Sean's journey to HDTV

[Sean]

I want one. After about a month of studying I think I've narrowed it down to the Samsung 40" LCD LN-T4061F or the Panasonic 42" Plasma TH-42PZ700U.

I can get both for pretty much the same price thanks to my sweet Starbucks benefits (the Panasonic is usually 2k and the Samsung just dropped to 1300).

Both are 1080p, the Samsung has 3 HDMI inputs and a 8ms response time. The Panasonic being a plasma has no need for the response time but only has 2 HDMI inputs.

Does anyone have any input on whats better? Plasma vs. LCD? I asked two different sales reps at Best Buy, one said that if I could get the Panasonic for the same price as the Samsung LCD, to go with the Panasonic. The other recommended the Samsung.

I don't have a brightly lit living room, so the reflection off the plasma screen doesn't really matter.

Any help would be appreciated.

Sean
"I don't need one, but I want one damn it."

[Adam]

I've got a Samsung DLP rear projection myself and I love it. Samsung is a good brand, but I'd check on Cnet to see if they know something more specific than my brand loyalty. That's how I got my TV.

[The Einheri]

Plasma will give you a slightly better picture that almost no one would be able to notice. I myself just got a 42" HP LCD at best buy for under a thousand on black Friday. If I could have gotten a plasma for that price I would have.

Now If you plan to have more than two and exactly three things connected by hdmi go with the Samsung. Also response time can get a bit annoying.

[Sean]

I've pretty much been glued to CNET. The Panasonic is rated as the best of it's size, plus it's like the only 42" plasma that's 1080p. The Samsung has a good rating though, both have some good user comments.

From the sales rep I heard HP isn't a great brand of television, but they have this display of a 42" "media smart" HP that to me has a great picture and looks pretty interesting. It's at 1600, apparently it has built in WiFi and such.

I really don't forsee connecting anything to my HDMI ports except my cable box and my xbox, though I don't know how the Xbox HDTV works. It doesn't appear to have an HDMI cable but just a switch that says "TV" and "HDTV"... Later down the road I might break for the HDTV xbox DVD player.

[The Einheri]

the HD cables on the 360 are... fuck... why can't I remember the name... AV cables... they aren't bad and are good enough but for the best audio you'll need at least an optical cable. I don't know if 360 sells hdmi cables but they would be better all around.

[James]

HDTV's are nice, but over rated. I mean, sure the picture is cleaner, brighter, but it's not that big of a deal unless you ONLY watch HDTV channels.

That said, I have a very nifty 52" JVC rear projection. That bitch rocks so much with my 360 hooked up to it. I can't play games on a smaller screen ever again.

[Sean]

See I thought about the big rear projection tv's, because you generally can get a bigger size for a cheaper price but I don't like how big they are (weight/depth) wise and the viewing angle (seems like at 160, maybe 150 degrees the picture is pretty much lost) whereas say a LCD is like 47 pounds, 3 inches deep and has 178 degrees viewing angle. Plasma's are a bit heavier though.

And gaming is something I would love to see on these, again one rep said gaming is awesome on a plasma, the other said LCDs are better for games. Any thoughts?

[Dave_B]

Plasma still suffers from burn-in don't they? So any game that has the same image in one spot for a long period of time (like racing games with the speedometer and what not), wouldn't be so cool on a plasma if you ask me.

I play my XBox on and HDTV 32" LCD, and love the difference between my old rear projection 52" unit. The colors are so much brighter, and the images so much sharper, I can't even think of using the older TV anymore. I don't have HD cable, but I still see a huge difference in quality even on the regular channels.

I would go with LCD

[Adam]

X-box uses component cables, but you can't get 1080p out of them, I think. I think they make HDMI for it now though.

[Sean]

According to CNET the burn in risk is practically N/A on the newer plasmas, practically the same rate as a tube or "direct view" television, plus a lot of models have a "white wash" feature where if burn in does by some off chance occur, it cleans it off. Also they said you would have to pause it for a long period of time, maybe overnight before the burn in would occur. Even if a plasma doesn't have a white wash feature (I know for sure the top of the line 42" Pioneer does) a lot of them have screen savers and such to prevent it.

I'm tempted to just go buy the 40" Samsung. Is the 8ms response time really that noticeable? Is it worth the extra dough for a 120 hz processor?

Also I asked the sales rep about DLP and he said that stuff was cool back in the day, but can't hold a candle to the flat panels. Any thought on DLP?

[Adam]

Like I said, I've got a DLP Samsung and I like it just fine. It got the top recommendation for rear projections from Cnet when I bought it, but that was a few years ago. The DLP chips should be better now than what I've got. I play games on it all the time and even had the PC hooked up to it for awhile, and I've been nothing but pleased with its picture. It may not be as good as my Dad's new Sony (apparently the best rear projection money can buy, according to the internet and some German who knows of these things) but it's a solid TV.

I don't really trust sales reps myself.

The only thing I don't like about the flat plasmas and LCD's is they almost always seem to artifact, they get those little boxes (pixelization?). Sure they're plenty bright, but I swear I've seen better pictures from the higher end rear projections. Check out Sony's new XBR.

[Luke J.]

We just got a new TV. 42", HD, something or other. I'd have to go back upstairs and look at the box.

Anyway. The picture's nice, but I can't get any audio from cable, and the lag is completely fucking up my world on Guitar Hero.

-Luke J.
-is waiting for science to advance to the point where he can build a device that will destroy progress.

[Sean]

The DLPs looked pretty good, but I saw a 42" Samsung plasma for a great deal so I might end up getting that if the reviews hold up on it. I forgot to check the model number though so I have to go back. Oh well.

[Sean]

Update: I took the plunge today and got a 40" Samsung LCD. It's friggin huge in my apartment but I love it.