A/V guys, need advice for new TV

[LightngSVT]

The builder screwed up part of the foundation of our new house (location of egress window) which affects us putting our fireplace in the location we agree on and location of our TV. We currently a 2.5 year old Sony 57" widescreen rear projection TV. So long story short we are considering purchasing either a flat panel (LCD or Plasma) or something slim like a Sony Ultra Wega to mount over the fireplace when the house is done in a few months.



So my questions are what is a good TV in the say $2000-3250 range? We are looking between 42"-50". What is better LCD or Plasma? I see Circuit City has a 50" Wega on sale for around $2500, would that be better than, or last longer than plasma or LCD? What brand is best overall? What things should I be looking in one of these TV`s? How do plasma or LCD`s working game systems (PS2, Xbox)? We already have the rest of the home theater components we are going to use for now.

[Inthedetails]

I have a Panasonic 42" ED flat panel over my fireplace (gas insert), and have had no problems. The ED will decode HD signals, with some sacrafice in quality, and a huge savings in pocket.



This one here (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panasonic-42-Plasma-EDTV-TH-42PD50U-/sem/rpsm/oid/118479/catOid/-12869/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do)



This is the new version of the one I own.



No problems so far Bro..... :xyxthumbs

[LightngSVT]

We saw that one at Circuit City today actually. I dont know if it was the way they had it setup, but the picture was kind of grainy. I kind of liked the 50" Zeinith plasma for $2899 or the Sony Ultra Wega 50" for $2500, but for $1899 your Panasonic looks like a great deal.



So what is better, ED, DLP, or HD? Which last longer PLasma or LCD projection?

[the other pc]

...So long story short we are considering purchasing either a flat panel (LCD or Plasma) or something slim like a Sony Ultra Wega to mount over the fireplace when the house is done in a few months....Before you buy a flat panel and mount it over your fireplace ask yourself how you would complete this sentence:



When I go to the movies I like to;

a.) sit in the front rows and tilt my head back to look up at the screen.

b.) sit middle rows and look straight ahead at the screen.

C.) sit in the back rows and look down at the screen (note: only works in “stadium� theaters).





PC.

[Inthedetails]

I can`t even begin to explain all the options....



ED is slightly less sharp than HD if you are using a HD signal, for regular TV they are the same. DLP I have no idea about, except that its newer, so probably better (or not).



My TV is about 5 feet from the floor, very comfortable for viewing anywhere in the room which is about 20 wide. There is a formula for viewing distance and screen size, 3 times the screen size sticks in my head.



There is also a concern about radiant heat and the panel. My fireplace sits 19 inches into the room, and the panel is against the wall. We also have a bracket (it costs $750 all by itself) that allows the TV to be pulled 32" from the wall, tilt up and down, left and right and also swing 25" from center.



Let me know if I can help anymore... :bigups



Dave

[JeffM]

Skip the fireplace, and build the room for home theater.



Fireplaces after the novelty wears off, dont get used much(by most people)

[cwcad]

We have had a Phillips 65" HD Projection TV for two years. We looked into plasma tv`s but unfortunately at the time of our purchase it was out of reach, monetarily. With High Definition stations, that are provided thru our cable company, we are ecstatic about the quality of the picture. Without HD the picture is a little suspect as to quality, but still very watchable.



We have LCD monitors on all of our computers. They have TV HD capabilities. We also use them in game applications. The picture is bright crisp and clear. Our daughter hooked up a surround sound sytem to her X-Box and is the envy of her friends at college. With High definition hooked up to the monitors the viewing experience is exceptional. Our family is partial to the size of our 65` Phillips. Watched a Nascar race yesterday and it was phenomenal. So are all sports. Nothing like it IMHO. All of our DVD`s are exciting to watch on either the LCD moitor or our projection tv.



Plasma, projection or LCD please do not settle for EDTV. You will be shorting your TV experience. They built ED just to get people to buy. It is not good enough. Buy the best that you can afford because no matter what you buy it will be obsolete soon after your purchase. Technology is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up.



They all have there pluses. In retrospect I feel that I was lucky getting the one that we have because we love the picture size. Although if we would have purchased a 42" plasma we most likely would have settled in for a good picture that was smaller and not noticed the difference.

[cwcad]

So my questions are what is a good TV in the say $2000-3250 range? We are looking between 42"-50". What is better LCD or Plasma? I see Circuit City has a 50" Wega on sale for around $2500, would that be better than, or last longer than plasma or LCD? What brand is best overall? What things should I be looking in one of these TV`s? How do plasma or LCD`s working game systems (PS2, Xbox)? We already have the rest of the home theater components we are going to use for now.



Sorry for the rant on the last psot. Guess I did not read the question correctly.



LCD or Plasma.... Hard question! will offer this. was reading on a web page that Sony is offering an LCD that has more pixels than any other. I believe that more pixels equates to better clarity. Wish i could remember the model. It is new so it most likely will be expensive.

[TortoiseAWD]

LightningSVT,



If you haven`t already, you might try poking around at http://www.avsforum.com, too.



Tort

[medic]

i think over the fireplace if fine, especilly if you`re like me and sink into the couch when you`re watching TV



how will you setup the seating positions in the room? if there will be a lot of fringe vieweing (not striaght on), make sure to check how the picture quality falls off with LCDs on the sides. Plasmas are better at this.



there`s a lot of stuff about plasmas burn-in and poor lifetime. yes, they do have these issues, but not as bad as before. newer sets shift the image slightly to prevent burn in and most sets can last over 7 years even with the tv on for 8 hrs/day/everyday. LCDs don`t have either of these issues.



plasma picture if generally brighter, if you get a lot of sunlight in the room, it may wash out the lcd picture



see if you can get a system with 1080p as oppososed to 720p or 1080i. The progressive scan is better for movies while the interlaced is better for fast action; this also depends on the DVD player is it`s interlaced or progressive





make sure you check each of the tvs picture quality from the distance you`ll normally watch from. some sets can look grainy up close, but just fine as you step away.



also, if the size TV you want is in your budget, just get an HDTV, not EDTV. All broadcast will be going HD in the next few years, so you might as well have a set that can show it instead of having to convert down. The EDTV quality is good, but with HD prices dropping you should get HD if you can.

we`ll be purchasing a new tv when our house is complete, so I`ll be intreested to see what you purchase.



also, as a point of personal opinion, avoid getting tvs with built in DVRs and other gizmos. I would hate to have to ship my whole TV into the shop just to fix the DVR hard drive instead of just buying a new TIVO. Integration is nice, but it also means more stuff to break



a recent business week had an article about this which is where I got some of my facts from.

[autoweenie]

A good 42" Panasonic ED tv (model PD50U) can be had for close to $1700 shipped.

(ED = enhanced definition)

For a few hundred more, I would go with a real HD tv. (HD = high definition)

By the way, it is important to note whether the tv is HD-ready (aka monitor) or whether it has the tuners when comparing price. If it is only HD-ready/monitor, you would need independent tuner/set-top-box to decode channel.



In general, ED tv is better at displaying SD (standard definition) material and DVD.

Of course, the HD is better with 720p/1080i source.



It is a myth that plasma tv does not last long. The half life of a modern Panasonic plasma is 60,000 hours (1/2 life is the time it takes the tv to become half as bright). This is comparable to half life of a regular CRT tv.

It is debatable whether plasma suffers from burn-in. From the burn-in standpoint, the new plasma is as good as the CRT. However, the first 100 hours of plasma is important.

Avoid static images/black bars during this time. I use my plasma for gaming. However,

I respect others who may not be comfortable with it.



I assume that when you say LCD, you mean flat panel LCD (and not the much cheaper rear-project LCD). This tends to cost more. Sharp Aquos is usually regarded as the best

flat panel LCD (and consequently, you have to pay through the nose).

In my opinion, LCD is a better choice if you have window(s) behind the

tv. Plasma will have glare. For gaming (or sports), you want to pick the LCD with the

best respond time. LCD tends to have problem in this area resulting in smearing of the

images when displaying fast action scenes.



Some people love plasma, others love LCD. It is your money and your choice.



I have done some DLP audition. The deal killer for me was the off-axis drop off in picture quality (both vertical and horizontal). Also, you would need to change the light bulb ($200 - #300) every few years. However, DLP is very economical. The picture quality is quite good.



There is no "real" 1080p tv out there (not that I know of). I define "real" 1080p tv as a tv capable of taking in the 1080p signal and display it natively. Currently, there is no source of 1080p material. The chance of broadcasters broadcasting in 1080p is pretty slim in the short term (they can`t even do much 720p/1080i materials). This leaves the new Blue-ray (and ps3) from Sony and HD-DVD from Toshiba that are coming out next year. Ideally, the tv should be able to take in 1080p via HDMI from the new gen dvd player and display it natively on its panel. If you get one of the 1080p capable tv now, most likely you will have to use the component out (or S-video) from the new gen dvd player to feed to the tv. There is a lot of analog/digital conversion going on and I don`t think it is the optimal way.

[TortoiseAWD]

There is no "real" 1080p tv out there (not that I know of). I define "real" 1080p tv as a tv capable of taking in the 1080p signal and display it natively. Currently, there is no source of 1080p material. The chance of broadcasters broadcasting in 1080p is pretty slim in the short term (they can`t even do much 720p/1080i materials).LCD and DLP 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) offerings have just recently started showing up on the market. I don`t know much about them other than having seen them mentioned on AVS Forum when I was doing some research a month or so ago.



FWIW,

Tort

[LightngSVT]

Thanks for the info guys! I will check out AVS Forum too. We are very happy with our 57" projection Sony, but thanks to our builders "oops" its either the TV (going to slim or wall mount) or my 5` long tropical fish tank. The fact that they are giving us $5k for their goof makes this pretty tolerable. The TV will sit 4-4.5` above the floor on the mantle, up here in MI we use our fireplaces and people expect them come resale time (we did think about just dumping it though). Our room will only be 17x17, we have a sectional that will sit in one corner and the tv will be across the room in the opposite corner. the TV will sit next to, but in front of a large wall of windows (with view of the lake).



We also talked about getting a 42" ED-TV plasma with plans to keep it 1-2 years. Then moving it up to our bedroom and getting the latest at that time for our family room.

[autoweenie]

LCD and DLP 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) offerings have just recently started showing up on the market.



Unfortunately, those will not take 1080p signal and display natively.

I think it is a very good idea to get an super cheap ED tv and then get something much

nicer in 1-2 years. (price drop on these items are scary - if the auto was on the same price curve, you could get a Rolls for $500). Hopefully, the 1080p would be all sorted out

(Of course, there would be the *new* *new* 2160p then).



By the way if you planning to move the plasma into the bed room, I suggest you get one with

tuner and speakers. I don`t think you want to deal with set-top-box, 5.1 speakers in the

bedroom. You may think 5.1 speakers are manly things to have in the bedroom. However, our fairer sex would disagree every time.

[LightngSVT]

Funny thing is we kept our old sony 5.1 receiver to use in the BR and it was the wifes idea! LOL! But I do agree that running the wires through the walls and hanging speakers may be a bit much in the BR. As far as the EDTV`s, there was a very nice Samsung for $1999 at Circuit City (that I know we can get cheaper), it looked much nicer than the $1799 Phillips. In a year or 2 we can get probably something nicer than the TVs currently costing $4-5000 for half that price. Although Id like to go 50" instead of 42".