OT, Looking for info on the best big screen

[Bill R.]

hdtv to buy. I've been looking at 50 to 60 inch, plasma, lcd and rear projections. in the 2 to 3k price range. Any experts out there with info on the best for reliability ,picture, etc.? Thanks.

[nirvana19]

Well, you say plasmas and rear projection, but I would seriously consider front projection if I were you. Unless for some reason it simply wouldn't work (such as lighting or space for the screen) I would definitely go with a Panasonic PT-AE900U and really any highly quality screen (I'm actually using a cheapo home made one). You simply can't beat the cinematic experience, especially when matched with a high end sound system. Also, you can't beat the price.

[winfred]

it's been a while since i looked but unless somebody comes up with a break through my next biggen will be another rear projection, proven tech and cheep compared to the wall hangers, i have a friend with a new dlp and the first one crapped in a couple weeks but the 2nd has been good for several months, i don't like plasma due to the heat they make, that can't be good, none of the wall hangers impress me with their refresh rates, fast action shots screen door bad imho and that drives me nuts, if you do want a dlp/lcd/plasma make sure you spend some time watching it with some bright fast action to make sure you agree with it's refresh rate, some people don't even see the screen door effect, they will get faster and cheeper in time so if my sony rear projector craps in the next couple years ill most likely get a mitsubishi rear projector

[misfortune]

Sony SXRD.
I hate sony, love that screen. You can't go wrong with this. I can't even look at any other hidef sets and be impressed anymore.

[Bill R.]

70 different ones at Sam's club, costco,sears, bestbuy, circuit city and a couple of local high end shops. I really wanted to get something from Costco since they have that 100% satisfaction guarantee where you can return it anytime and get a complete refund if your not happy with it. I was going to get a 50 inch grand wega sony that they had and then i saw the 50 inch SXRD at circuit city and the picture difference was night and day. I tried multiple inputs on both and looked at both in standard def as well as high def

The only thing keeping me from getting the 50 SXRD at 2600 from circuit city is their return policy compared to Costco's...

Was hoping to hear from others on some that i might not have seen yet. Replacing a Akai 54 inch that seems to break yearly and hoping to get one thats a bit more reliable.





Sony SXRD.
I hate sony, love that screen. You can't go wrong with this. I can't even look at any other hidef sets and be impressed anymore.

[misfortune]

My good friend bought the 50" sony SXRD at circuit city for that price and he is so happy with it. I can't see why you woudln't just buy it :D My boss has the 61" model and everytime I'm there its discovery HD or espn HD. I love that thing.


70 different ones at Sam's club, costco,sears, bestbuy, circuit city and a couple of local high end shops. I really wanted to get something from Costco since they have that 100% satisfaction guarantee where you can return it anytime and get a complete refund if your not happy with it. I was going to get a 50 inch grand wega sony that they had and then i saw the 50 inch SXRD at circuit city and the picture difference was night and day. I tried multiple inputs on both and looked at both in standard def as well as high def

The only thing keeping me from getting the 50 SXRD at 2600 from circuit city is their return policy compared to Costco's...

Was hoping to hear from others on some that i might not have seen yet. Replacing a Akai 54 inch that seems to break yearly and hoping to get one thats a bit more reliable.

[Martin in Bellevue]

Bill, we have the 60" grand wega. It is a couple years old. The backlit 3 lcd panels are incredible with a good HD signal. There is a depth & clarity that I think is singular to this set. There are settings to focus this depth in reference to the seating distance from the screen. It may be too big to tolerate crappy signals. I like it very much. A friend with the same Grand Wega, has an HD DVD player, I think the sony blue ray, that almost equals the HD signal from Comcast, the local cable provider.

Also, it has a very good picture when viewed from tangent positions to front & center. You can be almost anywhere off to the side of the screen & see the picture well, unlike plasma screens. I discounted front projection sets due to the low light level resolutions too.

[HDhandyman]

How about (to put it your way) I'm a professional and the HD actually stands for High Definition (not hard drive) with my own business working with this stuff successfully for the past 3 years. I think that Samsung and Olevia are really on top of the market right now in terms of quality, warranties, build, and features. Plasma is just something to stay away from in my mind because burn-in far out weighs lamp replacement (plasma vs. LCD) as lamps get cheaper and easier to replace all the time.

Olevia is a sort of out of the way company that you might not know about, but they have unbeatable pricing and are getting ready to make a big splash.--They've also almost singlehandedly cut the going market price in half.---check them out: Syntax Brillian

Samsung teamed up with Microsoft last year for the 360 and they have since unleashed unpresidented features and build quality. Lots of kids and adults have become educated about quality for their video games in the last year, and it has helped the market quality increase signifigantly.

Keep in mind that contrast ratio is key. Remember that Samsung and Sony offer ratios of 3000-4000, but olevia's 1200 and 1800 ratios are dynamic which essentially doubles that existing ratio.

Sony is great, sure, but I feel the same way about them that you do about Konis, just can't justify the money.

Hope this helps you Bill, feel free to contact me if you want further serious help.

[joshua43214]

I have a Sony 64"HD widescreen rear projector that is abot 3 years old and so far I am hapy with it. the only complaint is veiwing from an angle is not good, but I only watch movies, I don't even have cable, so its no big deal for me.

As for what kind of tv to buy, I would recomend watching the tv's in the store and pay very close attention to how the tv draws borders. Something like a football game, where you have the camera panning accross the feild, with the players running faster than the background moves. watch closely the border between the feild and the helmet and see if it draws that cleanly. Many people (me included) have a hard time with the way DLP and some other tv's draw that dinamic border, so watch it closely to see if you are bothered by it as well. I chose the rear projection over the others because at the time it was the best at creating images when you have alot of movement that was out of sync. If I had to do it again, I would buy a front projector, I went from a 56" standard to the 64 wide thinking it would be big enough, but I really wish it was bigger. If you watch alot of tv, it may not matter thogh.

[Hector]

too expensive, and of course, you're paying for the name. I would get the increasingly popular LG DLP or Samsung. Excellent everything, and good customer service from the manufacturer. The list of features is too long to name here... One thing to remember is that if the input signal is poorly conditioned, and full of unwanted harmonics, then the best big screen out there will not make an ounce of difference. Also, make sure the salesperson knows what he is talking about (alot of them don't know squat,) and ask them to change from the regularly tuned HD Discovery channel to something else so that you can see the difference in picture quality. A lot of these retail stores only have one HD signal input (Discovery) so it is hard to compare the pic quality with other channels. Good luck.

I'd stay away from plasma TVs as the technology is relatively infant and the display has typically short lifetime, and I'd stay away from LCD as far as viewing live sporting events and fast motion movies is concerned. The warranties cover typical damage so you'd be covered there but you'd have to put up with the incovenience and hassle.


hdtv to buy. I've been looking at 50 to 60 inch, plasma, lcd and rear projections. in the 2 to 3k price range. Any experts out there with info on the best for reliability ,picture, etc.? Thanks.

[TheEndIsNear]

I've got that Samsung 47 inch DLP and have had it since Aug. of last year. Works like a charm and has turned me into a die hard Samsung guy.

[Zeuk in Oz]

hdtv to buy. I've been looking at 50 to 60 inch, plasma, lcd and rear projections. in the 2 to 3k price range. Any experts out there with info on the best for reliability ,picture, etc.? Thanks.
Good luck is all I can say, Bill.

I recently went through this process and ended up buying nothing. I couldn't stand the artificial (to my eyes) look of the plasmas nor the hazy look of the LCDs. Rear projections didn't even enter into the equation for me.

Compared to the Japanese Sony Wega CRT set I have, everything was disappointing.

I have heard rumours about a new technology which uses thousands of tiny CRT tubes but don't know much about it. This might me worth a look !

My gut feeling is that plasmas are on the way out but LCDs still have a way to go in development and price reduction.

No, I am not an expert, just a potential consumer's guess.

As I said at the beginning, good luck.

BTW, most people in the industry speak very highly about Sharpe LCDs.

[BlueM60]

I have a 55" Sony Grand Wega. I love Sony products but I also agree that they are overpriced. I got mine on clearance which is why I baught it. I looked at the plasmas but felt they were rediculously overpriced for what ypu get and also had heard the rumors about burn-in. When I got the tv home I noticed the picture quality was only fair with just digital cable but its excellent now with HD. I also have HD dvd player with component cables that really makes the LCD shine. Good luck with whatever you choose.

-Ben

[bbig119]

I have a 50 inch Samsung DLP (720p). I'm very happy with it, but if you plan to hook up a computer to the display you should look at 1080p displays. Like anything else, the longer you wait the better the technology will become, but at some point you have to make a move and enjoy it.

I bought from Circuit City, and their 30 day return policy is pretty good. It may not stand up to Costco, but a month should be long enough to decide if you like the TV and determine that the one you bought is functioning properly.

[Tiger]

1080P... yes the "P" is what you should look for and buy. Don't worry about reliability... they are all good.

Rear projection is probably the one to go in your price range... some plasma with 1080P can be had in your price range but smaller. Make sure you get the rear projection with the widest viewing angle... that doesn't fade in or out as you walk from one side to other.

[HDhandyman]

Hate to be contradictory here, but 1080p is not nessecary for computer monitoring, and rear projection and DLP are not the same thing @all.

As far as computers go, it's very important to have a video card that either A. displays at the native resolution of the television, or B. has 720p, 1080i, or 1080p support.---Lots of ATI and Invidia cards are ready to go with these resolutions, right now. Many people still don't seem to understand that using the HD resolution settings on the video card are good for everyday use of the computer with an HD LCD and not just for watching movies---again, I move to the 360 as an example of HD computing. As an aside, it's important to note that I wouldn't use anything other than an LCD as a computer monitor despite whatever inputs the unit may come equiped with.

As far as the DLP and rear projection go, they are about as far from each other as you can get. True enough, the boxes look similar, and the projection device in a DLP television is sometimes contained in the rear, but that's it. Rear projection is a 20 year old technology with horrible resolution value and the worst "viewing angle" possible. DLPs use a system containing 1000s of tiny mirrors to make up parts of the completed image. From a distance, without the use of computer monitoring, for HD and movies only, DLP probably provides the finest image in the bunch. Still, I'm always skeptical about the commitments people make when they outlaw computer monitoring by making a choice other than LCD.---I feel like the XBOX 360 is only the start in terms of true "HD computing". You never know what device may intrest you down the road that is based off of similar technology. I mean media centers are just now taking off, thanks to the 360.

Just wanted to add a little clarity, and I'm sorry if I stepped on anybody's toes.;)

[JonE]

Hi Bill,
Just thought I'd add one more opinion. Last year we purchased a 42in. Panasonic Plasma and have enjoyed it very much, esp. the HD picture. I looked for weeks, comparing plasma, lcd, etc. We wanted flat panel and the panasonic was the best picture for the price (was also CR's pick for best picture in it's class). The LCD's were wonderful and expensive, but, as Winfred mentioned, not so hot for action. Perhaps this has changed by now.
Another thing I should mention when we were shopping, one sales associate asked how far we sit from the TV screen. My wife was all ready to get the 50in. Panasonic plasma and after mentioning our viewing distance, this guy actually suggested the 42 in. We went with it and are very happy. I have viewed the 50 inch in a friend's house and agree that it was a bit too big.
Anyway, good luck with your search.

[Tiger]

Best value for plasma is Vizio 50" sold at Costco for $2000. Alot of review stated this as best buy. Performance is practically same as those cost $$$ more.

[winfred]

here ya go (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060710/tc_nm/japan_matsushita_dc)

[Tiger]

Whoa!!!!

[bbig119]

Hate to be contradictory here, but 1080p is not nessecary for computer monitoring, and rear projection and DLP are not the same thing @all.

As far as computers go, it's very important to have a video card that either A. displays at the native resolution of the television, or B. has 720p, 1080i, or 1080p support.---Lots of ATI and Invidia cards are ready to go with these resolutions, right now. Many people still don't seem to understand that using the HD resolution settings on the video card are good for everyday use of the computer with an HD LCD and not just for watching movies---again, I move to the 360 as an example of HD computing. As an aside, it's important to note that I wouldn't use anything other than an LCD as a computer monitor despite whatever inputs the unit may come equiped with.



While HD media may not utilize the full capability of 1080p displays, having an attached computer can and will make it look better. I have a computer that I built as a home theatre PC to be used for watching DVDs, DVR(TIVO) functionality, music and the like. There are pieces of software, like windows media center, that provide a front end that looks clear on a standard 480i TV. The same front end software looks on my 720p DLP, but I also use it frequently as a computer monitor with a traditional windows desktop. That said, its a little fuzzy, and I prefer to use a secondary LCD monitor for things like reading this forum. Having the extra resolution that a 1080p display provides would sharpen the picture tons. The secondary monitor is also useful if you want to use the computer while watching TV.

For most people, the HTPC is a bit ahead of its time and I think most people will opt for a digital cable box or direct tv with DVR and a stand alone DVD player, possibly also an Xbox360. In these cases, 1080p will do little to nothing to improve picture quality, until Bluray or HDdvd become commonplace.