not necessarily. Plasmas are now aimed toward commercial and high-end users. go to any sports bar. plus they have upsized. no such thing as 42inch plasmas. 50-65 plasmas are the norm and i think 55 might replace 50. pioneer and panasonic are the best companies for plasmas. same with dlp, mitsubishi and samsung are the last ones standing and they've upsized too. they are more for people who want really large tvs - 65-82inch. so you are right and wrong. lcds are the most mainstream, while the other formats go toward their niches. oh RIP Sony Grand Wega and SXRDs
I bought mine online and have been completely happy with it. Props to tinman for basically telling me which TV to buy. That goes for the TV stand as well....
thanks icehouse, we're basically saving the world everytime we buy a hdtv. a salesperson in america, a worker in china, an engineer in japan. we bring more business to the cable/satellite companies. we bring more video games and movies we bring people together! and the regular crts that we sell go to people who don't have tvs.
Too add on what Tinman said about DLPs and plasmas, just because they seem to be getting less popular doesn't mean they aren't quality sets. Both are probably better than most flat panel LCDs overall. Its a real shame Sony gave up on RPHDs, they were amazing.
Sad about the Sony SXRD's going bye-bye. On my first run of looking at HDTVs earlier this year those caught my eye as they had good picture, good bang for the buck with screen size, and I had a room that would allow for the bulkier tv. But while looking at the SXRDs, the Plasmas caught me eye and then I did more research of them. I liked their contrast levels and wide viewing angles. I have been on AVS forums for a while since I read about them here on the bbs. Great place. Sometimes TOO much info, so it's kind of nice to read TV stuff here for the layman. ;-) I have to say though, I am a bit stuck on what to do with TV size. I like the panny plasmas. I like the 50" model I mentioned above. But, inside me I am wondering if I should look at the 58" model. It's a bit more than I want to spend (have my doubts the wife will approve), but the screen size looks so much bigger. In my mind's eye, will the 50" be a big enough jump from my last TV which was a RPTV 46" (diagonal) Toshiba. The last TV I got is 14 years old so really I am not the kind of person that buys TVs that often. I am still battling over the decision. The price might be the deciding factor anyway. I dont know. Tinman, what do you think?
The biggest issue for me when I was looking for an HD display was picture quality first (of course! wanted the best I could get without having to sell the house, lol), but the other main issue was reflection problems. My living room has a host of windows, so glare was a big deal. I know they are saying plasmas have glare coatings that solve that now, but what I've seen in store still reflects a heck of a lot more than an LCD. My LCD literally seems to absorb reflections. It's not an issue AT ALL. Something to think about for those looking. Some folks don't have that glare problem, so no worries. Plasmas (the good ones) have superb pictures.
thats the thing, good plasmas are so over-priced in relation to what you get, same goes with 720p sets vs 1080p. MOST regular people are never gonna notice the difference between 1080 adn 720, yet the 1080s are a good 500 bucks more than their comparable 720 sets. I definitely agree that the current LCDs seem to soak up the glare and keep going.....honestly, if you want bang for the buck and arent gonna nitpick every single pixel, LCD is the way to go.
Is this true even with a device that outputs 1080? The main reason I am currently looking at HDTVs is for my PS3 and then HD when the NFL season comes around. So could I get a 720 set instead of a 1080 and the PS3 still look great and not something I won't notice?
Just get a 720p Pioneer Elite. It's around the same price of that 50'' inch 1080p Panasonic. The picture quality is so great on Pioneer Elite's that there's no way you'll be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p.
some say you can tell on big screens, but under 50" the consensus seems to be that it is very difficult to tell the diff between 720p and 1080p even with a 1080p source. Downconverting is always better than upconverting, and if you run a 1080p source(PS3) to a 720p set, its gonna look sweet. Thing is, it all depends on how sharp your eyes are and how picky you are about details...also, how close to the tv you sit. In general.....unless you are a major OCD HD geek....the price increase required to get a *good* 1080p is not worth it when compared to how much a good 720p set costs.
Probably not going to wall mount at this time. So I would need to be looking for a TV stand. Any suggestions? I have a room where our sitting arrangement is 8ft on the right, 10ft in the center and 10ft on the left. I am mixed on the TV size for viewing distance. I have read on avs forums that people constantly are amazed how much bigger the TVs are in their house versus the showroom. So I am having a hard time really knowing if I am going to feel like 50 in is too small (cost aside at the moment). On the other hand, maybe 58" will over power the room? (or my wallet)
OK, that makes sense. I had read something a month or so ago saying that they were out for good. Obviously, that was wrong.
