I think I'm ready for a new TV. Any must do's and don'ts?

[Tbone135]

I've had a 36" tube for about 11 years. I want to move to a modern HDTV from 46" to 55". I want to hang it on the wall and sit about 10 to 12 feet away for viewing. What do I need to look for and what to stay away from? Any brands? Is 720p a big dropoff from 1080p? How many inputs do I need?

Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated.

[pickaguitar]

Plasma 1080p imo
You can't go wrong...amazing picture. They don't run as hot anymore and they have come down in price a lot

Samsung was my choice

[mannish]

I would suggest Samsung LED - definably go with 1080p - I can't comment on how many inputs you need. I personally don't play games...etc so I don't require many inputs

I really, really like the USB inputs on my Samsung I can use a thumb drive or HD it has a built player for most of the basic formats

[KCWM]

It's a little bigger than you mentioned, but my wife and I recently picked up a 60" Sharp Aquos (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sharp+-+AQUOS+/+60%22+Class+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+LCD+HDTV/1348076.p?id=1218252650535&skuId=1348076&st=sharp%20aquos&cp=1&lp=2)from Best Buy that [we've been quite happy with. We currently sit 8' back, but intend to increase that to 9-10'. The picture looks great. There was some clouding when we first got it, but after a couple of months of use, it's either gotten better or I've simply gotten used to it. Needless to say that, for me, it wasn't distracting.

[Tbone135]

I'll check it out. I'm trying to stay under 1000 bucks and all of the new options are alien to me. Plasma, LED, and LCD weren't common that long ago. Gotta cut through the sales pitches from the manufacturers and find out what's essential.

[stratman34]

I'll check it out. I'm trying to stay under 1000 bucks and all of the new options are alien to me. Plasma, LED, and LCD weren't common that long ago. Gotta cut through the sales pitches from the manufacturers and find out what's essential.

Plasma, LED, and LCD all have their "nuances", but in the end tis all about the picture that you like the best. I have friends that swear by each, based on personal preference.

You know, like picking tubes for an amp. Or pickups. Or dirt pedals. ....

[sodapopinski]

Try checking out the local Sam's Club, they sometimes sell open box/return TV's.
Four years ago I picked up a 50" Vizio 1080i Plasma for $300, lol.
Vizio's are affordable and the picture quality is great.

[kwaping]

I would suggest Samsung LED - definably go with 1080p

:agree

[Structo]

We have a 52" Samsung LCD.

It is not LED which is the newer technology. Uses less power and have blacker blacks.

The picture quality is amazing.

At the time we bought ours Samsung was king but that changes all the time.

Best bet is to browse through the AV Forums to see what everybody currently likes.

Just be aware that no TV is broadcast at 1080P, only Blu Ray puts that resolution out.

But, you do have to pay for high definition either through the cable company or dish.
Unless you live close enough to get the stations over the air.

That will be 1080i in most cases although a few sports networks use 720P.

That is the problem, the FCC really dropped the ball IMHO.
They should have settled on a format so all the networks had to use instead of 5 to 8 different ones.
That is why none of the first hi def TV's didn't come with tuners. There were too many formats.
It has gotten better but unless you live within broadcast over the air range of the stations you will have to pay more for Hi Def.

[Julia343]

Ideal size: I read somewhere the the ideal diagonal measurement for a widescreen is 6" per foot that you're sitting away from it. IOW, if you sit 6' from it that would be a 36" screen. 8' would be around 48".

As you go larger you need better resolution. For 32" 720p is fine. For 60" 720 isn't going to cut it.

[Tbone135]

I'm seeing a lot of contradicting information on the net, specifically on 720 vs. 1080. I don't know what to think yet. I don't watch much network tv usually; I'm more of a dvd (will be blu-ray) and streaming watcher. I could give a crap if the news is in High Def. I just want my movies to look good.

[Peteyvee]

Ideal size: I read somewhere the the ideal diagonal measurement for a widescreen is 6" per foot that you're sitting away from it. IOW, if you sit 6' from it that would be a 36" screen. 8' would be around 48".

As you go larger you need better resolution. For 32" 720p is fine. For 60" 720 isn't going to cut it.

That's been the accepted rule of thumb since HD broadcasts started in 2001, but different people see differently. For example: to me a 50" class at 8' would bug me to no end. I just went in our showroom and took a look at a 50" from 8'. Way too close. 12' is better for me. In this case, your mileage does vary.

What I recommend to our clients is to take a tape measure and measure the distance they are going to be sitting from the TV, take the tape measure with them to a store and LOOK at the various size sets at the distance they'll be viewing it from. While you're there, check out what differences you see between the Plasma, LCD and LED technologies. I could tell you what I like (and own) and what we sell the most of (8000 series Samsung LED's), but shouldn't/doesn't make a bit of difference to you, because I'm not going to be sitting in your house watching your new TV.

At a minimum, I'd get 3 HDMI inputs and 1080p, which shouldn't be a problem these days. I'd also avoid Vizio, but that's just me. Stick with the top manufacturers (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, etc.) and enjoy it. You're going to be stuck with it for at least 10 years or 100,000 hours, whichever comes first...so don't scrimp on a couple of hundred bucks to get a bigger set. Buy the best you can afford and buy it once.


BTW: IMO, 3D is the Laser Disc of the 10's, but you may not have a choice as most of the better sets these days have it. You can always turn it off in the menu.

I'm seeing a lot of contradicting information on the net, specifically on 720 vs. 1080. I don't know what to think yet. I don't watch much network tv usually; I'm more of a dvd (will be blu-ray) and streaming watcher. I could give a crap if the news is in High Def. I just want my movies to look good.

Then you definitely need 1080p on a 42" or larger. BluRay is 1080p, most TV is 720p or 1080i. On a larger set, you'll see the difference. It's subtle, but you'll see it.

[KeithC]

It's a little bigger than you mentioned, but my wife and I recently picked up a 60" Sharp Aquos (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sharp+-+AQUOS+/+60%22+Class+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+LCD+HDTV/1348076.p?id=1218252650535&skuId=1348076&st=sharp%20aquos&cp=1&lp=2)from Best Buy that [we've been quite happy with. We currently sit 8' back, but intend to increase that to 9-10'. The picture looks great. There was some clouding when we first got it, but after a couple of months of use, it's either gotten better or I've simply gotten used to it. Needless to say that, for me, it wasn't distracting.

We have the 60" Aquos LED/LCD and love it. It's the first TV my wife has liked! I have a 50" Plasma in the bedroom. To me (and her) the Sharp LED is just a better picture. There is some pixelation on really rapid movement in some rare instances but I'm quite happy. Were I buying one now I would look for higher hz rate because I think(?) that helps in movement. Mine is 120hz.

Good luck!

[Julia343]

YMMV on the distance and size, I agree. Many people buy too big, because they look so tiny in the stores. 32" looks fine in my viewing room, and technically it's small because I view at 6', but it's fine and easy on the eyes. I agree that really watch from the distance you'll view from in the store. I got the 32" because the 36" cost $600 more at the time, and the price difference wasn't worth the money to me.

[Route234]

I have a Vizio 1080p and an LG 1080p, both are great TV's with nice pictures and both are well made. The biggest feature difference is the LG has built in wireless Internet access and I think that is a really nice added feature that I would pay for going forward.

[stratman34]

I have a Vizio 1080p and an LG 1080p, both are great TV's with nice pictures and both are well made. The biggest feature difference is the LG has built in wireless Internet access and I think that is a really nice added feature that I would pay for going forward.


Same here. A built in Netflix client will be a base requirement when I go TV shopping next year. I'm finally going to replace my 57" Hitachi UltraVision UWX, simply because I want the floor space back.

I'm on the flip side with size. I want slightly larger than the 6" per foot rule calls for. I view at about 7-8 feet and prefer 55-60". (often for split screen gaming, which needs the extra area) Upstairs, we have a 53" that is viewed from 16' and it feels like a 19" TV.

[KCWM]

As a note, 60" might be too big for the living room in our apartment, but we bought it with a house in mind in the next year.

[_jt_]

Just to be clear, there are no consumer TVs that have real LED displays. What the truth benders call an LED TV is an LCD display with LED backlighting instead of little fluorescent tubes.

Also, if you go LCD over plasma, don't waste your money on 120Hz. Good response time, jitter, blur, etc are more important. Switching your TV to 120Hz doesn't force your cable company to double its display rate. You still get all the content of a regular 60Hz picture, but the "smart computer" inside the TV creates an interpolated frame between two real frames. They say it is good for sports.... I believe it, especially if you expect football players to have two heads or to pass three balls simultaneously. In fact, the term is called TBE for Triple Ball Effect.
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5636/temprate39ux9.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/4p4ejig.jpg

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/6761/truckic4.jpg

[Peteyvee]

It's not bending the truth. It's a given that LCD's have to be backlit. Whether it's done by LED's, fluorescent lights or even monks holding candles, it matters a great deal to to the image. Most consumers get confused easily, so the term LED is used to differentiate the newer backlighting system.

BTW: I think you're confusing refresh rate with response time. 120 hz is the refresh rate. You want a quick pixel response time for fast action. As you pointed out, refresh rate is a fairly useless spec as long as it's above 60 Hz (which they all are).
Peace out...

[Kiwi]

Sensible advice on the technology. I recently went flat screen and wanted to pass this along on the color experience:

- LCDs tend to have higher contrast. Colors are more intense and less subtly graded.
- Plasmas tend to be more muted, less contrast.
- Try to compare LCD vs plasma side-by-side for five minutes of watching daytime TV or evening news. Look at the peoples' skin tones. Which seem more realistic, and which seem like cartoons?
- Then switch to action sports. Which seems to have more natural grass and sky colors? Which tracks lateral motion more clearly?
- Try to watch a dead-body show, filmed at night, with lots of shadows. Can you see detail in the shadows? Are the shadows true blacks?

Give the viewing at least ten minutes of close watching, to get over the initial "wow this is so bright and clear" phase. You'll see the differences between plasma and LCD once they're pointed out. Which is going to be visually less fatiguing, over hours and weeks and days, for you to watch?

Ignore the sales help barraging you with techno-babble, at least for now. Concentrate on the visual presentation of plasma vs. LCD.

It's like listening to a new amp or guitar, or stereo speaker: Sometimes the initially most pleasing "grab-ya-wow!" tone gets fatiguing after a while and you appreciate more subtle and detailed sound.

=K

[edgewound]

Go to Costco and check out the Vizio LCD/LED with 240hz refresh rate.

Great value.

Best picture is the Panasonic Viera plasma.

[_jt_]

It's not bending the truth. It's a given that LCD's have to be backlit. Whether it's done by LED's, fluorescent lights or even monks holding candles, it matters a great deal to to the image. Most consumers get confused easily, so the term LED is used to differentiate the newer backlighting system.

LCD vs LED display technology has confused almost everyone out of about 200 people that I've had to clarify it for. They interpret it as LCD vs. LED because that is how it is marketed. Sure, consumers get confused easily. But the message isn't accurate and they could just as easily say fluorescent or CCFL vs. LED backlighting. Almost all of the confusion I hear about LCD vs LED is they think it is a matrix of LEDs or an oLED display without having any backlighting. Yes, they exist. But that isn't what they are being sold.

BTW: I think you're confusing refresh rate with response time. 120 hz is the refresh rate. You want a quick pixel response time for fast action. As you pointed out, refresh rate is a fairly useless spec as long as it's above 60 Hz (which they all are).
Peace out...
Thanks. I meant response time. I'll fix it.

[davebc]

I hate my vacuum, but I love my 60" Pioneer Plasma.
The picture quality is absolutely mesmerizing and it's made in the good old USA!

[Peteyvee]

I hate my vacuum, but I love my 60" Pioneer Plasma.
The picture quality is absolutely mesmerizing and it's made in the good old USA!

Great TV's, but they weren't made here. As a matter of fact, they haven't been made anywhere since about 2006 or 2007. Pioneer closed their last plasma panel factory in Japan and got out of the TV business. Laid my ex-GF off after 15 years too. Don't worry, she got another job. ;)


@ _jt_ I'd love an oLED TV. But I'm not spending $7K for a 12" TV:omg (or whatever size it is). Maybe in 10 years when they're a grand for a 42"...

[edgewound]

Great TV's, but they weren't made here. As a matter of fact, they haven't been made anywhere since about 2006 or 2007. Pioneer closed their last plasma panel factory in Japan and got out of the TV business. Laid my ex-GF off after 15 years too. Don't worry, she got another job. ;)


@ _jt_ I'd love an oLED TV. But I'm not spending $7K for a 12" TV:omg (or whatever size it is). Maybe in 10 years when they're a grand for a 42"...

OLED is awesome....and awesomely expensive, like you said.

But... These will be merely a sheet of glass on the wall. Like looking at a hi-res full motion photograph.

[campfirehero]

My basic requirements...

Get 1080p. I watch a lot of movies on blu-ray now so it's been great, even if regular tv is broadcast in different formats I still feel this is the only option not to budge on.

Get as big a tv as you can afford, but make sure it looks good from the sides and check the glare from light sources. Then again you don't want a 73" if you sit 8 ft away...

Have at least 3 hdmi inputs... you never know if you'll have a cable box with hdmi, an xbox/ps3, and a dedicated blu-ray player...but if you're going to run all your hdmi into a reciever you should should be fine.

Check the remote and make sure it works from all angles. I've tried several sets that had to be fairly in line with the tv to work properly.

Most tv's in the store will have the brightness and contrast jacked to the max, so be sure to bring those down at the store and when you bring one home...

gl, hf...

[ACfixer]

Samsung.

[Mangy71]

Plasma 1080p imo
You can't go wrong...amazing picture. They don't run as hot anymore and they have come down in price a lot

Samsung was my choice

I have a Samsung 50" Plasma. I have only had it about a year and I have already noticed some "burn in" lines from when the picture doesn't fill the entire screen. I have previously owned a Panasonic Plasma & an Insignia LCD and had no problems. I would not buy a Samsung Plasma again after this issue, and probably wouldn't buy a Plasma at all. I would get an LCD or maybe even an LED screen next time around.

I also seem to get motion blur when watching sports on this tv, which also wasn't a problem on the Panasonic Plasma or Insignia LCD.

[Big Boss Man]

I have a 40" inch 1080p LCD/LED Samsung. The picture is great. Better than the Sharp Aquos or LG LCD TVs that I also have. The only issue with the Samsung is there is a lag. If you have the audio from a blu-ray player going to both a stereo and the TV, you will notice a very slight delay on the TV audio. I just turn down the TV sound. This could be a huge issue though if you play video games (I don't).

[Boobala]

I love my Samsung UN46C8000 (http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN46C8000-46-Inch-1080p-HDTV/dp/B0036WT4EW)

LED Back-lit LCD
1080p
240 Hz
8,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
SAMSUNG SMART TV: Connect to an ever-expanding portal of your favorite digital content. Customizable widgets give you access to BLOCKBUSTER, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Amazon Instant Video and more.
3D Ready
Game Mode
4 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) version 1.4: 4 back
Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC): Allows peripheral AV devices such as a DVD player to be controlled by a Samsung TV remote control.
USB: 2 side
PC input: 1 back
Ethernet: 1 back
Optical sound output: 1 back
Component video input: 1 back

[Doug's Tubes]

I do the same with TV's that I do with computers, buy as old a technology as you can for as little $$ as you can. Panasonic Viera plasma, who cares about 1080.

[thisisajs]

After a couple weeks of research, I ended up getting a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma..

Do some homework on the HDTV Forum - they like TV's as much as we like gear! I found that 9/10 of the 'corksniffers' chose plasma over everything else, and also said to get the biggest TV you can afford. It's true, I'm glad I went with the 50 - perfect for my room.

Oh, and also don't go by the picture on the floor models - they're not calibrated correctly. If you really want the best picture possible, you have to set it up just like you would a guitar. They're not always perfect out of the box.

[Peteyvee]

I do the same with TV's that I do with computers, buy as old a technology as you can for as little $$ as you can. Panasonic Viera plasma, who cares about 1080.

The OP does. He's big on BluRay, not watching TV...;)

[Tbone135]

Wow, y'all came through big time for me here with all of the replies. Thanks! I feel better armed for TV shopping this weekend.

[fusion58]

>>Best picture is the Panasonic Viera plasma.<<

Co-sign.

[travisvwright]

I do the same with TV's that I do with computers, buy as old a technology as you can for as little $$ as you can. Panasonic Viera plasma, who cares about 1080.+1
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cutting_edge.png

[tonedaddy]

Here's some info I learned over the last year, finally buying about 2 months ago.
I went with the latest LG 60" plasma, and my viewing distance is 9-12 feet in a low ambient light room.


http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=10476783
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=8107434
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=8102595
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=8008669