've worked with your TV before (because each one is very different and if you pay by the hour and the guy spends 1/2 of it hunting for the settings then you're in the shitter) if they know how to access the service menu for your television (you'd be suprised how many don't), how many inputs/resolutions/color modes they plan to do for the price (some get really picky about what they will and won't do) and make sure they know to set the TV up for your lighting situation, if they tune for a bright room and you're in the dark it won't look as nice.

Here is some info to help you find someone in your area:

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm

There are a ton of pretty well known ones that do tours around the US and Cantanadia as well if there isn't someone in your area.

[Callisto]

Guess I'll post here instead of making a new thread, I'm thinking about junking my old crappy JVC HDTV because I'm moving today and I don't think I'm going to be able to find enough people to help me move it, it's absurdly heavy and so far the only help I have moving is one friend my size(6' 145ish).

I think I may just trash it and get a new one, but I'd only have about $400-500 to spend, I know that's pretty low end, but any recommendations? It'd be pretty much evenly split usage-wise between PS3/360 gaming and watching hockey/football, so not sure what to take away from the plasma vs. LCD discussion above.