HDTV purchase likely

[Susurrate]

I have a 32 inch Samsung 720p lcd and my roommate has a 32 inch 1080p Sony Bravia lcd, and you really can't tell the difference at that size no matter how close you sit to the tv.

[Polygon]

All I can suggest is that you avoid Plasma and projection sets. I would stick with LCD to be honest, and if you can afford it an OLED backlit LCD. LCDs do have issues with contrast ratio and they are more expensive in larger sizes but at least the OLED LCDs have good contrast ratio.

[Buba]

^ Fail. He said he has only 600 bucks, proper OLEDs are terribly expensive and LED backlight LCDs are still a bit above common...

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by Polygon

All I can suggest is that you avoid Plasma and projection sets. I would stick with LCD to be honest, and if you can afford it an OLED backlit LCD. LCDs do have issues with contrast ratio and they are more expensive in larger sizes but at least the OLED LCDs have good contrast ratio.

And why would you suggest that?

[Polygon]

Well, plasma is a dying technology. Pioneer pulled out and now it's just a matter of time before they are gone. They were never great to begin with. Burn in issues and they don't last very long. However, they have a much better contrast ratio than standard LCDs. The reason I suggest against any projection unit is that they are all crap. DLP is the top of the heap, but it's still the best of the worst. If you want projection, get an actual projector. Picture quality isn't very good, save for the newer DLP units. They all have issues with the viewing angle. Also, they aren't very vivid.

I don't know how big you're wanting but $600 isn't going to get you very big even on a standard LCD, but you could get a 27" or maybe even a 32" but I'm not sure. OLED is still very expensive, but it's hands down the best flat panel offering on the market.

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by Polygon

Well, plasma is a dying technology. Pioneer pulled out and now it's just a matter of time before they are gone. They were never great to begin with. Burn in issues and they don't last very long. However, they have a much better contrast ratio than standard LCDs. The reason I suggest against any projection unit is that they are all crap. DLP is the top of the heap, but it's still the best of the worst. If you want projection, get an actual projector. Picture quality isn't very good, save for the newer DLP units. They all have issues with the viewing angle. Also, they aren't very vivid.

I don't know how big you're wanting but $600 isn't going to get you very big even on a standard LCD, but you could get a 27" or maybe even a 32" but I'm not sure. OLED is still very expensive, but it's hands down the best flat panel offering on the market.

Problem with LCD is that they look like absolute shit in SD resolutions. You are either going to end up with a tiny box or huge pixels. Plasma is dying out basically because there is a huge push for HD and larger screens. For the most part plasma doesn't perform all that well over 42". There is also color bleed to be considered.

On the other hand LCDs can't handle black for shit, because of the way that the system works. Like with everythign each has its ups and downs. For mixed SD/HD viewing I would recommend plasma hands down simply based on personal experience. For HD only LCD is great but you need to make sure that the screen size is not too big for the distance. My gramma has a 52" LCD screen that looks absolutely horrible even in HD only because it's too big for where it is.

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by prizrak

Problem with LCD is that they look like absolute shit in SD resolutions. You are either going to end up with a tiny box or huge pixels. Plasma is dying out basically because there is a huge push for HD and larger screens. For the most part plasma doesn't perform all that well over 42". There is also color bleed to be considered.

On the other hand LCDs can't handle black for shit, because of the way that the system works. Like with everythign each has its ups and downs. For mixed SD/HD viewing I would recommend plasma hands down simply based on personal experience. For HD only LCD is great but you need to make sure that the screen size is not too big for the distance. My gramma has a 52" LCD screen that looks absolutely horrible even in HD only because it's too big for where it is.

I would say it depends on the LCD. Albeit, none of them look great on SD but I've seen some that look decent. Also, OLED LCDs have much better contrast ratio, on par with plasma.

I just wouldn't invest money in a dead technology. That's just me. You do have good points though that I can't really argue with.

[smib]

The thing is, you've basically stated that I have made a good choice. I have a $600 budget, for which I want to get a new 720p TV up to 32" with the best specs that I can get. With that in mind I found a 720p 32"er with a good contrast ratio and other features that seem to fit my needs quite well. So I'm not investing in a dead technology, I'm buying a TV. I'm sure the next one I get will be much nicer, but this one is all about upgrading from my 19" CRT.

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by Polygon

You do have good points though that I can't really argue with.

But, but, but.... this is the internet we are supposed to argue regardless of how good the points are

The thing is, you've basically stated that I have made a good choice. I have a $600 budget, for which I want to get a new 720p TV up to 32" with the best specs that I can get. With that in mind I found a 720p 32"er with a good contrast ratio and other features that seem to fit my needs quite well. So I'm not investing in a dead technology, I'm buying a TV. I'm sure the next one I get will be much nicer, but this one is all about upgrading from my 19" CRT.

You have made a good choice, next upgrade we going straight for holograms damnit

[smib]

Well, I got it.

[_HighVoltage_]

Thanks a lot to the person who neg repped me with the comment: "BRAND NAMES? Sigh..." Not only is this immature, but it's also wrong. Brandnames are important, especially in technology. For example I will never give my money for a Magnavox TV for example.

smib, Congratulations on the purchase! May it serve you well

[Buba]

^ Negrepping without signing isn't polite... I'd have signed mine, but then I agree with you, especially with LCDs brand is everything. The panels are all the same, more or less, less then a handful of manufacturers do them for all the brands, so it comes down to processing as I stated before, and experience and money realy help with that!

Congrats Smib, enjoy!

[smib]

Yeah, I'm a bit wary of the Vizio brand, and I even almost got the 32" Sanyo next to it for about $130 more, but I decided that I really needed to stay under my $600 limit including the cables I needed.

[prizrak]

W00T!!! So what are the reviews?

[smib]

It's good so far. I watched Princess Bride last night upscaled to 720P and it looked quite good. Still haven't hooked up the X360 yet, but I'm sure I'll enjoy that as well, especially once I get Oblivion.

[Polygon]

Sweet, I'm glad you're happy with it.

Originally Posted by prizrak

But, but, but.... this is the internet we are supposed to argue regardless of how good the points are

Crap, you're right. I'll remember to be an ignorant ass next time.

[klankymen]

So, how happy are you with the size?

I (sorry for the thread hijack, let me know if you're not OK with it, and I'll go somewhere else) am looking into getting a HDTV as well, since I have a bit of spare cash on my hands....

And I seriously can't decide what size to get. Basically I could afford anything from 32" to 46", but in this case, I'm not sure bigger is better.

[smib]

Well, at 10 to 12 feet away, I think this size is great, but going up to something even as big as 46" would probably make it even better. I don't have digital cable so at this point the only stuff in HD, and therefore filling the screen, is movies. SD stuff has bars on the sides because I'd rather that over stretching everything out.

This is a crappy phone pic I took of the setup from my point of view on the bed.



You can see that while it's an adequate size, if I'd had enough money for something bigger there's not much reason not to have.
+ rep to first one to guess movie right.

[Andrew911tt]

FYI!
HDMI cables are really cheap
monoprice.com has them for $4.19
Used them many many times and everything is great
I've ordered a projector mount, flat panel mount, 4 port HDMI switch, 35ft HDMI, 35ft VGA, 2 x 6ft optical and, 7 x 6ft HDMI.

EVERYTHING HAS WORKED GREAT