CNET's favorite big-screen TVs of 2011 (so far)
Think 42 or 50 inches is big? Forget it. "Big" now means 60 inches minimum. To that end, here are our favorite jumbo-screen TVs of 2011.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Just about every HDTV looks great displaying sports, movies, and TV shows in high def, but there's one key ingredient that separates "great" HDTVs from those that make you say "Boom!" No, we're not talking about 3D, motion resolution, 1080p, or even black levels this time; we're talking about sheer size.
In previous years, LCD has taken a back seat to plasma in the ultrabig flat-screen category (60-inch and up), but these days, 65- and even 70-inch LCDs are becoming available. (Yes, that's smaller than the superjumbo 92-inch Mitsubishi TV pictured above, but that's a rear-projection model, not a flat-panel.) As competition between the two heats up, prices come down, choices widen, and the market as a whole gets more confusing than ever.
To clear the confusion, we've assembled a list of our six favorite big-screen TVs of 2011. None is smaller than 60 inches (and none costs less than $2,000), although if you don't want to go quite this big, you can click through the review to see smaller (and cheaper) alternatives. (Continued)