LCD versus Plasma

[Moonboots]

As with lobby's a LCD will be better because of the high amounts of light that are in the room.

For the home theater I just like plasmas. I have a Panasonic plasma right now and am looking at getting another Panasonic of moving up to the Elite line by Pioneer which IMO are the best TV's one can buy.

We have a 52" Sharp Aquos LCD at home and I bought a 32" Dynex LCD (the 2007 Black Friday doorbuster at Best Buy) for the dorm. Love 'em both.  I agree with those that say the plasma gives a marginally more deep picture, but honestly if you're upgrading from standard def you'll be wowed either way.

As Chili alluded to, I'd say make a main deciding factor where you plan on putting the TV.  If it's in a living room with windows in any capacity behind where you sit, get the LCD.  Despite plasma's slightly better picture (in my opinion), it's a glass screen and not a liquid crystal display, so glare can be awful.  It's why we went LCD over plasma.  Either way, pick something out and get ready to be wowed.  Good luck!

[Pardner]

Either will be awesome from what you have...I have a Panasonic plasma...my one reco is to splurge and get a Bose sound system to complete the experience.

[Chili]

Either will be awesome from what you have...I have a Panasonic plasma...my one reco is to splurge and get a Bose sound system to complete the experience.

Bose - yuck. Average sound with great marketing. You can get much better systems. If you already have the TV don't skimp on the stereo.

[rocky_warrior]

I bought a Samsung 40" LCD, 1080p, 120Hz last March.  The picture is bright as hell - even brighter than my old (1997) 35" CRT.  Now, when I watch movies at night, I'll even turn the power saving feature on to medium so that its not so bright. Hah.   However, the room has tons of windows, so the brightness is appreciated during the day.

Needless to say, I'd give it two thumbs up.  As chicos said, I've never noticed any motion blur.  Not sure if its the 120Hz, or my eyes, but it's not a problem for me.

As for the Wii, make sure you go out and get the component cable so that you at least get 480p with it.  The extra little details are worth it: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1125427

[ChicosBailBonds]

I bought a Samsung 40" LCD, 1080p, 120Hz last March.  The picture is bright as hell - even brighter than my old (1997) 35" CRT.  Now, when I watch movies at night, I'll even turn the power saving feature on to medium so that its not so bright. Hah.   However, the room has tons of windows, so the brightness is appreciated during the day.

Needless to say, I'd give it two thumbs up.  As chicos said, I've never noticed any motion blur.  Not sure if its the 120Hz, or my eyes, but it's not a problem for me.

As for the Wii, make sure you go out and get the component cable so that you at least get 480p with it.  The extra little details are worth it: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1125427

Putting a Wii on a 1080p should be grounds for arrest!!!   


We run the PS3 on ours as many of the games are 720p or 1080p resolution.  I think watching  Wii game on a 1080 p would make me want to cry

[MilTown]

Whatever you do, don't buy a Vizio, Olevia, or some other brand of TV that is not well known. Spend the money and get a nice 1080 LCD from one of the big boys, Samsung, Sony, Hitatchi, Toshiba, etc. Price TV's everywhere. Many people might find this surprising, but we just found the Sony LCD we wanted at Sears of all places. They had a great deal for us.

[Chili]

Vizio makes great LCD's. Sony doesn't even make their own tv's. I believe the panels are actually made by LG. I also believe Samsung puts a glass shield over their LCD's which can add to glare.

[MilTown]

Ok, let's assume price is not an option. Can you honestly recommend a Vizio over a Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp, etc? I like Vizio for an entry level TV under 40" and even for a bedroom TV 20 - 30", but for 40" and up, I don't think they are anywhere near the quality of other brands.

[Chili]

I also personally think Sony is the most overrated product. You pay way to much for a name. But I also am not a big fan of LCD's and prefer plasmas for the reasons I have stated earlier in this thread. I pretty much would only consider Panasonic and Pioneer Elite plasmas at that to.

But to discount Vizio is a mistake. They are not like a Westinghouse, Soyo, Poloriod, ect.

Also, before Olevia went bankrupt their TV's regularly had better scores when they were reviewed.

[RawdogDX]

LCD is better if you watch in a room that has natural light in it.  Plasma's have a better picture but only if you are watching in the dark, so if you have a movie room in your basement then it might be a better choice.

[rocky_warrior]

Putting a Wii on a 1080p should be grounds for arrest!!!   

Perhaps, and I think the xbox and ps3 are both great game consoles.  However, my point was....if you HAVE to do it (and I did), make sure to get the 480p resolution - which is surprisingly better than 480i.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Perhaps, and I think the xbox and ps3 are both great game consoles.  However, my point was....if you HAVE to do it (and I did), make sure to get the 480p resolution - which is surprisingly better than 480i.

I know, I was just yanking your chain.

[Ahoya06]

Finally got my new TV last night. I ended up getting a Toshiba 40" 1080p LCD at Sears over at Brookfield Square for $799, and I'm already blown away. I didn't really look at Toshibas at first, but I have to say, it's a great quality panel, and I have absolutely no complaints so far. Got TW cable and an upconverting DVD player through HDMI, and regular XBox through component, and they all look phenomenal. Even the oldie XBox pulls its weight on this thing.

Sears has a lot of great prices, and is definitely worth checking out.

[rocky_warrior]

Finally got my new TV last night.

Congrats....now you can really enjoy the game tonight (hopefully....)

So...StillAWarrior...get yours yet?

[Ahoya06]

Congrats....now you can really enjoy the game tonight (hopefully....)

So...StillAWarrior...get yours yet?

Yep, having a innaugural viewing party tonight! Hopefully it's an HD win!

[StillAWarrior]

So...StillAWarrior...get yours yet?

Not yet, but hopefully soon.  I had planned to go out over the weekend and look, but had surprise visitors (my family flew in from out west to celebrate my 40th) and never had time.  At best, it'll be next weekend.

I'm a little nervous reading about all these extra cables, "through component", etc.  I assume that the person at the store will know what I need to make the thing actually run with ATT U-verse once I get it home.  This is not my strong suit.

[rocky_warrior]

Well, cables are pretty easy - BUT be careful about asking at the store about cables.  They tell you a million times that you need an HDMI cable, and then they try to sell you one for $50 or more. 

Now, the truth is once you get your HD, the connection to the U-Verse box will be HDMI, so the sales person is correct.

Also, once you get a blue-ray DVD player, you'll need another HDMI cable.  For now though, your standard def DVD (or DVR) will just hook up the same as it did to your old TV**.

But, here's a great deal on two 6ft HDMI cables - and then you'll never need to buy one again.  $8.99 - version 1.3b certified.
http://www.meritline.com/193-283-002.html

For the Wii, you'll need*** one of these
http://www.meritline.com/6-feet-480p-hd-component-cable-for-nintendo-wii.html

** - Unless you've got a progressive scan DVD, in which case you probably have component outputs on that sucker as well.
http://www.meritline.com/6-feet-component-cable.html

*** - The truth is you don't NEED new cables for the Wii, or a DVD player - they can hook up just like they are now.  However, you'll get better quality with the cables you "need".

Confusing enough?  Hopefully I didn't make it worse, but the stores will rip you off on cables.

[StillAWarrior]

Another question:  I've seen several sources that have suggested 37" for viewing distances under 10 feet.  Does anyone have any thoughts on that?  I've been looking at 40-42", but might want to put the extra money into speed/resolution instead of size if it actually would be better to have a smaller screen given our viewing distance.

[Ahoya06]

Another question:  I've seen several sources that have suggested 37" for viewing distances under 10 feet.  Does anyone have any thoughts on that?  I've been looking at 40-42", but might want to put the extra money into speed/resolution instead of size if it actually would be better to have a smaller screen given our viewing distance.

In my search, I learned that the best thing to do is to just try and visualize it. I'm at roughly 8 feet, and the 40" I bought is about perfect. 37 or 42 probably would have been fine as well. Thankfully, my old 27" SDTV tube set had big speakers on the side, making it almost as wide as my new panel. So I basically took the tape measure out and measured that TV, left to right (the whole thing, not just the screen), then wrote down the dimensions of the TVs I was looking at, and compared.

The bottom line, though, is that there's not a huge difference between 37" and 40".

[Hards Alumni]

Picking up my 52" LCD Samsung 1080p TV on Friday... very excite.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8794049&type=product&id=1205537712281

that one, but not that price... $1600

[rocky_warrior]

Just a heads up, since it seems lots of people are looking for LCDs this year...great deal on a 40" Samsung 1080p LCD (LN40A550) - $899 with free white glove (delivery and setup) shipping at Amazon.

It'd get to you after x-mas, but it's ok to give yourself a present a little late

[StillAWarrior]

Just a heads up, since it seems lots of people are looking for LCDs this year...great deal on a 40" Samsung 1080p LCD (LN40A550) - $899 with free white glove (delivery and setup) shipping at Amazon.

It'd get to you after x-mas, but it's ok to give yourself a present a little late

Thanks for the link.  That TV has gone down $100 in two days.  On the same day the Sony Bravia 42" was only $899 (regularly $1499), but I see that it is now $1044.97 (plus shipping).  I didn't realize how volatile the prices were on these tvs. I think I might jump on that Samsung today.

[Moonboots]

As rocky_warrior alluded to, for all of you looking at or purchasing new TVs, don't let them sell you on the HDMI.  You'll pay $40+ for them at any electronics store when a simple search, even on amazon, will give you results for $7 or $8.  I'm no expert or anything, but I would imagine all brands of HDMI cable are pretty much identical and should give the same quality connection with the same longevity.  I bought one for $5 to hook up my Ps3 and after more than a year the cable shows no signs of wear.

[Chili]

I have used monoprice.com for all of my cable needs. 12' hdmi for $17.

[StillAWarrior]

Just a heads up, since it seems lots of people are looking for LCDs this year...great deal on a 40" Samsung 1080p LCD (LN40A550) - $899 with free white glove (delivery and setup) shipping at Amazon.

It'd get to you after x-mas, but it's ok to give yourself a present a little late

Done.  Now it's all over but the waiting.