43" 720P TV worth getting at this point?

dr.stevil

dr.stevil

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a few weeks ago I purchased a TV for my bedroom at a B&M electronics store. The price was really cheap for a 40" 1080P LCD. Well, long story short, this TV has awful color accuracy and image quality. It has some rediculous ghosting as well that's been bugging me. Even compared to my lackluster TN panel monitor, the TV is ugly looking. I originally purchased it for PS3 and PC for Windows Media Center and the occasional game (Skyrim) without the need to be at my desk.

So, since I have about another week or two to return it to the store, I'm looking around for a replacement that I wont have to spend much more than I aleady have on. I saw that a local BestBuy has a Samsung Plasma (3D ready) for 100.00 more than I spent on this crappy TV.

It's 720p and 43". At first, the resolution didn't seem like a big deal. I don't think Netflix or the PS3 would look any worse than my other 1080p Samsung plasma, but I'm a little worried about hooking it up to my PC since that seems like it would be a drastic reduction in image clarity and sharpness for a better contrast ratio and color accuracy (and 3D capibility). The Samsung is currently on sale and comes with 2 extra pair of glasses as well (which is a nice little bonus)

Does this seem like a wise decision? Like I said, I have to sort of act quick... I'm torn on what to do. I don't want to spend much more than I already did and I want to keep the size in the 40" range. Any ideas? Would you go for the 720?

Here's a link to the TV
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...HDTV/2121834.p?skuId=2121834&id=1218310411235
 
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not for that price...
For that price you can get a 1080p set from Amazon
 
Zangmonkey said:
not for that price...
For that price you can get a 1080p set from Amazon
Click to expand...

The same exact TV on Amazon is $527.00 right now. Considering they collect sales tax in my state, it's actually a lot cheaper getting it through bestbuy. $469 seemed like a steal for what it is. I think the extra glasses alone would retail close to $120.00


Can you recommend a set? I wouldn't mind a 1080p TV, but I don't want to settle on another westinghouse or other cheap set. You really do get what you pay for with those things. :(
 
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Wander into a Sears! They usually have 50 inch plasma's going at that price, they are usually returned tv's, floor models or some other reason they can't sell them as new, obviously I'd ask why it isn't being sold as new. But in some cases you might not care...
 
From a PC perspective, if all you're doing is WMC, you shouldn't see much of a difference. I can't speak to gaming on 720p though, but then again, thats what my trio of 24" monitors are for in the office...
 
I just can't recommend buying a 720p tv. Save for a couple more months and get a real 1080p TV and have no compromizes.
 
well, it's not so much of a money issue as it is a Price:practicality issue. This is only a TV for my bedroom, so it's not going to be used nearly as much as my livingroom TV. I was just trying to get the biggest bang for my buck so to speak. Not necessarily the biggest and best.

I went and returned the crappy set after work last night and decided to give the 720p set a try (I have 30 days to return it). Although the pixels are a little more noticable than the crappy one, the rest of it is just worlds better (color, contrast, black level). Honestly, for an extra hundred, it was well worth it. It's a nice looking TV too.
 
Well, buying a 1080p TV doesn't mean buying the biggest and the best. There are a wide range of quality and cost in 1080p TVs. Buying 720p is tossing money down the drain IMO, since you are needlessly buying inferior tech. I can't see why you'd pay an extra hundred for it.
 
AQ_OC said:
Well, buying a 1080p TV doesn't mean buying the biggest and the best. There are a wide range of quality and cost in 1080p TVs. Buying 720p is tossing money down the drain IMO, since you are needlessly buying inferior tech. I can't see why you'd pay an extra hundred for it.
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well, I guess the way that I was looking at it is most of the stuff I'll be doing with it wont really matter if it's 720p or not. The PS3, while supporting 1080p, normally just does 720p upscaled anyway so in some cases, I actually expect a little bit better IQ since the resolution will be native or close to it. I don't really use it for bluerays or anything since the bluray drive is borked (the console is jailbroken, so it's still useful). The HT setup in the living room handles those duties anyway.

The only real downside that I can see is using it with my PC. Thats a much lower resolution than I'm used to. I deffinately understand your point and I do agree... being only a 720p set is a pretty big flaw, but compared to all the positives it brings and the price, I can live with it for now.

We shall see though... I still have 30 days lol. At this point though, despite the resolution, I'm much happier with this one than I was with the westinghouse.
 
shrewoc said:
I noticed not one person asked the viewing distance. Given the size and application its very possible that the distance you are watching at may make the fact that its 720p instead of 1080p moot. Go here and get learned up some http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
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Viewing distance can change over the life of a tv set. Even if viewing distance means he can't tell the difference, it is still a poor idea to buy a 720p tv. IMO, of course.
 
shrewoc said:
I noticed not one person asked the viewing distance. Given the size and application its very possible that the distance you are watching at may make the fact that its 720p instead of 1080p moot. Go here and get learned up some http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
Click to expand...

Anywhere from 5 to 15 ft. I used to have a 30" set, but sitting back from it made it incredibly difficult to read text. I ended up getting rid of it in favor of a 40-50". The 43" screen size is almost perfect for the size of the room, although I wouldn't mind a bit larger lol

I was actually a little nervous that I would regret going with 720 eventually, but I used it pretty extensively last night. After I calibrated it and got it setup the way that I want, I couldn't be happier with this TV. I still haven't tried any PC gaming on it, so that will likely be the real test.

I just worry about burn-in. However, I was playing some PS3 on it last night and surprisingly, it seems like the 55" Samsung in the living room is more susceptible to it. A HUD element, for example, can be on the screen for only a few mins and leave a slight ghost image on the screen for a little bit. On the new one, I didn't notice that at all (and it's not even set for 'game mode' like the bigger one). I'm assuming that Samsungs plasma technology got better in the last year and a half.
 
Image retention is different then burn-in... though one can proceed the other if done too long. Plasmas have come a long way but its still a good idea to take brakes and play full screen content. The AVS forums will have all you want to know about both problems.
 
shrewoc said:
Image retention is different then burn-in... though one can proceed the other if done too long. Plasmas have come a long way but its still a good idea to take brakes and play full screen content. The AVS forums will have all you want to know about both problems.
Click to expand...

Having been a plasma owner for the past 3+ years, I'm very well aware of burn in and image retention :p. I do appreciate the heads up however.

It's funny that you bring it up though. I was copying something to my PS3 last night via FTP, the total transfer was something like 26GB... so it took quite some time to finish. During the transfer, I forgot to shut my TV off and it sat idle, with the white progress bar showing on a black background (something that I would normally be worried about with my 55") for at least an hour.

As I was getting ready to wipe the screen, just to be safe, I noticed that not a single ghost image was on the screen anywhere. I don't know if the pixel shifting they use got better, but I was really impressed. It would of taken at least 20mins. to get rid of the image on my other set.
 
Yeah I have an older 32" Plasma that I have to watch out for IR, but its still not to bad but as no pixel shifting so when it needs to be cleaned up its up to me to find content to clean it up, my newer 60" has good pixel shifting and no IR problems at all. And every time I go to a friends house with a big ol' LCD I weep at the picture and motion even on 120hz sets that I managed to turn off smoothing for them. Oh well some people just want that big bright, overstaturated, picture. Everyone has what they think looks good to them, and its their money so I only chime in if asked.
 
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