I know there’s an HDTV thread already, but that one is concerning lag, this is for buyers.
Anyways, I have this 19’’ (or so) EDTV in my room, and after playing MGS4 on my dads bigass hdtv (only 720, but still pretty) I REALLY want an hdtv. I tried playing on my t.v. and I just couldn’t take it.
Some people may say that 1080p @ 32" might not be worth it. I think if you’re going for 32" sets, 720p is more than enough. But if you’re going to go a bit bigger. Go for 40-46.
TVs keep going down in prices, so keep checking stores for deals. Also be sure to look up response time on the TVs 8ms or lower is ideal for gaming. Hit me up on AIM if you want more info, I’m always in the chat too.
The HDTV I will be getting will be no where near the efficiency recommended on that chart. I want a 60" that I will be watching from 8 feet away. My living room is small.
My apologies for asking in someone else’s thread, but what exactly happens to those with 720p displays when 1080p content becomes the norm in the near future? Does it get downscaled without any picture or response problems? I get the feeling that I’m missing something simple that makes this question obvious, sorry.
The device will have to downscale the image. There are some 720p sets that will accept a 1080i/p signal and downscale it to 720p, but if your TV doesn’t, you’ll just get a black screen.
I have a 720p JVC HD-ILA that will only accept 720p and 1080i. So I set my BluRay and HD-DVD player to 720p. You also have to remember that the only 1080p content you’ll see is through video game consoles or BluRay. 1080p is not a television broadcast standard and I highly doubt networks will purchase all new equipment.
You can get a 37" on sale for about the same price and gain some real estate on your games.
32" is kinda small for enjoying 1080p.
Samsung LN37A550 37-Inch for $999 at fry’s. Look at their ads every friday. They will put this tv on sale every other week just about. Or you can get it at amazon for almost the same price.
The size and pq on this tv is great and yeah there are lower budget tvs but, w/ the sammy your getting rich blacks and better viewing angles than the vizio.
I recently got the low end L series Bravia 32", I just wanted something for my room and it was less than a $100 more than a Vizio. It doesn’t have the Bravia engine, but for the price I am pretty stoked on it. For the one who asked about 1080p, it accepts the signals through HDMI and downscales it rather nicely.
You can usually find them for $600-$700 and the 37" ones aren’t that much more. I haven’t had a HDTV in 2.5 years, and the last one was a Samsung CRT, so I might not be the perfect candidate to recommend one, but I am hyped with my new PS3 and the TV.
To be honest, after playing some games and watching some Blu Ray movies, I totally want bigger and better to go in the living room now. I am totally happy with my set up, but in hindsight, I probably would have gone 37".
I have heard that it’s not worth it to get a 32’’ 1080p, for the exact reasons listed. My friend sells tv’s at circuit city, and is pretty big on tv’s and he told me for the price of 32’'s nowadays you might as well get it. Still iffy though.
The reason I want a 32’’ is because I need it to double as my computer monitor. I went to Fry’s yesterday and went to the computer section and was looking at some of the monitors there. I wonder if it’s just best for me to get a monitor instead? I don’t watch too much t.v. just basketball, and that ended already (rather sourly I might add).
I’m kinda in the same boat as you, NeRemixed. I need to upgrade the display in my room, but it’s mainly for pc use. Although it’s only 30", the Gateway XHD3000 looks mighty tasty and does 1600p (2560x1600 resolution).
What is a decent price range for a 60", LCD or plasma? I swear I saw some 60" LCDs on sale at best buy for around $2k, but when I went back to check a few days ago I didn’t find anything within that range.
Hardware:
LCD is lighter and uses less electricity than Plasma. Also because the screen isn’t made of glass, it’s less reflective. So you can watch it in a brighter room without worrying about glare. Also, as I understand it VGA inputs are more common on LCD models for whatever reason, which is important if you plan on hooking your PC up to it or playing a Dreamcast on it. LCDs are usually cheaper(?), though HDTV prices in general are a bit random. Burn-in of images is less likely than either standard TVs or plasma- it’s not as big of an issue with newer plasma TVs, but still worth mentioning. LCDs come in a wider range of sizes.
Plasma TVs are less likely to experience motion blur or “ghosting,” where you see afterimages of fast-moving objects, compared to LCD TVs. This is less of a problem in newer LCD TVs, but still worth mentioning. Plasma TVs have blacks and colors which are a bit deeper and richer than LCDs, on average. http://reviews.cnet.com/4351-12658_7-6583301.html#
It’s a 720p projector with a game mode that some game pro says works. Apparently it’s also an excellent projector for image quality and brightness for its price. Would be nice to have a 10 foot diagonal on the wall, and it’s still got a vga port for DC games.
I’m by no means an expert, but I’ve been thinkin about getting a 32" lcd too, bedroom’s not that big (when I finally get my own place maybe I’ll get a 50"), I think the panasonic tx32lzd85 is the best 32" (in my opinion of course)… but it’s not so affordable… Maybe I’ll get one when it’s on offer and a bit older.
Review: http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/review/2008/04/19/Panasonic-Viera-TX-32LZD85-32in-LCD-TV/p1
Note it mentions how they felt (unexpectantly) that they did see some 1080p benefit. I would say a good benefit is no post processing will be needed to fit 1080p content on to it, hence less video noise, and maybe lag too.
If I weren’t getting that, and I wanted to save a bit of money without getting a shit tv, I’d probably go for a samsung, one of the new A656 (the red tint bezel ones) one. However as is quite common, the higher spec features tend to start at the 37" sizes (unlike the panasonic above) e.g. 100hz. So maybe waitin on a really good deal on a 37 may be better.
keep in mind that chart is for those of us with 20/20 vision
I have a 42" 1080i Panasonic Plasma that I view from 6’ as well as a 60" 1080p Plasma that I also view from 6’ according to that chart I shouldn’t see a difference, but I seem to have far less eye strain on the 60"
Thanks for that info. My living room is small, but my vision is not 20/20. I wear glasses in the theater and I sure as hell do not want to do that while watching movies at home.
About LCD vs Plasma, I forgot to mention viewing angles- the picture on an LCD can fade if you view it from a bad angle. This isn’t as big of a problem as it used to be, but if you’re ever in an electronics store etc you can see it can still be an issue with some models. It’s best to be right in front of the TV at the correct height, otherwise the colors etc will be less visible.
Also, I’m not sure about prices of LCDs vs plasmas; I happened to be in a Wal Mart the other day, and saw a couple pairs of comprable models at basically the same price.