new HDTVs... what to get?

[brandondan1]

Samsung or Panasonic plasma. Great picture quality, high refresh rate for sports and gaming, high contrast ratio, and DEEP blacks that most LCD tvs can't match. Also cheaper than similar sized LCDs.

I was initially worried about "Burn-in," but with my plasma it has been nonexistent.. and I leave games on pause for 30 min to an hour quite often, and it does nothing.

The only thing I dislike is the screen glare, but I just close the blinds facing the tv if it's bugging me.

[e34john]

Anyone pick up the 37 inch vizio on woot for $339?

I just want Samsung to make another batch of DLPs.

[StereoInstaller1]

Luke, could you go a bit more in depth about LCD vs Plasma for gaming? I do use the PS3for a few racing games and such and it's our Blu-Ray player as well.

"Burn-in" has always been a huge issue for Plasma. The "fix" is that the picture continuously moves around (I can't tell if it is on or off) and works pretty well.

The only thing that shies me away from Plasmas is that I've read that they do not do as well with bright ambient light and they show a lot more reflections. The room the TV is going in has lots of windows... but then again, we don't watch much TV during the day except for sports on weekends.

You are gonna want HT "Blackout" curtains anyway. At worst, they do wonders for your heat or AC bill. Mine have already paid for themselves! I got "Eclipse" brand at WalMart...just make damn sure they are actual blackout, not just "darkeners"

Samsung or Panasonic plasma. Great picture quality, high refresh rate for sports and gaming, high contrast ratio, and DEEP blacks that most LCD tvs can't match. Also cheaper than similar sized LCDs.

I was initially worried about "Burn-in," but with my plasma it has been nonexistent.. and I leave games on pause for 30 min to an hour quite often, and it does nothing.

The only thing I dislike is the screen glare, but I just close the blinds facing the tv if it's bugging me.

Thanks so much for posting that! I far prefer watching Plasma, especially movies...but guys, do keep in mind we watch very little TV at all, like maybe 4 hours a week. My opinions on this are comparing cost VS hassle VS image quality. We buy the "starter HD" from the bastards at Comcast ($61/mo INCLUDING 12MB 'net and ALL fees and taxes. No movies, no DVR, no frills), but would have only OTA broadcast if our bill went up at all.

BTW: when shopping, make sure all sets are adjusted the same. I showed my honey how much tweaking went on in Best Buy...all the best sellers were vibrant as hell, but when adjusted the same, all were equally vibrant and we could focus on image quality.

[Ryan Stewart]

Luke, could you go a bit more in depth about LCD vs Plasma for gaming? I do use the PS3for a few racing games and such and it's our Blu-Ray player as well.

My old roomie never had any issues with his plasma and he lived on his Xbox (literally, it was quite pathetic). He has probably put more hours on his than you will in 10 years.

Original (and this was originally, when all LCDs were 60z) plasma had the big advantage in refresh. LCDs are catching up, especially now with LED TVs.

The big catch on an LED is the blacks are only as good as plasma if you get a localized dimming LED TV. Unless it specifically states its that then its an edge lit and they only do that for making it thin, the picture is no better than the $800 one lit by a flourescent.

[mamzak]

Did alot of research on this last year, and I ended up going with a 52" SHARP aquos. Great Picture, I'm really happy with it.