[accent]

Once again I turn to my fellow audiophiles,     I am going to purchase a new tv shortly and am getting info overload. My wants are 50"+,  led backlit with 240hz for motion,and I think internet connection.
 Room is very dark so thats not an issue.
  I am begrugingly replacing a 1992 Mitsu VS5051 I would like something that will last, and Plasma is going away no?
  Going looking today and really don't look forward to it. As I have been checking/reasearching online. The BestBuy Insignia line looks interesting w/2 year warranty though.

   I now open the floor to suggestions...

[Bob in St. Louis]

Erase the stigma of plasma from your brain. They're just fine.

My 50 Samsung plasma has a beautiful screen.
Besides, something you may not know, the screen rate of a plasma is something like five or six hundred Hertz. Compare that to the LED/LCD/DSP/etc.... 

Bob

[bpape]

Insignia I would very seriously doubt would last you any where near like the Mits did.  I would look at the Sharp, followed by the Samsungs personally.

The LED is very nice certainly but plasma and LCD can also be excellent if done properly.

Bryan

[golfugh]

Here's your deal - today only, great reviews.  LG 50" 1080p plasma $695

http://www.6ave.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=LGE50PK250

[Doublej]

Panny for plasma, Samsung for LCD.

I had a pathetic customer service experience with Sharp so I would stay far away from them.

[golfugh]

Make sure it's a 2010 Panny, VT series if able; blacks decrease with age a lot with 09's

[raindance]

If you are going LCD, Samsung and Sony offer the best picture and can actually be calibrated. You won't get LED backlit for your price plus they have a very short track record, so no one knows how reliable they will be. Note - don't confuse backlight lifespan with reliability.

Personally, I prefer plasma and the choices there are Samsung and Panasonic. Samsung plasma usually looks a bit better calibrated out of the box than Panasonic, but Panasonic is arguably the better TV.

You probably won't enjoy LCD in a dark room.

[raindance]

Erase the stigma of plasma from your brain. They're just fine.

My 50 Samsung plasma has a beautiful screen.
Besides, something you may not know, the screen rate of a plasma is something like five or six hundred Hertz. Compare that to the LED/LCD/DSP/etc.... 

Bob

Not to jump on you, but this is untrue. The high update rate in your TV spec sheet refers to a subfield update rate. It is a marketing gimmick. The field rate is usually 60Hz or 120Hz (a field is an entire screen) and this is why there is a slight flicker on plasma. With an LCD screen, the flicker is imperceptible due to the way the image is generated regardless of the "scan" rate. But LCD has a problem with changing pixel states fast and cannot do fast movement as well as plasma (plasma cells can change state around 1000 times faster than LCD. This is improving all the time for LCD, however. The LCD manufacturers are trying to address this issue with 240Hz update rates which help somewhat, but do not reduce motion blur.

So the important thing here is how fast an individual pixel can change state.

As to black level, a plasma generates black through a pixel being turned off (absence of light) and an LCD tries to block light, but there is bleed through causing black to appear gray.

Plasma still does black and motion the best which is why I prefer it personally. I too have a Samsung because I'm cheap and it offers great value. I also have access to a colorimeter through my job, so it is now both cheap and professionally calibrated.

[bpape]

Panny for plasma, Samsung for LCD.

I had a pathetic customer service experience with Sharp so I would stay far away from them.

Could be.  Can't say personally as I've never had a failure in a product made by Sharp.  I have 3 of them and they all get relatively heavy use and have performed flawlessly. 

Bryan

[accent]

Keep e'm coming guys, I almost ordered that 6ave.com unit. But even they said waiting could prove to be a good move.
  Plasma is looking better, as I have had a chance to play with the various settings in store. I will try this weekend to watch some with football.
  Calibration is begining to get my attention also, any leads on this besides the colormeter access?

[rajacat]

Perhaps a little OT but I'm shopping for a new tube too.
 Is it worth paying extra for 1080p vs. 720p when shopping for plasmas?
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11532893&whse=BC&Ne=5000135+4000000&eCat=BC|90607|2341&N=4047300%204294899201&Mo=17&No=17&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11595868&whse=BC&Ne=5000135+4000000&eCat=BC|90607|2341&N=4047300%204294899201&Mo=17&No=9&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

-Roy

[Bob in St. Louis]

  Calibration is begining to get my attention also, any leads on this besides the colormeter access?

If you live on the east side of the Mississippi River, check out a fellow named Jake. He does house calls. Regarding display calibration, he's a rockstar on the forums. However, I can't seen to find his website. 

Bob

[raindance]

On the 720p vs 1080p question the answer is: it depends...

If I went larger than 52", I'd want 1080p probably. But what sources are truly 1080p? Bluray is about it. HD cable is 720p or 1080i (and no, 1080i is NOT the same as 1080p) and these look at their best on a 720p set.

If you want to use the display for computer stuff at all, look very closely at the 720p plasma specs as some of them (like my Samsung) have rectangular pixels and you can not get the correct image aspect ratio from a computer - ever. It is easy to figure out. If the 720p plasma has a native resolution of 1024 x 768, then it has rectangular pixels. 720p requires 1280 x 720 pixels. Displays with rectangular pixels are designed to correctly size a video-type input via HDMI but not via VGA. Video-type means 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

LCD's don't have this issue as they all have square pixels and work OK with computer.

[rajacat]

On the 720p vs 1080p question the answer is: it depends...

If I went larger than 52", I'd want 1080p probably. But what sources are truly 1080p? Bluray is about it. HD cable is 720p or 1080i (and no, 1080i is NOT the same as 1080p) and these look at their best on a 720p set.

If you want to use the display for computer stuff at all, look very closely at the 720p plasma specs as some of them (like my Samsung) have rectangular pixels and you can not get the correct image aspect ratio from a computer - ever. It is easy to figure out. If the 720p plasma has a native resolution of 1024 x 768, then it has rectangular pixels. 720p requires 1280 x 720 pixels. Displays with rectangular pixels are designed to correctly size a video-type input via HDMI but not via VGA. Video-type means 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

LCD's don't have this issue as they all have square pixels and work OK with computer.

Thanks raindance,

I didn't know that there are rectangular pixels and square pixels. So you need the extra resolution to to square off the rectangles. This means I should go with the 54" Panny since I want to interface correctly with my computer. Both of the Panny plasmas seem to be excellent bargains.

-Roy

ps
What if my laptop has HDMI video output, will it work OK with the 720p 1024x768?

[raindance]

Check the specs carefully. There should be a table of supported PC resolutions. I think the 54" Panny does 1366 x 768 as the highest PC resolution, but you'll need to verify.

Laptops don't typically have HDMI ports, usually the newer ones have DisplayPort which can only be used with a converter "dongle" to translate voltage levels. This is because computer manufacturers are too cheap to pay HDMI licensing fees. The connector is subtly different. You can also get a dongle to output analog VGA resolutions. Be advised that the best dongle is the one made by your laptop manufacturer as the functioning of it is software driver based.

If your laptop really has HDMI and can output 720p, then you would be in business with the lower res display, but this would be unusual and won't be available on newer laptops.

[Peter J]

I, too, recently replaced an older TV and got on the HiDef train. Nothing wrong with what we had but CRTs and projectors are so yesterday

 Here's one area where bang for buck is much better than it used to be. I paid around $1800 for a 36" Sony FD Triniton about ten years ago. Just bought a midline  50" plasma for $1000.

After considerable back and forth, research, and chats with my really tech-savvy son in law, I think the best value is in plasma...unless you have a really bright room. I'm very pleased with purchases and don't know that I'd change anything. FWIW I research the sh!t out of purchases like this. I fully expect technology to move along as it always has, and that will make my new purchase a near dinosaur in ten years...I just don't think the one purchase every 20 or 30 years makes sense in this arena.

Audio was not part of this move, that's handled. With that in mind here's where I landed


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003924UCK/ref=oss_product

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036WT1RW/ref=oss_product

http://www.amazon.com/DVDO-EDGE-High-Definition-Video-Processor/dp/B001D4KWXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1290279944&sr=1-1

The Edge is a very interesting product, I did compare it's "processed" signal to the nonprocessed and there is visible improvement. It also allowed me to use its video
switching capability to utilize an older, but very good pre/pro. (Theta Casa Nova).

I should add that wirelessly streaming Netflix from the BlueRay DVD is very cool technology that I pretty much ignored till I could get it on TV as opposed to computer.

[raindance]

Peter J:

What is the streaming Netflix picture quality like now? Last time I looked it was just standard TV quality, not HD - have they improved it yet?

[Peter J]

Peter J:

What is the streaming Netflix picture quality like now? Last time I looked it was just standard TV quality, not HD - have they improved it yet?

Still standard def unless you subscribe to their HiDef service, which gets you access to their HiDef catalog. As I recall it adds $4 or 5 a month, but I doubt I'll do that anytime soon.

That's where the Edge comes in, it upscales to 1080p whatever the source. Technically it can't make a standard signal into HiDef, but interpolates it somehow and really makes a noticable difference for lots less money than I remember these things costing some years ago. I'm not the one to ask about the technical details. I stumbled across it looking for a way to switch video, and bought it used on Ebay. It served my switching needs, while providing the bonus of better picture with standard lower quality signals. Google for more.

[DaveC113]

Well, I'm about to pick up this one, unless anyone thinks it's a poor choice. I thought LG sets were really good, I've seen the Samsung and Panasonics but not the high end LG... I thought the Samsung was a little better in the store but I also think it's impossible to judge very well in the store. Anyhow, for the price I think the LG will do what I want, give me good picture quality, and not have any weird motion or flicker issues.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039RSXUU/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=AHF4SYKP09WBH

edit... 54" Panasonic G25 below is $1380, the LG above is $1000. Decisions...

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P54G25-54-Inch-1080p-Plasma/dp/B00392147E/ref=sr_1_17?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1290841766&sr=1-17#productPromotions

[Bob in St. Louis]

You missed your opportunity to pitch a tent on the sidewalk of Best Buy.