School me on HDTV's.

Can I post this here? anyway...

I graduated college and am sick of my little 20in TV and am looking for a nice upgrade.

I want something in HD, 40in or 42in but not sure on what type. Plasma, DLP, LCD? I am guessing LCD because they are smaller and would be much easier fitting into my bedroom. I assume I want numerous HDMI inputs for both my cable HD box and ps3.

I have no idea on what companies or models to look at and would assume that I should stay away from store brands such as Insignia from best buy. Any advice on where to look or where to gain some knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Plasma, Panasonic, 1080P. Bedroom? 42".

No other place to put the TV for now. Just graduated, no job and living with my parents.

If you're gonna get a 40 incher, don't worry about 1080p..

1) you won't notice a difference at that size anyway, unless your spend top-dollar and get some plasma thing

2) No TV broadcasts are in 1080p really, almost all HDTV is in 720 or less so don't bother unless you just watch all blu-ray

Personally, I got a westinghouse which isn't a store brand but it is a cheap brand and I couldn't be happier. I don't think you can really go wrong going from a little 20" TV to a 40" LCD offbrand. Save some money, you'll never notice the difference once you get it home.

Originally Posted by Bobaroo

Just graduated, no job and living with my parents.

bumb

Originally Posted by Airdawg10

If you're gonna get a 40 incher, don't worry about 1080p..

1) you won't notice a difference at that size anyway, unless your spend top-dollar and get some plasma thing

Bullshit, I've had both. Unless you're sitting across the room you can easily tell the difference. He's in his bedroom so he'll probably be sitting closer than most would in a living room.

2) No TV broadcasts are in 1080p really, almost all HDTV is in 720 or less so don't bother unless you just watch all blu-ray

True on the broadcast television. Then theres everything else. Both the 360 and PS3 can output 1080P. HD-DVD (dead) and Blu-Ray are 1080P and look retarded awesome. The 360 with HD-DVD add-on which is cheap now, and the PS3 upscale regular DVDs to 1080P. The 360 does this passingly, the PS3 does it exceedingly well. Neither compare to a 1080P source, though.

Beyond the fact you can tell the difference pretty easily at up to 8 feet away, theres the "screen door effect" I can see on almost every 720P display when I'm within 7 or so feet. With my 1080P plasma I can't see it unless I spit on the glass and press my naked eyeball on it. Once you see it you don't unsee it. Personally it gives me a headache.[/quote]

Personally, I got a westinghouse which isn't a store brand but it is a cheap brand and I couldn't be happier. I don't think you can really go wrong going from a little 20" TV to a 40" LCD offbrand.

True, it is a huge step up. I was drooling for a month over my Vizio 37" from Wal-Mart. By the way, if you are going to go with a budget TV, Vizio is the direction you should look in.

Save some money, you'll never notice the difference once you get it home.

Have to disagree with this also. The problem with the cheaper LCDs are the black levels which play a huge ass giant part in picture quality. That and contrast ratio are what really set apart LCDs and Plasma. With my Vizio once I got over the added detail and color pallet and settled into watching movie...The poor black levels really started to annoy the crap out of me. In really dark scenes it sometimes became difficult to even tell what was going on, and background detail was badly obscured due to the poor contrast ratio. It isn't as noticeable in video games because many of them tend to be bright and colorful, which I'll admit the Vizio excelled at. Still, when a darker part of a game would come up I'd have the same problems I had with movies.

I ended up taking it back, stepping up to a 42" and going with a Panasonic plasma. World of difference. I'd almost go as far as to say it was close to the difference between my step between the 27" Sanyo from 1995 to the Vizio. Almost. You can't go by the picture you see on the screen at the store. None of them are set correctly, all of them are being fed off a single signal thats been split 50 times and usually wasn't even HD to begin with.

When it comes to cost differences between LCD and Plasma, Plasma is actually generally cheaper than an LCD of the same size and resolution and has a better picture. The old problems of image retention have been all but eliminated and the "burn in" problems have been TOTALLY eliminated. Trade offs? Plasma is heavier. Plasma outputs more heat. I don't consider being heavier a negative, I put my TV on the wall and walls don't get tired of holding a TV up. Heat doesn't matter either, negligible.

If you do end up going with a 720p display for budget reasons do yourself a huge favor and get a plasma, like last years model from Panasonic if you can find one.

Chaotic is pretty accurate in what he says. I worked in the Home Theatre department of Best Buy for about a year and half (in which time I became obsessed with the technology).

Plasma TVs break down almost twice more often, use more electricity, and generate more heat but have the best possible picture quality. Also, for transporting them... well, they're more fragile and break easier. They can also have issues with image retention (which in most plasmas is only temporary). However, to remove the "burn-in" or image retention, it does shorten the life of the plasma to put it into "White Wash" or other modes.

LCDs are slower (in most cases, but drastic improvements are being made), and thus, get some trailing effects or "ghosting." They also do not have as many problems and are much less likely to get burn-in (but it's still possible). They're a lot more energy efficient and don't run nearly as hot. However they're colour isn't quite to where the plasmas are. That is unless you look at higher end TVs like the new Samsungs and Sonys. And even in said TVs, they're still not as good as most plasmas.

I went with a Samsung LCD (newer ones have become a little over-priced and looked at as "elite" but don't quite fit the bill yet). I went with 1080p. Don't underestimate cables too. Better cables make the difference. However, don't bother with extremely high end Monster Cables... their mid to lower end ones would be fine for most TVs, unless you go with really high end equipment.

PS:http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/ is a decent website so is CNet for reviews.

Thanks for the info. Any idea where I would be able to pickup an older model (last year or so) with ease? I wish I could get lucky like a friend of mine. $1300 LCD TV marked down to a little over $700 because it was a floor model.

The new models just recently rolled out, so it's possible you might find some TVs that are very close to going EOL (End of Life). But there's a good chance most places are completely done with the older models. I know at my store we've only got like 2 of the older 42" Samsung Plasmas left (which have been marked down to cost by the supervisor to clear them out). It's worth calling some stores and asking what they have for clearance/floor models.

Samsung 720p vs Westinghouse 1080p?

What's cheaper? :P

Haha well the samsung. I am not sure if I should get a higher end (and bigger name) 720p or a lower end 1080p

The former, by far.

Originally Posted by Bobaroo

Haha well the samsung. I am not sure if I should get a higher end (and bigger name) 720p or a lower end 1080p

Typically I'd recommend 1080p... however Samsung is better in many ways. Westinghouse gets you a great picture for the money but has an extremely high breakdown rate. Get a service agreement with the Westinghouse.