i agree best buy sucks, i work at circuit city, but in computers . hah

 

lcd !!!

 

overall, my general recommendation is LCD...read on for specific reasons....


if you plan to connect a computer to the TV at any time (Home Theater PC and/or gaming PC), i'd stick with an LCD TV. besides its virtual immunity to screen burn-in, LCD's currently have much higher native resolutions than plasma does, making them better for reading text, and giving you an advantage in games, since you can fit more of the game on the screen at a time. just be sure that if you get an LCD TV, to get one that supports 1080i/1080p NATIVE resolutions...don't fall for the ones that say that they ACCEPT 1080i/p, because usually those are 720p native resolutions, and just convert the 1080 to a 720 resolution to match the TV's native res.

if you plan to mount it on the wall, DLP is definitely not for you, as it is a rear-projection based technology, meaning the TV will have to be too deep for wall-mounting. otherwise, DLP offers a much better picture than LCD, with much darker blacks.

plasma is arguably the best in terms of picture quality, but it also has its drawbacks (just like every other technology does). in the past, screen burn-in was a huge problem, although current tech has helped make it not as much of an issue. also, the native resolution is generally much lower than DLP/LCD, and the pixels are not square like the other two, they are rectangular. this is why you will see widescreen plasmas listed with resolutions like 800x600 or 1024x768 (which are 4:3 resolutions) instead of 1280x720 or 1920x1080 (which are 16:9 resolutions). this really doesn't present much of a problem, it just makes it more confusing to compare against other types of TV's. however, one other advantage to plasma is that they currently are available in larger sizes than LCD, although LCD is closing the gap quickly.

i've listed a couple links to some LCD TV's that Newegg.com sells, all of which have a native resolution of 1920x1080 and will handle both 1080i & 1080p resolutions. keep in mind that this is not an all-inclusive list, but gives you a starting point as to what you need to look for, since Newegg generally lists all the specs on the stuff they sell, so you know what to look for on other sites that you may visit. Newegg also has customer reviews that you can read so you can find out any likes/dislikes about the product before you buy:

42" LCD TV's

46" LCD TV's

another thing to keep an eye out for is whether or not the TV has a built-in HDTV tuner. if it says "HDTV-ready", it usually does not have its own tuner, meaning you will need to use a tuner from some other source, like a satellite or cable box. this also means that you will have to purchase a set-top box in order to be able to tune HDTV channels from an over-the-air HDTV antenna. if it says "HDTV tuner included", that means it has an internal tuner, but you still need to make sure what type of tuner you are getting. if it only says NTSC, it will not tune HDTV channels, only standard resolution. however, if it says it has either NTSC/ATSC or just ATSC, you will be able to tune HDTV channels without any need for an external box.

personally, i would recommend visiting any local stores that specialize in home theater products to see some demos of the products, don't rely on viewing the picture quality that you see at places like Best Buy or Circuit City. those large retail chains focus on offering as many products as possible, so they usually will not have their TV's connected to a good source signal, like HD DVD player or a high-def satellite system....more often than not, they have it connected to a standard (480i/480p) DVD player, or a regular standard-def cable/satellite source. while this DOES let you see how the TV will handle lower-quality source signals, it does NOT let you see the full capability of the display in all its glory.

once you know exactly what it is you are looking for, feel free to purchase from a large retail chain, but until then, stick with places that show you the "full picture", so to speak.

one final thing to mention, once you do finally decide on a TV, invest a few bucks into a calibration DVD. this will usually get your TV calibrated much better than the way it comes out of the box, giving you much better picture quality. these DVD's are pretty cheap, so it's worth the extra few bucks. also, you can have a tech come visit your house and perform a professional calibration, which will without a doubt get your TV set up to have the best picture quality that it possibly can, given its source input. but this is not for the faint of heart, because it can be pretty costly (as in several hundreds of dollars, and sometimes with seperate charges to calibrate each input source).

 

Nice write-up

 

Word, now thats the best info....


B

 

I don't know a whole lot about tv's but here my nickel...

2 years ago I got a 65" Mitsubishi wide screen with HD built in for $2k. It's NOT DLP or anything like that, just a plain ole rear projection tv with 1080i resolution (or whatever).

On the Discovery HD channel or the local HD channels, it's freaking awesome. Ever seen a Victoria's Secret commercial on 65" of screen with full HD glory?

The only 2 drawbacks - watching football or any "fast moving" action the screen will pixellate (like zooming in on a JPEG photo too far) but it isn't horrible and I can live with it. The other drawback is that is isn't as bright from an angle - just as clear, mind you, just not as bright. If you get far enough off center, you can't see much, but you wouldn't be watching tv from that far off center anyway. HALO is awesome on there


For $2k I got 65" of widecreen HD. I can't see spending that much or more for something smaller.

If you want BIG tv, get a projector - check with Shouldaboughtthez - he has one and has been known to project it on the his garage door for HALO gatherings (though I haven't been present for those)

 

that all depends on the room you have to work with, too....gotta keep that in mind. he may not have the room for a HUGE TV like that. i used to have a 51" RPTV, and that thing was pretty damn big, it was like 3 ft deep from front to back, and stood at least 4 ft tall.

also, with a projector, you have to worry about the bulb burning out, cause those damn things are expensive to replace...you don't have to worry about that with a TV.

not to mention that a standard CRT RPTV is probably one of the worst TV's to consider for gaming or static images....not because of the PQ, but because of screen burn-in....they will burn-in with a quickness if you're not careful with it

 

Plasmas also display blacks much deeper than an LCD, LCDs are getting better...but They just aren't quite there with the darker colors yet.

 

i know its not an plasma but i bought a hitachi 65" big screen projection tv a month ago. i absolutly love it. i looked at the plasma tvs but just did not see enough differance to justify spending 3500 on a tv. plus they are only 720i Digital Video Processor where the projections are 1080i.
here are some of the features i got.
65" Widescreen Projection HDTV
Digital 3D Y/C Comb Filter
5 Component Video Inputs
1080i Digital Video Processor

just IMO

 

Compare some of the others to Panasonic.
Panasonics always have great pictures. I own one.

 

Thank you everyone and thanks for the write up 02z28LS1, Looks like I have a little reseach to do.

 

One thing that kept me from buying a plasma is the heat they put out. Think about having a relatively small room with a 42" surface putting out 90-100 degrees. In the winter time it could be a good thing but down here in Texas when it's 100 degrees outside and the a/c is barely keeping up I can do without having another heat source!

I'd go for LCD in a heart beat and if I had to purchase today it'd be this one . They've also got a 46" version for another $1000 or so.

Personally I'm waiting for the LED back lighting to become an industry standard and come down in price. Using an old fashioned direct view CRT set right now though, 247 pounds of WEGA goodness.

 

Panasonic, Pioneer and Fujitsu plasma have the best HD PQ. Theres really not much comparison.

 

1080p FTW.

 

Definatly a Pioneer Elite Plasma! Circuit City carries Pioneer.

 

that pretty much sums it up

this coming from a sony lcd owner

 

I just got my 42" LCD 1080p (1920x1080 resolution) earlier this week. Its a Westinghouse LVM-42W2 if you want to look it up. You can find them in stores for right around $2000 or you can order it online for $1298 + ~100 shipping.. You can guess which route I went for

Check the reviews, and LOOK at as many sets as possible, and PLAY with the controls. When they're set up in stores, they usually just pull them out of the box and go. Most sets need a little tweaking before they look their best.

As for gaming, get a fast LCD. You'll run into screen burn issues with plasma if you game often or for extended periods of time (2+ hours). I've got the Xbox 360 rockin' right now, and its simply amazing how good it looks!!

 

that's actually the same exact set i was looking at getting....don't have the money for it now, but maybe come time for my next 6-month bonus at work.....

lemme know how that thing holds up, the PQ, and all that good stuff