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TV Gurus, please impart

D

Dim-Ize

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
74
My brother, who is in the television business, is upgrading a CRT 40" TV. He's single and enjoys video / movies / music as a passion.

I don't know if I can help my brother, since he has much more knowledge than I on video technology. He works in the Post Production Film industry, as a marketing director in Nashville, TN.

He's been evaluating plasma sets for HD for his home. He's looking at 46"+ displays, and I was wanting to learn of the technology and possibly offer him suggestions as reference in his purchase.

Maybe I should just leave well enough alone, but if there are thoughts from this group, I consider them very important in making personal decisions and maybe they could help him make a better financial or technology based purchase.

What are some good sites for this technology that he should research?
What is your opinion on HD alternatives for the home theater? Plasma, LCD, etc.
Is plasma the way to go, or is CRT still an attractive choice?

I love my brother, and don't want to go to him with a "know it all" attitude. I just want to propose to him some additional commercial information that may help him in his purchase. I'm all about PC stuff, but I feel that I'm way off in the knowledge about moves/HD/TV choices on the market.

His living room cannot support a ceiling mount due to light / space. He has about 15 feet from couch to display. His wall length is about 6 ft. He would also consider an upgrade to his sound system. But he is very picky. His sound system is about 15 years old, with a Sony / Klipsch makeup. Old, big, but very solid.

Any tips from this group, will be valued by me, and communicated in a "just another idea" communication to him

Thanks guys,
Dim-Ize
 
well, its rather a personal preference. I'd go for a good DLP projector and a decent 110" screen. Man, thats heaven on earth.
 
I run a Panasonic 42" plasma and love it. With HDTV it looks incredible. Probably one of the best pictures I have ever seen. I did a ton of research before this purchase.

Pioneer or Panasonic are good choices with plasmas. Projectors are good if you want a huge screen and have a light controlled environment.
People will tell you that plasmas burn in and last 3-5 years. If you know what you are doing burn in will be less of a problem. IIRC Panasonic rates their sets at 60,000 hour half brightness which is close to 27 years of 6 hours per day usage. That is a long time. Plus you do not have to worry about bulbs or color wheels breaking down on you.

There are other technologies to check out. I could not get past the matte screen of DLPs and the screen door effect of LCD rear projections bothered me as well.

My plasma looks like a big CRT to me. The blacks are some of the best you can get. Credit that to a 4000:1 contrast ratio.

Check out www.avsforum.com for ideas as well. Look here: www.visualapex.com for plasmas and LCD tvs.
 
if i SAW a 110" screen, my pants would explode with such a force, jupiter would tremble in the aftermath
 
gprime said:
For plasma, is it true that it really puts a hole in your energy bill?
Click to expand...
They do use a lot of electricity for the most part. My plasma uses around 400 Watts of power.
The new models (TH-42PHD7UY) use around 357 Watts.

The 50" version of this set goes for $4045 while the 42" is around $2895. These are commercial plasma monitors. They do not have a tuner, speakers or a stand. You can configure them with "blades" for various inputs such as DVI, HDMI, RCA Component and such.

These sets are extremely popular.
 
42" is a penut comparing to a 110" screen. A projector is such a flexible display device of easy mounting, energy saving, various screen sizes, superb portability and the reputation for being the ultimate HT display not to mention its very cost-effective considering how little you pay and how big a screen you get. Just read the news that Samsung manufactured the first 110" flat panel and it costs 60,000 freaking dollars. Matty screen and screen door are all ancient history now. Sony VPL-HS51 has a contrast ratio of 6000:1 and no SDE at all! Hey you know what, i put everything in my duffel bag and get a home threater on the go...with so many cheaper, better projectors around, its never occured to me buying any flat panels.
 
FP is awesome, but sometimes, you want to watch tv while cooking, reading, computing... meaning watching with ambient light which doesn't work well with a FP.
 
I would go with a nice namebrand 42" Plasma tv. The ED models can be found as low as 2k and the hd's around 3-4k. Panasonic makes a really solid tv along with LG. I would avoid the CRT since it's older technology, bulkier and heavier and just doesnt look as slick as a plasma panel sitting on your wall ;) If he doesn't watch a lot of basic tv, and just movies.. ED is very comparable to HD in that aspect. Yeah, like mentioned above, check out www.avsforum.com.. good luck!
 
The size of the television depends on seating distance. Front projectors are nice if you have the room. If it is a living room or bedroom then you are looking at a Microdisplay or Flat panel television for the most part.
 
exe said:
FP is awesome, but sometimes, you want to watch tv while cooking, reading, computing... meaning watching with ambient light which doesn't work well with a FP.
Click to expand...
true! in that case you dont need a 42" plasma. for casual TV viewing, how about a 30" Olevia LCD for a grand and you still have two grand left for a very decent 1280x1024/720 widescreen projector? Both the Olevia and the projector can be doubled as your PC monitor and tell me how you feel killing monsters/racing cars on a 110" screen?
 
vk99x said:
I would go with a nice namebrand 42" Plasma tv. The ED models can be found as low as 2k and the hd's around 3-4k. Panasonic makes a really solid tv along with LG. I would avoid the CRT since it's older technology, bulkier and heavier and just doesnt look as slick as a plasma panel sitting on your wall ;) If he doesn't watch a lot of basic tv, and just movies.. ED is very comparable to HD in that aspect. Yeah, like mentioned above, check out www.avsforum.com.. good luck!
Click to expand...

ED is out of the question due to its ultra low res. I dont think youd like to spend 2k on a plasma set to watch only analog programs just because you can hang it on the wall, would you?

darkninja67 said:
The size of the television depends on seating distance. Front projectors are nice if you have the room. If it is a living room or bedroom then you are looking at a Microdisplay or Flat panel television for the most part.
Click to expand...

no doubt! like i said, with a FP, the image size can be adjusted (32"- 150") but you cant squeeze or stretch a TV. Front projectors give you the flexibility...
 
ImLazZzy said:
ED is out of the question due to its ultra low res. I dont think youd like to spend 2k on a plasma set to watch only analog programs just because you can hang it on the wall, would you?
Click to expand...

Have you ever seen HD material on an ED plasma?
From 8-10' out I can bet you could not tell the difference. Most people cannot.
 
darkninja67 said:
Have you ever seen HD material on an ED plasma?
From 8-10' out I can bet you could not tell the difference. Most people cannot.
Click to expand...

Depends how good your eyes are; I'm 20/20 and absolutely can see a huge difference.

Plasmas are fine for HD, but suck at everything else. Right now, there are no HD DVD's so you're left with 6 to 8 channels of basket weaving or whatever. LCD's have just as good picture quality except for blacks on *some* sets, cheaper and use half the power of plasmas.

If all you want to do is watch regular SD TV, then don't even bother with plasmas/lcds, and get a huge crt. If you just want to experiment with HD, get a smaller lcd, Sharp makes an excellent 32" for about $2400, and there is the Veiwsonic N3000W 30" which is an excellent unit for about $1200.

The best surrond systems I've heard are Klipsch which have small & big budget systems; ALL of them sound amazing.
 
darkninja67 said:
Have you ever seen HD material on an ED plasma?
From 8-10' out I can bet you could not tell the difference. Most people cannot.
Click to expand...

You are telling us when watching the same 1080 interlaced HD programs on an ED and a HD put side by side and you and *most ppl* cant tell the difference as long as you sit far enough? Wow...good for you man! You dont have to worry about losing a fortune on a HD set then. Maybe even better, we should all sit so far back that none of us can tell a difference between a HD and our grandmas' 30 year old RCA:rolleyes: Mind me joining your ED-TV-has-no-difference club? :D

well, I was just joking. To answer your question, yes, I have compared them side by side and an ED looks just too grainy/pixelated. Actually I see where you come from and it reminds me another weak point of plasma sets is the big pixel pitch (0.5-0.7+). You are right about it that you cant sit too close to a plasma otherwise the prominent pixelation would annoy some ppl.
 
darkninja67 said:
I run a Panasonic 42" plasma and love it. With HDTV it looks incredible. Probably one of the best pictures I have ever seen. I did a ton of research before this purchase.

Pioneer or Panasonic are good choices with plasmas. Projectors are good if you want a huge screen and have a light controlled environment.
People will tell you that plasmas burn in and last 3-5 years. If you know what you are doing burn in will be less of a problem. IIRC Panasonic rates their sets at 60,000 hour half brightness which is close to 27 years of 6 hours per day usage. That is a long time. Plus you do not have to worry about bulbs or color wheels breaking down on you.

There are other technologies to check out. I could not get past the matte screen of DLPs and the screen door effect of LCD rear projections bothered me as well.

My plasma looks like a big CRT to me. The blacks are some of the best you can get. Credit that to a 4000:1 contrast ratio.

Check out www.avsforum.com for ideas as well. Look here: www.visualapex.com for plasmas and LCD tvs.
Click to expand...

I coulda wrote this word for word.....including the links. BTW, you'll be suprised just how cheap plasmas have become via mail order. And if you have a Costco card, make sure you take a look at their plasmas....good TVs and good return policies. In general, the Pannys and the Pioneers are very good values.
 
due to the lifespan of plasma, it only last 2 - 3 yr., after that the color starts to fade. If you are at sea level, and decided to replace the plasma in 2 -3 yr., buy it.

If you are way above sea level, like Denver CO, then go w/ LCD.
 
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