I think the time is near to replace the tv in the front room. Its a 26" hitachi that gave us years of trouble free viewing but when I compare it now to the 36" toshiba in the family room it is definately sliding downhill. I would like to take the 36' and put it in the front room and get a bigggggerrr tv for the family room. It seems they are all wide screen now, HD ready. There are dlp, lcd and plasma available. It seems they go up in price in that same order. I briefly looked at them at the electronics store on the weekend and only the plasma was a noticeably better picture to me anyways. All 3 had great pictures. Anyone have experience with these things. Mainly trying to find out how long these things last, or any problems with any of them.
I am thinking of a 52" to a 60"

My 27” TV is also outdated, about 16 years old. I would like to buy a new bigger TV but don’t know if all the HD stuff is necessary. Our local cable won’t have High Density (HD) broadcasting until 2007 and when they do it will cost more to receive it.

If I had to buy right now I would go with a LCD flat panel wide screen. I heard from a good source that plasma screens “burn in” faster so I will stay away from them. Plasma does have a great picture.

I would also buy a new DVD with HME (can’t remember the letters but something like HEMI) and the one hundred $ hook-up cable so I can watch HD pictures from DVDs.

How long will they last? The salesmen have answered that question by quoting thousands of hours. One said the hours converted to 16 years??? I guess we’ll find out in ten or fifteen years. It seems like everything electronic I’ve bought lately has only averaged 7 years.

I have the same questions as you so will be watching this post.

We took the plunge and added a 42" HD plasma into our basement when we finished it..I mainly chose the plasma due to its thin design, it helped me with my room layout. If you get anything HD, leave aside some extra $$ for good cables, they do make a difference in picture quality.

There are all kinds of opinions out there regarding life/burn in, etc..most are overstated..do your homework, there are a lot of choices out there!

Check out this site for some great info:

www.avsforum.com

Another little tidbit I picked up on the plasma TV's...a few of the big names out there offer a plasma TV aimed at the home market, which may be found at CC or Best Buy, or maybe Tweeter...at the same time they may offer a "commercial" display, intended for computer or advertising purposes..that is essentially the same unit, maybe with a little different look to it. I was able to capitalize on this fact, and purchased a Panasonic commercial display over the internet for a couple thousand less than the same unit that hadnt even hit the stores at the time. I think you could do this with Pioneer as well.

I purchased from a place called Visual Apex (http://www.visualapex.com/avs/), and would recommend them to anyone. They know their stuff, not like your typical nerd at Best Buy. They ship fully insured, and I had my TV in about 5 days after I ordered it, right to my door. It has been flush mounted on my basement wall ever since (fall of 2003).

Good luck!

I wouldn't buy anything BUT a Hitachi, Not a problem ever. Period. I have owned the others, and will never go back. JN

I bought a Panasonic 42" Plasma when i moved to MO and I love it. Amazing quality and not grainy at all. In fact, you see people's skin pores on closeups it's so good.
Tho that can be gross at times, it sure is good to watch football!
Love them tight pants.:thumbsup:
So i sit here all alone with my HUGE ASS TV.
JoJo loves to watch Animal Planet, tho I have to stop him from tryin to attack the TV. He's cute, just not too bright.
rachael anne:waving:

Very soon by Gov regulations all TV signals will be HD High Defection. There will be a box available to people so that you can still use non HD TV's. On that note the Panasonic plasma is about the best. It has the best black. Then most likely pioneer.

Jerry,

jtm60's reference to the AVS Forum is the ticket. These guys are to video what Chevelles.com is to - well, Chevelles. They possess all the knowledge you'll ever want to know - and then some.

To be clear, conversion to Digital broadcast signals is the government mandate, not to be confused with HD (High Definition) digital broadcasts (there is no Gov mandate to broadcast anything in HD - only digital). What that means is that on a particular date (I want to say sometime in 2007) all over the air (OTA) broadcasters must stop using their assigned analog frequencies, return those to the Gov, and broadcast everything in the digital domain using newly assigned frequencies. No biggie, converters are available to change the dig signals to analog for older TV sets.

Plasma, LCD, rear projection LCD, DLP (which is also rear projection), are the predominate technologies at this point. Each has it's pros and cons.

DLP sets offer the largest screen size for the buck can look fantastic, and are fairly thin - but not thin enough to hang on a wall. What really hurts DLP is off axis viewing; meaning the picture looks like crap when viewed from an angle - either verticle or horizontal. As long as you're sitting right in front of it - and eyes are level with it - great. Stand up and not so good. sit to the side and not so good. DLP's also have bulbs that will need to be replaced every so often.

LCD - either direct view or rear projection. Thin, great picture, great off axis. Can suffer from ghosting (kind of an image retention thing). Inexpensive LCD's can also suffer from image blur during sceens with lots of movement. This is due to the LC (liquid crystal) response time. Look for a set with a RT of 8ms. LCD's are not as bright as a plasma or DLP so it may not be the best choice in a brightly lit room. Blacks (being able to display deep blacks is something of a benchmark for judging picture quality) are generally not as black as on a Plasma. Finally, LCD are typically priced higher than either DLP (price leader) or Plasma for each screen size.

Plasma's are, arguably, the sweet spot in display technologies at this time. Bright, vibrant colors, good blacks (like anything else, some brands are better than others), thin, excellent off axis viewing. Units of several years ago did have shortish life spans and did suffer from "burn in" (AKA image retention). Life span and burn in are mostly a non issue anymore. Most plasmas are rated at 60,000 hours before "half bright" (meaning 60k hours go by before the thing is only half as bright as it was when new). 60k hours roughly equals watching it 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for 3 years. Burn in is resolved by following the recomended break-in period; lower brightness, color, contrast settings, and not allowing static images (think news tickers, video games, and the like) to remain on the screen for hours.

Be aware that, in the plasma world, there's another choice; ED (enhanced definition). Basically sloted between "standard definition" (our old TV's) and HD, ED offers a picture fairly close to HD but without the HD price. But you won't find any ED's larger than 42" and they are rapidly being phased out by most manufacturers.

If you want to watch HD broadcasts, you'll need a set capable of displaying it - AKA HD ready. Your "source" will also need to be able to send an HD signal to the display.

If you are using a cable box or a Sat dish, you will have ensure the "box" is capable of sending a digital signal to your display. If you want HD, you'll have to ensure the same thing. Check with your provider.

jtm60 also mentioned the "commercial" displays. While this is a viable option for a lot of folks keep in mind that commercial displays do not have built in tuners. Meaning, if you don't have a cable box or sat dish you won't be able to get any OTA broadcasts. Or, if your cable or dish goes off line, you're stuck. Also, commercial sets typically don't come with any kind of speaker - and may not even have a built in amplifier to run speakers. Speakers are usually an extra cost option. They typically do not have as many connection options as consumer units do but you can often add cards to them but, again, at an extra cost. Finally, they often don't even come with a stand (of course, a non issue if you want to wall mount the thing). Either way, you'll pay for either a stand or a wall mount. All things to consider with a commercial display.

At the present time the best way to connect an HD display to a source device (HD capable SAT or Cable box, up-converting DVD player) is via the devices HDMI interfaces. Most, if not all, newer display have at least one HDMI port. The newest boxes from cable or sat providers also have an HDMI port. The newer DVD players typically have HDMI as well. Using HDMI keeps the signal in the digital domain - thus a better picture and far simpler wiring. All the boxes typicall provide for "component" hook-ups, which also offers an excellent picture in most cases. But component goes through two conversions; the 1st at the source device (digital to analog) and the 2nd at the display (analog to digital). Keeping everything digital is preferable.

So it'll all come down to what your requirements are, and what equipment you currently have. Figure out your usual viewing distance - how far you normally sit from the tube, to determine what size display would be best.

Well there ya go. I recently went through this whole drill so it's pretty fresh in my mind. Lemme know if'n ya's got's any questions.

Dan

SS3964spd-well put! You filled in a lot of the blanks I left, for sure. Its amazing how much of this stuff I have forgotten in a couple years! I studied that AVS forum for a good month or 2 before I pulled the trigger, but in the end I am really happy with my decision. I went commercial because I am using a cable box to get HD broadcasts, and at the same time I purchased a home theatre surround system. There are a lot of ways to tailor the systems out there to meet your needs...I know this, I have been impressed with the latest DLP TV's I have seen. I might be in the market for one of those, as my old 50" Hitachi (9+ years old) appears to be on its way out.. I could upgrade to HD DLP and be in pretty good shape there.

As for the panasonics..I was skeptical at first too..the name didnt seem to me to be the best one out there..but when I went and really started checking them out, I thought it was neck and neck between them and Pioneer (at the same approximate price point). You could spend alot more, but I wasnt convinced it was worth it.

The HD plasma picture is just out of this world, as Sweetshot mentioned. For those that havent seen it..you cant go by what you see in a store, as many of the HD feeds are done with crappy cables and splitters. When you use quality cables, and have a good clean feed like you will at home, it cant be beat. When you can sit and watch football, and feel like you are at the game, it is impressive..I really love seeing little blades of grass flying off a running back's cleats when he turns the corner. Hockey also is just great. I have treated more than one skeptical person to a quick review of scenes from T3, or the race seen in Phantom Menace...you literally get blown out of your seat!

LOL, I hear that J, I can't wait to forget all this stuff. I agonized over the different technologies for months and did a boat load of reading on the AVS forums and else where. I did hear one useful tid bit about the AVS forum; go to the forum to do your research, but once you decide on a display and purchase it, don't ever go back to AVS again.

Who wouldda thunk that Panasonic would be so highly regarded in this space? But so they are. Pioneer occupies the same space, Fujitsu slightly higher, Hitachi and Toshiba pretty much equal to the first two. Then there's the 2nd and 3rd tier players. Like today's cars though, it's becoming more difficult to buy a crappy set, but they are still out there if ya look hard enough. :D

Excellent point about the feeds. Even with a true HD feed picture quality can, and does, vary. For the most part though, even a bad HD feed is better than a great SD (standard definition) feed. And a good HD feed is, well, like looking through a window. Clear, bright, true colors, and great details. Pretty cool stuff.

Dan

my 2 cents:

added to what one else said is buy the biggest TV your budget will allow for. If you want a 60" don't settle for the 50" you will regret it later. I know a few people that bought Tv's in the 40"s and wish they had gone bigger after the fact.

Good info in this thread, but approaching TMI status for me.

Have a buddy with a 50 inch Samsung DLP and he raves about it. I look around at DLP and people say "No, you want Plasma"....so I look at plasma and say nope, dont want plasma cause I cant pay more for a TV than I would for a complete ZZ454.

I want a new HD TV BADLY but the cost of an item that simply acts as an adhesive between your arse and your couch is phenominal. The price will need to come down something fierce or i'll have to abondon TV alltogether in the future.

Beaux you can get a nice rear projection, DLP, for under $1500 for sure. Depends on size. The plasma are nice but you're right about the price. I have a Hitachi rear projection wide screen HD, a little over 4 yrs old. The picture quality still amazes me.

by the way - find out when your local Best Buy is going to change all the TV's out for new stock....i bought mine at a truly awesome price cause it was a floor model. Bought the 4 yr warranty for less than 100 bucks so who cares if it dies anytime soon? I get a new one automatically!
Used to be concerned about buying floor models but now with the new TV's they don't even jack around about tryin to fix them, ya just get a new one!
rachie :waving:

I got a 37" LCD flat screen and I'm pretty happy with it so far. It is a Sharp so it's not the best brand in the world, but it's what I could afford. The picture looks great at all angles. If you get up close, it looks a little grainy but that may be due to the fact that I don't have the HD signal yet. From the couch, it looks awesome and bright enough for our room.

Right now, it sits on the mantle over our fireplace but I will eventually mount it on the wall. It makes the Living room a lot easier to coordinate since I don't have a large tube/projection TV taking up space. :)