What should I look for in a flat screen tv?

[jomama206]

I'm thinking of making the switch from my CRT tv (32 inch) to something like a 42 or 50 inch flat screen.

I'm not sure if I should go with DLP, LCD, LCoS or Plasma. Can someone offer some advice?

I like to watch movies every now and then, but mainly we would be watching TV and HD TV over the air. I do like watching football and hockey.

My wife could probably care less, but price is important to me. I dont want one of the older large screen tvs that are 2 feet deep.

Thanks in advance!

[Halo]

Well then, you hhave your work cut out for you. Before you let the sales mob tell you otherwise, you need to understand the environment in which you will be watching your wonderful new TV plays as much a role in the purchase as the technology behind the screen... some might even say it dictates what your purchase will be for you. Stay away from LCos. For the large size you may want to look into Plasma. Be prepared to PAY! Always, Always, Always remember that you get what you pay for. Stay away from the cheap Chinese brands being dumped on the market. Be prepared to pay $2500+ probably even close to the mid $3000s now that 1080p is out there. DLP is a viable option if you want great picture and you're on a budget. You mentioned you have a wife, so guess what you have a budget. There are some new DLPs that are out at Magnolia HI-Fi and the like and the pictures on them are jaw-dropping.
Everyone loves Plasma but they have their downsides, least of which are their price.

You may want to seriously consider LCD. If you don't have a theater to watch TV and you don't want the TV to be the dominant thing in your living room, there are some great new LCDs on the market, like Toshiba's 1080P 42LX196 42" LCD panel. Pretty shocking if you ask me...

Small rooms, you may want to downsize from the dream "wall-TV." For big rooms...as long as your wife is cool with it go as big as the room can handle.

Make sure you drop some dimes on quality wires. Nothing makes these things look worse than crappy feeds and poor wiring.

[jtfields]

If it's in your budget I'd go for a plasma. If you can't afford plasma then I'd look at DLP.

[jtfields]

I recently helped my parents purchase a TV and spent quite a bit of time over several weeks researching and shopping for an HD set. In summary, we settled on the Panasonic TH-42PX60U which is a 42" plasma set. It seemed to be a good price/performance/quality compromise. The picture is gorgeous. If I were to go ahead and replace my TV today I'd spring for the 50" version of the Panasonic. Panny makes a great plasma. My absolute favorite of all the sets I looked at was a Pioneer Elite plasma but it was out of their price range.

Here is a quick summary of my opinion of the various options. Obviously it is only an opinion and you will find many varying opinions out there to support one option or the other. My opinion assumes you are wanting a set larger than 40". None of the technoligies is perfect so you just have to weight the positives and negatives to your situation.

Rear Projection - Rear projection sets (whether LCD or DLP) only have two significant advantages in my opinion...price and screen size. They are much cheaper than either plasmas or flat panel LCD's at the same size. It is easy to find very large rear projection sets (55" and 60" sets are common.) The viewing angle on them is often terrible (to test viewing angle when at the store walk side to side of one and see how quickly the brightness appears to fade when you are not directly in front and level with the set.) They are also somewhat bulky but not heavy for their size (when comparing to the weight of a CRT.) They cannot be hung on a wall. They tend to be less bright than both flat panel LCD and plasma. They have somewhat expensive bulbs ($200-$500) that must be replaced on a periodic basis (my brother's went out after less than two years of use, ironically, while I was doing my research on TV's.)

LCD (flat panel) - LCD's have a nice bright picture but it is not as sharp as a plasma. They do not do blacks very well and fast movement on the screen aften appears blurred or produces artifacts. Be sure and check the "dead pixel" warranty as LCD's can be prone to pixels going out (although this shouldn't be taken to be a regular occurrence, just something that is a possibility.) The viewing angle on LCD's is not very good. They are, however, thin and light and can be hung on a wall. They are expensive. They do not have sets as large as what is available in either plasma or rear projection.

Plasma - While not as bright as LCD's, plasmas have the best overall picture when it comes to detail, motion and contrast. But they are heavier than their LCD counterparts and require more power (thus generating more heat.) They can be hung on a wall. The viewing angle is almost that of a tube television (CRT) and blacks look very good (although none of these technologies do black as well as a CRT.) The larger the set gets the less expensive it will be when compared with an equivalient sized and featured LCD set (although the price gap is shrinking quickly.) Older plasma sets were prone to burn-in, however, the newer sets employ several technologies to greatly diminish the chances of burn-in but it is still something to keep in mind if you think you will be frequently watching static images for long periods of time.

My brother has a rear projection DLP (50" Philips) and my brother-in-law has a rear projection LCD (55" Sony) and neither has the picture quality of my parent's plasma (even they agree.)

A good place to research where there are a lot of knowledgeable people are the AVS Forums.

http://www.avsforum.com/

One quick note about shopping. Most of the HD sets come out-of-the-box with ultra bright picture settings. These settings are intended to make the TV stand out when in the store. Many stores, especially those where the store lighting is bright, do not recalibrate the sets. These bright settings, however, will probably not look good in your home. The first thing I always did when looking at a set at Best Buy or somewhere else was access the menu and adjust the settings to those more similar to what you will most likely use at home. It can make a big difference in your evaluation. For example, one area in which the Panasonic excels is how well it displays regular (standard definition) television. However, when I first went to Best Buy and viewed a regular broadcast on their Panasonic display it looked terrible. After I adjusted the picture settings to normal it looked very good.

Speaking of which, while HD broadcasts are awesome, only a fraction of the programming available to you through cable or satellite is broadcast in HD. While that will change, most likely a good amount of the television you watch over the next few years will not be HD. A lot of the larger HD sets are horrible at displaying regular television. I would be sure to evaluate any set that you are considering on how well the set can render standard definition (SDTV) broadcasts. I wouldn't make it the overriding factor in your decision but I would cosider it an important one. Currently the FCC has mandated all broadcasts must be HD in 2009 but historically they have kept pushing that date back (the original date was in 2003 I think). This date is supposed to be more firm than past dates but who knows. Many cable channels seem determined to keep their broadcasts SD up until they absolutely have no choice.

Good luck.

[gabman]

you should go for panasonic LCD.

[PGATOUR]

One of the things you need to look for in your NEW LCD TV is to make sure that it has a HDMI input. Better yet, choose one that has multiple HDMI inputs.
The reason is that most HD sources will now output in HD format in HDMI. For example, HD cable box, Blue Ray, HD DVD, Playstation 3, your video cards( DVI).

If you pick a LCD with just 1 HDMI port, you can always expand it with an external HDMI switch (http://www.octavainc.com) which allows you to connect multiple HDMI sources for example a 5x1 HDMI switch (http://octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%205port.htm) will allow you to connect up to 5 HDMI sourcs which is plenty.

[ECA]

Another THOUGHT is that RGB (ybb, or what ever) that breaks out the color codes, can DO HI RES.
Computer INPUTS, are seperate, and can have Different resolutions, maybe even HIGHER.

READ the specs, read the Manufactour DATE...DOnt buy something that was made over 1 year ago, JUST cause its CHEAPER...

[Ioman]

I would also check the screen resolution, if it's max resolution is under 1080i, that means it will down convert the picture to 720p instead of displaying it in its native 1080i. For example, some Panasonics have a screen resolution of 1024x768, that means it downconverts 1080i signals to 720p. Hitachi and Pioneer plasmas will not do that on most models.

[sokiboy]

i am planning to buy a plasma 42" tv but i have some questions:
how many colors do i need for a good picture- how important is it?
how much brightness do i need- how important is it?
how much resolution do i need- how improtant?
which inputs and outputs are important?
what's game-mode? (i think only samsung has it)

[Ioman]

i am planning to buy a plasma 42" tv but i have some questions:
how many colors do i need for a good picture- how important is it?
how much brightness do i need- how important is it?
how much resolution do i need- how improtant?
which inputs and outputs are important?
what's game-mode? (i think only samsung has it)

If you can afford it, get a TV that supports 1080p

If you want an LCD, make sure it has a fast response rate

Get a plasma with good blacks: Panasonic, Hitachi, Pioneer

HDMI inputs (at least 2)

[ronrak]

PLASMA (PERIOD)
Best quality picture (without a doubt)... shoot for a 50" if you can... Samsusng and Pioneer are a couple of the best.

stay away from any rear projection DLP or LCD or other

[JohnnyBoy12]

I agree with most of the things already posted. Definitely check out AVS forum as there is a lot of info there. My only other suggestion that I learned from experience is keep an open mind about lots of different brands. Some of the newer brands (Vizio for example..and yes, I own one) are as good or better as the more established brands. Just check them out and make your own decision. Especially if you are working within a budget. Good luck searching! I'm jealous, I always want to be in the market.

[ECA]

HCM
what are you talking about??
1. that is TV receptopn, NOT a TV..
2. you send us to down load programs and not suggest a TV.
3. that service STARTS at $100 per month in the USA. for REAL crap.
Explain please.