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Large TV Advise
#374709 04/30/12 04:36 AM
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INANE Offline OP
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I've been trying to decide on a TV for my new basement HT. I've already spent some time looking around and thinking about this but I'm hoping you folks will have some wisdom that helps me make up my mind!

The only requirement I have for this is no projectors. I'm only going to be sitting 9-10' back from the display, the cost is high and frankly I currently don't feel like dealing with all the learning and adjusting I'd have to make for one.

So as I said I'll be sitting roughly 9' back from the TV, the room is wide (23'), 6-8 seats across. No windows so brightness is not an issue.

I do have a list of wants. Here are the main ones in order of importance.

1)<= $1500
2)70 inches
3)Wall mountable
(this would put the TV as far back as possible and the center channel would be much happier without a TV stand to deal with)

The (initial) contenders:

Sharp LCD (LED) 70 inches
I'm not sure which model at this point

Pros:
Large
Good reviews (picture quality)
Fairly thin (unimportant really), wall mountable
Energy efficient

Cons:
Cost $2200+

Panasonic Plasma 65 inches
I'm not sure which model at this point

Pros:
Cost - base model $1500ish
Good reviews (picture quality)
Fairly thin (unimportant really), wall mountable

Cons:
Not 70 inches
Cost - better models over $1500
Energy inefficient (not too concerned about it)
Base model has a very ugly bezel

Mits 73inch DLP
Freaking bazillion models of it

Pros:
Cheap! - as low as $900ish
Large!
Fairly energy efficient

Cons:
Needs TV stand frown
Not the greatest side viewable


I'm wondering is it's a little early to be in the 70 inch TV market as there aren't many choices. I have a 51 inch Samsung plasma in our living room that I'm pretty happy with but the fact that (other than those giant 135inch) plasmas top off at 65 is frustrating. Yes, that 5 inches is somewhat of a big deal to me. This is why I'm considering the DLP. My previous TV was a Samsung DLP and I was pretty happy with it as well. Since the current 73 inch Mits are so damn cheap I feel like I should get one and then replace it 3 - 4 years down the road.

I walked into our Costco the other day, they had the 80 inch Sharp sitting right next to the 70 inch. Made the 70 look small. frown But seeing that $4500 price tag made me stop caring about that. laugh

Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374731 04/30/12 01:46 PM
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I found the 70 inch sharps, including the $8000 Elite model to have very poor off angle viewing. That's one reason I'm opting for a Panasonic Plasma. Except I'm shelling out more for the 65 VT50 version, probably. There's one con to the VT50 that bother's me, and that's the stupid shiny silver lining around the edges of the bezel.

Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374747 04/30/12 04:36 PM
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I thought the full array LED models were suppose to have better off angle viewing than the edge lit LEDs.

Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374752 04/30/12 05:29 PM
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Hi Inane,

CatBrat is right. Sharp LCD sets have been among the worst for off-angle viewing. The contrast and color shifts last time I looked at some models were gross even at modest off-axis angles. That was two years ago. I've always felt the Samsung LCD sets are quite good off-angle.

Plus, in the past, Sharp gear hasn't been very reliable.

Now, Mitsubishi gear (TVs, cars, computer monitors, etc): very unreliable. Even their old CRT sets always broke down, as did their computer monitors. Despite the superiority of DLP in many respects, and the incredibly cheap Mitsu DLP prices, I'd resist.

My 50-inch Samsung DLP is still chugging along on the original bulb with no problems after six years.

I was reminded of the limitations of LCD displays for fast-action sports watching some basketball and hockey on my spouse's Samsung LCD display in Toronto over the past week--all kinds of video artifacts, smearing and the like, with fast horizontal and vertical action. I see none of those on my DLP set, and plasma displays are also free of motion artifacts.

I'm sure JohnK will be along with some of the Consumer Reports latest recommendations on flat-screen displays. Their judgments, at least on video displays, are reasonably accurate in my experience.

Regards,
Alan


Alan Lofft,
Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)
Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374754 04/30/12 06:50 PM
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I don't think your price point is realistic.

I'd get the 65" Panasonic Plasma (although I understand that some videophiles think that the upper-end models are noticeably and meaningfully "better" than the lower-end models).

OR

Get a 1080p projector and have as big a screen as you want.

Edit: also, don't completely discount the fan noise from either a projector or from a DLP-RPTV. My main display is a 61" JVC LCOS RPTV; it still has an excellent picture, but the fan noise is certainly audible.

Last edited by tomtuttle; 04/30/12 06:52 PM.

bibere usque ad hilaritatem
Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374778 04/30/12 09:32 PM
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Hey Inane,

some good advice already from the other forumers. Here's some other things to consider:

-refresh rate: if you plan to do any gaming, want to keep up with sports or make it less stressful on the eyes, find an LCD with at least 120hz refresh rate. Don't be fooled by the motion smoothing technology that most companies use to trick you into believing it's actually a higher refresh rate television. You'll be able to identify this by the name it's given (i.e. Sony calls it Motionflow, Samsung calls it Clear Motion Rate, LG calls it Trumotion). These technologies actually interpolate and add frames to a scene that aren't actually there. It makes what you watch look unreal and soap opera like. It's also very poor for playing video games because it creates a lagging effect due to the additional video processing. The biggest scam used by manufacturers of LCD TV's right now. Bestbuy is a good site to determine the refresh rate, although they are occasionally wrong.

-power consumption: Plasmas use the most, and by a significant margin over LCD and LED TVs. LED TV's although more power efficient than regular LCDs aren't so much more so that it justifies the price premium. However, if being eco-friendly trumps the additional cost go for it. Organic LED's are said to be the best, with better colours and deeper blacks.

Here's a couple of links you may want to review:

http://tv.toptenreviews.com/flat-panel/lcd/
http://tv.toptenreviews.com/led-tv/
http://tv.toptenreviews.com/flat-panel/plasma/

http://www.testfreaks.com/televisions/

http://www.consumersearch.com/lcd-tv

I think it's a little unrealistic to buy a TV of that size for less than $1500 but you may get lucky!

Hope this helps!

fLuid


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Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374829 05/01/12 04:12 AM
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INANE Offline OP
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Well as I stated $1500 is the goal but it's not set in stone. I already know there is a Panasonic Plasma that can be had for that (65 inches) and the DLP is way cheaper (73 inches).

I pretty much know the pros/cons between all the technologies. I guess what my main issue/concern is about is finding a decent set that's (about) 70 inches. There aren't too many that I've found other than what I've listed above.

Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374882 05/01/12 10:51 PM
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I have a LG LE558500 55" LED Full-Array with Local Dimming and I love it. It has a glossy screen though so it won't be good in a bright environment. I have mine in the basement and it's perfect. I don't know if it is still available, I got mine two years ago.

I did a lot of research before arriving at that choice. One area I didn't consider was the extent of calibration controls. As it is an IPS panel, it could benefit a lot from calibration. I did eventually get a colorimeter and the software and did a calibration and I was so happy to find that this TV had all the controls I needed to do proper greyscale and color adjustments. I t's not just brightness, contrast, color and tint. It's RGBLowEnd and RGBHighEnd and about 12 other color controls.

Anyway, having these controls was a big bonus and really helped me get as good a picture as possible. And something I never thought to consider.

Just to add to what fLuid said about interpolation, Trumotion in my case. My eyes are very sensitive to judder and slow refresh rates. My LG is 240 Hz and I still notice it in many but not all movies. I tried desperately to get a Trumotion setting that I could live with. Yes, I did get the Soap Opera effect but at low levels of interpolation I was willing to live with it. Unfortunately, the interpolation does also produce picture artifacts similar to compression artifacts. It happens on only certain types of scenes but unfortunately for me, it's not acceptable so I don't use it.


For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert.
Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374890 05/02/12 01:25 AM
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Ben, 70" and $1500 don't really go very well together, but the closest may be this set you might have looked at. The latest Consumer Reports tests in the March issue gave the Panasonic ST30s one of the very top ratings. I've noted, though, that some buyers have experienced a fluctuating brightness level, which may(or may not)have been corrected in production 8-9 months ago.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: Large TV Advise
INANE #374896 05/02/12 04:13 AM
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INANE Offline OP
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Ya that is the Panasonic I've looked at. $1500 was only a target, if I find something worthy of spending more on I'd consider doing it. It's this reason I have the DLP on my list. I wouldn't feel as bad spending $900ish on it with the plans of replacing it in 3-4 years.

All I've seen are a bunch of other 65 inch plasma's. I'm curious to know if I've missed anything else that is 70 inches or greater. All I've found are the Sharp's and DLPs in this size.

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