Little Bro In Law

[dem beats 10]

OK, so my brother in law want's a flat panel and has 700-800. He want's between 40"-50". To put it into perspective he thought my 52" tv's were 60 inchers so I think size matters quite a bit for him. 1080p is a must.

He doesn't have much in the way of controlled lighting currently but is going to get black out curtains.

The TV is for 97% videogames. Mostly FPS. In his words "I pwn noobs on a 19" crt with glare, think how much more I will pwn noobs when I can actually see them."

What can I give for info? I would say larger size and overall fit and finish will be worth more than extreme black levels or perfect color. I know motion blur have to be nill. Also as it's for games mostly it will have to have a sharp picture. A fast black to white would help but I don't think TV's measure that.

What do you gents recomend? He probably wants to buy locally and soon. I know a guy at ultimate elecronic who could shave a few bucks I think but I don't have any local uber deals.

[Deephaven 19]

Crap, Costco just sold out of the Panasonic Plasma's in that price range. For his needs it is what I'd buy.

[dem beats 10]

aren't those the 720 Panny's?

[Aaron Clinton 15]

Any Samsungs fall in that range?

[Deephaven 19]

aren't those the 720 Panny's?

Nope, 1080's. Mine sure is

[dem beats 10]

aren't those the 720 Panny's?

Nope, 1080's. Mine sure is

I saw these TC42PX14

at 720p

Sounds perfect but looks hard to find as it's an early 2009 model

[dem beats 10]

Any Samsungs fall in that range?

I dunno. I'm looking into those next. From the few sites I saw the options were limited at his price point.

[MKader17 7]

I was in the exact same market a while back and I ended up with a Sony (I got it at a Wal-Mart because my uncle gets 10% off on anything there) I love the Sony. My roomate had an LG that kept breaking and ended up switching it out for a Sony as well. My other friend has a Sony at his house and we've never had any problems.

I feel it's really a toss up though. Just look at the screens and see which one you like (or he likes for this case)

Also thought I'd mention, don't Plasma's have a chance of burn it on the screen? This is why we didn't get a plasma.

[Deephaven 19]

Also thought I'd mention, don't Plasma's have a chance of burn it on the screen? This is why we didn't get a plasma.

Not really. Old ones used to. Now they just have the benefit of having a way clearer picture, deeper blacks, better motion with the only real disadvantage of using a bit more power and being heavier. In a really bright room (ie tons of windows) they have more glare issues, but it isn't hard to combat that with a simple curtain.

[todd.brust 106]

I can say I love my Panasonic Plasma. There are lots of video game played in this household and have had no issues. For That price range, you could definitely do a 42" 720 Plasma, or a 50" 720p plasma if you look in the right places.

Plasma FTW

[dem beats 10]

I think we found a winner winner chicken dinenr

Panasonic TC - P42U1 - 42"

[dem beats 10]

Funny what happens when the shit hits the fan.

He got a panny G15 46".

..............for 799. He did get an extended warranty though.

It was pretty sweet looking at it side by side. It lost in sharpness next to an LCD sharp.... until the sales guy hit the THX button. Basically dimmed the brightness. It made the colors really true. It also had next to no motion blur next to the LCD options.

[Deephaven 19]

Yeah, they are always uber bright in the store.

Amusingly, I bought my Panny 1080p for $799 2 years ago. Costco had 52's for that last week. Sorry I bring this up now, but it pays to sit and watch their site as they are the kings of absurd deals that don't last that long.

[Mark LaFountain 16]

Yeah, they are always uber bright in the store.

Amusingly, I bought my Panny 1080p for $799 2 years ago. Costco had 52's for that last week. Sorry I bring this up now, but it pays to sit and watch their site as they are the kings of absurd deals that don't last that long.

x2

[dem beats 10]

Yeah, they are always uber bright in the store.

Amusingly, I bought my Panny 1080p for $799 2 years ago. Costco had 52's for that last week. Sorry I bring this up now, but it pays to sit and watch their site as they are the kings of absurd deals that don't last that long.

No worries as soon as we got back I wanted to know how much better I could have done. Since I can't find it today.

WIN!

It was really good to see him happy. He was completely excited.

Were the costco ones g15 line up? price spider said the lowest prices were last month around 699-799 I think.

[Deephaven 19]

Costco gets their own number for price match reasons, but they usually require that it is "the" set.

[dem beats 10]

Costco gets their own number for price match reasons, but they usually require that it is "the" set.

sams club too.

[Aaron Clinton 15]

Drives me nuts the more I look into buying our first HD flat screen, and my wife keeps interjecting that all the guys at her office keep saying Visio is the best for the money.

[MKader17 7]

Problem is I've never had a complaint with a Visio, but I would also never buy one

[Aaron Clinton 15]

My office just took delivery of 7 of their 47" LED's.

[sandt38 22]

Dem, did you get the TV yet?

Here are a couple thoughts.

Let's discuss motion blur:

Since motion blur is an issue, you really want to look at plasma. LCDs were built for single still images (which is why they don't suffer from image burn), and therefore that is what they produce... single still images. This is why motion blur is an issue for them. In order to be used for a moving picture they have to "refresh" their image, or they need to put a new image up on the screen. Hence the term "refresh rate". Now, why did we never have to worry about refresh rates with CRTs? CRTs were developed for moving pictures, and used phosphor, an ever changing, ever moving substance, which sustains the glow after being excited for a period of time. So there is no hesitation between frames. Plasmas perform similarly, using phosphor as well. While LCDs were not designed for motion picture, plasma was. So the reason we don't see refresh rate listings on plasmas, is because they don't need to refresh, they are an ever changing picture.

Now, phosphor is the element that causes "burn in" so long pause times can create issues just like CRTs. BUT!!! CRT is less likely to burn in then plasmas. However, today's plasma manufacturers realize this is an issue, so they have inputted certain protection devices like pixel shift, etc. that help to reduce burn in.

Let's discuss in room lighting:

LCDs are far more forgiving in bright light situations. Plasmas require glass screens, and of course glass reflects light. LCDs are capable of functioning through a diffuser, so the surface is not as reflective. Plasmas do require a more controlled lighting situation.

Finally, let's discuss our resolution:

While a high resolution is desirable, in many cases they really are not necessary. For smaller TVs (I would say up to about 42-45 inch) 720 is perfectly fine. My son has a 40 inch 720 in his room, and there is no issue with PQ. Now, if you go into the family room, with the 50 inch TV, 1080 is really pretty much a requirement. low definition is not a pleasant experience at all on such a big TV.

So I would suggest you base the resolution on the screen size.

Personally I like my plasma better on games (and film for that matter), then my son's LCD. The differences are subtle, and going from one room to the next it is not as apparent to a layperson, but sitting next to each other the plasma is significantly better in every aspect, aside from background lighting. I notice the difference, but I am not sure most people would, really.