Redsand

ok im looking for a TV.. i am pretty much only gonna use it for movies all the time.. ill play games on it but i want a tv that looks great for movies.. this is what im looking at right now.. which on should i pick 1 or 2..!? Thanks in advance for any help..

1.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...01839%3A182303


2.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...&xsell=3649951

Sdallnct

My new standard answer,

http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_s...0&pid=_Froogle

DVD Josh

It's ALOT cheaper at Costco.

Sdallnct

Yea, I know, but couldn't find in on-line at Costco. I also like Costco's return policy!

edit: this is a good deal at Costco!

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=79*2341*2342*

The Infidel

I try not to buy my HT equipment at the same place I can buy Fruit of the Looms, Silly Putty and Cheerios...but maybe that's just me.

Sdallnct

But once in your house, does it really matter where it came from?

The Infidel

Not completely, but I'd still rather buy from a place with people who know a lot more about what they're selling. Everyone I've ever dealt with at various Wal-Marts don't seem to be too knowledgable, and usually have to ask one or two extra people. It's like their thinking is "four or five vague opinions = one totally valid opinion".

Other than that, my previous comment was supposed to be taken as a joke, hence the .

Redsand

hey Sdallnct can you repost your link or let me know what you are trying to show me because when i click on the link it says

"Sorry, your session has expired.

To maximize the security of your account, you will be logged off if you are inactive for an extended period of time.

You will also get this message if you bookmark a page inside samsclub.com.

You can begin a new session by going to our home page. If you had items in your cart you will need to re-add them."

Sdallnct

http://www.infocushome.com/amer/eng/...lay/sp4805.asp

But the ones at Sam's and Costco come with a screen, 76" I believe.

renaldow

From the original 2 choices:

If you're going to play games, don't get the plasma. Then make sure the response time on the LCD is under 16ms. If it's not, don't get that either.

Redsand

yea it says that the Response Time is 15ms.. this is for my room and i live in an apt. so i dont want to get anything to big want i want something decent that i can watch my movies on and then every once and a while play games one.. is this a good buy for movies..? i just want my movies to look nice.. i have that OPPO dvd player as well..

renaldow

I've never seen this display, but it's HDTV and has the DVI input for the Oppo. It probably has a pretty decent pic to it.

Spiky

If you're looking at off-brands of LCD, try a cheaper place with better policies:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rPath=79*3316*

Or go with a big name (one of the 2 biggest for LCD), still cheaper:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rPath=79*3316*

Spiky

Sdallnct,
The AE700 should be cheaper than that. Check out Visual Apex.

Sdallnct

I'm sure you can, it was just an example. Personally, I'm still happy with my X-1 and still only got about 250 hours on it. I'll look to replace it when I have about 2,500 hours on it.

Jeremy517

That also eliminates Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.

Sdallnct

The problem is if you go to a high end "boutique" you may get excellent knowledge and service, but then you will also pay full retail.

Personally I would do your research on your own. There are several AWESOME web sites in which you can learn every screw, bolt of every HT item ever made. Then buy from where ever has the cheapest prices.

Redsand

well thanks alot for all your guys help so far.. i have seen some great tvs so far and i just want one for movies.. =D i will do a little bit more research but now since i want it for movies and for maybe a couple of hours of games a day or so what should i get an LCD or plasma.. i want what looks better for movies.. i can take the hit on the games and not play them on the tv but i just want to know which would be better for movies LCD or Plasma.. Thanks in advance..

Sdallnct

Well, in general Plasma's have better blacks. Getting the best blacks is the Holy Grail of picture quality for most people. However, it really is not as easy as all that. In general, LCD provide a much brighter picture. So, if you have a very bright room you are putting this in, then you might want to look at LCD. However, if you have good light control, maybe stick with Plasma.

In addition, in general you can get burn in with Plasma and not with LCD. This statement is not exactly true, and not as true as it once was, but probably something you should be aware of. Taking even the most modest precautions will almost assure you of no burn in on to days plasma. I believe LCD's can suffer a type of burn in, but it is rare (I may be getting confused with DLP here, so Spiky can correct me if I have misspoken).

Again, all the above are very general statements based on the overall technology. I'm sure however there are some particular models of LCD's that have excellent blacks and some Plasmas that do well in bright light.

These came up on a quick Google,

http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/lcd-vs-plasma.asp

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10166_7-6213889-1.html

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messa...579/94117.html

Spiky

LCD panels seem to do better for black than LCD projectors. Unless extraordinary measures are taken with the projectors. But it is true that for a deep black freak CRT technologies are the only way to go.

But to comment on burn-in....DLP has no chance of it, not even a consideration. LCD doesn't really, either. There is a chance of image memory popping up if you leave it on for a few days, but that should go away with a reboot or 2, or by showing some single color screens. There is still this Texas Instruments study out that is confusing people. They murdered a bunch of LCD projectors, then complained that they died, and people call it "burn-in". I wouldn't worry about it too much. Note that since TI is the sole manufacturer of DLP, they may have an interest in making LCD seem like a bad idea. (actually, they didn't die, the blue panels were damaged somewhat by prolonged exposure to the lamp)

A more real danger with LCD is dead pixels. I will be getting LCD for my house since I don't trust my wife's viewing habits with plasma. Too much chance of burn-in and 3/4 of what she watches is shopping channels with those damn info bars.

Spiky

The first link in Sdallnct's post is biased toward LCD unnecessarily. Note that some of the data comes from NEC, which makes LCDs and not plasmas, I think.

For instance:
1) It claims contrast on plasmas is worse than LCD. Sounds like creative use of numbers to me.
2) Plasmas are not hard to hang on walls. They are not that heavy. I had a discussion with some installers about this at Remote Central. They are all paranoid about it. A 42" plasma is about 80-120#. Your average 27" TV is around 70-100#, but nobody freaks out about hanging those on a little pipe, check your dentist's office. Plasma's mounts are wider and can be hung on 2 studs instead of one like the tube TV mounts. One guy was hanging an 80# plasma and built up the wall so much that he and his coworker could hang from the mount. So he tests it with 400# to see if 80 can hang there? There's safety, and there's paranoia. Do it right and there won't be a problem.
3) They are not as fragile as that site claims, either. At least not when compared with LCD panels.

Redsand

ok now when a tvs specs say:

"Progressive Scan feature works with progressive (480p) scan DVD players to display movies in the best quality possible "

now does that also mean that i can still use the 480p, 540P, 576p, 720p, 1080i and the Up Convert from 480i to 720p/1080i that is on my OPPO dvd player with this tv..!? now to be honest i have no idea what is the difference between any of them but what is the main differnce in them..? does that play a big factor in the tv that i should get, what progressive scan mode it can do or what not.. now i understand that games and that can do 1080i and such does every HDTV support those settings..? again so far thanks for all the help you guys have given me it has made my serach a lot better, thanks..

Redsand..

Spiky

The TV will have its own resolution. No matter what you send, it can only output native, so it will convert if necessary. You would most likely want to match the Oppo output to the TV's native resolution, although you should experiment just in case.

480i = VHS, analog TV, DVD, etc.
480p = Any of the above converted to progressive. DVD is made to be easily converted to 480p.
540p = "quarter HD" This is the same scan rate as 1080i, but in progressive format. Some CRT TVs have skimped and offer this as a native resolution. I don't think it would exist except for that, a strange resolution right in the middle of all the others.
576p = PAL standard TV/DVDs converted to progressive. If you have some European discs, this may mean something. If not, don't worry about it.
720p = Fox, ABC/ESPN native HD resolution.
1080i = NBC, CBS native HD resolution. (I hope I have all these networks correct, there are others, too...HBO, HDNet, etc.)

CRTs are usually 1080i with either 480p or 540p as a second native res. There are several different resolutions for plasma, LCD and DLP, you'd have to look at the particular model. If it is anything less than 1280x720p, it is actually an EDTV, a step down from HDTV.

Almost all HDTVs will accept a 1080i signal and display them in the native res. There should also be a spec given for input resolutions, since they can't convert EVERY resolution known to man. But most TVs will accept all the standard TV resolutions above and then convert to the native output. It's just all the PC resolutions they won't necessarily be able to handle. So if you use a PC, you tell the computer to match the TV instead of telling the TV to match the computer.

renaldow

Not true. If it were, all 3 would look equally as good.

VHS: About 220 lines of resolution
Broadcast TV: About 330 lines of resolution

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...n-july-99.html

You'll probably like the look of a plasma set better. As already mentioned, it does better contrast and black levels. But to be honest, the only way you'll find out the answer to your question is to go look at both sets and see which one has a pic you like better. You can look at stats and hear opinions all day long, but none of that means anything until you see the difference with your own eyes.

If you want to play games, get LCD and make sure it has a response time of 16ms or less. Otherwise, look at both the plasma and LCD and buy whichever one looks best.

FWIW, I have a plasma and 2 LCD's. I love the pic quality on all of them. Both technologies have their pros and cons. My plasma is the largest, so I enjoy movies on it more than the smaller LCDs. It also has a more lifelike picture, IMHO. I can play games on the LCDs, and standard cable looks great on them, which it doesn't on the plasma. So, it's all give and take. Look at both and judge for yourself.

Edited to add:

And to be honest, I probably wouldn't buy either of the TV's you linked to unless Walmart was the only store around and they were the only option. Even then, I think I'd check out a lot of reviews of them online first.

chipmac

I'm sure he means that 480i is the native resolution that those are displayed at since not many people are scaling those to 1080i unless the HDTV is forced to. Sure VHS and analog TV is broadcast at the numbers you mentioned but almost all TVs display them at 480i. There are no TVs that only display 220 lines for VHS right? So it is true and the only reason they all don't look equally as good is because of the source. This is the same reason that SD sources look poor on an HDTV where you're taking a lower resolution source and displaying it at the higher native resolution of the display.