I just bought it.



So once it gets here, ill check it out. If im not happy with the picture, I'll sell it and take the hit.



I have a feeling I'm not going to be disappointed. I wanted a 50", and this seems like a decent deal.



here's to trusting your gut on a $1300 purchase!

6/16/2008 6:47:38 PM

^^what he said

Quote :

"Why do most people hate 1080i? Not because of the flicker; but it is that most TV's that display 1080i do NOT have a 1920 x 1080 resolution, instead they have just 1366x 768. The problem with this is the 1920 accross gets compressed to 1366 and much of the picture is lost, and the 1080 down gets compressed to 768."

1080 means 1080 vertical resolution, a 768 vertical resolution would not make it even capable of 1080i

6/16/2008 7:23:51 PM

I can't decide which one to get. Any opinions?

http://tinyurl.com/59vyq4

http://www.sharpusa.com/products/QuickPrint/0,1242,1920,00.html

6/17/2008 2:46:29 PM

Panasonic Plasma.

6/17/2008 2:53:54 PM

^i think it would depend on the room, purpose, and how much of a price difference (if any) there is....

6/17/2008 3:50:32 PM

You would think that, but you'd be wrong.

Buy the plasma. You won't regret it.

6/17/2008 3:51:35 PM

The price difference doesn't really matter. Looking to spend about 2K on either one. I may drop down to a 46 inch due to room size. There's a window directly across from it and to the side but they are both covered. I'll use it for mainly watching tv and movies with some minor video game usage.

6/17/2008 4:16:12 PM

I have a Panasonic Plasma and I have been very pleased.

Been to many a friends houses with various flat screens I do have to say that none compare to my picture.

6/17/2008 4:48:43 PM

why go plasma vs. lcd? someone want to break down the pros/cons?

6/17/2008 4:57:49 PM

^ i debated it for a while and decided that there was no big difference (i mean, any site or person could tell you that)...the only big thing i've noticed with my samsung plasma that i never saw with my roommate's vizio LCD was that the plasma get noticeably warmer than the LCD...also, samsung has this pixelshift function where it shifts the screen a pixel or two now and then...i NEVER notice it while watching television, only when i'm directly to the side or below it (where i have the HTPC)

6/17/2008 5:10:48 PM

Samsung LNT4069FX 40-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
$1,349.98 Free Shipping
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000WV47YW/

Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
$1,489.97 Free Shipping
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0014175NE/

Samsung LN46A550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
$1,429.98 Free Shipping
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0014175E8/

Questions, the new 5 series, goes from 8ms to 5ms, so the reduced refresh, will this help with motion, or should i still look at 120hz?

Would you opt for 46" over 40" and sacrifice 120hz? I do not like motion blur.

Or maybe this if someone can convince me to go plasma:

Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
$1,289.97 Free Shipping
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00142JKRW/

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 1:40:39 PM

Get the plasma. Go look at the Best Buy on Capital across from Triangle Town Center; it'll be clear as day when you look at the TVs they have on display why the best TVs in the store are all plasmas and why the Panasonic are the best at a reasonable price.

(The Pioneers are better TVs, but whether they're $2000 more for a TV of equivalent size is a sticking point for a lot of people)

6/26/2008 3:09:38 PM

so explain why everyone buys LCDs (or at least a majority of HDTV buyers)

6/26/2008 3:11:23 PM

1) Unreasonable fear of burn-in
2) They think pixel count is more important than image quality
3) They focus more on "oh wow, look how bright it is!" than paying attention to how most LCDs don't really handle blacks well at all.

But I mean, you could chalk it up to the fact that they're idiots too

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 3:17 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 3:16:55 PM

yeah, i'm very glad i went with my samsung plasma as opposed to (any other brand of) LCD...i have a few concerns/complaints/items of note:

1.) plasma televisions produce more heat than LCD
2.) from extreme angles, i can see a double image (it's almost like it's 3D)
3.) up close and using HDMI, images from the computer stay on the screen for a few seconds...i don't know why, but that wasn't a problem with the LCD my roommate had before

all of these are relatively minor for (what i consider to be) a superior picture

6/26/2008 3:21:35 PM

i thought both LCD & plasma have the same number of pixels.

plasmas do burn-in, the length of time differs, but it does.

how does heat/power consumption compare? i don't want to pay for 200W to power a TV. is it twice as much? 20% more? just curious.

6/26/2008 3:26:16 PM

Quote :

"i thought both LCD & plasma have the same number of pixels."

They do, but for a while LCDs were moving to 1080p much quicker than plasmas were.

Quote :

"plasmas do burn-in, the length of time differs, but it does."

So do CRTs, but I'm now fully convinced that if you buy a Panasonic you have to really mess up in order to get it to happen.

Quote :

"how does heat/power consumption compare? i don't want to pay for 200W to power a TV. is it twice as much? 20% more? just curious."

It puts off a little bit of heat, but does use more power. I can't 1:1 compare since I don't have an LCD TV.

6/26/2008 3:28:35 PM

plasmas use ~20% more power, IIRC

for example, a 42" plasma would use (roughly) 400w while a 42" LCD would use (roughly) 320w

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 3:41 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 3:38:43 PM

how about for use with a HTPC? this is priority #1, compatibility with a PC via HDMI

have you compared plasma to the new 2008 samsung LCD's? their contrast is near the same as plasma, and 4ms response time w/ 120Hz.

6/26/2008 4:09:47 PM

Contrast numbers are crap. Go look at the TV instead.

6/26/2008 4:10:49 PM

^ yes...the simple fact of the matter is that traditional LCDs, 120mhz or not, arbitrary contrast ratios aside, cannot display true black like plasmas can...compare two, side-by-side, and you'll see it

^^ i have mine hooked up to my HTPC (although it's only 720p, but i don't do enough for 1080p to be worth the $200+ premium) and i love it...i play games and watch 720p/1080p movies on it...i also record HD television

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 4:15 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 4:13:42 PM

for LCD vs plasma, you have to compare TRUE contrast, not LCD Dynamic contrast (which is a bunch of marketing BS).

Most lcd's now, even REALLY nice ones get 1000-1500:1 contrast. Many Plasmas are in the 10000:1 or higher ranges. There really is a big difference in the warmth, blacks, and color accuracy. That being said, Plasma's are heavy as fuck, run fairly hot, and are heavy as fuck.

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 4:17 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 4:17:15 PM

and use a SH*T ton more power..

6/26/2008 4:36:42 PM

i know contrast numbers are crap. what i want to know is if we are getting to the point of diminishing returns where the difference in contrast is less noticeable.

plasma's native contrast are up to 30000:1, DC of 1000000:1
lcd's native contrast are up to 1600:1 , DC of 50000:1

but they say the newer LCD's blacks aren't much different than plasma's unless you're in a completely dark room.

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 4:53 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2008 4:52:30 PM

Quote :

"but they say the newer LCD's blacks aren't much different than plasma's unless you're in a completely dark room."

Just because they say it, doesn't mean it's true.

Quote :

"That being said, Plasma's are heavy as fuck, run fairly hot, and are heavy as fuck."

I've never understood this argument when it comes to TVs. Do people really rearrange their rooms bi-weekly? Either way, the plasma and LCD are both going to come in obscenely large boxes and are generally too awkward to carry alone anyway. If two grown men max out lifting a 37 pound LCD versus a 75 pound Plasma TV, you've got a whole slew of other problems to worry about.

6/26/2008 6:20:20 PM

well i do have wood-lath plaster walls, hanging 75lbs. on the wall might be tricky

6/26/2008 6:30:42 PM

Quote :

"I've never understood this argument when it comes to TVs. Do people really rearrange their rooms bi-weekly? Either way, the plasma and LCD are both going to come in obscenely large boxes and are generally too awkward to carry alone anyway. If two grown men max out lifting a 37 pound LCD versus a 75 pound Plasma TV, you've got a whole slew of other problems to worry about."

yeah and i'm old-fashioned and i don't want to put tvs on walls unless i'm running a clinic

6/26/2008 6:55:35 PM

yea, i don't either, but the only place to put it is on the mantle or on the wall.

6/26/2008 7:35:38 PM

just decided i'm going with an LCD, after numerous people at work told me about plasma degradation at high-altitudes and poor lamp life.

7/8/2008 7:07:10 PM

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-altitude.html

7/8/2008 7:10:51 PM

plasma for the win!

if i buy an hdtv this year it will be a plasma

7/8/2008 9:17:39 PM

i'm still opting for LCD, i can't tell a difference in color or blacks, the new samsung 6/7 series are absolutely amazing and imho, looked better than the panasonic viera when put side-by-side.

7/9/2008 1:36:35 AM

crutchfield now has a OLED section on their website, which boasts the 11" Sony panel for a mere $2500.

7/9/2008 3:06:45 PM

I completely happy with my 50" Hitachi's picture.



I've mounted it on the wall and run my cables. I'll post pics later.

7/9/2008 3:09:39 PM

Is there any 42"-46" LCD that is the current darling for price/performance sweet spot? Not looking for the high end or the low end, something in the ~1200-1500 range.

7/12/2008 10:15:41 PM

I completely happy with my ____________'s picture.

This is all that matters.

7/12/2008 10:20:48 PM

Samsung makes a monitor series Txx0HD the 26" and 24" sizes are nice and can double as a HDTV.

http://snipurl.com/t260hd

That's the link for the 26" version. They might make some one a good second option if you need to replace a monitor and TV.

7/13/2008 10:55:37 AM

Quote :

"i'm still opting for LCD, i can't tell a difference in color or blacks, the new samsung 6/7 series are absolutely amazing and imho, looked better than the panasonic viera when put side-by-side. "

Your stated qualms about plasma were still wrong, but you're right in that the 6 and 7 series samsungs do look better than the non-pioneer plasmas on the market now. I just bought a 6-series samsung (REALLY wanted the 7 series but it was a hair too expensive).

7/13/2008 12:32:38 PM

^^^Samsung and Toshiba are the hot topics on avsforum.com

7/13/2008 12:39:41 PM

I mounted that plasma on the wall. Here's a picture:

7/13/2008 7:01:28 PM

Quote :

"Your stated qualms about plasma were still wrong"

uh, no, plasma's don't work at higher elevations, it's scientifically proven... it's just the newer TV's allow for up to 6,000 ft., so while they will work, i'd rather not go that route. i'm not too far off from that elevation. and as little as 30,000 hours for my plasma to be half as bright? (probably less at higher altitudes), uh no thanks.

7/13/2008 11:28:10 PM

Do you realize how long 30,000 hours is? It's almost 3.5 years of having the TV on nonstop.

Not to mention that it'll still be more than watchable long after those 30,000 hours have come and gone.

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 12:25 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 12:26 AM. Reason : .]

7/14/2008 12:25:10 AM

actually no, after 30,000 hours the TV will be half as bright, and in most regards at the end of it's life.

that also means that after 15,000 hours it will still see 25% loss in brightness.

not that i'd see that, or have my TV on that long, but I do plan on keeping my next HDTV for 5-10 years.

and no, i'm not hinging my decision on this alone.

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 1:33 AM. Reason : .]

7/14/2008 1:33:24 AM

^

Assuming the degradation is linear with time is probably inaccurate.

7/14/2008 8:25:03 AM

Quote :

"not that i'd see that, or have my TV on that long"

then why the fuck are you even using that information in your decision making process?

7/14/2008 8:33:49 AM

Not to mention that Panasonic is giving their panels a 100,000 hour halflife too.

7/14/2008 9:40:27 AM

well that's the thing, it seems all the 2008 models of both LCD & Plamsa are fixing all the previous downsides.

LCD - almost doubled DC, increased brightness, better blacks, 120Hz better motion
Plasma - higher altitudes, longer gas life, less likely for burn-in

i mean their both pretty good picks, and as i've stated before it's mostly about my concern of hanging it on the wall, not that it can't be done, but I have an older home and would much rather be putting 35lbs on the wall than 75lbs. i'm also using a HTPC, so the LCD i've heard is better for PC interface. i'm also concerned about power requirements, i'd like to be as energy efficient as possible, and to me at least, when i saw a samsung 2008 model next to a panasonic viera 2008 model, the samsung LCD looked better.

that's it, that's my opinion, so i opted for the Samsung 40" LN40A650... hopefully i'll get it in the next 2-4 weeks. gotta wait for my kitchen remodel to get done first

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 10:43 AM. Reason : .]

7/14/2008 10:41:31 AM

nice

yesterday was the first time i had looked at tv's in over a year.. i can't believe how much they've came down in price. i paid over $2K for a no-name brand 42" plasma without a built in tuner back in college and that was by far the cheapest thing around that didn't suck royal ass. now for $2500 you can get a 50+ inch samsung 120hz 1080P

i'm old.

7/14/2008 11:02:44 AM

what does 120hz though ??

i mean mine is 1080p but seriously i can't think of any 120hz sources

7/14/2008 11:23:11 AM

refresh rate

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 11:30 AM. Reason : hz=cycles per second]

7/14/2008 11:30:11 AM