Trying to Decide Which HDTV To Get, Looking 50" or larger...

I knew someone would post that

cheers,
Pedro

Hi, first let me respond to the laservue suggestion: My price point might be high but I am not about to put down close to $7,000 for an extremely new primitive technology, although it is a very cool idea and it could be the next leap before OLED televisions, thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for your opinion on the Elite, I agree that until you stand in a store and see them side by side it is hard to tell which you may like better. Although the Samsung is easy to see right down the road at my local Sears I would have to drive hours to see the Elite in person. I have read a bit about LED back lighting and heard that it does have it's flaws, although the nice thing about it is that from the time you buy it the quality of the picture won't really decrease because LEDs really never burn out. Overall what I've read is it does beat regular LCD's hands down in the blacks, contrast and overall picture hands down. How this stands against plasma I'm not so sure. I really like on my 40" inch Samsung how nice a defined the blacks are and how nice and deep the colors are. I've always looked in stores and personally I've always been a big fan of the the Sony's and Samsung's although some of the Sharps are also very nice. I will make sure to head on over to AVS forums, that info would be very helpful.

One thing I was wondering about the Elite is I've noticed on some plasmas they get extremely hot and some of them get pixelated looking. I like the glow of LCD's do you think the Elite will also have that? They go nice and easy on your eyes and are a pleasure to look. I was going to get the Samsung for $3200 on eBay new, and I found the Elite for $4500 new, so that if a big increase in price so the picture would have to be a real "wow, that's AMAZING"" to make me spend the extra $$$$ but I would if it is that big of difference.

I will keep researching and looking around for more info, as well as head over to AVS forums. Thanks!

I'd probably encourage you to stick to brick and mortar if possible, since the money you save buying on ebay might be compromised in the future if you actually need a human being to help you out w/ service issues. Just my $.02 on the issue. You'd be surprised to learn that the IME anyway, the big box stores have more wiggle room on price that you might imagine.

I find plasma (esp. the Elites) to be much more capable of displaying a natural looking image which isn't too sharp and isn't too soft in appearance. I've seen this on some of the higher end backlit LCDs too, but the crazy black levels/contrast of the Elites still amaze me (I always think- how is this possible?). I really don't think you'll be getting pixelation from the Pio unless you are throwing a crap input source at it. That said, the video processing on the Pios is quite good- SD resolution can look quite nice too.

Keep in mind the HDTV PQ will usually look different in the store under their (less than ideal) lighting and sometimes poor input sources (cable/sat). In this sense it's not being presented to you in the best circumstances, esp. when you consider that elements in your HT room can be controlled. Throw in a calibration and you can really see what these upper end HDTVs are capable of, but again, this is outside the big box store. This topic has been discussed ad nauseum in this forum and elsewhere, so I won't bother (use the search function).

-Pedro

Hi all, first let me reply to Pedro's post: That's a really interesting point you made about the big box stores, I will check that out, I really didn't think they had that much wiggle room. I also completely understand what you're saying about the fact that when your in the stores looking at them side by side the lighting is really not ideal and also who knows what's feeding in to them, depending the worser one could actually look better if you messed up the inputs. This just makes it all the more difficult to choose and really see the side by side comparison. I also agree that getting all the settings right and lighting in the room can impact the picture quality on your TV drastically, is this what you mean by calibration or am I missing something?

OK next post: "plasma destroys LCD in every area that counts" - I get what you're saying about the viewing angles, but you have to admit LCDs have really come a long way in that department, my 40" Samsung LCD looks pretty great from say a 30 to 40 degree angle in my opinion, although you are right that dead center is still a noticeable difference. As far as the whole FP (is that basically the technology that's being used in that laservue?)I really don't have that kind of money to spend, lol. As far as PQ in Blu-Ray movies on an LCD I think it is obvious a good transfer from a bad one so I think to nix it just on that fact alone is really jumping the gun, but then again I've never seen this 151 in person so maybe it really is all it's cracked up to be. I respect your opinion and you have me leaning towards the 151 now.

I do realize that LED Back lit TV's are not actually LEDTV's. But I didn't know about the edge lit thing, that's very interesting. So basically the PQ is probably no different from a regular LCD TV, just thinner. I am not really going for bigger is better, the type of room couldn't handle a projector. I don't really want a 65" either, I think a 60" would be plenty big for the room, considering 55" would be just fine as well. Plus I imagine the 09's are probably even more expensive than the 151, is this right?


In reply to the last post - Have you Google'd Reviews? - I did, I was able to find a lot of reviews on the Pioneer Elite but none on the Sony 65" or the new LED Back Lit Samsung, I think probably because they are too new. Thanks though.

I really appreciate all this input. Right now I am going to research about this LED back lit technology, the only real reason why I was set on it was 1, because I figured it had a better picture overall and 2, because it would keep a better picture for a longer time. One big question I have is does the Pioneer Elite 151 plasma last as long as say, the LCD in terms of great PQ? I don't want to get something and have it look great for a year and then have it start to noticeably fade. I know all screens do this but do plasmas die any faster or decrease in PQ faster? I am making a big purchase and if I am going to spend say, $3200 on a Samsung LED LCD TV and the Pioneer blows it out of the water I will spend the extra money to get it, I am already in this deep.

Thank you so much for all the replies and any more help is more than welcomed!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!

Also: Just comparing the Samsung LED Back lit 55" to the Pioneer 151 is it a no contest win for the Pioneer? Thanks!

Hey all, two things about plasmas that just worried me a little bit, please give me your opinion: 1:

"One major strike against plasma screen televisions is that they are very fragile. Granted, most large, heavy electronic devices are fragile. However, plasma screen televisions, depend on their large plasma screens to operate, and if it is damaged, the entire unit often needs to be replaced. Also, the flat shape of the unit makes it more prone to damage. If it is leaned against a wall or placed on its side for an extended period of time, the unit's picture quality can be permanently altered.",

Does this happen to people a lot or is this just something that is a crazy thing that really never happens, I mean if I pick this thing up and tilt it can it really wreck it? Or is it more like it would have to sit on it's side for a month?

Another thing I read about was heat, can these TV's stay on for say 4 or 5 hours? I mean if I am watching 24 the chances are the TV will be on for 4 or 5 hours.... lol.

Just did a bit more research on the LED back lit TV's. They say the Samsung one is basically going to deliver the same PQ as a regular one it is just more designer friendly. This is because it uses edge lit LEDs right? However, they say that the KDL-55XBR8 is the best looking LCD TV they've seen, it is also LED back lit but it is not edge lit. Has anyone seen this thing in action? It is the same price as the Pioneer Elite 151, is this one comparable? Thanks!

Anything can brake, just do not throw a baseball at the screen your fine. The part about if the screen is damage the entire unit may have to be replaced... An LCD is the same, with out the screen (damaged) you need a new tv.

Heat, my 54" panasonic g10 puts out less heat then my 50" Sony sxrd RPtv, also uses about the same power (average watts). I have no troubles leaving the tv on for 5, 6 or 7 hours in a room 12x11.5ft.

Where did you come up that a plasma will start too fade in a year??? They have a life spand of 100,000 hours just like LED LCDs tv.

If you want the best PQ look at plasma, Pioneer or Panasonic... Samsungs have problems with IR.
I have 4 diffrent types of tv's, LCD, Plasma, RP and CRT. The CRT makes the best blacks but at 30", 142 pounds, 22" deep, power hungery for the size. RPtv, lamp replasment at $200 every 2 year, OB problems, gray/blue 'blacks', off angal view poor, good shodow detail, energystar. LCD, heat out put, power hungery for screen size, price per inch is high, grays no blacks, red push, color blooming (red), poor off angel viewing. Plamsa, black are black (pioneer are better), energystar, THX mode, accurect colors out of box, low heat out put, great off angle, could be lighter in weight, speakers could be betters, great shadow detail, full 1080p motion, great price per inch.


Do not buy any electronics off eBay. There are many online dealers where you can get a deal like no sales tax, free shipping, good return policys and a good price cut off the MSRP.