Plasma TVs - need info

[smooth]

That short throw projector I mentioned and bought is made to sit on a coffee table about 2-3 feet from a wall. That's the advantage of a short throw. If you had room for a typical ceiling mount from about 8-10 feet away you could save a couple hundred bucks and get the 1070. The one I recommended is specifically for apartment dwellers...and buying from amazon free shipping and return if you don't like it :)

[TurboJake]

Samsung and Westinghouse still use samwha capacitors that burn out too fast and are junk, causing shutoffs, green/red/rainbow lines and no picture. Stay always from those brands. I did some work for an AV company a few years ago, and they had a 65ish percent fail rate on samsungs in the first year, which was a big deal because they were in advertising pavilions and displays.

Phillips, Panasonic, LG, Insignia, and even Vizio use better components. Panasonic and LG manufacturing their own, the others using nichicon and rubycon. I'm partial to LG reliability and longevity for the slightly higher price. My LG 50" plasma has been trucking along for 4 years now, zero issues, which is from a long line of LG's before it and not a single failure. Burn-in isn't much of an issue nowadays, and I've accidentally left my LG on with a paused picture over a weekend. A residual picture did happen, but vanished after a day or two of dynamic picture gaming/movie watching.

And, no matter what you buy, DO NOT buy it from Walmart or sams club. They get steep discounts by ordering bulk with poorer quality internals. Sony (except game consoles), Phillips, Vizio, Sanyo, Samsung, pioneer, and RCA all have Walmart tier components. Instead of bottom/middle/top tiers. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff.

My 2 cents and knowledge.

[smooth]

samsung and panasonic are no longer making plasmas. I think phillips and pioneer left the US market a few years ago.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

I got a Vizio 47 inch LED Smart tv Paid like 550 for it an love it. My parents got a 55 inch samsung and that thing is awesome to they did pay like 1500 for it

my tv

http://www.nfm.com/DetailsPage.aspx?productid=39825484

[Jon325i]

So I did some comparison shopping on TVs this past weekend at my local Fry's, Costco, and BestBuy. A couple of things I noticed at all vendors....

1) Plasma TVs are few and far between nowadays (for my needs at least...remember just a 42" screen is all I really need).....LEDs are taking over.

2) In a side-by-side comparison, an LED with a 240 refresh rate and full HD looks impressive. Nice color saturation, very dark blacks, and fast motion images looked clear and sharp.

So I didn't make any purchase, but what I saw has me looking at LEDs as well. When I was at BestBuy, there was a 42" Samsung plasma next to a 42" Vizio LED and the picture quality of the latter was definiately better (far less pixelation, greater clarity). Unless more plasma choices come along, I may be swayed to an LED.

Sidenote: checked out some 4K sets for shits & grins. If price were no object, that would be the TV to get!


Jon

[e30slidewayz]

Plasma TVs are notorious for image burning. If you play video games or your wife watches QVC, prepare to see long standing images burnt into your TV. Go LED... or some variation thereof. Much more power efficient, typically lighter, and they're taking over the market because they're just better. Have fun TV shopping... check Newegg, they run some killer deals sometimes. My buddy got a 60" 1080 3D LED with all accessories included for $550 shipped about a year and a half ago with an excellent return policy... I was jealous.

[keefy6]

^ the above issue is indicative more of older plasma technology; however, there is potential for the the burn-in on newer models but it is far less likely.

I've been playing one particular game on my PS3 (along with others) since 2009 when I bought the 111FD and my PS3 and have zero burn-in. Heck, I played said game last night.

If I was in the market for another display, my #1 criteria would be black level performance (measured/verified) everything else falls into place. There are many variables one has to consider when choosing and if you can meet the majority of those (your) criteria that's great!

[smooth]

So I did some comparison shopping on TVs this past weekend at my local Fry's, Costco, and BestBuy. A couple of things I noticed at all vendors....

1) Plasma TVs are few and far between nowadays (for my needs at least...remember just a 42" screen is all I really need).....LEDs are taking over.

2) In a side-by-side comparison, an LED with a 240 refresh rate and full HD looks impressive. Nice color saturation, very dark blacks, and fast motion images looked clear and sharp.

So I didn't make any purchase, but what I saw has me looking at LEDs as well. When I was at BestBuy, there was a 42" Samsung plasma next to a 42" Vizio LED and the picture quality of the latter was definiately better (far less pixelation, greater clarity). Unless more plasma choices come along, I may be swayed to an LED.

Sidenote: checked out some 4K sets for shits & grins. If price were no object, that would be the TV to get!


Jon

I gave you a link for a 4k in your budget range. Plasma is few and far between because it's end of life technology.

[AndrewBird]

Just in case some of you don't know, LED TV's are LCD's that are LED back lit as apposed to using florescent tubes for backlighting. LED's have nothing to do with actually creating the image. The advantage is they can turn off the backlighting in parts of the screen for darker blacks, where as florescents can't as they stretch across the entire back of the screen. LED's generally are lighter as well. My 40" weighs 24lbs, a bit less than the box it came in.

[justin_l_]

Stay away from plasmas, they are being discontinued for a reason.

[keefy6]

Thanks for the feedback guys......please add more if you wish.

My situation: I'm currently living in a 1 bedroom apartment, the livingroom area isn't large. The distance from being seated on the sofa to where the TV goes is about 9-10 feet. A 42" screen is going to be plenty sufficient. Not to mention there isn't tons of space to where the TV goes (I'm not wall mounting it either.....just a stand). My apartment is situated on the north/east side of the building, so I don't get direct sun inside, but the windows and sliding door allow natural light in. All have vertical blinds which block out a lot of light when closed so the room can be made quite dark.

Ceiling projectors can be a nice set up, but this place I am renting really isn't set up for that. Perhaps a consideration when I buy another house, but even then it'll have to have a room that suits that kind of set up.


Jon

Jon, whatever size you decide to get there are recommended (read preferred) sitting/distances based upon the diamater of the dsiplay, 42", 50" etc. that you should sit at in order to get the most out of the picture.

I can't remember the link I normally use, (possibly dolby) but search for 'recommended tv viewing distances' and it should bring up the formulas. Sitting too far, perceptual detail is diminished, and sitting too close the picture may seem grainy.

[Jon325i]

Jon, whatever size you decide to get there are recommended (read preferred) sitting/distances based upon the diamater of the dsiplay, 42", 50" etc. that you should sit at in order to get the most out of the picture.

I can't remember the link I normally use, (possibly dolby) but search for 'recommended tv viewing distances' and it should bring up the formulas. Sitting too far, perceptual detail is diminished, and sitting too close the picture may seem grainy.

I've read about this....varying opinions exist. The one constant I seem to find is to take the screen size and double it for minimum viewing distance. For maximum viewing distance, multiply the screen size by 3.

So....a 42" TV (3.5 ft). x2 = 7 ft and x3 = 10.5 ft. The distance from my sofa to where the TV will be placed is between 10 and 11 feet, so I know a 42" display is the absolute minimum I want to consider.


Jon

[agent]

Best Buy has a Samsung 46" LED 1080p 120Hz 3D HDTV on sale for $450 today:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-46-class-45-9-10-diag--led-1080p-120hz-3d-hdtv/8346045.p?id=1218872211460&skuId=8346045&productCategoryId=abcat0101001

[smooth]

That 4k I posted earlier is on sale for $350

[agent]

According to a local sales rep no one is broadcasting in 4K, and the only 4K images/videos that are currently available are being generated directly from the sets themselves (in demo mode).