LCD or Plasma - Not 100% Sure yet....

[Rob1]

Hello all....

I've been coming to this fourm for about a year now....excellent info! Sometimes a bit of overload :)

Anyway I have finally received the OK from my wife to purchase a HDTV.

From what I've read and for my price range....$2000-2500 CND the Panasonic 42" EDTV is my best bet .....but the LCD's are coming down in price.

I can purchase a no-name 37" LCD for around the same price.


I will be sitting about 14 Ft. away from the unit so that's why I think the 37" will be a tad small.


Plasma's from what I've read give you the best picture - but like everyone else I have concerns about burn-in. Plasma's seem to be a little more delicate compared to LCD....first 100 hours etc....

But then again from what I've been reading the new 8 gens. are much better and that I should not worry about it.....they are saying now just compare Plasma's to your currrent CRT....is this true??

I just don't want any issues with the Plasma....the wife would kill me! :D


What do you guys think? I will be purchasing within the next 30 days.

Cheers
Rob.

[mobgre]

[QUOTE=Rob1]I will be sitting about 14 Ft. away from the unit so that's why I think the 37" will be a tad small[/QUOTE]In my opinion, 14 ft is way too far away for a 37" probably even a 42". I sit about 7' away from my 42" PDP and feel it is just right. At 14' I think you should be looking at 50" and above. IMO. As far as LCD vs Plasma. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I own both and enjoy each.

[TulsaCoker]

My advise get as big as your budget allows. I have never spoken to someone
that regretted getting a larger display. Typically you get more screen size for your
money on a plasma.

[thruxton]

[QUOTE=Rob1]
....

Plasma's from what I've read give you the best picture - but like everyone else I have concerns about burn-in. Plasma's seem to be a little more delicate compared to LCD....first 100 hours etc......

Rob.[/QUOTE]

Alas, LCD's can develop the dreaded stuck pixel(s). Imagine the look on the wife's face when a couple stick green :(

So nothing is risk free, and so, in regards to the plasma burn-in, it doesn't seem to demanding to take care with your break in. And the bottom line should be PQ.

LCD's can look very nice upon first look. But watch for a bit and you'll realize the lack of fluidity and limited depth to the scenes.

Plasma's may not look as nice upon first look since the stores set them up out of the box on "vivid" type settings. Some of these brands, like Toshiba, have easy adjust buttons on the right hand side. Set the picture to standard and you'll see. Plasma rules!

Get the biggest you can afford and EDTV should be OK at your distance of view. But only your eyes can be the judge.

Good luck.

[LCD1080]

Yes if you're sitting 14 feet away I would definitely be looking at a 50 incher. A 42 inch screen provides a mere 12.4 degree viewing angle at that distance. If the cost of a 50 inch is too great I'd be looking into a way to sit closer to the display. Perhaps you could do that by supporting the display on a stand with rollers. That way you could roll it into a place 6 or 7 feet away from the intended point of viewing (where you wouldn't normally want it during times of non-use).

[JohnMR]

I agree with the other posts, a 37" at 14' is going to be TINY.

John

[Rob1]

Thanks for the reply guys....

Right now I sit about 12' away from 32"CRT.

I don't find it small by any means.....I can only assume a 42" will look BIGGER??


Is my theory correct?

The 32" is in a corner entertainment unit....and the new WdeScreen will be displayed on top a new fireplace mantel...not wall mounted.


Cheers

[scottro]

When I'm all sprawled out on Sundays enjoying HD NFL with my head at the far end of the sofa at approx 12-13 feet...42" is fine. Better than fine actually, more like fantastic. Don't worry. I also upgraded from a 32" CRT. I doubt that extra foot is going to kill you. Lean forward a bit maybe ;)
And at that distance save the money and buy an ED plasma. Don't get me wrong, If it was in the budget a 50" HD plasma would be great but it doesn't sound like you want to spend that much.

[SammiK]

Go for the Jo, Mo! 14 feet for a 37 incher? What you going to use? Binoculars. Best go large for a charge, Dude ;)

[Yoda1]

For $2500 I'd find the best Mitsubishi RP CRT I could find (Diamond Series if possible).

Get a 57-65." In the right enviornment, RP CRT is still the way to go, especially at your distance.

Mitsu all the way!

[wildpig]

well, hate to sorta be out of line, but you should also consider the possibility of projectors. for $2-3k, you can get some very nice projectors such as sharp dt-400 or panasonic ae900u. Just a thought. l;)

[Rob1]

A projector or RPTV is not an option since my wife does not want to design a living room around a TV.

She doesn't even care about the Plasma and it took me a year to convince her I ---ummm.....I mean we needed one ;)

Thanks for the feedback and right now I think for my price range a Pany 42" EDTV will do fine.

On a side note...I ventured into a Audio/Video store near work yesterday at lunch (Audio/Video 2001) and they had alot of LCD/Plasma's set up.....

I must say I was not very impressed with the picture quality on any of the sets....

They were running either a looped DVD or a HD satellitte feed using componet.

I did not think the picture was any better then my 32" CRT - in fact on some sets the PQ was worse :eek: - I just hope it was the setup they had and I will try a few more stores......but if I took my wife with me for a look she would have not been very happy with what she would have seen.

AV stores should be running the demo's with a perfect setup....I really don't understand how they can sell them with such a poor setup??

Cheers
Rob.

[scottro]

They can run such poor demos because a lot of people take home their $3000 HDTVs and hook them up to the old cable box with s-video and think it's HD...

[oldcband]

[QUOTE=Rob1]

Thanks for the feedback and right now I think for my price range a Pany 42" EDTV will do fine.



I must say I was not very impressed with the picture quality on any of the sets....



I did not think the picture was any better then my 32" CRT - in fact on some sets the PQ was worse

[/QUOTE]
IMO I think a 42" EDTV will be right on or a 37 inch fp LCD. And IMO I'd go with a Sharp 37 inch but thats just me, but the 42 inch EDTV always looks nice to me in the stores. I think these are budget HDTV displays for the time being. I Don't know how long you keep your tv's but next year or this years end SED will be on the horizon and what I've read they will be pretty nice. But very expensive and will be probably 3 years before you'll consider one. My opinion is keep the price low, for now its wait and see. Its all about how important this stuff is to you, I will open my wallet for the great stuff but, I don't believe this is the time.
BTW SED is basically a CRT in bigger sizes, and I agree with you crt's look good they always have to me too.