LCD or Plasma - Whats best

[stustunz]

i actually have a projector for the big picture and down sized my tv
went looking at lcds earlier this year and decided against buying one for 2 reasons
1.the panning shots still looked jerky to me (A pet hate of mine)
black levels that everyone goes on about dont really matter to me
2.the salesmen they all pissed me off so i gave up

although i wasnt going to spend $5G screw that on a tv

[Deusxmachina]

have you heard anything negative about the samsungs ?

Samsung is arguably second behind Pioneer in the TV biz right now. Panasonic following a close third. Any of those three are generally top stuff right now.

40 or 46? If the price isn't much of a concern, get the 46. No matter what size TV you get, months later you will probably regret not getting a bigger one. I have a 50" 4:3 (47" or so 16:9) in another room with the couch 14 feet away, and it looks tiny to me now. I sit six feet from a 46" most of the time, and I think I should replace it with a 65".

[skippy_nz]

i actually have a projector for the big picture and down sized my tv
went looking at lcds earlier this year and decided against buying one for 2 reasons
1.the panning shots still looked jerky to me (A pet hate of mine)
black levels that everyone goes on about dont really matter to me
2.the salesmen they all pissed me off so i gave up

although i wasnt going to spend $5G screw that on a tv

ive been waiting for a while to buy a new lcd - ie till the 1080p came down in price - no way was i spending more then $4G on a new tv - and the only reason im looking now is harvey norman have 40 month interest free no deposit deal on starting tomorrow - most likely the handbrake aka the wife is going to be applied tomorrow so i dont know if i will even be getting one yet...

yeah i dont like the jerky panning shots either - so it might be a case of try it and if it dont work - take it back with the 7 day right of return shit...

[skippy_nz]

Samsung is arguably second behind Pioneer in the TV biz right now. Panasonic following a close third. Any of those three are generally top stuff right now.

40 or 46? If the price isn't much of a concern, get the 46. No matter what size TV you get, months later you will probably regret not getting a bigger one. I have a 50" 4:3 (47" or so 16:9) in another room with the couch 14 feet away, and it looks tiny to me now. I sit six feet from a 46" most of the time, and I think I should replace it with a 65".

now i would never have thought that pioneer would beat samsung or panasonic in the race to having a high quality lcd tv - i might have to check out whats available here in NZ - but samsungs seem to be fairly widely available...

[Etacovda]

if you are using sky tv, expect mpeg artifacts - the bigger the tv the worse it looks. Though, if you're using gbpvr, just watch it through the computer + filter it (i do) - makes a massive difference to picture quality.

[skippy_nz]

if you are using sky tv, expect mpeg artifacts - the bigger the tv the worse it looks. Though, if you're using gbpvr, just watch it through the computer + filter it (i do) - makes a massive difference to picture quality.

nah dont have sky - watch enough tv without needing that too - however i am waiting for freeview to broadcast via terrestial so we can get 1 or 2 nova-t 500's. so yeah we pretty much only watch tv through GBPVR.

[Deusxmachina]

now i would never have thought that pioneer would beat samsung or panasonic in the race to having a high quality lcd tv

I don't know about Pioneer LCD specifically, but whatever they make is generally considered top of the heap and has been considered so for the past 5+ years. They are priced accordingly, too, generally being the most expensive TVs made. I saw a Consumer Reports recently and Samsung was way up there but behind Pioneer.

Panasonic has always made good TVs, just sometimes they need some love and attention (calibration) to fulfill their destiny. I've owned a lot of Panasonic electronics over the years, and I can't say a bad thing about them. Great quality at a good price.

Sony I have mixed opinions on since they seem to make great stuff yet seem to also make crap, and it's sometimes hard to tell which end of the spectrum you're getting.

I will say I've had that 50" TV for 5+ years now, (it's a Toshiba, and it's awesome), and it gets smaller every day I look at it. Don't go small. I stop by my friend's with a 27 or 32", and even though it's in a small room, I wonder how anyone can enjoy watching a movie on such a tiny thing. Life's too short to have a small TV.

[HtV]

I sit six feet from a 46" most of the time, and I think I should replace it with a 65".

Have you considered consulting an optician?

[stustunz]

i have a projector for movies 120" screw tvs for movies
and a 26" wide screen panasonic
that way when i watch a movie i go cool thats a big picture
otherwise you just get used to it
funny you say about the optician i almost brought a new projector(before it got stollen)
only to find out the new one was blurry aswell then i got glasses

[Deusxmachina]

Have you considered consulting an optician?

Serious stuff here even though I'm filled with holiday cheer *hic* (and yet type perfectly with double-vision ), I've had the 50" 4:3 for 5+ years, and it's been great, but I picked up the 46" Sony 16:9 for super-cheap and have it 5-6 feet from me most of the time, and now anything smaller or further away looks tiny. I watch the 50" from 10+ feet and it's ho-hum. You get used to the bigger picture and then expect it. That's both a good and a bad thing.

For most rooms, I wouldn't even bother getting less than a 65" anymore. Or at least a 42+"-ish, I guess. Going big is just too awesome, and if you catch a deal, the price is fair. I prefer CRT to LCD and plasma, (not a fan of DLP due to bulb replacement), so that makes big sizes all the sweeter.

I visit my friend who has a 27" or so in his living room, with no 5.1 audio, with a huge stack of DVDs next to his TV, and I cry a little inside. Anyone who takes the time to setup GBPVR is probably enough of a videophile to want, no, DESERVE, a big TV. Life's too short to have less. You can tell your wives I said so.