my bedroom conundrum

[cutter]

I have been a DLP fan for the past 9 years. I have purchased 2 samsung DLP's in that time, most recently a 67inch 2 years ago, which resides in my living room and looks ab-fab in HD and blu-ray. (BTW both TV's are alive and well, with the only repair being replacing a bulb in the one that was purchased in 2003).

Now I want to replace my 36in sony HD CRT (which is awesome. seriously. but too small for me to watch from across the room). in my bedroom with a 47-50 inch display. Samsung no longer makes DLP's, (I know mitsubishi does).

I know the plasma/LCD debate rages on, but I am curious, so...

I have dishnetwork HD, although I'm going to trial u-verse next month and see how it is. (I've heard it sucks for HD, and there are problems with HDMI connections, but I'm switching my internet and phone, so I thought I'd try it)

I watch HDTV, very little SDTV, lots of sports, some movies, and do not play games.

there will be occasional off axis viewing, about 35-45 degrees.

internal speaker quality not an issue.

the Sony CRT had some reflections of the windows occasionally, not terrible but would be nice to minimize if possible. The room is fairly bright during the day, but there are shades on the windows.

I'm looking to spend less than $2000, but could go up to 3 grand if necessary.

I've seen the LCD and plasmas in the big box stores- I feel like I really can't make an accurate assessment

I'm having my living room "home theater" professionally calibrated next month by Jeff Meier (hes' a rock star in my book!), so I'd like to have a new bedroom TV by then so he can calibrate that one, too!

opinions?

thanks!

 

[TLS Guy]

I have been a DLP fan for the past 9 years. I have purchased 2 samsung DLP's in that time, most recently a 67inch 2 years ago, which resides in my living room and looks ab-fab in HD and blu-ray. (BTW both TV's are alive and well, with the only repair being replacing a bulb in the one that was purchased in 2003).

Now I want to replace my 36in sony HD CRT (which is awesome. seriously. but too small for me to watch from across the room). in my bedroom with a 47-50 inch display. Samsung no longer makes DLP's, (I know mitsubishi does).

I know the plasma/LCD debate rages on, but I am curious, so...

I have dishnetwork HD, although I'm going to trial u-verse next month and see how it is. (I've heard it sucks for HD, and there are problems with HDMI connections, but I'm switching my internet and phone, so I thought I'd try it)

I watch HDTV, very little SDTV, lots of sports, some movies, and do not play games.

there will be occasional off axis viewing, about 35-45 degrees.

internal speaker quality not an issue.

the Sony CRT had some reflections of the windows occasionally, not terrible but would be nice to minimize if possible. The room is fairly bright during the day, but there are shades on the windows.

I'm looking to spend less than $2000, but could go up to 3 grand if necessary.

I've seen the LCD and plasmas in the big box stores- I feel like I really can't make an accurate assessment

I'm having my living room "home theater" professionally calibrated next month by Jeff Meier (hes' a rock star in my book!), so I'd like to have a new bedroom TV by then so he can calibrate that one, too!

opinions?

thanks!

I would go for a Panasonic Plasma.

 

[AVRat]

Ditto, in less than a heartbeat!

 

[cutter]

I purchased a panny 50" VT25 today...

I'll be interested to see how it looks after breaking it in and having it calibrated!

thanks for the advice!

 

[jostenmeat]

I purchased a panny 50" VT25 today...

I'll be interested to see how it looks after breaking it in and having it calibrated!

thanks for the advice!

Man, you don't mess around do you? Congrats on buying the nicest flat panel out there, less than a $6000-7000 (or more) Pioneer.

umr is a very well known calibrator, and there have been other AHers who have received his expertise, including rmk, owner of one of the most impressive systems we've seen on these boards.

Use THX, if not, hunt down any default NR settings in other pic modes, please enable 24p with bluray, both in player and display, have fun and enjoy.

 

[cutter]

I walked into ultimate electronics, and it was on sale for $1499. I couldn't even find it online for cheaper than that. Plus it was in stock, and the sales guy didn't try to steer me towards something more expensive. I appreciated that.

I have Jeff Meier coming to calibrate everything in a few weeks, just enough time to get some hours on the screen to break it in!

My only regret is not being able to figure out how I could have made a bigger screen work in the room! It's a pretty nice picture-

 

[jostenmeat]

I have Jeff Meier coming to calibrate everything in a few weeks, just enough time to get some hours on the screen to break it in!

Yes, I caught that the first time, so now I presume you did not know Jeff Meier's internet forum handle is umr. He does more projector screen testing than anyone else I know of, in recent memory. For instance, here is one of his threads.

My only regret is not being able to figure out how I could have made a bigger screen work in the room! It's a pretty nice picture-

I did wonder about that. Pretty nice is an understatement. I'll repeat that you bought the nicest flat panel currently made in the world for its display size.

 

[cutter]

Ha! No, I didn't know that!

Thanks for the info!

 

[cutter]

Umr = wow

So Jeff came and calibrated my speakers and 2 TV's last night- he was here for 7 hours! Everything looks better, sounds much better, and it was the best money I've spent on my system thus far...

He was so patient with the million questions I had, and I am like a little kid at Christmas at the moment...

Anyway, I wanted to give my highest recommendations to Jeff and Accu-Cal. If anyone has ever considered having a calibration done, do not hesitate to do it!

 

[umr]

So Jeff came and calibrated my speakers and 2 TV's last night- he was here for 7 hours! Everything looks better, sounds much better, and it was the best money I've spent on my system thus far...

He was so patient with the million questions I had, and I am like a little kid at Christmas at the moment...

Anyway, I wanted to give my highest recommendations to Jeff and Accu-Cal. If anyone has ever considered having a calibration done, do not hesitate to do it!

Thanks. It is fun bringing the most from people's systems.

 

[lobanw]

Vote for the Pan Plasma here too! I have read several reviews on Jeff's work and literally all of them have done nothing but praise his work and his prices. Hopefully you can get the perfect set up in your bedroom with the TV that way you can enjoy it as much as you did the smaller Sony HD TV you had prior to that. Let us know what you end up doing in the end if you wouldn't mind! Thanks.