Suggest a TV, and back it up!

Rollins

Rollins

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Sep 11, 2013
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Okay guys I'm looking for a new TV in the 55 inch range, ideally under US$2000.

I've been reading a lot about lag input, LED versus plasma, etc.... But I'd like to hear some more suggestions from people with more experience/knowledge than me.

I'm also not in a hurry to buy anything right now, I was thinking maybe within the next six months. So if there is a better time of year to buy, please let me know that also.

All suggestions are appreciated, but please explain why you're suggesting what your suggesting!
 
What do you intend to use it for? Mostly games, Movies, TV?
 
If you are putting it in a room with a lot of windows and outside light..get a LCD/LED, if it is going in a dark theatre mancave..get a Plasma. Also, get it calibrated no matter what you get..it makes a difference.

That's the extent of my wisdom lol..other that go with Sharp or Samsung, both top quality displays.
 
Full Disclosure:
I've got a Pioneer PDP-5010 plasma and a Panasonic TC-P55GT50 Plasma.

If you were buying a TV and it was just for watching movies, I'd say get a plasma. Can't beat the picture quality of a plasma. LCDs are getting close and may be worth looking into but for my eyes plasmas look stunning.

However, gaming is a mixed bag for me. Image retention with plasmas is still a thing. Stationary HUDs and the like can produce image retention on plasmas. On both of mine had image retention early on. But as they aged and got older it occurred less and less. My Pioneer hardly ever retains images now even after having a static image sitting on it for hours. My newer Panasonic will retain images if left with a static image on for hours. But it is removed after running a pixel wiper( Disney WOW bluray) or the TV's built in remover. Generally my experience has been, you have to be a little easier on plasmas for the first 100 hours than you will on a LCD.

I would implore you to go visit
http://www.highdefforum.com/
http://www.avsforum.com/f/
 
Yeah there are some good forums for TV's out there. If you get a plasma download a burn in conditioning set of pics and run that for like 4-5 days (at least that's what it was when I last looked)
 
I have a Panasonic VT50 55" was rated the best HDTV of 2012, the newer model is even better the VT60. I use it for
Blurays and games, best TV I've ever owned or seen.
 
I would def go with the VT over the ST, you can get the 55" VT60 from Pauls tvs website for $1699 no tax and free shipping.
 
TAVIS206 said:
If your going to use game mode

Plasma - Panasonic ST60

LED - Sony 55w802 - this is the tv I want and will be replacing my 46nx720 with IF I do not get the VT. The ST frame is ugly as ****

Lowest input lag.

If not then get the VT60, so amazing.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57587317-221/game-mode-on-cnet-tests-tvs-for-input-lag/

Btw, I sell TV's for a living so if you have questions and I don't respond in here let me know and I'll try and help :)
Click to expand...

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I saw great reviews for the VT, but the main criticism was the input lag. Is it too much for gaming? What about burn-in?

I don't care about 3D but if it's included no problem.

What about the Sony KDL-55W900A?
 
Rollins said:
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I saw great reviews for the VT, but the main criticism was the input lag. Is it too much for gaming? What about burn-in?

I don't care about 3D but if it's included no problem.

What about the Sony KDL-55W900A?
Click to expand...

I game heavily on my VT, no problems at all regarding input lag or IR/Burn in.
 
The Sony 802 and 900 are the only two LED's that I would buy. The ST, VT and ZT (though the ZT is ridiculously amazing and $$$) are the only plasmas I would buy.
 
My advice:

If you can use a plasma, get a plasma. Panasonic. No regrets.

I moved out from my parents a couple years ago and we had Panny plasmas and they just look good and have no issues in my experience.

But, I moved out into a condo and I don't really have the room to have both a TV area with 5.1 speakers and another area for my desktop and a monitor, so I started to focus my TV search on LED because not a great idea to do regular desktop stuff on a plasma. Was really underwhelmed when I was considering Samsung, LG, Sharp etc until I really started looking at the Sony stuff. I ended up with a Sony HX850 and I couldn't be happier, makes a great computer monitor and TV, excellent picture and response with games. but a plasma will be a touch better in every regard IMO and be quite a bit cheaper too.

So I would say if you're not going to need to worry about burn in/retention just go plasma and you'll be happy.

If you want LED I'd look at Sony. Best time to buy a TV is black Friday or even better, late jan/early feb when the new models are about to show up in the stores, pick up the old top of the line model even a floor model and get way more bang for your buck.
 
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Rollins said:
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I saw great reviews for the VT, but the main criticism was the input lag. Is it too much for gaming? What about burn-in?

I don't care about 3D but if it's included no problem.

What about the Sony KDL-55W900A?
Click to expand...

The Sony R550A is a pretty good TV. They don't offer a 55 inch, but do offer a 60 which is going for anywhere between $1,300 & $1,500. As zero stated Black Friday is also a good time to buy, if your willing to deal with lines & madness
 
I have a Panny plasma, VT55, awesome set. I mainly game and watch movies on it. Picture quality is excellent, the color contrast is phenominal (as it being a plasma) and native refresh rate is great too. Supposedly plasmas have the lowest latency for gaming, I have never games on anything but my plasma so i cant tell either way. I have it my living room which is pretty bright. The glare isn't terrible like older plasma sets, Panasonic has some new coating that is supposed to aleviate it, but is noticeable sometimes, though, not a deal breaker for me. I don't think I'd ever own any thing but a plasma, save for OLED if I had the bucks
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, errbody. I'll probably go with the VT early next year.....hopefully will be on sale after the Super Bowl.

I've never owned a plasma, so can someone explain how to properly break one in? Something about the first 150
Hours or something?
 
I got mine right after the Super Bowl, saved a huge hunk o change! Supposedly after 150 hrs or so of use you want to calibrate your set. Their are tons of sites/programs that adjust every aspect of the settings on the TV for "optimal" image quality.
 
Rollins said:
Thanks for all the suggestions, errbody. I'll probably go with the VT early next year.....hopefully will be on sale after the Super Bowl.

I've never owned a plasma, so can someone explain how to properly break one in? Something about the first 150
Hours or something?
Click to expand...

Basically you want to avoid black bars and static logos for the 1st 150 hours. I'll admit I didnt pay it no mind and just enjoyed my set I never had no problems with IR/burn in. I don't think I played any games on it for a couple hundred hours though.
 
I have a question about my TV, if anyone could help me with it as I don't know all that much about TVs.

This is what I currently have, it's nothing special but I got it pretty cheap on black friday last year.

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/PN51D530A3FXZA-specs

My question is this:
When I turn the TV on I see in the top left of my screen the resolution. For example right now it says 1920x1080/6oi. So is this 1080p resolution or 1080i resolution?

When I go to Settings and HD Settings, it has a place where I can choose a resolution. 1080i isn't on there at all, but 720p is and Auto Select is. When I choose Auto Select it always chooses 1080i. So is my TV really displaying at 1080p resolution? Also, I'm not sure how to check what the resolution is when I have the source set to "component" and I'm running my 360. Anyone know how I would do this?

Thanks!
 
It says 1080i when your 360 is the source?

If it's cable tv, it's 1080i but your 360 should come through at 1080p.

You say source set to component, what do you mean? Hopefully you aren't using component cables because those won't pass more than 1080i, you have to use HDMI.

I'm not totally sure what your issue is, maybe it could be clearer? What is the source when you see 1080i and what cable and input are you using?
 
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Oh, ok I didn't realize that with a component hook up you couldn't pass more than 1080i. I have a pretty old 360 so it doesn't have an HDMI port at all. As for my question about how to check the resolution while the 360 is running, I found the option to set the resolution in the settings. I set it to 1080p though it looks like it's probably only going to be doing 1080i because I have it hooked up with component cables. Ah well, I guess I'll just wait until the Xbox One.
 
Yeah I had a launch 360 without HDMI too but then my Dad got a 360 for media stuff, but he was hooking it up to a 720p plasma at the time so he swapped with me haha (now he's stuck with it)

You might want to try 720p from your 360 it may look better though best just keep it on auto.

Anyway no worries XB1 is out soon, 720p/1080i looks damn close enough and a lot of the games from my understanding aren't even 1080p they're usually 720p or other weird resolutions. Only 6 weeks and you'll never see 1080i again!
 
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Also, after a little research, it turns out that the 360 DOES pass 1080p over component (didn't realize that was possible) the problem is the TV's won't accept 1080p over component, I think because of piracy concerns. Since the 360 doesn't play BluRays I guess they didn't have to restrict what passed over the component cables.
 
Anyone know if there is a better time of year to buy a TV? I've heard after the Super Bowl are the best deals..?
 
I ordered my VT50 on New Years Eve last year from Pauls for $1700 no tax free shipping, it went down $100 a couple weeks later and pauls refunded me $100.
 
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