How bright is bright?

[darien87]

Hey fellas,

I'm looking to get a new TV in the next few months. The trusty 'ol 52" Samsung just isn't cutting it anymore. I want something bigger so I've been looking at 65" LCD's and Plasmas as well as the new 70" Sharp LED's.

My question is this; people always mention room brightness when recommending a TV. Supposedly you shouldn't select a plasma if your room is bright. So how bright is too bright for a plasma? My living room has a window that directly faces the TV about 20' away. When the curtains are open, which is most of the time, we get a reflection of the window off the screen of our LCD much like this in CrackerBaller's room.

There is another window in the dining room that is about 10' to the right of the window at the back of the living room and the kitchen that is opposite the dining room has a sliding glass door. So in the afternoon the whole room gets a good amount of sunlight. At night we watch TV with the recessed lights in the living room on.

How do I know if my room is too bright for Plasma?

 

[darien87]

Here is the wall that the TV is on.

Here is the wall that directly faces the TV with the windows. It's about 20' away. We have since put curtains on this window that can be closed.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Bright is not the issue, windows and reflections are the issue. Any screen with a glossy surface will reflect those windows and it's just a fact of the setup and your situation.

A non-glare screen, such as those on the 70" Sharp LCD screens are an excellent choice because you won't get the refections.

On the other hand, in my experience, the Samsung displays (lcd or plasma) and the Panasonics look better than the Sharp displays by a bit. Not a ton, but better.

 

[darien87]

The TV's I'm considering are the:

Plasma
Panasonic 65" VT30
Samsung PND647000

LED
Samsung UN65C7000
Sharp LC-70LE735U

 

[darien87]

Just looked around on the internet for the Samsung UN65C7000 and I can't find it anywhere. Has this one been discontinued?

 

[BMXTRIX]

The C series was last years model, so it has been out of production for a year. D series is what is out now.

Amazon.com: Samsung UN65D8000 65-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV (Silver): Electronics

Of those displays, in order of image quality...
Panasonic Plasma
Samsung Plasma
Samsung LCD
Sharp LCD

In order of which will deal with the windows right behind the seating best...

Sharp LCD
Samsung LCD
Both plasmas (tie)

This is a personal decision at this point. Since I am lucky enough to have a good dark area for a plasma and a bright room for a LCD, I went with one of each.

 

[indulger]

Just a note, If your planning on putting the new TV in the same spot, how much of a bigger TV is going to be sticking out past your stair rail?

 

[darien87]

Just a note, If your planning on putting the new TV in the same spot, how much of a bigger TV is going to be sticking out past your stair rail?

My Samsung 52" has a fairly thick bezel. I think it's almost 6" wide on the sides. The new TV's seem to have smaller and smaller bezels on them so I don't think a new one will stick up over the rail much if at all. The 70" might stick out a bit.

 

[darien87]

The C series was last years model, so it has been out of production for a year. D series is what is out now.

Amazon.com: Samsung UN65D8000 65-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV (Silver): Electronics

Of those displays, in order of image quality...
Panasonic Plasma
Samsung Plasma
Samsung LCD
Sharp LCD

In order of which will deal with the windows right behind the seating best...

Sharp LCD
Samsung LCD
Both plasmas (tie)

This is a personal decision at this point. Since I am lucky enough to have a good dark area for a plasma and a bright room for a LCD, I went with one of each.

Bummer. So with my room my best bet is the one with the worst picture quality? That kinda sucks. It also sucks that it looks like Samsung doesn't make a 65" in the 7000 line. I wasn't looking to spend over 3 Grand on a TV.

It seems like that Panasonic VIERA TC-P65ST30 is a good bang for the buck TV. Amazon has this one for about $800 cheaper than the VT30. It has good reviews on the web too. Is the VT really worth almost $1,000 more than the ST?

 

[BMXTRIX]

The technology jump in the VT makes it worth more. Whether it truly is that much better is a personal choice. When I made my decision, I decided against it and went with the 64D7000 from Samsung and I have absolutely zero regrets after about half a year or so using it. I'm not missing whatever the Panasonic has to offer in additional quality.

Keep in mind that the 'worst' picture quality doesn't mean BAD picture quality. It's just that the Panasonic and Samsung displays are leading the industry in overall image quality. The Sharp still produces an excellent image, just not at the same level that the others can achieve. It likely will look significantly better than the older display you are currently using. I like the Sharp displays and just installed a 70" 733 series this past weekend.

 

[darien87]

Well I went to Best Buy yesterday and looked at the Sharp 735u and the Panasonic VT30. I LOVED the picture quality of the VT30 but the Sharp was pretty good too. I was pretty much set to go with the Sharp until the sales guy told me that the 240hz could not be turned off.

They were showing Avatar on it so it was kind of hard to tell how much their anti-blur technology was screwing with the picture but I did think it looked a little funky.

I watched some TV at home last night and today and the reflections on my screen can be quite annoying. Now I'm really torn. The VT30 wins on all things other than the glossy screen. Best Buy even sells it for $700 less than the Sharp. I really don't know what to do. I don't like the way that LED's look when the anti-motion blur is used. I was hoping to just get the Sharp and turn the feature off. But I guess I can't do that. I'm sure the VT30 will look great but the constant reflections are going to bother me.

Dammit!

 

[Adam]

Darien,

I haven't looked at TVs much since I bought mine in the summer of 2009, but back then, I picked my Panasonic G10 because of the anti-glare coating. Do any of the Panasonics have that feature anymore? It works very well in my living room, and I have light sources all around.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Well I went to Best Buy yesterday and looked at the Sharp 735u and the Panasonic VT30. I LOVED the picture quality of the VT30 but the Sharp was pretty good too. I was pretty much set to go with the Sharp until the sales guy told me that the 240hz could not be turned off.

They were showing Avatar on it so it was kind of hard to tell how much their anti-blur technology was screwing with the picture but I did think it looked a little funky.

I watched some TV at home last night and today and the reflections on my screen can be quite annoying. Now I'm really torn. The VT30 wins on all things other than the glossy screen. Best Buy even sells it for $700 less than the Sharp. I really don't know what to do. I don't like the way that LED's look when the anti-motion blur is used. I was hoping to just get the Sharp and turn the feature off. But I guess I can't do that. I'm sure the VT30 will look great but the constant reflections are going to bother me.

Dammit!

You are a big sports (football) fan right? That still screams plasma to me. I know LCD's have got better with this but I'd get the Panny or Sammie plasma and then close the curtains when watching during the day. Plasmas motion just looks more natural to my eye and you'll have the "best" at night.

 

[Josuah]

I was pretty much set to go with the Sharp until the sales guy told me that the 240hz could not be turned off.

They were showing Avatar on it so it was kind of hard to tell how much their anti-blur technology was screwing with the picture but I did think it looked a little funky.

The refresh rate shouldn't matter. Are you sure you aren't referring to a frame interpolation feature (and not anti-blur)?

 

[darien87]

Darien,

I haven't looked at TVs much since I bought mine in the summer of 2009, but back then, I picked my Panasonic G10 because of the anti-glare coating. Do any of the Panasonics have that feature anymore? It works very well in my living room, and I have light sources all around.

The VT30 sure doesn't. At the store I could clearly see myself and everything behind me reflected in the screen. Awesome picture though.

 

[darien87]

You are a big sports (football) fan right? That still screams plasma to me. I know LCD's have got better with this but I'd get the Panny or Sammie plasma and then close the curtains when watching during the day. Plasmas motion just looks more natural to my eye and you'll have the "best" at night.

They were showing ESPN originally on the Sharp when I was there but I wasn't paying much attention to it. When I was demo'ing it I watched some Avatar and some of the 3D Blu-ray Tahiti The Ultimate Wave. Both of those looked good although I did notice some "funkyness" with Avatar.

I watched TV yesterday afternoon at home and even with the curtains closed there's still some light bleed that is visible in my TV screen. At night we generally have the overhead lights on and I can see myself in the screen. Unfortunately I really think it's going to bother me.

So now I guess I'll either have to get the Plasma and return it if the reflections bother me or get the Sharp and return it if the anti-blur bothers me.

 

[darien87]

The refresh rate shouldn't matter. Are you sure you aren't referring to a frame interpolation feature (and not anti-blur)?

I could be getting those mixed up. All I know is that when I asked the guy if the 240hz could be turned off, (meaning the anti-blur), the guy told me "no". Could be my fault. If that is indeed the case and the anti-blur can be turned off or turned to a lower setting then that would make the Sharp more attractive.

 

[darien87]

The refresh rate shouldn't matter. Are you sure you aren't referring to a frame interpolation feature (and not anti-blur)?

Just called Sharp customer service and asked if the anti-blur could be turned off and was told "yes". I guess I was referring to the wrong thing when I asked about the 240hz. So maybe I will go with the Sharp after all. Now I just need to see if I can negotiate with the guys at Best Buy since Amazon sells it for $400 cheaper.

 

[Josuah]

Yeah, usually frame interpolation can be turned off or on, and on some models (maybe only the higher-end ones) adjusted.

Is there any reason not to buy it from Amazon if they're cheaper? They have very good customer support.

 

[darien87]

Yeah, usually frame interpolation can be turned off or on, and on some models (maybe only the higher-end ones) adjusted.

Is there any reason not to buy it from Amazon if they're cheaper? They have very good customer support.

My main reason for buying from Best Buy is the 18 months financing. Looks like Amazon only offers 12 months. Plus it seems like it would be a hassle if I needed to return the TV to Amazon for anything.

But I did just notice that Amazon is selling the Samsung 64D7000 plasma for about $2,200!!! Dammit, that's about $1,000 cheaper than the Sharp! I swear my head's gonna explode.