New TV, and no clue at all!

[PatrickBateman]

Hey guys,
I am finally looking for a 42" set, for around $2k. Probably around 65% TV, 30% movies, and with 5% gaming thrown in. I will be seated about 8 feet or so away, and during the day I have a good amount of light in the room.
I have been trying to read about sreen door effect, burn in, rainbow effect, and its all pretty confusing to a guy that is use to an old CRT. I wont be watching HiDef channels for a while, so I want the set to look good with "regular" cable channels as well.
I really dont have any insight on the new plasma's, lcd's or dlp's, so I was looking for a little help and any suggestions you might have.

Thanks

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I'd stick with LCD in that price range. Here's some info on sets under $2000 in LCD. I can vouch that Olevia has an outstanding SD picture. I'm not sure about Westinghouse, but they offer 1080p. Also keep in mind - many LCD sets (and plasmas) have built in ATSC/NTSC tuners, which makes it great if you live near a city. Put up a set of rabbit ears, and you'll receiver free local HDTV channels. The Olevia LT37HVS model has an outstanding SD picture, and can be hooked up to a pc to use as a monitor. The 37" is running around $1099 right now.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/OleviaLT42HViLCDTV.php

http://www.nextag.com/Syntax-LT42HVi-42-LCD-77093498/prices-html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7RACK/002-8396996-7963233?v=glance&n=172282

 

[Leprkon]

If you pick up a good 720P or 768P (Sony's strange standard) set, there should be no screen door effect in that size. It really only starts to be a big problem at 50 or 55 inches. I have a 42 inch Sony in the bedroom that has no detectable screen door from about 3 feet on out.

If you do have a lot of light, then most plasma's are probably out. They tend to have very shiney screens (glare), and you can get to watch yourself in the TV, instead of what's on the TV (go to Best Buy one day and see how many Best Buy banners you can count in the TV)

Depending on how much room you have, one of the "table top" rear projection TV's, like one of these, should work pretty well for you:

Sony's KDF series 42 inch for $ 1,299 plus ship has excellent resistance to room lighting: http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?sHist=12-2,3-15&id=28433

same model also available at Circuit City for $ 1,399: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-42-HDTV-KDF-E42A10-/sem/rpsm/oid/130219/catOid/-12870/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Phillips makes a 42 inch LCD just outside that price range:
http://www.shopsunshine.com/item.php?item_id=18475

Toshiba has a pretty nice 42 inch for about $1,300-ish:
http://www2.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=113&ref=dealtime&utm_id=9&utm_source=Dealtime&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TB42HM66&sku=TB42HM66

Phillips makes a 50 inch plasma with an anti-glare coating (haven't seen the quality, so can't guarantee it) that runs about $ 1,800 from their outlet store: http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/productdetail.do?productguid=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD47243A5ECC8562B019900000000828BD4B5&productarea=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD472&scenario=catalog&shop=OUTLET

All of these models have the built-in HDTV tuner that BEF recommends and will suit you pretty well into the future, even if you buy a bigger main TV somewhere down the line.

 

[shadow]

I don't think the 768 p is Sony's standard. About all the plasmas made in the past year by all the leading manufacturers utilize this standard and it should remain so until the 1080p becomes dominant.

 

[PatrickBateman]

If you pick up a good 720P or 768P (Sony's strange standard) set, there should be no screen door effect in that size. It really only starts to be a big problem at 50 or 55 inches. I have a 42 inch Sony in the bedroom that has no detectable screen door from about 3 feet on out.

If you do have a lot of light, then most plasma's are probably out. They tend to have very shiney screens (glare), and you can get to watch yourself in the TV, instead of what's on the TV (go to Best Buy one day and see how many Best Buy banners you can count in the TV)

Depending on how much room you have, one of the "table top" rear projection TV's, like one of these, should work pretty well for you:

Sony's KDF series 42 inch for $ 1,299 plus ship has excellent resistance to room lighting: http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?sHist=12-2,3-15&id=28433

same model also available at Circuit City for $ 1,399: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-42-HDTV-KDF-E42A10-/sem/rpsm/oid/130219/catOid/-12870/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Phillips makes a 42 inch LCD just outside that price range:
http://www.shopsunshine.com/item.php?item_id=18475

Toshiba has a pretty nice 42 inch for about $1,300-ish:
http://www2.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=113&ref=dealtime&utm_id=9&utm_source=Dealtime&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TB42HM66&sku=TB42HM66

Phillips makes a 50 inch plasma with an anti-glare coating (haven't seen the quality, so can't guarantee it) that runs about $ 1,800 from their outlet store: http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/productdetail.do?productguid=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD47243A5ECC8562B019900000000828BD4B5&productarea=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD472&scenario=catalog&shop=OUTLET

All of these models have the built-in HDTV tuner that BEF recommends and will suit you pretty well into the future, even if you buy a bigger main TV somewhere down the line.

I was also looking at that Sony 42A10 that you suggested, but I thought I had read that a tube or something needed to be replaced every couple of years

 

[Leprkon]

I was also looking at that Sony 42A10 that you suggested, but I thought I had read that a tube or something needed to be replaced every couple of years

it's not a tube, but a projector bulb. it runs less than $ 200 and is very easy to do. it's a module on the back of the TV that you unplug and put the new module in.

As long as you do a normal shut-down, so the TV fan can finish cooling the bulb, they should last mouch longer than 2 years.

when you compare that to an LCD pixel which will permanently be burned out or a plasma which will make you completely replace the unit, it's pretty cost-effective.

 

[PatrickBateman]

I was looking at a few units yesterday, and some of them looked odd. I dont know what the term is, but it looked as though you could see the pixels, kind of grainy.
Didnt look good at all. I am really looking for something that does really well with DVD's, but doesnt fall apart and look bad for regular TV.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I was looking at a few units yesterday, and some of them looked odd. I dont know what the term is, but it looked as though you could see the pixels, kind of grainy.
Didnt look good at all. I am really looking for something that does really well with DVD's, but doesnt fall apart and look bad for regular TV.

Which looked odd, the projection LCD's or the flat screens? The flat screen LCD's should last up to 60,000 hours, so it will be a long time before those pixels totally burn out.

I think the larger LCD projection sets do look grainy. That is why I suggested the 40" LCD flat screens.

 

[PatrickBateman]

Which looked odd, the projection LCD's or the flat screens? The flat screen LCD's should last up to 60,000 hours, so it will be a long time before those pixels totally burn out.

I think the larger LCD projection sets do look grainy. That is why I suggested the 40" LCD flat screens.

I actually looked was looking at the new Sony KDF-46E2000 RP LCD.
It looked really nice, but I cant find any info or reviews on it.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Crutchfield has the 42" 1080p Westinghouse LVM-42W2 LCD TV for $1799 right now.

 

[PatrickBateman]

Well I did some more comparing today.
I went in comparing the new Sony RP LCD's to the Samsung DLP's.
I was looking around the 46" size.
I then saw the LG 42PC3D plasma. To me, it was really a much better picture. Actually I preferred it the Panasonic plasma, and that was a few hundred more. The RP's really had the screen door effect, I noticed it most of the time.
I then watched some LCD flat panels, and I really didnt care for them either.
So now my question is, how are the LG plasma's?

 

[rgriffin25]

LG is a pretty good company to deal with. They have a 2 year parts and labor warranty and a 60,000 hr panel. They also have built in burn in removal/ prevention. Right now they have quite a few rebates going on as well.

 

[PatrickBateman]

I know many people say the screen door effect isnt that noticeable, but I definately saw it on every unit very easily

 

[Hi Ho]

I see the screen door effect (SDE) on LCD's but not DLP. There is virtually no SDE on a DLP, unless you stand about 1 inch away. Even then, the pixels are barely discernable.

LG generally makes very good products. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at their plasmas but the ones I have seen looked quite nice.

 

[mikeyj92]

Did you end up going with the LG? I am currently looking at that TV also and might pull the trigger this week.

 

[PatrickBateman]

Did you end up going with the LG? I am currently looking at that TV also and might pull the trigger this week.

Yes I did go with the LG 42". I read over at AVS that some had a problem with the QAM tuner, which is what I am using. Also, only one HDMI is bothering me.
I went to Best Buy today and looked at the Hitachi 1080i, and that picture is really nice.
Not sure what I am going to do, I am down to about 2 weeks to decide

 

[billy p]

What?

Yes I did go with the LG 42". I read over at AVS that some had a problem with the QAM tuner, which is what I am using. Also, only one HDMI is bothering me.
I went to Best Buy today and looked at the Hitachi 1080i, and that picture is really nice.
Not sure what I am going to do, I am down to about 2 weeks to decide

My dlp has 2 in and 1 out. Is your set a edtv or hdtv. And my Tunner is fine picks up lots of free channels as well.

 

[PatrickBateman]

My dlp has 2 in and 1 out. Is your set a edtv or hdtv. And my Tunner is fine picks up lots of free channels as well.

It is the HDTV. It only has one HDMI in.
The Hitachi has 3
Really not sure what to do

 

[billy p]

patrick bateman

Here's a link to a 5 in 1 enhanced HDMI switcher www.onlybestrated.com/enhanced-hdmi-switch-with-builtin-equalizer-p-78.html
Only posted in case you are interested or wondering?

 

[PatrickBateman]

Here's a link to a 5 in 1 enhanced HDMI switcher www.onlybestrated.com/enhanced-hdmi-switch-with-builtin-equalizer-p-78.html
Only posted in case you are interested or wondering?

Thanks for the link. Not a bad price at all. Only thing is, for a couple hundred more I can get unit with 3 HDMI and a better picture. However, I am a few hundred over my original budget as it is.