Hi Def Tv's

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Wylde1

Wylde1

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'Tis the season to treat myself to a new tv, but I'm sick of looking.

I've been told that my local (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) carriers, Bell (satellite) and Rogers (cable) broadcast in 720, so is there any reason to spring for a 1080 tv? Of course if I *buy* a BlueRay dvd, 1080 would be the preferred tv. The only other thing the sales guys tell me is that Bell/Rogers will still look better on a 1080 tv.

Since my old rear projection Toshiba was 55", I don't really want to go smaller. But there's some great deals on 50" tvs. Costco has an LG 50" 720 plasma for $568. That has been the cheapest 50" Plasma I've found so far. I was in Costco on Sunday and they had an LG 60" 1080p Plasma for $998. I went back today and the price is now $1499. Doh!

Other local "deals":
Stereo Plus - Samsung 58" Plasma 1080p for $1499
Audiotronics - Panasonic 54" Plasma 1080p for $1299
Leon's - Samsung 55" LCD 1080p 120hz for $1199

But I could buy 2 of the cheap LG 50" tvs for those prices.


Suggestions? LCD, LED, Plasma ??? I've got until Friday before the sales are gone.


Wylde1.
 
I have a 1080p 50" Plasma that I bought for under $1000, when I could have bought a 720p 50" for $699 at the time. I'm glad I bought the 1080p because I love watching Bluray movies now, I think there is a big difference between DVD and Bluray. I won't buy a DVD now if it's available in Bluray no matter the cost. Use HDMI cables or at the very least "component cables" to get the best picture. They are dirt cheap on Ebay.
Remember, the bigger the TV, the more you NEED better resolution. But if you have no interest in Bluray or Xbox/PS3 then 720p is all you need, I think by the time they broadcast in 1080p your current TV will probably need replacing.
 
OKDart said:
I love watching Bluray movies now, I think there is a big difference between DVD and Bluray. I won't buy a DVD now if it's available in Bluray no matter the cost.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I should have stated BlueRay and not a regular dvd. Fixed the op.

I agree on hdmi cables.

Wylde1.
 
Plasma's the cheapest, at least out here, cuss I think it's falling out of favour, I just bought a Samsung LCD 48" 1080 at Visions for $1200. Make sure it's this years model with the newer processor. Anyone of the gooroos I've talked to say Samsung has the best track record even over Sony. LED are still showing up in the stores and still pretty pricey.
 
This question is so commonly asked. It usually comes down to personal preference. I have (2) 42" Panasonic plasmas (720). I love them. Great picture. Great color and contrast. I first choose the plasma based on days of pro/cons of plasma/lcd. I choose the plasma because if you are watching say a sporting event the image in motion does not blur. LCD has a problem keeping up with tracking. The plasma looks the same at any angle. If you look at an lcd from a slight angle the color looks like it dims. Not good for my seating arrangement in my living room. But now they have graced us with the LED. Probably the best so far. So in conclusion. Pick what you want. 720 looks good. LED, plasma, LCD. Thats's my opinion.

Probably not helping,
cb66
 
Regardless of what your TV is capable of doing its only going to put on the picture thats broadcasted to it. If its only being broadcasted in 720 thats all your going to get regardless of your TV. Get a 720 progressive scan and you will be fine for a few years. If you watch alot of movies then yes go for the 1080
 
I would definately buy a LCD or LED TV. And make sure its 1080p for blu-ray watching and x-box.
Whatever you do don't buy Plasma because they use more than twice as much energy and they burn out after a few years. I have a sony 52" bravia LCD in the bedroom and a 60" sony bravia LCD in the living room and I love both of them. Great picture and awesome with the blu-ray and x-box.
 
I moved up to Blu-Ray to go along with my 1080p LCD at 120 Hz rate. The movies are stunning. Live sports are sharper too compared to my old 60 Hz LCD 1080i set. I chose LCD because I don't have reflections off the front panel like my brother's Sony plasma. On his set you can see everyone walking around behind you and the outside windows. My LCD in the den is next to a sliding glass door and you can't see any reflections even in daylight.

I saw new LCD sets with 240 Hz rates and I will wait until those prices come down before getting one.
 
I just got the sharp aquos 40" LED tv. 1080p 240 ghtz. Its the only tv out there will yellow pixels for color. Its amazing. I highly reccomend it. 6 or 8 HDMI ports. Ethernet hookup, computer hoodup, glass protecting the screen, netflix, usb plug in. All the bells and whistles. I highly reccomend it.
 
I have a 55" Sony Bravia led LCD 240hz tv 1080p. Paid 1600 for it. Love it my ps3 games/movies looking f**kin great! Tv broadcast look great as well, but you can really tell how old the news cast anchors are! No make can fix that
 
Sharko said:
I would definately buy a LCD or LED TV. And make sure its 1080p for blu-ray watching and x-box.
Whatever you do don't buy Plasma because they use more than twice as much energy and they burn out after a few years. I have a sony 52" bravia LCD in the bedroom and a 60" sony bravia LCD in the living room and I love both of them. Great picture and awesome with the blu-ray and x-box.
Click to expand...

LED is a lot better IMO. I believe the LCD just like the monitors use a cold cathode for a backlight. Sometimes they last, sometimes they will just die out of the blue, and when they do you will be pissed off.

My 26 inch viewsonic monitor did that to me recently. I have to take it to see if the backlight can be replaced.

Anyway, the LED has a lot longer lifespan and reliability.
 
I don't know about the whole "plasma burnout" thing. never heard that. I have had one of mine for almost six years now and no burnout here. I use a PS3 all the time. Maybe the brand would make a difference, but have never had a problem yet.
 
I cant add much more than what everyone else mentioned other than get the extended warranty!! Check into that before you buy. Lori and I just bought 3 tv's in the past month for christmas and birthday presents, what we found out is that a 1yr warranty, really is 30 days and you take it back to the store. After the 30 day mark, you have to ship the tv out for repairs to the manufacturer. The shipping cost to the manufacturer is up to you. That alone is worth the price of warranty. We hammered the guy down to $90 for a 4 year in house warranty for our 32" samsung. We also bought a new dvd player, nuthin fancy an LG, its hard as heck to find a "normal" dvd player, so we bought a Blu-ray for $100. Same as most above say, 1080p is best for watching movies, 720p is standard for cable/satellite signal. Good luck!
 
I picked up a 46" Sony Bravia LCD LED for under a K not too long ago. It's 1080p 120 hz and the picture is awesome with HD broadcasts but it's spoiled the hell out of me. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this post on it. I built a computer with a HDMI video card, a combo Blue Ray/DVD reader writer and am using a Enermax wireless keyboard with a built in mouse that'll function from 30' away.

I agree though with the other poster, that hot anchor chick on the news won't look all that great in HD. It also took a while to get adjusted just right too. Standard broadcasts while looking better than on my old CRT TV, just don't compare with HD. I've noticed no issues while watching sports either.
 
I just bought a 40" Bravia,1080P,120HZ. Threw a Bluray in the player and it looks pretty damn good. Just got HD tv service as well,and I don't know if i would go back to regular tv. I find myself watching more informative programs on the HD channels,less crap that's on the popular stations. 8)
 
I have a Pioneer plasma 1080p downstairs because I like to watch in the dark it still has the nicest picture I've ever seen to date...better than Sony's top of the line XBR 1080.
My Son bought a Sony 46 240 1080p to play his games on it has a very nice picture but the Pioneer still has a way better picture but it was 4x the money so it should.
my 2 cents would be buy a Plasma if you like your room dark when you watch TV and a LCD or LED if you play games and your room is well lighted when you watch.
 
This is getting to the point where you really have to ask yourself how good your eyesight is.
 
I was talking to a TV tech a few years ago when I was considering Plasma vs LCD..

He told me that Plasma was a slightly better pic at first, but that they tend to "burn out quickly" after about 6 to 7 years of use.

Also, he mentioned that you have to position the TV at a certain angle in order to keep direct sunlight from hitting the screen or the "burnout" is accelerated...

I have two friends whose Plasma TVs have gone belly-up in recent years. They went and got LCDs..

I think that word has got around and this is why you see Plasma TVs going for a lot less money nowadays. (just my opinion and YMMV)

We have two Vizio LCDs (30") and an Insigna LCD (53") at this time, all doing fine. Our oldest Vizio has been around for 5 years now.


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Vizio 55" lcd 2,000,000 x 1 contrast.. I have purchased 2 of them and they are the best for picture
 
Yes it is, but for the size display the OP was considering, there is NO DOUBT that getting an up to date hi res 1080 is the ONLY way to go. Even though local broadcasts are "less" that can and is changing all the time. Many stations are still in a state of flux, and may yet change ('xample) from UHF back to VHF as channels become vacated, etc. This is because VHF propogates better, suffers less ground loss (wet trees, terrain) and the transmitter itself is higher efficiency at VHF than UHF.

ON a side note there is NO SUCH THING as a "digital" antenna, period. TV antennas are the same VHF/ UHF antennas they always were, and need to be high gain as dictated by your fringe area. THE ONE THING that is now much more difficult to troubleshoot is interferance (from other sources) and signal ghosting (multipath.) You could SEE and HEAR the interferance and ghosting on analogue sets, but now all you see is tiling, freezups, blanking, etc. Much, much more difficult to run down and identify.
 
I have a Samsung 63 inch plasma. Amazing TV. For price I'd but a LG because it's made by Sony anyway.(same factory)
 
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