Don't feel bad, sir. I have a 1080i Sony Wega 56" that is also... er, obsolete. Won't have a 1080p TV in the budget in the next 10 years, though. Worse than yours, it's a DLP.
dude I have a Sony Wega too, it still rocks, my bluray and xbox360 look awesome. just because you can't hang it on the wall doesn't mean its 'obsolete'. hey, no burn in, no motion lag on video games. all you need to do is replace the lamp every 4 years or so. swoly, just make sure your picture settings are calibrated and it should look fantastic.
Haha. Thanks. It seems we've had this conversation before, Señor tinman. I haven't gotten around to do that calibration but I will, soon. I've had that TV for years, it seems. My Blu-ray movies, PS3 games and HD channels look great on it. I have no complaints. I just wished I could do 1080p right now, but it's not on my priority list. What are some good calibration tools and ways to get it to tip-top viewing condition, if you don't mind sharing?
Just checkout the user settings at AVSforums. Those "tools" you are talking about cost more than your TV.
get it while you still can. I love mine Pioneer Kuro 5020fd http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...=kuro&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1210290068342 reviews http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/pioneer-kuro-pdp-5020fd/4505-6482_7-33002523.html
^ that TV is on display and DEMO'ing at the 45 North FRY's with Michael Jackson's "HIStory" videos. Those videos have BLU-RAY quality display even though they weren't BLU-RAYish when released. The TV is amazingly sharp and bright. It's also REALLY THIN that's what she said. Too bad I can't afford it! ♪ It's close to miiIIiiiiIIIidnight... [ah!] and something evil's lurking in the dark ♫...
I would go with a 1080p LCD Projector. You can get a Great picture and won't need the mount for the flat panel. It's great for for home theater and are getting cheaper and better. I'd say $1400-$1800.
I hope your TV costs more than $50. You can use something like AVIA II as a start. If you really want the expensive tools, hire somebody to come out and do it. AVIA II : http://www.amazon.com/Avia-II-Guide...NJNS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1249929444&sr=8-2 I bought it and it helped, but I can see how people may think that's too much. The problem with the settings on AVSForums sometimes is that they don't suit everyone's tastes. It's a good start, though. I'd do forum settings before buying anything.
just go on avsforum like ZIggy said. Look up your model, mine is an 50e2000, so you look for 'sony e2000 owners thread'. I read some people's calibrations and copied them and tweaked them a little for my setting. or on certain blurays or dvds, they have those thx settings test which gives you some simple test for color, contrast.
bigserv, did you have to break your plasma in? supposedly after the break in period, the picture actually gets better.
Not sure if this has been posted but it's a quick calibration guide. Just choose your TV brand/model. It might be useful to someone who doesn't want to spend the cash but still needs a little direction. http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/calibration-guide/panasonic-th-50pz800u.html
Sounds like they had it on torch mode. Your not really going to want things that intense when your watching movies. At least most people don't. The director didn't intend it to be that way. Probably is an awesome TV though. I want one.
Plasmas are HUGE energy vampires. I own one and I'm way too stubborn to sell it at this point, but check out this chart: Based on this alone, I'll won't be getting another plasma.
Checkout stats of a plasma with energy saving mode features. Most if not all plasmas now have the feature. They still get hot as balls though.
I just now bought a samsung ln46b750 1080p 240hz LCD HDTV for $1400 on Amazon with free white glove shipping.
here's a good article on why you shouldn't trust what the tv looks like at the store http://hdguru.com/how-retailers-use-lighting-to-confuse-hdtv-buyers/467/ (August 6, 2009) It may be difficult to believe, but just a decade ago cathode ray tube-based TVs (CRTs) were the biggest sellers. CRTs have excellent viewing angles, outstanding black levels and high contrast ratios. The technology’s Achilles heel (aside from sheer bulk) was a lack of brightness compared to today’s flat screen sets. However, for most indoor viewing environments, the light output was adequate. Not surprisingly, store lighting in the TV departments of major retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City a decade ago was subdued to better emulate home ambient lighting conditions so the sets wouldn’t look dim and washed out. That’s hardly the case today, with store lighting levels purposely cranked up as much as 50 times typical home lighting conditions. Why the change? Because these intense levels can make the best displays with the blackest black levels and highest contrast levels look inferior to cheaper, lower performance displays. Not surprisingly, this leads consumers into buying the cheaper sets because they think they’re getting as good a set, if not a better one, for less. Contrast, Brightness and Resolution A TV’s native resolution, black level and brightness (called white level) controls its perceived image sharpness. Resolution of almost all HDTVs falls into two categories, 720p and 1080p, so from a static resolution standpoint, almost all large screen TVs today are about the same (either 720p or 1080p). “Contrast ratio,” for example 1000:1 (or 1000 to 1) indicates how many times greater is the highest intensity white signal than the lowest intensity black one (the number 1 is the black signal). While that gives you a ratio it tells you neither how bright are the whites, nor how dark are the blacks. Here is where stores utilize intense lighting to manipulate your judgment. In a typical home environment, the set that will appear to have a better picture and be seen as sharper will be the one with the blackest blacks and reasonably white whites (around 30 ft lamberts) rather than one that’s similarly bright but with lighter black levels. Viewers perceive just the opposite in a high ambient light showroom. Invariably they choose the set with the brightest picture as having the clearest image, even if the set has poor black levels because the bright ambient lighting masks poor black level performance.
