MR

As some of you may remember, a month or two back I asked some questions about TV's. At the time I said that $500 was the most I could spend on a new TV. I later decided to hold off on buying a new TV. I can as of now spend up to $700 on a new TV.

I've read that the best time to buy a new TV is in February, that that is when you can get the best deals. So, I had decided to wait until February to buy a new one.

I definitely want a Plasma. I want it to be a 1080P model. They don't make Plasma's any smaller than 42", and I wouldn't want a screen any smaller than that, anyway. A 50" screen would be even better yet, but of course, the larger the screen, the higher the price.

I would prefer it to be either a Samsung, Panasonic or Sony, but Sony's are usually way over-priced. I might be willing to go with an LG or Sharp?

So, again, I want the TV I buy to be a Plasma, at least 42", with 50" being even better, a 1080P, and preferably a Samsung, Panasonic or Sony, or maybe a LG or Sharp. And I now consider $700 to be as high as I can go.

This week, Best Buy have a Panasonic 42" Plasma 1080P for $630. It fits most of my criteria of what I want.

My question is, if I wait until February, do you think that I'd be able to find one then that costs no more than $700 that has a bigger screen than the 42" one that Best Buy has right now for $630, with it still being a 1080P Plasma? Or do you think that in February I might be able to get a 1080P Plasma at a cheaper price than the current $630?

The only reason for me to wait until February would be for me to either find one with a bigger screen size for the $700 or less that I would be willing to pay. Or, to get the same TV for less money then.

Should I wait and hope for a better deal then? Or should I get the one at Best Buy right now?

If you're willing to skip getting a plasma and consider getting an LED (not LCD but LED), you might be able to get a better deal. In my opinion, an LED is just as clear as plasma. Unless you're a huge TV tech geek, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

KenTheDude wrote:If you're willing to skip getting a plasma and consider getting an LED (not LCD but LED), you might be able to get a better deal. In my opinion, an LED is just as clear as plasma. Unless you're a huge TV tech geek, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Those are LCD TV's that are LED backlight, right?

Journey/Survivor wrote:

KenTheDude wrote:If you're willing to skip getting a plasma and consider getting an LED (not LCD but LED), you might be able to get a better deal. In my opinion, an LED is just as clear as plasma. Unless you're a huge TV tech geek, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Those are LCD TV's that are LED backlight, right?

I believe so, yes. I got a 55" LED about a year ago for $1300. It is so clear I can't see how a plasma could be any clearer.

KenTheDude wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:

KenTheDude wrote:If you're willing to skip getting a plasma and consider getting an LED (not LCD but LED), you might be able to get a better deal. In my opinion, an LED is just as clear as plasma. Unless you're a huge TV tech geek, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Those are LCD TV's that are LED backlight, right?

I believe so, yes. I got a 55" LED about a year ago for $1300. It is so clear I can't see how a plasma could be any clearer.

Thanks!

Journey/Survivor wrote:

KenTheDude wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:

KenTheDude wrote:If you're willing to skip getting a plasma and consider getting an LED (not LCD but LED), you might be able to get a better deal. In my opinion, an LED is just as clear as plasma. Unless you're a huge TV tech geek, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Those are LCD TV's that are LED backlight, right?

I believe so, yes. I got a 55" LED about a year ago for $1300. It is so clear I can't see how a plasma could be any clearer.

Thanks!

You're welcome. BTW, you can probably find your best deal the Friday after Thanksgiving. Last year I got a 24" LED for my workshop for $225. It even has a built-in Blu-Ray player. I got it online from Wal-Mart with free shipping.

Those of you who have HD flat-panel TV's, does your TV get really warm, or even hot while it's turned on? If it does, please tell me if it's a LCD or a plasma.

Earlier tonight I was at a friend of mine's house, and I noticed that the back of his LCD TV was quite hot. The TV had only been turned on for about an hour at that point. None of my CRT TV's ever get anywhere nearly that warm.

I have a 55" plasma, 55" LED and 42" LED. They are all great.

Those of you who have Plasma TV's, have you paid an "expert" to calibrate the TV settings for you? Or have you done it yourself?

Journey/Survivor wrote:Those of you who have Plasma TV's, have you paid an "expert" to calibrate the TV settings for you? Or have you done it yourself?

For most people these tv's look great right out of the box. I've read all about settings and calibration. Just depends how discerning an eye you have.

AR wrote:I have a 55" plasma, 55" LED and 42" LED. They are all great.

That's because you're Captain Awesome!!!

If you want to get an idea of what the tv will look like right out of the box go to costco(they dont tune them at all and plenty of them look like crap). if you go to best buy they tune each tv to get it to its best picture. If your looking at a plasma, walmart is going to have a samsung 51 inch that is more than likely going to be around 500 in a couple of weeks. I saw this the other day against all their other tvs and it was easily the best picture of the lot. Oddly enough it was a 720 not 1080 but they had the same hd signal coming in on all the sets and it was by far the best picture(its a glossy screen, which i think makes the picture much sharper.)

I took my Panasonic plasma out of the box, and after watching it with the "normal" setting for a while, fooled around with the settings, then switched it to "THX". That's where it's been ever since. Although I've researched calibration quite a bit, I simply cannot believe it would be noticable enough to justify it at any price. It is FANTASTIC as it is!

Also, I've read about the heat problem, which is supposed to be worse with plasmas, but I haven't noticed that problem at all.

Journey/Survivor wrote:Those of you who have Plasma TV's, have you paid an "expert" to calibrate the TV settings for you? Or have you done it yourself?

If you buy the right brand of TV, you'll never have to worry about a professional calibration. Panasonic's THX mode is SUPERB and will easily give you the best out of the box picture on the market! The results are almost identical to what you would see if you paid a tech to professionally calibrate your display. Conversely, if you buy a brand like Sharp...Good luck. Some people definitely do have a more discerning eye than others, and things that will bother you watching a TV may not bother someone else. It's all very individual. I'm someone who has never believed that all TV's are created equally and tend to buy from manufacturers who have a proven track record.

The sound on my 55" LED Insignia has been sucking. The background noises/music is too loud and we can't hardly hear the actors talk sometimes. I tried all kinds of settings to no avail.

KenTheDude wrote:The sound on my 55" LED Insignia has been sucking. The background noises/music is too loud and we can't hardly hear the actors talk sometimes. I tried all kinds of settings to no avail.

You might find an answer here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=166

Of course, I'm sure not everyone on there knows what they're talking about. But some sure do.

KenTheDude wrote:The sound on my 55" LED Insignia has been sucking. The background noises/music is too loud and we can't hardly hear the actors talk sometimes. I tried all kinds of settings to no avail.

You answered your own question. See John's post above. Not all TVs are created equally.

If you're getting a plasma, make sure the room you're putting it in has no windows or too many lights. The reflection can be awful and terribly distracting.

I believe Panasonic has licensed their technology from Pioneer for all of their newer plasmas so that should make for a great viewing experience.

I've pretty much narrowed down my choice to a 50" Panasonic Plasma 1080P.

Best Buy have it for $800 this week.

I may get it within the next couple of days?

Best Buy house brand Insignia. I bought a 51" plasma for $649 and could not be happier with it. It has a 600 refresh rate, which is abolutely a god send when watching sports and other things with lots of action. Sound quality sucks, but picture is tops. If you have a separate sound system, you will love it. Had it since July and have no real complaints.

hoagiepete wrote:If you're getting a plasma, make sure the room you're putting it in has no windows or too many lights. The reflection can be awful and terribly distracting.

While it is definitely true that plasma displays are susceptible to glare a whole lot more than LCD displays are, that has also improved, exponentially over the years. Most higher end plasmas have great anti-glare screens, so the glare is no worse than any other display. Having windows in the room isn't an issue, at all. I have my 65 inch plasma in my family room that has windows all over the place. That said, you shouldn't mount the TV opposite of the windows if you watch a lot of TV during the day. If you do most of your watching at night, it's a complete non-issue.

steveo777 wrote:Best Buy house brand Insignia. I bought a 51" plasma for $649 and could not be happier with it. It has a 600 refresh rate, which is abolutely a god send when watching sports and other things with lots of action. Sound quality sucks, but picture is tops. If you have a separate sound system, you will love it. Had it since July and have no real complaints.

Wow, 600HZ refresh rate on a 51" plasma for $649, that's a pretty good deal, although you're the first to comment on having an Insignia.

I know this was already briefly talked about in this thread... But I have a few more questions regarding TV calibration.

I'm reading on tech websites that it is supposedly very important to have your HDTV professionally calibrated. They claim that if you don't have it professionally calibrated that your TV will have too high of an internal temperature, which will shorten the life of the TV, and raise your electric bill higher than it should. Some of the websites CLAIM that only professionals can properly calibrate a TV using an expensive computer that they hook up to your TV.

Of course, I realize that places like Best Buy want to convince people of that whether it's true or not, so they can charge you a ridiculous amount of money to calibrate your TV.

I'm pretty confident that I would be able to adjust the settings on my own to be able to get a good picture. But, again, some of these websites claim that if you do it yourself you won't be able to have the settings correct for the TV's temperature and electrical use.

I know that several people on the websites (and on here) have mentioned a THX setting that you can use to calibrate the TV yourself. But I was always under the impression that THX was strictly for audio?

I plan on getting a 50" Panasonic Plasma 1080P. And I recently bought a Blu-Ray player.

Please share with me anything that you know about calibration for HDTV's.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I know this was already briefly talked about in this thread... But I have a few more questions regarding TV calibration.

I'm reading on tech websites that it is supposedly very important to have your HDTV professionally calibrated. They claim that if you don't have it professionally calibrated that your TV will have to high of an internal temperature, which will shorten the life of the TV, and raise your electric bill higher than it should. Some of the websites CLAIM that only professionals can properly calibrate a TV using an expensive computer that they hook up to your TV.

Of course, I realize that places like Best Buy want to convince people of that whether it's true or not, so they can charge you a ridiculous amount of money to calibrate your TV.

I'm pretty confident that I would be able to adjust the settings on my own to be able to get a good picture. But, again, some of these websites claim that if you do it yourself you won't be able to have the settings correct for the TV's temperature and electrical use.

I know that several people on the websites (and on here) have mentioned a THX setting that you can use to calibrate the TV yourself. But I was always under the impression that THX was strictly for audio?

I plan on getting a 50" Panasonic Plasma 1080P. And I recently bought a Blu-Ray player.

Please share with me anything that you know about calibration for HDTV's.

THX is a series of hundreds of tests (some audio...some video) that are said to elevate a TV to a higher standart (i.e. THX Standard). As for having a TV ISF calibrated, I am one of the biggest techno geeks on the planet when it comes to electronics. I have owned more TV's than I can count, and have had a dedicated home theater with an overhead projector in my last three homes. I've also been a member at avsforum.com (a great site) for over 10 years. Guess what...I've NEVER had a single TV or projector calibrated. If you're buying a Panasonic that has THX mode, it is unlikely that you would even see a difference after a professional calibration (it's that good)! Incidentally, there are blu-ray discs on the market that would allow you to calibrate the set on your own, if it was that important to you.

Enigma869 wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:I know this was already briefly talked about in this thread... But I have a few more questions regarding TV calibration.

I'm reading on tech websites that it is supposedly very important to have your HDTV professionally calibrated. They claim that if you don't have it professionally calibrated that your TV will have to high of an internal temperature, which will shorten the life of the TV, and raise your electric bill higher than it should. Some of the websites CLAIM that only professionals can properly calibrate a TV using an expensive computer that they hook up to your TV.

Of course, I realize that places like Best Buy want to convince people of that whether it's true or not, so they can charge you a ridiculous amount of money to calibrate your TV.

I'm pretty confident that I would be able to adjust the settings on my own to be able to get a good picture. But, again, some of these websites claim that if you do it yourself you won't be able to have the settings correct for the TV's temperature and electrical use.

I know that several people on the websites (and on here) have mentioned a THX setting that you can use to calibrate the TV yourself. But I was always under the impression that THX was strictly for audio?

I plan on getting a 50" Panasonic Plasma 1080P. And I recently bought a Blu-Ray player.

Please share with me anything that you know about calibration for HDTV's.

THX is a series of hundreds of tests (some audio...some video) that are said to elevate a TV to a higher standart (i.e. THX Standard). As for having a TV ISF calibrated, I am one of the biggest techno geeks on the planet when it comes to electronics. I have owned more TV's than I can count, and have had a dedicated home theater with an overhead projector in my last three homes. I've also been a member at avsforum.com (a great site) for over 10 years. Guess what...I've NEVER had a single TV or projector calibrated. If you're buying a Panasonic that has THX mode, it is unlikely that you would even see a difference after a professional calibration (it's that good)! Incidentally, there are blu-ray discs on the market that would allow you to calibrate the set on your own, if it was that important to you.

Thanks.

I have read about the DVD's and Blu-Ray discs that can help you calibrate the TV on your own.

I don't feel that I'll need to get a professional calibration for the set to look good. My only concern was in regards to temperature and electricity usage, and life of the TV.

Alright. I have gone ahead and ordered a Panasonic 50" Plasma 1080P through Amazon. I'm supposed to have it at my house by Wednesday morning.

Any advice for me regarding the TV?

Is there anything special that I'm supposed to do during the breaking-in time period?

Do I have to worry about burn-in from the black bars while watching a Blu-Ray disc? Will station/network logos cause burn-in?