Which is the better buy these days? I get confused with all the damn HD stuff. We have decided to spend a few bucks and get one and was wondering what is the best bet under $2500? Thanks!
for the size in your range probably plasma, i think lcd is best up to about 40 inches. What about DLP? you can get a killer tv in that price range.
I have not thoughtto much into a DLP but maybe I should. I saw that Best Buy has a deal through tomorrow - Sony 46" 1080 p LCD and Sony Home Theater System all for 2 K. Thinking hard about that deal. So freakin excited my wife said we could get one for our Christmas to each other!
I have a 56" DLP and I love it. I got it for under $2,500. You can't hang it from the wall like a Plasma, but the picture is great and it's the cheapest of the three.
If I can get a nice DLP for that price, looks like we will be going in that area then. Thanks for the advice..I keep doing consumer reports, online reports, etc etc. I just need to do it and be happy that I'll finally have some HD.
I am a Audio/Visual Technician, that said: Do NOT buy LCD. They are inferior to Plasma and DLP, especially if you like watching sports. LCD is cheap, yes, but they have ghosting issues. During sporting events you will generally see a blur instead of the action. Plasma sucks a lot of electricity but has the highest contrast ratio (10,000:1 on some models). Plasma is also the most expensive. DLP is probably the biggest bang for the buck though it is not as bright as a plasma. If you simply must have something now I would go with DLP but if you have some patience then keep a look out for FED (field emitting diode) and Laser TV's.
Distance from the set to your main viewing area is important for determining if you need 1080p. More than 7-8' and you may as well save the money and go 720p for a screen under 60". There is no 1080p content on TV/cable so it doesn't really matter unless you are also going to spend the bucks on a hd-dvd/blu-ray disc player and movies. I found CC running a 3 year no interest deal and got a Panisonic 50" plasma with glare reduction in the screen. I knew I hit pay-dirt when the wife saw it going up and said "we could have gone for the 60." If you have the room on the floor or cabinet top, the DLPs provide some great value/performance. Do NOT buy anything from CC/Best Buy like cables or mounts. They had a large tilt mount for 50" screens for $250. I got one that was better for $25. Cables too - about 10% of retail. Don't fall for the Monster Cable digital cable bs either. Bits are bits. It is sorta like saying a cable can give you better email. Also, if you do go mounted with either plasma or lcd, you can do a lot better than Magnolia(best buy) and Fire Dog (CC) on install costs. Fire Dog wanted a grand to install everything I needed and couldn't even give me what I wanted. Local guys did it better for about half.
Oh damn, I am all confused ****, what's this about FED? Is it something worth waiting? Some say no on the LCD even though that was what I was leaning towards. Probably DLP though. What's pro and con with Plasma?
This topic comes up every minor holiday/sale season. Just buy something & be happy you have HD, there's no sense in poring over CR to just sit there & not buy anything. I don't know what Nuge's deal is, but LCD is the ****, I love my LCD, and I know many others that love theirs as well. Yes, sports fans. I'm not an A/V tech, but then again, you don't sound like one either. If you're really confused now, send hlaustin a PM, have him walk you through his store, & I bet you'll lay down the cash when you see something you like. Again, I love my LCD, there is not some huge whiplash blur when Roy is reaching out to catch a td pass.
Don't wait on FED or LED LCD's or laser TVs. Those are going to be first gen stuff with high price tags for the technology chasers. Panels are cheap now and aimed at the consumer. Take advantage of that. There are pros/cons with everything. The knock to plasma was that it could get burn in. This is not really an issue these days if you have some kind of attention and don't leave your set with a static screen up for 12+ hours. Movies look freaking fantastic with the contrast levels and levels of black you get with plasma. I wanted something on my wall (never over a fireplace) to get a less cluttered space. The ability to hide the cabling in wall is great. I think we spent around $2k for the 50" Panasonic (get that or a Pioneer). How big a room are we talking about? I will go hang out in chat for a bit too.
I got a 50 inch Pioneer plasma (720p) for around $2500 6 months ago from A&B TV in Austin. hlaustin posts on the Horn Depot board and he will hook you up. They have everything and do a great job of taking their time with you. As for the Pioneer, I have nothing bad to say, the TV is sooo awesome. Reflections aren't even that big of a deal to me. The TV rocks. I watch it from at least 7-8 feet back, so I saved money not needing 1080i. What sold me on the Pioneer though was the resolution in the darker colors and blacks and the amazing contrast in sports. LCD's are bright and crisp, but with fast moving shows and sports, the Pioneer was clearly better. I knew I had a great TV when the installer came by (we bought an entire speaker, receiver, TV set up) and when the TV was up and running on HD he just stood there and said, "man that's a great picture." He sees these things every day and is still in awe of the Pioneer quality.
Personally for that price range, I'd look at a 60" SXRD or the Samsung DLP LED displays. I have a 42" plasma and love the set, but now I want something a little bigger and to go that big with an LCD or a plasma gets to be pretty cost prohibitive. As far as strictly LCD or plasma comparison, it really depends on the environment that you are installing the TV. If glare or bright natural light is going to be a prob, def go with the LCD or check out one of the plasmas with teh antiglare coating.
When I bought mine almost two years ago, I dicked around for probably 2 months trying to figure out what I needed. Then my wife made it very clear I was to buy a TV and do it NOW!!! I realized this finally, if I was coming from an SD TV (And a low quality 50 inch one at that), even the lower end HD TV's were going to be such a leap, that I was bound to be happy. I bought a 42in Philips Plasma. It's 720p. It has a nice up converting feature built in that does a very good job. ( I have an upconverting Toshiba HD-DVD and see virtually no difference that when I was watching DVD's on my old Emerson DVD/VHS player). Now, next time I buy, I'll probably want something higher end as I am now used to HD, however for your first one, I would recommend doing something like I did, focuse on the extras (multiple HDMI ports, upscaling, etc.) and not worry too much about the best contrast ratios, deepest blacks, etc. Don't buy a total piece of crap, but don't go overboard either.
A couple months ago, I got a 50", Samsung DLP 1080P with LED-illuminated mirrors (no color wheel or lamp to replace) for $1,649 shipped to my front door... tax free, no shipping charge. The picture is beautiful, so is the set (just make sure you need something that size... gave me headaches for a week... much too big for a smaller room or apartment): I'll be dammed, looks like it's down to $1,449 with $50 coupon The internet is a wonderful thing. As with LCDs, DLPs have a certain viewing range. If you're sitting down, just about everyone in the room is getting a great picture. Standing up, not so much. But if you're in the "sweet spot", it's an incredible picture.
Regardless of the display technology, give some serious thought to the whole system. How many audio and video sources do you have and how many do you plan to add? What connection technology are they? Will your new HDTV support them or will you need some way to source select externally? Will you need a new audio/video receiver? How will you handle the sound, including surround? Lots more to think about than just LCD vs DLP vs Plasma.
If you've got a light-controlled room, consider a front-panel projector. I have a mid-range Sanyo 720p (PLV-Z5) throwing a 100-inch diagonal image. Now that's some impressive sports watching in HD. I haven't been to a theater to see a movie in quite some time....
Thank you guys thank you guys! I am goign to email the TV messiah and see what I can get started. This will all get settled soon I hope!
Ok here would be my recommendations for 2500k. Best LCD that I would purchase would be the Sony KDL46xbr4, this panel has the best blacks of any LCD, best motion and has a very 3d look to it. Sony has made a big jump from last year to this year with their XBR line. It has the Pioneer beat on sharpness and detail, and depth of field. Best plasma for this area would be the Pioneer PDP5080hd. Yes this panel is 720p, but I would put it up against the other brands 1080p and it will do a better job. The Pioneer will have the blackest blacks of any TV out there right now, the best with fast motion. Burn in is not an issue unless you are going to sit there and watch it with bands up left and right all day in 4:3 mode or play your old "Pong" game on it. When looking at the two panels side by side, the Pioneer is more film like and the Sony is more 3d like(you have to get used to this). People are drawn to the Sony because when it is set up on standard mode it is brighter then the Pioneer, but the colors on the Pioneer are much more accurate. If you are looking for big bang for the buck, I would look at the Sony KDS60a3000. This is a rear projection set that is 1080p. No it is not DLP, the Sony will use a bulb and then 3 liquid crystal on silicon chips. Only moving parts is the cooling fan. It will do better with fast motion then the DLP sets and have a better black level then the DLP sets. Yes the new LED DLPs have no bulb, we have just had some issues with the units dieing. This will not be as sharp as the LCD or have the color of the plasma, but hey you can get a 60" for 1700.00 Remember this when looking at a TV the brightest TV is not the best TV. If you are going to pay to have a TV calibrated, it will not be a bright TV it will be more of a dark rich color. Let me know if this helped out. email me if there are other questions. harlanlawson@yahoo.com
