I just finished fixing up a new room for myself in my house. I am almost finished the entire room, I just need to get a new TV and that will top off the room. My problem is, I don't really know much about the new TV's. I know that I want either a plasma or lcd, but I don't know which one to get. The only difference I know of is that Plasma screens have a glass screen, and lcd screens have that weird screen. I don't even know if that stuff is true. My room is ten feet wide, which means I will be a maximum of ten feet away from the screen. I think I will just be mounting it on the wall. My budget is $1500 to $2200. I will go as high as $2500 but I would really like to keep it below $2000 if thats possible. The size I was thinking of going with was 42 to 52 inches. I really wanted something 50 inches or above, but then I started thinking maybe bigger isn't always better. If I'm only ten feet away from the screen maybe 50 inches is too big. I have been looking at TV's at my local electronics store and it seems like 1080P costs a lot more than 768P, I have also heard that you can't tell the difference between 768P and 1080P on models smaller than 50 inches. I get directv but I don't think I will be getting hd directv for quite a while. I will be using either blu ray or high def dvd's and playing XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 on the TV. Right now I am thinking about getting a 52 inch plasma 1080P TV, but if some or all of those features are going to be a waste of money, then I don't want to buy them. I am planning on spending as much as $2500 on this TV so I want to make sure I get the best deal possible and that I don't waste any money on any needless or useless features. If someone can give me some good advice I would really appreciate it as I want to make as informed a decision as possible when I buy this TV. I could also use some advice on the best place to buy the TV, and where I can get the best deal. Thank you very much for any help anyone can give me.
OK, first of all, if you have a room that is bright during the time of day that you would use the tv the most, don't get a plasma. Plasma screens have a panel of glass in front of the screen which would cause alot of glare. The lcd has a thin layer of plastic on the front which does have reflections, but almost no glare if any at all. If you do have some glare, you may want to go with a certain Panasonic anti-glare screen. I would, if I were you go with a 1080p tv since you would get the most out of an HD DVD player or Blue Ray player (1 million pixels versus 2 million). I would highly suggest HD cable or satellite because regular tv is going to look terrible. Overall Panasonic plasmas are going to be the best on the market. If you don't have a brightness problem in your room I would suggest the TH50PZ700U. 50" is the smallest that model comes in, so if you didn't want an anti-glare screen, but in 42" you would have to get a 720p plasma (TH42PX75U). If you do worry about glare, then I would get the TH50PZ77U. The 77U probably will be less expensive than the 700U because Panasonic priced it more aggressively than any other plasma to combat low-priced lower quality brands like Vizio. As far as the difference between 1080p and 720P, you will definitely will be able to see the difference. Besides, the PS3 is 1080p anyway, so why not use it to it's full potential. Other than that, keep in mind for what you want to do, you WILL need about $500-1500 in accessories (cables, clean power center, maybe reciever, maybe speakers, flat panel mount and proffesional instillation. As far as prices, Best Buy/Circuit City.
First off, thank you for your reply. It's really going to help me decide what to buy. I just bought a PS3 so I think I am going to wait until January sometime, maybe get a good new years sale or something. I don't think a glare will be a problem. I am either going to get something to block the light from my window. If I don't block the window I would have a problem with glare. So knowing that glare won't be a problem, I still can't really decide on which to buy, an lcd or a plasma. I don't really understand the difference other than the plasma having a glass covered screen and the lcd having it's thin plastic covering. If those are the only difference I would go with a plasma because it would be easier to clean and take care of. But if there is difference in quality please let me know. I have directv satellite tv but I don't know if I can afford to get HD, do you know if it's a big jump in price? Since I have a PS3 I will be able to use blu-ray so I think I will go with a 1080p, but I have read some stuff that says you can't tell the difference between 1080p and 720p on any tv smaller than 50 inches. From what I have seen the price jump is huge between 720p and 1080p, so if there is little to no difference I don't want to shell out the extra money. I guess I just need to know if there is a noticeable difference between the two because it is a big difference in price, is it ture that you can't tell the difference in the two in a tv smaller than 50 inches? I apologize for the length of my post, but I really don't want to spend a lot of money on a tv I won't be happy with. Thanks again for you help and advice, with the information I have given you could you please let me know what brand and tv would be best for my situation. If you need any more info to make a good recommendation let me know. Thanks again.
A generalized statement like that is useless and shows a poor understanding of how things work in the real world (this same poster in the past said that standard DVD's on an upscaling DVD player look just as good as HD-DVD at 720p). It all depends on screen size, viewing distance and source. The lower-rez screens are more forgiving of seating-distance variations. Actually with a couch/chair you may be closer than that, your room layout restricts your viewing distance and the screen size, but actually gives you more choices. But at a seating distance of around 10 feet and a screen width of 50 inches buying a 1080i/p set won't get you better resolution than a 50-inch 720p. Human visual acuity limits how much detail you can see in any image, live or onscreen. Now if you went to a 52 inch 1080p LCD and were watching a 1080p source program from 7 foot away you may notice an improvement, but unless the source is true 1080p it might actually look worse. Note that 1080i sources can and do have problems with certain elements and fast action. Fox and ESPN Sports settled on 720p for these reasons. Confusing? You bet. But one thing to remember is the lowly 720p Panasonic plasmas are always described as having some of the best pictures ever seen. Also note that prices, especially plasmas, are going to drop quite a bit by years end. Do some research, you got a little time. http://www.hometheatermag.com/ http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/
