HDTV owners - pls chime in

[Tones]

Of the two, I would go for the LCD. The DLP has a color wheel that turns with a motor and I have heard of failures with these. There are no moving parts with the LCD. Should be more reliable in the long run. I bought a Sony LCD projection a couple years ago and it is excellent at standard def. I would think the larger LCD screens are just as good but have not looked in depth as I am happy with mine. From what I have seen, I would be looking at the Sony LCDs (Bravia/Wega/XBR depending on how much you want to spend). It seems to edge out even the newer Samsungs in picture when side by side. I had one salesman tell me that Samsung makes the LCD screen for Sony. Not sure if that is true.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Not to be a wang, just to reemphasize about size. (pun?) Our living room is 25x35 and we sit a full 15-20 feet from the evil device and I don't at all feel like it's too small at 42".

42" is the new 27" - the most for the money.

The Law of Diminishing Returns definately kicks-in.

 

[Patman]

I've got a 42" Sony LCD TV and I really don't like it! When you watch movies that have a lot of dark nighttime action in them, you can't see what is going on! No matter how I adjust the settings, it won't bring in any black detail, it just makes the blacks look more gray. And if you watch anything with fast dark motion on it, it looks blurry.

Next TV I get (when the bulb burns out on this one) will be a 50-60" plasma, for sure!

 

[Tones]

Patman, how old is that one? Is that an LCD projection? The contrast ratios and refresh rates have dramatically improved for LCDs.

 

[T-Keith]

Try going to Ultimate Electronics if you have one. They have a real HD video playing and you can better compare the pictures on the TVs. They also have a price match policy. We ended up with a 42" Samsung plasma, LCDs at the time without blurring and motion sickness were ~500 more. They are getting better though.

 

[buster]

The new LCD's have very high contrast ratio's for deeper black levels. The Sony and Samsung models are on par with some of the best plasmas now. Plasmas do beat out LCD for overall picture quality but it's much closer now.

Pat do you have the Bravia? What year?

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Tones
Of the two, I would go for the LCD. The DLP has a color wheel that turns with a motor and I have heard of failures with these.


An LED-based DLP HDTV, like the samsung Im loking at has no bulb or color wheel. It is LED based, and uses less energy than even an LCD of much smaller size. So those facts, while they were the case, seem to be getting obsolete in the world of DLP TVs (not that DLP TVs arent getting to be obsolete anyway )

Still, it sounds like an LCD is a better bet. It will take a bit longer to get because the good ones are about $400 more than the DLP TVs, and we didnt budget for that this month.

Thanks,

JMH

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: buster
Plasmas do beat out LCD for overall picture quality but it's much closer now.


I insist on watching bad programs in the best possible quality.

 

[T-Keith]

Of course the brand and model matter a lot too, there was an Olivia Plasma next to the samsung that looked grey instead of black. There was also a sharp that looked as good, but was much more expensive. It's all about quality per dollar. One big problem with LCDs is fast motion. With the non-HD content that most stores run on their displays this won't be obvious, but only the high end 120 HZ LCD models display motion as well as Plasma.

 

[buster]

Fast motion isn't a concern anymore with LCD's as they now have 120hz refresh rates. Our LCD is going on 2 years old and is only 60hz and we don't have any issues. Some of the "motion blur" is actually due to poor signal strength which in my town, Comcast is known for.

http://www.avsforum.com

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Tones
Patman, how old is that one? Is that an LCD projection? The contrast ratios and refresh rates have dramatically improved for LCDs.


It's a couple of years old and was a floor model, so it's definitely not the latest version. It's a rear projection LCD.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: buster


Pat do you have the Bravia? What year?


It's not the Bravia, it's the Grand Wega, model number is KF-E42A10. I just dug out the owner's manual and it says it's a 2005 model.