You don't need to waste your time here. The HDMI cables aren't going to make much of a difference. Unlike speaker cable, the signals coming over your HDMI cable are digital. They either get to the TV, or they don't. There is no graceful degredation...if your cable is bad, it is going to look awful. Ever get questionable reception on your old analog TV signals, where it gets slightly static-y? Ever seen what happens with questionable reception on a digital TV signal? Once you have, you'll understand why HDMI cables either work great or not at all.
It's not my intention here to shit on your purchase, but it sounds like you went ahead and got that Philips LCD. If you're buying an LCD at that size and price, you're probably gonna get questionable black levels. The only thing I'm not clear on is what you mean by "flickering", cause that's not generally a word I'd see used to describe poor black levels.
We ended up with the 42" model, not the 47". I'm fine with it having shitty black levels (most of my movies are brightly lit), I kinda expected it with the deal we were getting, I just wanted to check for sure that that's what the problem was and that it wasn't something wrong with the tv hardware-wise.
I only really noticed it in scenes where it was not only black but also dim, if that makes any sense. Like if it's a night scene but the characters are well lit? No issues at all. If the entire scene is dim? Yeah, crappy blacks.
A thought: If you have dynamic contrast on, try turning it off. The flickering could be the backlight flickering at lower brightness settings.
Alright so I've been sporting a AT3201W manufactured by ACER. This baby had a 12ms response time 720p and an 800:1 contrast ratio. However by poor baby has died, turning it on there is a large crack and I don't know what from!
Anyway, I can't live without an HD TV so I'm looking for something new.
I was thinking of 1080p, 40" or larger and at least 6.5ms response time as I would like to hook it up to my comp as well.
You were talking about response times in your first post...that's not really a spec that's used anymore for TVs. It goes down the same road as contrast ratio in that there's not really a standard on how to measure it. So once all TV manufacturers got to the point they could advertise <2ms, it became meaningless and got dropped.
As far as what you put up, Insignia's a budget brand. Though as budget brands go I think they're better than say Westinghouse or Dynex, but not as good as Vizio. I know jackshit about shopping for TVs in Canada, but right now I'd say Panasonic and Vizio are hands down the best brands to buy, with Samsung being another good one if you can find one that's not overpriced.
I'm wondering about user experience/opinion of the Panasonic Viera -TCP42C1. It's a 42 inch Plasma.
I had a 30" CRT Wega that I loved, but on Sunday it just stopped working (was just over 5 years old). I got, what I now understand to be, the "7 flashing lights of doom". Repair will set me back a minimum of $200 so I'm looking for a good replacement.
cubelover on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The expanding media is a system pacifying and distracting consumers from the oppressive drudgery of their lives" - Digital Play
Thanks for the input scrublet....I'm going to look around for something Vizio. I didn't know they were of good value, if I don't find anything good there I'll just pick up this insignia
so, thinking about buying a new tv in the next week or three. Already have a pretty good idea of what i would like to purchase, but black friday/christmas rapidly approaches.
you guys think i should wait another 6 weeks for prices to fall like crazy?
so, thinking about buying a new tv in the next week or three. Already have a pretty good idea of what i would like to purchase, but black friday/christmas rapidly approaches.
you guys think i should wait another 6 weeks for prices to fall like crazy?
...duh? How soon do you need the TV by?
Improvolone on
Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
so, thinking about buying a new tv in the next week or three. Already have a pretty good idea of what i would like to purchase, but black friday/christmas rapidly approaches.
you guys think i should wait another 6 weeks for prices to fall like crazy?
...duh? How soon do you need the TV by?
it was mostly just reaffirming my knowledge that prices for them usually drop a lot on black friday. i've ever bought a large-ish tv before so i didn't exactly watch prices, just went on hearsay about others
I've been hearing lately that prices are going to drop before black Friday. Buy when you are able to say, "I am willing to pay this price and risk the chance of getting it for less".
Improvolone on
Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
I can't really get a solid read on Black Friday this year. I've seen some things echo Improvolone that we may see price drops early. I've seen others suggesting that Black Friday is not going to be the TV bloodbath we're used to seeing each year. But on the other hand, how many chains would fuck their october sales by saying anything to the contrary? So who knows. The economy's made this kind of a unique situation.
I would bet even money that whether or not Black Friday has huge price drops, they won't be the massive crazy discounts we saw all December in 2008 as retailers were desperate to sell ANYTHING to make up for November.
I know we (walmart) have been dropping prices on a lot of our TVs by $100 or more, depending on the size and brand. I'll let you guys know if I hear any grumblings.
Any word yet on 3D TVs? I know Sony have said they have intentions of bringing them to market in 2010 but I was curious if there had been any word on price. As far as I can gather they're just going to be 120hz sets (3D provided by ShutterGlasses)
Any word yet on 3D TVs? I know Sony have said they have intentions of bringing them to market in 2010 but I was curious if there had been any word on price. As far as I can gather they're just going to be 120hz sets (3D provided by ShutterGlasses)
Panasonic has some bigger sets (50" and 60") coming out for 3D in 2010. Samsung just finished demoing a 55" LCD. Sony is pushing this tech as well and is hoping to leverage 3D PS3 games. We'll see. Personally speaking, I wouldn't spend more money on a TV for this feature alone...I think time will show this to be a gimmick that never really catches on. I don't see most TV viewers putting on glasses to watch TV or play games, especially considering the human factor on 3D. If you check H/A, a couple months ago a thread popped discussing some dude's g/f having problems seeing the effect, and a bunch chimed in on being able to see/not see 3D based on depth perception. IMO, 3DTV sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
I dunno, I've used the old shutter glasses on CRT tvs and actually quite like the effect. I'm a bit of a sucker for gimmicks though so I guess I'm their target audience
Though 50" is too big for my room, 42" is the largest I can realistically go.
So what are the opinions of home projector set ups in this thread? The OP doesn't mention them...but they seem like they've got to the level where for a comparable amount of money as a decent LCD/Plasma you can have a great looking projector set up in your home.
What are the pros and cons of the projector vs LCD/Plasma?
You need a well prepared wall or screen, absolute light control (black out curtains), and you will have to replace the lamp.
Ease of use, LCD or Plasma. Awesome factor, projector.
Ideally, both.
Improvolone on
Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
How many lumens does it take to screw in a light bulb...?
This is exactly why I didn't put front projectors in the OP. A proper OP on setting up a decent home projector setup would be about as big on its own as the current OP.
The amount of lumens you want depends on the ambient lighting in the room you're in, what kind of uses you intend the projector for, the kind of screen you're using, etc. As always, all this depends on how much of a purist you are. I've seen plenty of people hang a white bedsheet from the ceiling or even use no screen at all. I've also seen people buy 35" Dynex LCD pieces of shit, turn them on torch mode, and talk about how much they love their new TV and how it's just as good as the ones that cost $2000 more.
The short answer to your pros/cons projection is that a projector is the only way you're going to break the 70" diagonal size without spending a fuckton of money. DLPs pretty much top out at 73" (Mitsubishi) and cost $3000 at that size. 70" flatscreens aren't even worth talking about at that size, and that goes for LCD AND plasma. Outside of size, the only other pro to a projector is footprint...with the right screen (or lack thereof) a projector takes up almost no space in a room.
The cons of a projector are bulb replacement, a need for absolute control of room lighting in most cases, and a willingness to work harder at setting stuff up. There is much more to consider with a projector installation than a TV installation.
Wasn't sure if I should put this in here or in the computer thread, but I recently purchased a Dell SP2309W, which I love except for one problem.
I'm kind of convinced that some of the greens aren't right. This weekend I'm gonna put my old tube TV near the LCD and try to compare. I don't really mind because this is supposed to be a computer monitor first and a TV second, but I just know that I will end up obsessing over this The greens when I use it as a monitor are fine which makes it extra maddening.
I have that Vizio, and it's pretty good, the colors are nice, and it does actually do up to 1080p. Only problem I have with it is that the plugs are kinda awkward to use in the back, and it doesn't have enough composite ports for my 50 something consoles
I have that Vizio, and it's pretty good, the colors are nice, and it does actually do up to 1080p. Only problem I have with it is that the plugs are kinda awkward to use in the back, and it doesn't have enough composite ports for my 50 something consoles
I did some backchecking, and no it is not 1080p. It can accept up to 1080i signals, true. But its native resolution is still 1366x768. It will simply downconvert to 720p where it has to. Also interesting is that Vizio doesn't even list this VW32LHDTV40A that Amazon has. It lists the 30A, and then lists the 37" 40A. So I don't even know what the hell is going on there. But it's irrelevant here because both TVs are 720p.
I would recommend the Panasonic X1 you listed over all the choices you're looking at. Sony takes second place.
Yea, I'm going to get either Panasonic, depending on what is still available when my paycheck clears.
Seriously, buying a TV can be easy. It's basically a question of which Samsung or Panasonic do you want.
I've independently come to roughly the same conclusion. Basically, Samsung, Sony and panasonic, along with LG (who i distrust forever) are the best brands
As it stands, I;m leaning towards the L32X1 panasonic, because it's already 420 in most places and has the nifty ipod dock, though i have heard of some complaints that the speakers are too quiet.
that, or the L32B460 from samsung. It's around 550 right now with tax or shipping, but it seems to be the best screen without going into the 700 or so range, plus its likely to discount in the next month
I recently purchased a condo and want a nicer tv than the 26" CRT I currently use. I will only use it for wii games, dvd's, watching hulu from my laptop, and maybe playing pc games, so I think I'm good with 720p, no 360/ps3 or blueray. After reading the op, my cursory examination of amazon leads me to these three:
I would go with the X1 over the C1. The C1 series is pretty much scraping the bottom of the Panasonic lines. I'd browse the Samsung and Vizio LCD lines as well and just go with whatever is cheapest.
Okay I think I'm leaning towards getting a plasma as I'm getting over my fears about burn-in and the like thinking that if I'm having those fears already I'm going to be aware enough to avoid it happening, right?
Anyway I had a couple of questions. I'm going from a 30 inch CRT HDTV and there are times where there is some sunlight coming into my living room which creates a small amount of glare on my screen. I have read about glare being a problem with plasma sets, will that glare be worse than what I experience on my CRT? Also, is lag during gaming still a concern with plasmas? I thought once upon a time is was.
Okay I think I'm leaning towards getting a plasma as I'm getting over my fears about burn-in and the like thinking that if I'm having those fears already I'm going to be aware enough to avoid it happening, right?
Your tv is aware of your fears and will burn in just to spite you.
Nah, burn in really isnt a big deal unless you decide to leave a static image on your tv for a few weeks.
Anyway I had a couple of questions. I'm going from a 30 inch CRT HDTV and there are times where there is some sunlight coming into my living room which creates a small amount of glare on my screen. I have read about glare being a problem with plasma sets, will that glare be worse than what I experience on my CRT?
Probably. Don't buy a plasma unless you can control the light in your room.
Also, is lag during gaming still a concern with plasmas? I thought once upon a time is was.
Some lag is inherent in any non-CRT hd set. This will matter depending only on what games you play and whether or not you can actually notice it. It will only be noticeable on games like street fighter and rock band/guitar hero and you will probably only notice it if the tv is not on game mode.
Anyway I had a couple of questions. I'm going from a 30 inch CRT HDTV and there are times where there is some sunlight coming into my living room which creates a small amount of glare on my screen. I have read about glare being a problem with plasma sets, will that glare be worse than what I experience on my CRT?
Probably. Don't buy a plasma unless you can control the light in your room.
Don't buy an LCD unless you can control the light. Most LCDs now have glossy screens. Plasmas have anti-reflective filters.
Honestly, a plasma is no worse than a CRT for glare, and plasmas are just so much better than LCDs in every other way. Go plasma and go home happy.
Ok, so my trusty philips sdtv from college kicked the bucket yesterday. Since I am a complete hd noob, I have some questions for you guys
1. Do the tv's that go on sale on black friday tend to be the crappy tv's that need to be cleared anyway?
2. Does anyone have any experience with either of the following tv's
Vizio 42" Class Eco 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV VO420E
Panasonic - VIERA / 42" Class / 720p / 600Hz / Plasma HDTV TC-P42X1
They are priced similarly and are in our price range (my wife won't let me spend more than 750 after tax :x).
We currently don't have cable and instead just stream movies from netflix using my xbox 360 - I play a lot of games in my free time too.
Sorry if a similar question has been asked before but I searched the thread for VO42E and found nothing. Thanks for the advice.
Posts
A thought: If you have dynamic contrast on, try turning it off. The flickering could be the backlight flickering at lower brightness settings.
Anyway, I can't live without an HD TV so I'm looking for something new.
I was thinking of 1080p, 40" or larger and at least 6.5ms response time as I would like to hook it up to my comp as well.
Anyone know of any deals in Canada?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926HDS0010119495&catid=24558
Any good, not sure on the brand though
Yeah, my friend took advantage of this.
I love my g10, but christ if I had waited just a few more months....
You were talking about response times in your first post...that's not really a spec that's used anymore for TVs. It goes down the same road as contrast ratio in that there's not really a standard on how to measure it. So once all TV manufacturers got to the point they could advertise <2ms, it became meaningless and got dropped.
As far as what you put up, Insignia's a budget brand. Though as budget brands go I think they're better than say Westinghouse or Dynex, but not as good as Vizio. I know jackshit about shopping for TVs in Canada, but right now I'd say Panasonic and Vizio are hands down the best brands to buy, with Samsung being another good one if you can find one that's not overpriced.
PSN: TheScrublet
I had a 30" CRT Wega that I loved, but on Sunday it just stopped working (was just over 5 years old). I got, what I now understand to be, the "7 flashing lights of doom". Repair will set me back a minimum of $200 so I'm looking for a good replacement.
you guys think i should wait another 6 weeks for prices to fall like crazy?
...duh? How soon do you need the TV by?
it was mostly just reaffirming my knowledge that prices for them usually drop a lot on black friday. i've ever bought a large-ish tv before so i didn't exactly watch prices, just went on hearsay about others
just covering the bases
I would bet even money that whether or not Black Friday has huge price drops, they won't be the massive crazy discounts we saw all December in 2008 as retailers were desperate to sell ANYTHING to make up for November.
PSN: TheScrublet
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Panasonic has some bigger sets (50" and 60") coming out for 3D in 2010. Samsung just finished demoing a 55" LCD. Sony is pushing this tech as well and is hoping to leverage 3D PS3 games. We'll see. Personally speaking, I wouldn't spend more money on a TV for this feature alone...I think time will show this to be a gimmick that never really catches on. I don't see most TV viewers putting on glasses to watch TV or play games, especially considering the human factor on 3D. If you check H/A, a couple months ago a thread popped discussing some dude's g/f having problems seeing the effect, and a bunch chimed in on being able to see/not see 3D based on depth perception. IMO, 3DTV sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
PSN: TheScrublet
Though 50" is too big for my room, 42" is the largest I can realistically go.
Anyway, cheers for the info!
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
What are the pros and cons of the projector vs LCD/Plasma?
Ease of use, LCD or Plasma. Awesome factor, projector.
Ideally, both.
How many lumens is way too few lumens?
How many lumens does it take to screw in a light bulb...?
This is exactly why I didn't put front projectors in the OP. A proper OP on setting up a decent home projector setup would be about as big on its own as the current OP.
The amount of lumens you want depends on the ambient lighting in the room you're in, what kind of uses you intend the projector for, the kind of screen you're using, etc. As always, all this depends on how much of a purist you are. I've seen plenty of people hang a white bedsheet from the ceiling or even use no screen at all. I've also seen people buy 35" Dynex LCD pieces of shit, turn them on torch mode, and talk about how much they love their new TV and how it's just as good as the ones that cost $2000 more.
The short answer to your pros/cons projection is that a projector is the only way you're going to break the 70" diagonal size without spending a fuckton of money. DLPs pretty much top out at 73" (Mitsubishi) and cost $3000 at that size. 70" flatscreens aren't even worth talking about at that size, and that goes for LCD AND plasma. Outside of size, the only other pro to a projector is footprint...with the right screen (or lack thereof) a projector takes up almost no space in a room.
The cons of a projector are bulb replacement, a need for absolute control of room lighting in most cases, and a willingness to work harder at setting stuff up. There is much more to consider with a projector installation than a TV installation.
PSN: TheScrublet
I'm kind of convinced that some of the greens aren't right. This weekend I'm gonna put my old tube TV near the LCD and try to compare. I don't really mind because this is supposed to be a computer monitor first and a TV second, but I just know that I will end up obsessing over this
It looks like I can spend about $450 on a TV. This will be my main TV and in the future, when I finally get a proper set, it will become my bedroom set.
Craigslist in my area is a total bust. Nothing but CRT after projection and several dozen Sony Trinitrons. I've got it down to...
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-32PFL3504D-F7-32-Inch-720p/dp/B001LPE31U/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256148017&sr=1-20
http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-quot-720p-Class-HDTV/dp/B0015EUO56/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256148017&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Bravia-KDL-32L5000-32-Inch-Black/dp/B001S2RDCM/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256148017&sr=1-22
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-32LX85-32-Inch-720p-HDTV/dp/B0014CV92G/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256148365&sr=1-14
I've got my preferences, but I thought I'd toss it out there to get a bit more input.
Yes, I'm looking at used/refurbed units.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-L32X1-32-Inch-720p/dp/B001U3YK52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256152040&sr=8-1
With no Samsungs in the price range I'm at, I'll probably go with a Panasonic.
I did some backchecking, and no it is not 1080p. It can accept up to 1080i signals, true. But its native resolution is still 1366x768. It will simply downconvert to 720p where it has to. Also interesting is that Vizio doesn't even list this VW32LHDTV40A that Amazon has. It lists the 30A, and then lists the 37" 40A. So I don't even know what the hell is going on there. But it's irrelevant here because both TVs are 720p.
I would recommend the Panasonic X1 you listed over all the choices you're looking at. Sony takes second place.
PSN: TheScrublet
Seriously, buying a TV can be easy. It's basically a question of which Samsung or Panasonic do you want.
I've independently come to roughly the same conclusion. Basically, Samsung, Sony and panasonic, along with LG (who i distrust forever) are the best brands
As it stands, I;m leaning towards the L32X1 panasonic, because it's already 420 in most places and has the nifty ipod dock, though i have heard of some complaints that the speakers are too quiet.
that, or the L32B460 from samsung. It's around 550 right now with tax or shipping, but it seems to be the best screen without going into the 700 or so range, plus its likely to discount in the next month
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=node%3D1266092011&field-keywords=panasonic+plasma+720p&x=0&y=0
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P50X1-50-Inch-Plasma/dp/B001SN7QUU/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256476431&sr=1-8
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P50C1-50-Inch-Plasma/dp/B001UE6M8Y/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1256476653&sr=1-7
Do these tvs seem ok? Is there any difference between the second and third tv, I couldn't tell. Thank you for any advice.
PSN: TheScrublet
Anyway I had a couple of questions. I'm going from a 30 inch CRT HDTV and there are times where there is some sunlight coming into my living room which creates a small amount of glare on my screen. I have read about glare being a problem with plasma sets, will that glare be worse than what I experience on my CRT? Also, is lag during gaming still a concern with plasmas? I thought once upon a time is was.
Your tv is aware of your fears and will burn in just to spite you.
Nah, burn in really isnt a big deal unless you decide to leave a static image on your tv for a few weeks.
Probably. Don't buy a plasma unless you can control the light in your room.
Some lag is inherent in any non-CRT hd set. This will matter depending only on what games you play and whether or not you can actually notice it. It will only be noticeable on games like street fighter and rock band/guitar hero and you will probably only notice it if the tv is not on game mode.
Don't buy an LCD unless you can control the light. Most LCDs now have glossy screens. Plasmas have anti-reflective filters.
Honestly, a plasma is no worse than a CRT for glare, and plasmas are just so much better than LCDs in every other way. Go plasma and go home happy.
1. Do the tv's that go on sale on black friday tend to be the crappy tv's that need to be cleared anyway?
2. Does anyone have any experience with either of the following tv's
Vizio 42" Class Eco 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV VO420E
Panasonic - VIERA / 42" Class / 720p / 600Hz / Plasma HDTV TC-P42X1
They are priced similarly and are in our price range (my wife won't let me spend more than 750 after tax :x).
We currently don't have cable and instead just stream movies from netflix using my xbox 360 - I play a lot of games in my free time too.
Sorry if a similar question has been asked before but I searched the thread for VO42E and found nothing. Thanks for the advice.
Vizio is great for its price point, but if a Panasonic or Samsung has matched it, its no contest.
Don't forget to calibrate your set!