We're on the market for a new TV in our living room. Right now we've got an old (yet very reliable) "big screen" TV and we're ready to jump out of the early 90's!
I don't know/understand the first thing about 720p vs. 1080p, plasma vs. lcd vs. ???, etc. The wall upon which the TV will be hung is between two doorways, so we'll be limited to an approx. 56" wide option.
The good news is that the living room is wired for surround sound already, complete with professionally installed shelves for the rear high speakers to rest on.
Please keep in mind that I'm far from being any kind of afficianado when it comes to audio or video quality. Also, let's all agree that it's MY money that's being spent, so please don't let this thread devolve into some expensive project that might require me to take out a home equity line of credit! (We all know what I mean...someone says, "I have $500 to spend on a laptop!" and three out of the next five responses are "You should spend $1700 on this one!"...crazy message board people!)
PCWorld breaks it down pretty well in this article: How to Buy a Flatscreen HDTV
Also, they even have a 4 minute video if it is easier for you to listen rather than read. I bought a 42'' Sony Bravia LCD back before LEDs were available. It cost a pretty penny, but I haven't regretted it for a moment. It's really an outstanding product. I also remember Panasonic being essentially equivalent to the Bravia at the time (3 years ago). Hope the article answers your questions.
I just went through this Scottie.Originally Posted by ScottieBaseball
We're on the market for a new TV in our living room. Right now we've got an old (yet very reliable) "big screen" TV and we're ready to jump out of the early 90's!
I don't know/understand the first thing about 720p vs. 1080p, plasma vs. lcd vs. ???, etc. The wall upon which the TV will be hung is between two doorways, so we'll be limited to an approx. 56" wide option.
The good news is that the living room is wired for surround sound already, complete with professionally installed shelves for the rear high speakers to rest on.
Please keep in mind that I'm far from being any kind of afficianado when it comes to audio or video quality. Also, let's all agree that it's MY money that's being spent, so please don't let this thread devolve into some expensive project that might require me to take out a home equity line of credit! (We all know what I mean...someone says, "I have $500 to spend on a laptop!" and three out of the next five responses are "You should spend $1700 on this one!"...crazy message board people!)
I bought a 60'' Mitsubishi 3D DLP. I got it for $789. I'm getting ready to buy the 3D glasses and emiter.
The rub is you can't hang it as it's still a projection TV.
We put a lot of research in it and it really came down to personal taste. What we actually did was rent a 55" LCD and a 55" Plasma along with the DLP from Colortyme for a week each to see what we liked. Those three tacked another 100 bucks total to the costs but it was money well spent in my opinion.
We have a large open living room with large windows so picture quality was most important. Not exactly which is the better product but what looks better in our living room.
The DLP gave us the better picture. The picture is really deep and I love it. We hooked up a Yamaha surround sound system for another 350 and we've got a great set-up for about $1200.
The rules of thumb that I've heard are:
-Get the biggest TV that fits the space. Nobody ever wishes they'd bought a smaller TV.
-Plasma TV's generally look better than LCD in darker rooms, LCD is better when the room is brighter.
-If you're going 50+ inches, you'll want 1080p. And it will be hard to find 720p at that size, anyway.
-For plasma TV's, the issue of image burn-in is mostly a myth.
-Plasma TV's tend to handle fast moving pictures (i.e. sports) better. You can get 120 or 240 Hz refresh rates on a LCD TV to avoid fast motion blur.
-LCD TV's typically use less power.
-Crutchfield.com is a really good place to browse for TV's, but prices are usually much better on Amazon.
-You might want to stop by Best Buy to check out 3D TV's to see if that's something that interests you.
-Whatever else you do, buy all cables from Amazon or some other website. Best Buy will absolutely rip you off on cables, by at least 500%.
I work for a specialty by appointment only AV company, they are the ones that design like $20,000 home theater rooms so that being said, DO NOT hire my company. I can give you advice and tell you what to get though for free
TV wise, the big choice is whether to hang it on the wall or to have something on a stand. DLP like mentioned before gives you a great picture for really good price, but they are big and heavy so they are going to take up some space with a stand. If I were buying for myself a 55" slim LED tv would be what I would shoot for, great picture, lightweight and doesn't eat up a ton of space, they are newer than the other types though so they will be more expensive. LCD uses a different technology in the screen but size and shape wise is close to the LED. Plasma is a 3rd different type in the same shape, but they have different power sources so they are heavier. The burn in thing is no myth, but fortunately over the past 5-6 years they fixed the technology so that it doesn't happen anywhere near as often. If you don't know the difference between the three off the top of your head, then it won't matter...layman's terms LED = brightest, LCD = brighter, and lighter, and Plasma = heaviest.
As far as 120hz v 240hz that just means the speed that the screen refreshes at, you really won't notice a difference unless you are also working on it as a computer monitor or playing a ton of games on it, it's a real nit picky thing. 1080p v 720p means the number of pixels on the screen which means how clear and detailed the picture is. 1080p is the highest currently, and it is the only setting you can get the full effect of Blu Ray, it's called "true HD". The difference to the naked eye isn't super noticeable unless you are a real tv nerd though.
The other thing is to make sure you have plenty of HDMI ports, that is what all new tech is geared to, like game systems and blu ray players use to hook up. When buying cables go to www.monoprice.com to get them, it's WAY cheaper. Get the mount for the tv there too, just make sure it can support 3x the weight of the TV.
As far as surround sound, I would just save the money and get one of the packaged units where it's like a BluRay player with all the speakers in the box for like 300-500, it'll be plenty loud and unless you are a real "audiophile" it sounds just fine.
I would shop for sales at Best Buy, or Amazon for TVs, monoprice for cables, and either Bjs, Costco, or Amazon for the Surround Sound package.
You should be able to do the entire setup for 1700 with the whole package without some great sale, so you could probably do better with some good shopping.
I bought an Onkyo 7.1 and Pinnacle Speakers , Pinnacle Center and Subwoofer and it works perfect for my home sound system as well as home theater. The Crutchfield reciever was bought on Amazon and the speakers through my installer.
I am VERY pleased with this setup.
I have a Sharp Aquos wall hung for Oriole viewing
Last edited by weams; 03-08-2011 at 06:22 PM.
Plus Member Since 04/04 - Major League Hangouter
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Scott, I'm a bit of an audiophile so I'll focus on the audio. Personally, I think audio is as important as video to an immersive home theater experience.
I spent about 2-4 grand on my 5.1 speaker setup, and love them dearly. This is definitely only "entry-level" when it comes to higher end audio. You really don't have to spend that much to have better audio quality than HTIB (Home theater in a box) systems.
The best resource on the internet that I've found is http://www.avsforum.com/. My suggestion is firstly, choose an amount of money you want to spend. Then decide what type of setup you want to get for that price. If you're looking for the best sound quality over having surrounds, a 2.0 or 2.1 system might be for you. However since you already have wiring, a 5.1/7.1 setup might be more towards your taste.
Since I haven't been in the market for a while, I'm not entirely sure what the best bang/buck deals are currently, but I'd browse around the receiver, speakers, and subwoofers forums to see if you can put together a system in your price range. http://www.monoprice.com is my choice for interconnects and wiring. They're also a good source for wall mounts and the like.
You can get really good deals on a nice big LCD/LED TV on QuiBids, but you have to patient and make sure you read up on how it works. I'll be using it for a new iPad soon.
Some people really do get a 55" LED for like $4, but that is rare. If you do it right, you should be able to pay about 33% of the Best Buy price.
My 2 cents ... I don't know how far away your TV will be, but if it is not a small room, I would recommend going with a 60-inch screen if you can swing it.
I bought a 50-inch plasma TV in 2009. Of course, my timing was off. Had I waited another year I could have gotten a 60-inch TV for what I paid for mine as prices dropped. Anyway, I hope this doesn't make me sound spoiled, but I just found my 50-inch TV "shrank" on me once I got it into my living room. I rarely make any kind of big purchases like that so looking back on it I wish I would have gone with a 60-inch TV.
I just started doing research on this and am between the 60" Mitsubishi DLP and a 55" Element LCD, both 1080P and 120 Hz refresh and essentially the same price under $800. I'm leaning towards the DLP because it has better customer reviews, is 3D ready, and Element is a brand I've never heard of. Miller, do you have any insight on how difficult it was to hook up 3D? My research indicates that the 3DA-1 adapter pack and DLP Link glasses are more cost effective than the 3DC-1000 starter pack with the IR emitter.
We haven't gone the 3D route yet but we are not too far away so I can't really help you there. There's a plug for it in the back and and emitter sits in front of the TV apparently.
I love the TV though and can't recommend it enough. It's got a great, deep, picture.
Samsung is the best for LCD.
Sounds good. I wasn't planning to go the 3D route anyway for a while (moving into my new apartment in July, finding out what the cable provider options are, etc.) It sounds like I should get a PS3 though.
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