Opinions Requested - new 50"+ LCD TV

Panasonic's plasma sets generally get very good reviews, though their claim of an "infinite black" doesn't match what Pioneer achieved in its last and final Kuro models.

I've always liked Sony's better LCD sets. Quite a spectacular picture.

If the set has "local dimming", be sure it's shut off before judging the picture.

Another thing... LCD sets with interpolated frames (a feature plasma sets don't need) often turn a film image into something that looks like videotape. Again, be sure this feature is turned off when evaluating the set.

I doubt there are any 50" Kuros still around (and they went for $4K), but you might look.

Although they require careful break-in, I'd look at plasma sets first. They're better than LCD in every respect, except absolute brightness. I've owned mine for over a year, and am still awed when I turn it on.

If you believe Consumer Reports, flat-screen sets, regardless of make, model, or technology, are generally reliable.

Is plasma not an outgoing technology? And if it is what ramifications would one expect for service?

As far as reliability goes, my now 3 yr old Olevia 32" LCD still performs without flaw even though the maker Syntax Brillian (spelling?) has gone belly-up.

Thanks for the reply, Panasonic is one of the handful I give serious consideration.

Not at all. Several companies manufacture plasmas, and no one has said anything about discontinuing them. Pioneer made expensive models, and dropped out for several reasons, one of which was the bad economy.

No problemo. Perhaps others will have more-specific suggestions.

I assume you know to make sure the set is adjusted for normal viewing, and not set at the "eye blasting" factory-default levels.

Yeah anything I viewed on display I would certainly take out of demo mode or review the picture settings. At home I watch in low-light conditions. I haven't turned a TV on here for 7 days. And then just to set up the week's DVR recording. I might watch 10 hours a week so the new set will gather dust.

So a plasma set will be okay.

Ah, but what glorious dust. The best Blu-ray disks -- and even cable shows -- are spectacular.

So you're not going 3D?

Yeah can't wait. Well I guess I have to wait, won't have the $$$ for a month or so. My bedroom 32" HDTV is quite a thrilling watch albeit only capable of 1080i. But I get tired of being cramped up in the bedroom watching from a high back leather office chair. And the 32 isn't large enough to watch from 10 feet away in my living room.

Sitting 6' from a 60" display is one of life's great sensual pleasures. It ain't Cinerama, * but it sure beats a "big, enormous 12 inch screen" ("Little Shop of Horrors").

One other thing you might want to consider... When testing sets, try turning the Sharpness control all the way up, and seeing what happens.

I mention this because I like ultra-razor-sharp images. "Home Theater" magazine recommends setting the Sharpness on a Pioneer Kuro to -15. Not centered at zero, but minus 15 -- all the way down.

Mine is set to +15 -- all the way up. What's remarkable is that this setting produces zero -- yes, zero -- overshoot, undershoot, or ringing. And if the source suffers from excessive edge enhancement ("Gladiator", for example), it's not exaggerated.

Along the same lines... Make sure every form of "enhancement" is turned off. If the set doesn't produce a good image on its own, it's unlikely image processing will help.

• One of the demo disks you'll want is the digitally spliced-together edition of "How the West Was Won". It's taken directly from the camera negatives, and in everything but sheer size, totally blows away what you see in a Cinerama theater. The set includes both a rectilinear version, and a "smilevision" version that curves the image to represent how it would look on a Cinerama screen. Get "2001" and "The Searchers", too.

Which set did you have? I'm trying to avoid as much shopping as possible. Demos can be deceiving and I wouldn't mind paying a little extra and buy from the local appliance and electronics store than say Best Buy or WalMart. And a 60" isn't out of the realm of possibilities. 50" was just a starting point. I was curious about these new Sharp 4 color sets too. Just don't know if the technology is too virgin to be reliable. I'll have the cash so a reasonable price is not as important as these other factors. Would be cool to have some bells and whistles like a tcp/ip connection for streaming video. Already have a decent Sony / Infinity 5:1 audio in place.

I have a 60" Pioneer Kuro, the final series. Not cheap -- and it was sold only by specialist dealers.

I would look first /carefully/ at the Panasonic plasmas and Sony LCDs. Avoid off-brands -- including Philips. I have a 32" Vizio in my den, and when Comcast was transmitting QAM HD, it had a gorgeous picture -- with an extremely wide viewing angle.

You might as well go to Costco.

Without going into colorimetry (which I don't fully understand, anyway), color TV is based on three well-defined primaries. Adding another might increase the range of colors that can be displayed, but they won't be within the range of colors that are recorded by the camera. Just because Captain Sulu is impressed, doesn't mean you should be.

Heck, plasmas have been around almost 15 years, and LCDs of all sorts a lot longer. The CU repair ratings are based on what their readers say, so I'm inclined to believe them.

As you'll have the cash, that's all the /more/ reason for taking your time and looking carefully. Make up your mind, and don't let anyone talk you into anything.

A digital real time change in sharpness ?? I thought that was strictly analog.

Have you considered a DLP? Huge screens are available (80"), and the blacks are incredible. I bought a Mitsubishi 65", have had it for 2 years, no problems. They use less electricity than a LCD or plasma, and I'm still running on the original bulb (replacement cost, around $100). They also have a line of LCD sets, but they are pricey. There's also the LaserVue line, a DLP with a LED instead of a bulb. Check it out.

My cheapo Olevia 32 is very impressive picture-wise. I like everything about it except the viewing angle is slightly more narrow than I prefer. It has one fault, a hum from the inverter in every audio source except headphones out. That's ok though it's hooked to an Altec PC 3-way speaker system with a good sub via the headphone jack, problem solved. The internal speakers were tinny and had a sympathetic vibration with the chassis at certain frequencies.

I'm going to stay with a major brand. Might check into Vizio, they've been around long enough also.

Yeah I don't understand the tech either. But the 4th color they've added is yellow. How that pans out remains to be seen.

I meant the Sharp 4 color technology. I know the others have been around long enough to be tried and tested. Also have an interest in the pure LCD sets, no CCFL backlight. There has been plenty of talk here about them but don't remember what the general consensus was.

I spent maybe a month looking at 32's before settling on the Olevia. It had the same picture performance as most of the major brands but cost half as much in most cases. I wasn't into spending a lot of cash for a bedroom set back in 2007.So far, other than the sound issue, I made the right choice. I especially like an adjustable backlighting for a bedroom set. Makes it easy on the eyes in a dark room and helps the contrast ration when the brightness is turned down.

I haven't ruled out DLP. For as much TV that is watched here a bulb would last a decade. I'm wanting to move my TV watching from the bedroom back to the living room hence the need for a new set. The 51" Panasonic currently there works but not for HD. I have a small 15" set for my bedroom and would give the 32 to my son for his bedroom.

I'd like to point out that the aspect ratio of the screens should be taken into consideration. Your 50" 3:4 Panasonic has a picture height of roughly 30". To maintain the same picture height you would need a

My chief knock against DLP is a somewhat restricted viewing angle. And let's be honest, the sets are much thicker than a comparable sized LCD or plasma. However, a 65" DLP will easily fit within your price limit.

As far as Plasma vrs LCD, the usual advice applies, avoid house brands. Both are viable technologies. Plasma will cost you less. Potentially, LCD will last longer. These are one of the products where an extended warranty is a good idea.

Ultimately, you and your eyes (and ears) are going to have to make the decision. In plasma I would go with Samsung or Panasonic, take a lookat LG is you want to but I'd avoid buying an LG plasma.

In LCD I'd suggest Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic. Sharp's Quattron process may be more of a marketing gimic that a real advantage. Again, you are the judge.

PlainBill

I just remembered... Panasonic has a system that automatically raises the cells' bias over time to compensate for a drop in inefficiency. It's believed that this will slowly degraded the display's black level.

Oh, let's see... The Pixar 3D films are really awful, as was "Avatar".

And who can forget "Dial M for Murder", one of the past-his-prime Hitchcock's very worst films? Ditto for "Hondo", "Kiss Me, Kate", and "It Came from Outer Space". All of it 3D dreck.

I'm looking at the Panasonic Viera 55" and Samsung similar model. I realize the size of the old Panasonic 51" square projector's size in comparison to say a 55" HDTV screen height. I like the prices and specs of the plasma sets. Use wise, plasma should last 20 years in this household.

Last Christmas, after agonising long and hard over replacing my ageing, but still superbly performing, 32" CRT Tosh, I was totally knocked out by a 50" Panasonic plasma, and that was what I ultimately bought. From time to time, Pan offer 5 year full warranties on these sets. The store I bought mine from was offering a 5 year warranty on their own account, and it includes the panel. Having now watched the set for around 8 months, I can honestly say that there is not a single thing about it that I don't like - apart from possibly the sound which, in common with all slim sets, be they LCD or plasma, is not particularly 'full'. Perfectly adequate for normal viewing, but not great. To overcome this, I have my sat receiver optically linked to a Sony HC amp with full format decoding, and that's what I use for watching films. The picture on this plasma set is stunning - and, having spent many years in TV and electronic service, I don't use that term lightly. I loved my old Tosh, but on balance, I think I love this one even more.

About the only other piece of advice that I could give is that if you are going to be looking at HD, make sure that you get a set that is 'full HD' and not just 'HD ready' . On my full HD set, HD transmissions are really noticeably sharper and more detailed, due to the fact that the panel's native resolution matches that of the source. However, my son-in-law's parents recently upgraded their sat TV package to a new HD receiver, and an HD subscription, but they are quite disappointed with it, displayed on their 'HD ready' LCD Sammy, I think it is. I guess this is because the native resolution of the panel is lower than the actual resolution of the HD source, so although the set is capable of *accepting* the full res HD signal that the sat receiver is outputting, it then has to downscale it in order for the LCD panel to be able to display it, thus negating any real advantage from having an HD signal in the first place ...

Just personally, I think that the colour rendition on plasmas knocks spots off of LCDs. I was always happy with the level of maturity that CRT technology had reached, in terms of natural colour rendition, and I was reading just the other day, that the phosphors used in plasma panels, are identical to those used in CRTs, so I guess that would explain why I like the picture on my plas so much. :-)

Arfa

Them big-box stores can be awful careless about how they stack stuff up on them shelves.