Hi all, new to the forum; I've hung out a little while, read through the on-target buying guides here, plus spent some hours getting a feel of opinions from on-line reviews, etc. So without spending too many hours over-researching this (as I often do with things), I'd like to ask your opinions.
So, our living room - TV room is small, and the viewing distance from the couch iapproxox 6.5' - 7.5' We watch mostly TV (DirecTV), and occasionally DVDs from Netflix, etc. Only now has our trusty old 27" CRT died, and I'm launched into the shark tank to buy a new TV. The local stores seem to have all the TVs adjusted so poorly, have such low quality source, they all look terrible. I can't learn anything about the units by visiting their establishments, so I'm trusting opinions here.
No offense to those here who know how to adjust their screens; most of the folks I know with newer televisions don't seem to know about or care or notice their displays look like (can I say Poo?). I won't rant, so...
I detest color-banding (is that what you call the 'posterizing' effect I see in gradients based bassed units?)
I also see what I call "a bowl of maggots" in my brother-in-laws very expensive DLP from a few years back - would drive me crazy.
I have keen eyesight, and easily notice the screen pattern of pixels in too large a CRT, and in town yesterday noticed the same isssue with a Plasma at Wallyworld (OK, this given to keep y'all from steering me toward a 42" Plasma). I will say, however, I'd like to find a 32" plasma, as minimal banding, and wide viewing angle are paramount, but as I understand it, that technology won't scale down that far.
I'll also note: I'm an audiophile (McIntosh, ADS, etc, grace my studio and living room), and I've pieced together a surround system I'm proud of (crazy with the 27", but whatever), BUT I don't like to run it for general television watching, therefore decent onboard sound would be nice.
Sorry for the ramble. I like to stick with well established brands when I can: Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, etc. There is a "side chair" wide to the viewing area - not sure if a LED/LCD can get there, but I'll try.
Desires:
1. Major well-established / respected brand
2. Minimal / non-existant banding (posterizing)
3. Comparatively wide viewing area
4. Good to decent onboard sound
5. Picture adjustability: color temp, RGB color, etc
As far as budget, it's just a 32" TV, I'd like to keep under $500 or so.
Your feedback to my ramble would be greatly appreciated.
Joe