Buying a new TV

[Cat]

We are replacing our TV in the bonus room (48" Sony HD projection, if anyone wants to buy for cheap) with a plasma TV. I was thinking about going with the same TV we have downstairs, a 50" Samsung 720p at Best Buy right now for $740 or should I spend the extra $320 and get the Samsung 50" 1080i? That way we at least have one 1080i.

What do you think about the Panasonic Plasmas?

[j2sgam]

Cat, BluRay is, right now, the only source that will output 1080p. Now, you can upscale a video signal to be close, but there is nothing at all wrong with 720p. I would rather 720p than 1080i everyday, but thats me. Why plasma? Would you mind a recommendation as to where to purchase? Check this place out, I have found that they get some TV for less than I get them for as a dealer...

[Cat]

I was thinking plasma because of pricing but I'm seeing I can get a Samsung 52" LCD 1080i for $1150.00

Only time I imagine we will use the 1080i is when we hook up a computer and we may be getting a PS3 in the next year.

Thanks for the LINK!

edit: sites like that are so bad for me, i get a serious case of the wants.

[Jeff L]

If it was up to me I would stay away from plasmas unless you are putting it in a dark area like a basement. My understanding is plasma tv's do not do well in a room where there is a lot of light.

I recently built a house and bought seven LCD tv's ranging from 32 inches (for the kids bedrooms) to 55 inches for the man cave downstairs. What I did was figure out a budget for each tv and then searched for the best one.

I personally would spend the extra money and get the 1080P if this is going to be the main tv you watch.

[Jase]

Isn't 50" a little big for a 720p? How does the picture look?

1080p is amazing for blu-ray... I would pay extra for it. :drool5:

[Cat]

If it was up to me I would stay away from plasmas unless you are putting it in a dark area like a basement. My understanding is plasma tv's do not do well in a room where there is a lot of light.

I recently built a house and bought seven LCD tv's ranging from 32 inches (for the kids bedrooms) to 55 inches for the man cave downstairs. What I did was figure out a budget for each tv and then searched for the best one.

I personally would spend the extra money and get the 1080P if this is going to be the main tv you watch.

Good point. In my den I have drapes I pull across the windows and it makes the room super dark. LOVE IT! But the Bonus room has a bunch of windows and I dont really want to put drapes up. So maybe I should go LCD. It wont be the main TV we watch.

Isn't 50" a little big for a 720p? How does the picture look?

1080p is amazing for blu-ray... I would pay extra for it. :drool5:

It looks great to me. My brother has a 58" 1080i and I don't see much of a difference when watching TV maybe when watching a Blu-Ray.

[Carolina Husker]

I would recommend going with a tv that's built for the future. Go with the 1080 over 720, especially at that size.

The only thing I would do differently would be to buy a bigger one. I have a 54" 1080 Panasonic Plasma. If they made them bigger, I would have done it. Looks great in my den because the ceiling is wooden and dark.

[Cat]

So basically everyone thinks I should spend money and buy one of the best out there.

Sounds good! Thanks everyone.

[Jase]

It looks great to me. My brother has a 58" 1080i and I don't see much of a difference when watching TV maybe when watching a Blu-Ray.

When comparing 1080i to 1080p, it's important to note the 1080i screens often aren't the full 1920x1080 resolution horizontally whereas 1080p screens tend to have the full resolution.

For example, I have one of the last 1080i CRT projection screens made. Its resolution is something like 1280x1080. Because on an interlaced screen, it's difficult to tell visually between 1280 horizontal pixels and 1920.

Progressive screens are an entirely different ball game, they have more resolution and the refresh twice as often, which is why 1080p tends to look a lot better than 1080i. (but also a lot more artificial).

[Cat]

i think his is 1080p, i don't know its a newer tv.

i can never keep them straight

[j2sgam]

So basically everyone thinks I should spend money and buy one of the best out there.

Sounds good! Thanks everyone.

Not everyone...I am a huge DLP advocate. See the Mitsubishi 72" for around $1500, now show me the same size LCD or PDP in that same price range and see how much you get. Now you're not going to hang a DLP on the wall, but you damn sure get more bang for your buck. It all depends on what you're wanting. These 'top-of-the-line' TV's are going to do nothing but go down in price. The new sh_t is always going to cost more. What is the TV used for? Gameday & fight night? Movies? General TV watching? Those answers should determine what TV you get, not opinions of others including me...

[mmmbeans]

1080i has the same resolution as 720p. 1080p is superior to both, and pretty f#cking sweet.

[Cat]

Not everyone...I am a huge DLP advocate. See the Mitsubishi 72" for around $1500, now show me the same size LCD or PDP in that same price range and see how much you get. Now you're not going to hang a DLP on the wall, but you damn sure get more bang for your buck. It all depends on what you're wanting. These 'top-of-the-line' TV's are going to do nothing but go down in price. The new sh_t is always going to cost more. What is the TV used for? Gameday & fight night? Movies? General TV watching? Those answers should determine what TV you get, not opinions of others including me...

video games only sometimes but at the moment mostly cartoons lol. its mostly used by my 3 year old. But when me and my husband both want to play video games one of us will be using it and that will usually be at night. If we got a 1080p and the size is no smaller than 50" we would switch it out with the one in the den so we could hook up our computer too it and eventually a PS3 and take advantage of the higher res

[shinner]

Progressive screens are an entirely different ball game, they have more resolution and the refresh twice as often, which is why 1080p tends to look a lot better than 1080i. (but also a lot more artificial).

They don't refresh twice as often....1080i draws 540 horizontal scan lines at one time. Progressive draws all 1080 of them at once. That's why 1080i and 720p look practically the same.