Thinking of getting a new tv, any recommendations??

Started by neomoe, January 10, 2011, 03:55:44 PM

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neomoe

I posted this on n-g.com too, but thought I'd ask here since you guys would be a good resource too.

I'd like to get a tv around 50 inches, and most likely a sony or samsung. Anyone able to make some recommendations based on personal experience? I was hoping to get some good advice as I don't understand anything about modern televisions...at all.

Just to give some background on my expected usage...I dont have a br player and don't plan on getting one anytime soon. This tv will just be for causal tv/dvd viewing, and some occasional wii/360 gaming. Oh and the room it will be in is pretty bright...if that makes a difference.

I've checked out reviews on cnet and stuff, but everything sounds the same to me.

Any advice about LCD vs LED/LCD would be really helpful too.

Thanks!

emphatic

Quote from: neomoe on January 10, 2011, 03:55:44 PM
Any advice about LCD vs LED/LCD would be really helpful too.

Why is Plasma out of the picture? I would recommend a Panasonic G20 Plasma.

brentsg

I would second the plasma suggestion, personally.  I went through a couple other choices, including Samsung LCDs before settling on the Pioneer that I have now.

The sooner something can kill off LCD the better.  It's popular because it's cheap to produce and they can crank the contrast and brightness up to compensate for retail store environments.

drunkninja

Quote from: brentsg on January 10, 2011, 05:11:58 PM
I would second the plasma suggestion, personally.  I went through a couple other choices, including Samsung LCDs before settling on the Pioneer that I have now.

The sooner something can kill off LCD the better.  It's popular because it's cheap to produce and they can crank the contrast and brightness up to compensate for retail store environments.

I keep wanting to hold out for OLED, but it seems like they're never gonna release anything outside of that expensive 11" or so model Sony came out with a couple years ago.



brentsg

Quote from: drunkninja on January 10, 2011, 05:26:56 PM
I keep wanting to hold out for OLED, but it seems like they're never gonna release anything outside of that expensive 11" or so model Sony came out with a couple years ago.

Did you ever get a look at that thing?  It was really beautiful, though small of course. 

The blacks were perfectly 0 luminance, and it really set up the rest of the image.  When I got a look they were showing the first Transformers movie and fast action looked perfect too, with no motion artifacts of any kind.

emphatic

Quote from: brentsg on January 10, 2011, 05:11:58 PM
The sooner something can kill off LCD the better.

:righton:

When you read LCD specs, it's always something about response time blah blah. I've never seen that when buying a CRT or a Plasma.  :laugh:

SuperPang

For anything over 40" I would always recommend plasma. LCD just doesn't come close IMO, they're only good for monitors and small screens. Panasonic are the brand you should be looking at now Pioneer are out of the plasma scene *sniff*

To make the most of it you should also be looking at darkening the room for viewing and investing in blu-ray, even if just on PS3 (still more than competent). Nothing impresses like blu-ray on a properly calibrated plasma. They're also way better for HD gaming than they used to be, the colour and sharpness on my Kuro is a match for any LCD.

HDTVs are only as good as the source you feed them, so upscaling those DVDs and upgrading to HD TV will be worth it, especially on a 50" screen where the viewing distance won't hide any SD imperfections.

Finally, google the models in your price range for reviews. Often AV forums will tell you a lot more honestly than magazines and you'll get some advice on picture settings too. Often the retail gimmicks like light/colour sensors and fancy picture processing modes are best turned off.

neomoe

thanks for all the info guys - looks like I need to do some more research about Plasmas...glad I asked for some advice because I wasn't even considering them before :)

One concern I had about those though is that I read on CNET that they can noticeably lose their black levels in as little as year.  Has anyone noticed that here, and if so, is it really that bad?

And one more quick question...in terms of non-high def inputs (like a wii), how would they look on a plasma?  I know the quality won't be that great since it's SD...but is it least tolerable?  How would it compare to an LCD?  About the same?  I know my neo geo is gonna look like crap I guess :(

Ideally I'd like to keep my old crt (36 inches), but I'm moving to an apt which isnt so big, so for a 2nd tv I'll probably only have my small crt which is 21 inches.  I could see myself getting a ps3 in the future to also serve as a br player...but I really hate the idea of converting my dvd collection br.  Hope they won't look too bad in the short term.



brentsg

Only black level loss I'm aware of was a bug in some Panasonics a couple years back.  It had nothing to do with the technology.

Note that you'll come across various bugs and defects with HDTVs.  There are notorious threads at AVSForum where people return displays for months seeking perfection, which does not exist.

Pick your poison.

SuperPang

SD stuff will look a bit crap on both LCD and plasma to be honest. Wii does 480p so won't be too bad. For retro stuff like the Neo, stick with the 21" CRT or buy an XRGB2/+ upscan unit to output 640x480 VGA with scanlines.

emphatic

Quote from: SuperPang on January 11, 2011, 09:35:11 AM
SD stuff will look a bit crap on both LCD and plasma to be honest. Wii does 480p so won't be too bad. For retro stuff like the Neo, stick with the 21" CRT or buy an XRGB2/+ upscan unit to output 640x480 VGA with scanlines.

IMO, the PS2 (with RGB scart) looked great on my Panasonic 42" plasma, but of course, you don't get any scanlines. I haven't tried a Super Gun or so (yet) so I can't comment on it, but my gut tells me that plasma is "kinder" to the SD stuff than LCD.

neomoe

thanks again guys.  well the good news is that Plasmas seem to be a bit more affordable than LCDs...so mayeb I can use the money I save to hunt down a xrgb2 in a worst case scenario :)

I'm going to try and head to best buy or sears sometime this week just to check some sets out in person.  Will keep you updated as to what I finally get!

brentsg

Quote from: neomoe on January 11, 2011, 12:29:53 PM
thanks again guys.  well the good news is that Plasmas seem to be a bit more affordable than LCDs...so mayeb I can use the money I save to hunt down a xrgb2 in a worst case scenario :)

I'm going to try and head to best buy or sears sometime this week just to check some sets out in person.  Will keep you updated as to what I finally get!

The thing many people run into is that you can calibrate an LCD to put out far more light than a plasma.  That often helps the LCD look better in a retail store, where there is far more ambient lighting than a typical home setting. 

So they buy the brighter set, take it home, and proceed to reduce the light output way down to integrate it into the home, thus negating the one thing that made it look exciting in the store.

Just keep that in mind.