[Doublej]

I need to get a big screen TV for work. The purpose is for displaying presentations and demonstrating software in a room that seats about 10 people. It seems like any brand will work but are there those that are less finicky about being connected to a computer even though it will be through an HDMI cable?

We have an old Samsung and for some reason it has trouble with text being legible while maintaining a reasonable color palette. It's almost as if the display is being over driven but if I back down on the brightness everything becomes too dark.

I am thinking 60" or 65" as they are very inexpensive these days.

[Mag]

I use to know the terminology but I've forgotten it. Anyway a LED tv would be better for this application than a Plasma.

I have a Sony 46" Bravia Z series and I only seen the motion blur on one movie Rambo 4, I believe it was. I think the refresh rate was something like 4 mega pixels per second. Newer tv's might be faster by now, I don't know, but this is what you'd be looking for as to how fast the picture can refresh thus avoiding motion artifacts.

I just recently bought a 40" for my dad. My tv is better than this cheap crap, but I paid $2200 for my Sony. So even though you can get a bigger tv for less, look at the build quality. You get what you pay for I guess.

[gregcss]

You may want to check the display properties on the PC when the TV is connected (i.e. resolution, color depth, etc) and make sure the installed drivers are appropriate for the video card.

I have a 4+ year old Samsung LCD and have connected a desktop PC using a DVI to HDMI cable in the past and now use HDMI to HDMI cable with a new video card without issue.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Refresh rates and motion blur aren't going to be an issue showing pie charts.
Have you thought about a presentation projector, or "conference room" projector?
Here's a list on the ProjectorCentral.com site grouped by large room or small room.
With one of these, you could also add mobility to the equation, as the unit could be run from a laptop and moved from room to room.
Either way, you could have a much larger viewable image for less money.

Bob

[Doublej]

Yes, I have thought about a projector but it needs to be a permanent install which means extra costs for installation and a screen. Walls are not white so projecting onto them isn't go to work so well.

[Mag]

Are you using the clone feature of laptop to TV or as a PC monitor?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Gotcha, that's understandable.

[Doublej]

Are you using the clone feature of laptop to TV or as a PC monitor?

Not typically. There will be a dedicated PC with the TV as the monitor. If a laptop is plugged in then it's up to user to decide if they want to display only on the TV or use a lower resolution and duplicate what is displayed on the laptop.

A really sophisticated user could set up his laptop with two monitors each with a different resolution so that you could in essence use the laptop as your control monitor and the TV as the display for the audience.

Why do you ask?

[Mag]

With my HD laptop I can use the Clone feature linked with HDMI cable to 46" TV. I've used this for photoshop and viewing photographs. The resolution is HD with my laptop slightly better to my eyes.

In PC mode my TV doesn't use the HDMI cable, just the video cable so it's not utilizing the HDTV's resolution.

The other options is a computer monitor with an HD graphics card in PC linked by HDMI, which gives you the full resolution. I don't think there are large sized computer monitors on the market, but I could be wrong.

IMO using the Clone feature in a laptop linked to HDTV by HDMI cable is the way to go.

[youravhandyman]

How much use is this display going to get?  If it will get several hours a day with high contrast images you may want to opt for a commercial display sometimes called a professional panel.  These displays are designed for high output, high hours and since they are frequently used with digital signage they are very clear with text. 
LG seems to have the least expensive pro panels followed by Panasonic.  I have not used the LG panels yet but have had no issues with Panasonic.  Not big box available and a few more bucks these panels usually have 3 to 5 year warranties too.  They usually have thin bezels and more descrete branding than a residential product. 
Having said that you can get away with any LCD panel likely.  Your poor text was likely due to your resolution setting on your PC like was mentioned above.  Most cheap sets are only designed to scale up very specific input resolutions so if your laptop was set at some odd resolution that worked for you, it likely doesn't scale well on the TV. 
Matt

[dflee]

If you really want to impress, check out the B&O 106" plasma. It's only $140K.

[youravhandyman]

Or the Panasonic 4K resolution 150" for a cool half mil$  Makes the 90" from Sharp a bargan at around $11K. 

Seriously...if you know anyone needing that 150", I will get it for you.  Not even kidding.

[electricbear]

a newer pc plugged into a newer lcd tv should auto synch when connected via hdmi. This means that the tv understands what it is being connected to and adjusts itself automatically to display in the best resolution. Not all pcs will output audio over hdmi so you might have to connect an audio cable as well.
Your best ( but most expensive ) route is to get a professional display monitor. They will always give you the best performance and reliability.
Avoid plasma as this type of display is not going to be supported going forward.