Emergency Display Advice

[cpd]

I just lost my 7 year old 62" dlp today. Although it can be repaired, after $700 in lamps over the years (the latest being replaced two months ago) I am not going to sink anymore money into that set.

So now I am without a tv in my main room. I need quick advice on a 65"ish display. Use is 30% movies, 50% tv (including sports) and 20% gaming from my teenager. The room can be fairly light at times.

Your recommendations are appreciated.

 

[96cobra10101]

I just bought a 51" Samsung plasma, 8000 series. We were on the fence about what size, so I checked them all out. They all looked good, but Samsung has been reliable to me, and the price was right with what they offered. My biggest gripe about LCD, LED, and DLP is the ghosting and off axis viewing. Plasma takes care of that. 600hz vs 120 or 240hz. I'll stick with plasma. If BMX checks in, he's a wealth of info on this subject.

 

[sholling]

Samsung's 7000 and 8000 series LEDs and plasmas are pretty darn nice. I'd look at the big Panasonic plasmas as well. I keep drooling over them at the electronic toy stores but my older Samsung LED just keeps chugging along.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Plasma's biggest issue is the reflections off the glass screen, but it must be said that if you have had DLP for years, you likely don't truly have major issues with your room that would negate plasma. DLP is 'dim' compared to plasma, and DARK compared to LED/LCD displays.

If I were you and I could afford it, then the Panasonic 65" VT series plasma is THE best out there.

The best bang for the buck is the Samsung PN64D7000 series. That's a 64" plasma and the one I ended up with this year after some serious reading and consideration. The D8000 series from Samsung is a bit of a step up, but doesn't seem to offer much more of what I was interested in for the money. Likewise, the GT series from Panasonic is very good, but doesn't seem to be quite as good in image quality as the D7000/D8000 series from Samsung... BUT - Potentially I think Panasonic may be more reliable than Samsung, so you may get a tiny hit on overall image quality, but longer reliability, which has a serious cost consideration to keep in mind.

I would avoid LG, which often has good deals, but in my experience (not opinion) is FAR to unreliable of a manufacturer.

For LED/LCD, Samsung and Sony lead the pack, and Sharp is pretty hard to argue with on their 70" displays. I don't think the Sharps are in the same league as the better Sony and Samsung displays, but in the middle of the pack for sure with decent build quality... Really, you can get a 70" or 80" for a very good price from Sharp with decent reliability and overall quality, so it's hard to argue with. I will very likely get their 80" in my family room next year if money allows.

 

[Adam]

I'll also add in the Panasonic S series if 3D doesn't matter to you, or ST series if you want 3D. The S series doesn't have all the internet bells and whistles of the GT and ST series, and neither has the THX video mode of the GT series. My impression is that the panels are similar, though, and they can save you some money. At the moment, the 60" S30 is around $1200, and the 60" ST30 is around $1400.

 

[cpd]

Thanks for the advice. After much reading late into the night I was leaning toward the VT30.

We have an edge lit Samsung in our bedroom (two years old) that my wife likes because of its brightness. I tend to lean towards the plasma, however. The LCD in the bedroom does not handle motion well (60 hz refresh with 120 hz "motion plus"), and considering the amount of sports I watch it can be frustrating.

So a few more questions. The DLP, on a bright day can be hard see. Are the plasma's significantly brighter such that I likely will not need to worry? Have they resolved the burn in issues (gaming use)?

Conversely, how do the 7000 and 8000 Samsung LCD's handle motion?

Any other opinions on other sets to look at?

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for the advice. After much reading late into the night I was leaning toward the VT30.

We have an edge lit Samsung in our bedroom (two years old) that my wife likes because of its brightness. I tend to lean towards the plasma, however. The LCD in the bedroom does not handle motion well (60 hz refresh with 120 hz "motion plus"), and considering the amount of sports I watch it can be frustrating.

So a few more questions. The DLP, on a bright day can be hard see. Are the plasma's significantly brighter such that I likely will not need to worry? Have they resolved the burn in issues (gaming use)?

Conversely, how do the 7000 and 8000 Samsung LCD's handle motion?

Any other opinions on other sets to look at?

Set it to Vivid and it will be about as bright as anything else, plus the blacks will still be better. Also, some of the Panasonic plasma TVs also have a low-gloss screen now.

Re: burn-in, you can go into the menu and look for specific settings for dealing with that. Another way is to find a uniformly bright white file, i.e,, use your digital camera to photograph something white all over and save it to a thumb drive, so you can plug it into the TV's USB input. Let it show for about 15 minutes while you're doing something else and the burn-in will be gone.

You'll never have issues with motion using a plasma TV.

 

[cpd]

I pulled the trigger last night on the 65 inch VT 30. Picking it up on Friday. I got a pretty good deal at my local Best Buy. It was hard to compare it to the Samsung D8000 because they were playing different source material.

I have to say that both looked excellent. In the end, the reputation of the Panasonic steered me to it, and the aesthetics of the Samsung steered me away (although the Samsung was a few hundred cheaper and came with a BD player and another pair of glasses).

So how many of you have had your sets isf calibrated? BB wants $200 to do it. Just wondering if it's worth it, if that price is competitive, and whether any of you have had experience with BB's technicians?

 

[Adam]

Congrats! From everything that I've read, that's a real nice set you got.

I've never had my plasma calibrated, but I did run some break in images based on what I read here and other places. I use the ones from this website (look in the bottom right for the "Free Download..." link). I put them on an SD card and ran the image slideshow on my Panasonic G10 - that was easier and quieter for me than making and playing a DVD. I don't know if break in is still recommended, but back when I got mine, it was.

 

[BMXTRIX]

You made a good decision with the VT30. It's a fair bit pricier than the Samsung models, but if you have the cash, then it's not at all a bad choice. I would not worry about the calibration, but if you are interested, you can pick up a Blu-ray calibration disc online and do a home calibration yourself for about 30 bucks. Not a bad way at all to ensure you are getting very solid colors and performance from the display.

The burn-in rule is simple: Don't play 40 hours of the same game in a row. Don't play more than a few hours of the same game in a row during the first few hundred hours of use. Mix up your viewing content some, especially during the first few hundred hours.

That's it!

Burn-in is a possibility, but it almost takes delibrate abuse to make it occur. Don't leave 'INPUT 1' showing on your TV for a long weekend by mistake, that'll be bad. Fortunately, most TVs don't internally let things like that occur anymore. Even my cable box 'dims' the output automatically after it has been paused for too long.

 

[Adam]

The burn-in rule is simple: Don't play 40 hours of the same game in a row. Don't play more than a few hours of the same game in a row during the first few hundred hours of use. Mix up your viewing content some, especially during the first few hundred hours.

That's it!

What are your thoughts on the break in images? It seems that the manufacturers no longer suggest that their panels need it, but it's uncertain if that's due to no longer having a benefit to it or due to marketing against LCDs.

This seems like a good site to read about it.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Adam - I've never used break-in images on any TV I've owned from my Sampo plasma to my Pioneer to my Samsung. I just turn on HD cable, watch a few movies, play some games, and mix the content up. A couple of 2.35:1 movies doesn't hurt at all during the first few hundred hours as well as a few hours of 1.33:1 viewing. The key is that I never JUST gamed, or JUST viewed 2.35:1 content.

I always mix up my viewing and by far the majority of it is 1.78:1 HD content from various channels.

I remember being very impressed that my Sampo (cheap Korean import from 8 years ago) had NO burn in/image retention issues after I played one game on it for about 20+ hours straight. No issues at all.

The worst TV I ever saw with image retention is the LG 70" plasma. Absolutely terrible! About 5 seconds with a high contrast image on screen and you can see it for the next 1-2 minutes afterwards on screen. Anyone wonder why I'm not a fan of that company?

 

[Shrimpman]

Would love input

Am looking for a 55-60" flat screen for my kids and I to both play games and watch some movies. It will be in my light controlled theater room which has a 120" drop down screen for projecting my Epson 8500 for most real movie watching (thanks to you guys here). I am concerned about lag due to the xbox war games etc (getting my 57 year but kicked!). Would like 3d too. Can I get a good plasma, breaking in by leaving on with a break in disc or sd card for a frew days then be okay? Budget not an issue, but lag is. Which Plasma or LCD will suit us? Like to get it soon.

 

[avnetguy]

My son and I game a fair bit, sometimes for days on end when new FPS releases come out and it's never been a issue with my Panasonic Plasma (PZ800). While I have seen some image retention (you need a fairly bright pure colored background to really see it) after these gaming marathons it always "washes" away after playing TV or movie content. IMO, plasma's are great gaming displays in controlled lighting environments and providing you don't set the display in touch mode (very bright) all should be good.

Steve

 

[Shrimpman]

Okay then...

Okay, so plasma good. Now which has least input lag? I knew nothing about lag until the last few days and can now truly see how it affects gaming. On a 5 year old Vizio I can actually see how the opponents are getting the jump on us. Again $$ no object. Is there a 3d that will give me low lag. 3d not deal breaker. Also recommend the break in cd/routine?

 

[avnetguy]

I have never seen a display that causes serious visible lag, your internet connection is most likely the cause of opponents getting the jump on you.

With that being said, I think either of the higher Panasonic lines (GT/VT models) would be ones to look at, I've seen and liked the VT display myself. Also, I've heard many good things here about the Samsung 7000/8000 panels so you might want to look at those as well.

Steve