Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What TV to Buy

I was wondering whats your take on which tv to buy. My choices are either
Sony KDSR50XBR1 LCD REAR Projection
Sony Bravia XBR 40inch LCD
Panisonic 500u 50inch Plasma

The tv will mainly be used for Movies and Video Games. The Two sony's to me look very good in the stores. Im not sure the bravia is big enough. 40inchs really isnt all that big when watching a movie or playing video games. The only problem I have with the Sony KDSR50XBR1 is its size. I kind of wanted a flat panel, but this tv was kicking ass at the store, and it has 2HDMI's and its 1080p. That seems pretty tempting to me. I have never seen the panny's 500u series in person but I hear they are really good. And i do love the look of the plasma alot. I think the 500u was cancelled and it will be replaced by something else in April. But anyway I was just wondering what tv's you guys would suggest. Thanks

i considered the same type of models, but ultimately went with sharp aquos 42" lcd flatscreen (in black). It is definately more stylish than the bravia (in my personal opinion) and it doesn't require you to change the lightblub every 2 or 3 years (as with the other sony model). panasonic plama are sort of outdated.

looking back, i wished i had paid more and gotten a projector and overhead screen (but that would have costed well over $10,000) for a quality setup plus installation.

hope that helps

Hmmmm. Actually, the Panasonics are not outdated; they are the industry leaders for plasma TV, followed closely by Pioneer and NEC. Panasonic will be offering 1080p in the just announced TVs for this model year.

The Bravia is a great set, but 40" will never look very big. Either the SXRD or the Pannny plasma are terrific choices - both at the top end of their particular offerings.

I am almost to the finish line on doing my basement and I have a 50" Sony LCD that is 2 1/2 years old. It will be too small for the room, so it will be sold. Based on (way too much) research, I will be getting the 60" SXRD or a 58" or 65" Panny plasma. My timing is such that I will get the next generation models.

Feel good about your selections, you can't make a mistake with any of them.

I looked seemingly forever (at least according to my wife!) at the Panny 500U and the bigger Sony KDSR. Picture wise -- a very tough decision, but I went with the Panny primarily for 2 reasons - 1) the physical depth of the Sony set was too much (20"), and 2) the picture on the plasma just seemed crisper. My wife also liked the higher tech, clean look of the plasma. The 500U is the latest model (last year's), and has the 8th generation glass. One concern with the plasma sets is burn-in that can occur with games, though there are some models that do a minor offset every 15 minutes to help alleviate the issues.

On the other hand, you can pick up the 60" Sony for about the same price as the 50" Panny plasma

Enjoy, the big screens are awesome!

- Rp

3805
M80s VP150 EP500

If you're looking at the Sony XBR rear projection have a look at the JVC line too as they're about the same size just 20-30% less expensive.

You're looking at three different technologies ya' know?

Do not read on - SPOILERS - if you still want to belive in the Easter Bunny stop reading!

The XBR1 is a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) which is the type I bought but from JVC. The LCoS is similar to LCD projection but it lacks the spinning color wheel of the LCD projector - one less moving part. It also has "softer" pixels meaning that the screen door effect (SDE) is very minimum. If you're too close to an LCD you'll see the small gaps between pixels. Some people don't like the softer film-like appearance of the LCoS - I do. All projectors can suffer from the Shimmering Screen Effect (SSE) where if you focus on the screen - like during a bright white scene - you'll see the screen glowing and shimmering with a light of its own.

Plasmas are much better today than they were even three years ago but they still do suffer image burn-in. This becomes a problem if you're game has a bright white score board or other stationary image. When you quit the game the ghost of the score board will carry over into your television and movie watching ... for how long depends. The sets at work it's forever. The plasmas also suffer from something called clay face - where the colors and tones that should be continous are all one tone like the person's face was made of one color bar of clay vice contionus skin tones.

Lots of issues seen on HDTV's are the results of watching standard definition programming at the higher resolution exposing all the flaws of the original source. MPEG compression also add tons of artifacts which I'll not expose here <g>.

PS: Another cause of burn-in is the CNN ticker-tape or station bug - the logo in the corner. If you're watching a channel with ticker-tape along the bottom all day Saturday and then switch over you've got potential problems. The 12 channels of programming that I broadcast have the bug in the exact same place and we're getting complaints from our well armed customers (US Military) that their sets are burning the bug in. We're putting in a new system which will cause the bug to move a bit in a circle every hour to reduce the burn-in complaints.

I have had the Sony for about 5 months now and I don't think that you can find a better HDTV. I have been completely satisified with mine. The 1080P HDTV really has the WOW factor. I compared it side to side with the Mits and Sammy, the Sony won hands down. Not sure if the current crop of plasmas is 1080I or 1080P. IMO, you want the 1080P in whatever set you get.

Before you actually buy a set, compare it to others side to side. Look at the black levels, contrast, and edges. I couldn't find a one that could come close to the Sony.

Just one man's strong Sony opinion.

If I could buy a 1920 x 1080 50 inch plasma for a price anywhere close to the cost of the SXRD, I would do it. I think a plasma's picture is stunning. I still have a Sony 42 inch 1024 x 1024.

The 500U is 1366 x 768. Still a great picture. And high WAF for slim design.

We watch a lot of SD tv. The 4 x 3 looks better than the stretched (zoomed) picture in most cases. No worry about burn in with the SXRD. After three years letterbox lines were starting to show on the plasma from the number of non-16x9 movies we watch.

My son has the Samsung 56 1080 DLP. He would recommend it as well.

We looked hard at the Mitsubitsu as well.

For me. I love everything about the SXRD except the "ears".

Good luck!

Do you have a link to this JVC LCos TV? I have been looking at the 50" SXRD Sony, but haven't seen the JVC. The best I have seen the Sony for at a store is about $3300...more then I want to spend.

Maybe the JVC doesn't have dumbo ears either? One can hope.

The way in sounds is that I cant go wrong with any of my choices. Unless I need 1080p. So maybe I should wait for the next gen of sets to come out later this year. Panny's in april and the sony line in august. Thats not too far of a wait. I'll have to check out the JVC's and Sharp as well.