Thanks people. have not made a pick yet, but advise sure helps.

 

I've spent the last 3 weeks shopping for plasmas. Since I'm a big home theater fanatic I can tell you some things.

A) MOST newer plasma tv's have a 60,000 hour life, which means you'd have to watch the tv 6 hours a day for the next 27 years for it to wear out.

B) LCD is usually brighter and clearer then a plasma, but more money because the technology is more expensive.

C) If you want REAL High Definition, you have to get a TV with a minimum resolution of 1024x1024 (actually 1920x1024 is TRUE HD). 1024x768 is native 720p, and EDTVs which are 848x484 are not REAL HD by any standards. That is why they are cheap.

- You won't notice 1080p unless your TV is at LEAST 50" Most people cannot tell the diff between 1080p and 1080i under 50" because of the way your brain interprets the scanlines and the frame rate. That's an entirely other subject though ;-)

D) Overstock has great deals. We JUST bought our Vizio 42" Plasma 1024x768 for $1200 SHIPPED! $1 shipping special. Refurbed like brand new. Keep an opened mind and do the research on the OFF brands. Vizio is gaining alot of respect in the AV world. They have very good reviews. Keep an open mind. Their site is www.vizioce.com

E) SONY does not rule the world and don't get suckered by all thier little marketting proprietary "features" they have. Samsung is generally considered one of the best Plasma TV manufacturers around, other then Sony. Sony IS very good, don't get me wrong, but Samsung is very good. If we didn't find that deal we would have bought a Samsung

F) Get a PLasma or LCD with at LEAST a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Even though there is some debate about how Contrast is calculated, you will be dissappointed with anything less then 8000:1, especially in a bigger, well-lit room.

G) Make sure the brighness level is at least 1200 to 1300 cm/d. Anything less then that and you will probably get washed out darker color palletes

H) DEFINITELY get a TV with at LEAST 1 HDMI input. You CAN NOT have a true High Definition picture unless you have a DVI or HDMI input due to copy protection laws restriction the output of 1080i signals to HDMI and DVI outputs. Make SURE the HDMI input is HDCP compliant, which is the newer upcoming copy protection scheme on the newer Blu-Ray and HD-DVD standards. Without this, later on you may not be able to watch true HD movies if they movie industry actually decides to go ahead with the implimentation (it's still under debate).

I) Do NOT let anybody at Best Buy or Circuit City give you some lingo to steer you to a certain brand. I'm not going to knock them, but ALOT of them have no clue what they are talking about. If you mention HDCP or HDMI alot of them look at you like HUH?

J) Pay attention to the power consumption. Keep in mind the larger TV, the more power. A typical 42" consumes between 230 to 300 watts of power, while a 50" can go as much as 400 to 450 typically, and so on. If you have a digital cable box, add another 50 to 100 watts. If you don't care, then don't worry about it ;-)

I) CNET is a great resource for Plasma and LCD TV information and reviews. They review almost every single one that is out. check their site before you get something and see what REAL people have to say.

Also, check out www.avsforum.com This site is the bible of all home theater junkies (I'm a member) and have people that have million dollar home theaters as members as well as the typical joe. You can find out what people are saying about their TV's before you buy one.

If you need any other info, please let me know ;-) I'm not a genius on the subject but between myself and ZYNE, we can give you some good info since we are both really into the stuff.

p.s

 

Sony Wega. still one of the best pictures in the industry, regardless of plasma or LCD.

 

I want whatever Mike's taking...[8D]

 

ME TOO!!

But thanks Mike, great info!

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

I've spent the last 3 weeks shopping for plasmas. Since I'm a big home theater fanatic I can tell you some things.

A) MOST newer plasma tv's have a 60,000 hour life, which means you'd have to watch the tv 6 hours a day for the next 27 years for it to wear out.

B) LCD is usually brighter and clearer then a plasma, but more money because the technology is more expensive.

C) If you want REAL High Definition, you have to get a TV with a minimum resolution of 1024x1024 (actually 1920x1024 is TRUE HD). 1024x768 is native 720p, and EDTVs which are 848x484 are not REAL HD by any standards. That is why they are cheap.

- You won't notice 1080p unless your TV is at LEAST 50" Most people cannot tell the diff between 1080p and 1080i under 50" because of the way your brain interprets the scanlines and the frame rate. That's an entirely other subject though ;-)

D) Overstock has great deals. We JUST bought our Vizio 42" Plasma 1024x768 for $1200 SHIPPED! $1 shipping special. Refurbed like brand new. Keep an opened mind and do the research on the OFF brands. Vizio is gaining alot of respect in the AV world. They have very good reviews. Keep an open mind. Their site is www.vizioce.com

E) SONY does not rule the world and don't get suckered by all thier little marketting proprietary "features" they have. Samsung is generally considered one of the best Plasma TV manufacturers around, other then Sony. Sony IS very good, don't get me wrong, but Samsung is very good. If we didn't find that deal we would have bought a Samsung

F) Get a PLasma or LCD with at LEAST a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Even though there is some debate about how Contrast is calculated, you will be dissappointed with anything less then 8000:1, especially in a bigger, well-lit room.

G) Make sure the brighness level is at least 1200 to 1300 cm/d. Anything less then that and you will probably get washed out darker color palletes

H) DEFINITELY get a TV with at LEAST 1 HDMI input. You CAN NOT have a true High Definition picture unless you have a DVI or HDMI input due to copy protection laws restriction the output of 1080i signals to HDMI and DVI outputs. Make SURE the HDMI input is HDCP compliant, which is the newer upcoming copy protection scheme on the newer Blu-Ray and HD-DVD standards. Without this, later on you may not be able to watch true HD movies if they movie industry actually decides to go ahead with the implimentation (it's still under debate).

I) Do NOT let anybody at Best Buy or Circuit City give you some lingo to steer you to a certain brand. I'm not going to knock them, but ALOT of them have no clue what they are talking about. If you mention HDCP or HDMI alot of them look at you like HUH?

J) Pay attention to the power consumption. Keep in mind the larger TV, the more power. A typical 42" consumes between 230 to 300 watts of power, while a 50" can go as much as 400 to 450 typically, and so on. If you have a digital cable box, add another 50 to 100 watts. If you don't care, then don't worry about it ;-)

I) CNET is a great resource for Plasma and LCD TV information and reviews. They review almost every single one that is out. check their site before you get something and see what REAL people have to say.

Also, check out www.avsforum.com This site is the bible of all home theater junkies (I'm a member) and have people that have million dollar home theaters as members as well as the typical joe. You can find out what people are saying about their TV's before you buy one.

If you need any other info, please let me know ;-) I'm not a genius on the subject but between myself and ZYNE, we can give you some good info since we are

 

I agree, that's why I said they are one of the best but in some people's eyes, they are the ONLY thing to buy and everything else is inferior. I have come across so many people that think that it's amazing. In my opinion Sony, Samsung and Pioneer are the top 3, and most AV people will probably agree, and then Panasonic, then everybody else ;-)

And to the restaya, I actually know more about something then some of you guys do (for once) so I just had to get it ALL out

 

Well I for one am impressed[sm=hail.gif]

 

I too am very impressed...Now if we could only do something about little richie and david...[:'(]

 

Well, Thank you and, I will get rid of the dynamic duo don't worry