On TV's

[Slidetechnik]

Well, I had good luck with my cell phone question, so hopefully you guys are as tech smart with TVs.

I'm just curious what do I need to know nowadays? My old TV is 21" and like 20 years old and I plan to modernize. I'm interested in a 32"-37" TV, and don't really know what I'm looking for. Do I want 1080p or 720p? Is 120Hz necessary or is 60Hz sufficient? Plasma or LCD? Most stores have "no-name" brands (Insignia, Dynex, etc). Are these just rebadged TV's made by the big guys or do they suffer on quality?

Thanks!

 

[Planterz]

If you watch sports or action movies 60hz will look like crap. For example, if you're watching a baseball game, when the ball is thrown it'll "skip" across the screen like it's lit by a strobe light, and when the batter swings the bat you'll see the same obnoxious effect.

If you stick with with Insignia (Best Buy's house brand) for about $400 you have a choice between a 32" 120Hz 1080p LCD, or a 42" 720p plasma. Obviously the plasma is bigger but the LCD has better resolution, so you need to take other things into consideration. Like viewing distance. If the TV is close, the LCD might be a better choice. If it's further away, I say go with the plasma. There's point where side-by-side you won't notice the higher picture quality of the smaller LCD, and at that point it's better to go with the bigger size, even if it is a lower resolution. I don't know exactly where this point is. Your best bet is to go to Best Buy or wherever and look at the TVs there, from the same distance you'll be viewing it at home.

Some other things to consider: LCD uses less energy and generates less heat. Expected life span used to favor LCDs, but new plasmas are rated for 60,000 hours, same as LCDs. Plasmas have a glass screen, so they're heavier, and glass also reflects light much more, so glare might be an issue if there's a light source behind you (like a lamp or the sun).

I'm in the same situation as you, replacing my dying low-def TV with something new. I'm on a budget, limited to about $500. I'm probably going with a 720p 42" plasma. No, 720p isn't as nice as 1080p, but it looks a hell of a lot better than my 20" tube tv.

 

[texas gun person]

I'll give my quick 2 cents since I have to go.


60hz will do.

120hz does have a noticeable difference especially on panning type shots.

 

[mqqn]

Hi Slidetechnik -

Planterz has given you some very good information in his post.

I have an LG 60" 1080p plasma in my living room, and a Sanyo 42" 720p in my bedroom.

The LG is a top of the line unit, while the Sanyo is a bottom of the line if you will.

The biggest difference that I notice is in the user interface - the higher quality machine has more features (like wireless internet hookup, widgets, etc.) than the cheaper machine. The higher quality machine has easier to operate menus, and the remote seems more well thought out.

As Planterz suggests, the further away you are, the less the difference between 720 and 1080 becomes. We sit 10 feet from the screen in our living room, and 12-15 feet from the screen in our bedroom.

After researching and viewing many tv's, I personally thought the plasmas had much better picture quality. That is my subjective opinion and not based on any measurable fact.

The last thing I will add is that if you do not have a nice selection of HD channels to watch, the HD tv will definitely bring out the worst in a bad signal - in other words, if the signal coming in is not the best, the tv will exacerbate that and show the deficiency of the signal more than the old non-HD tv would.

Good luck in your search.

best regards -

mqqn