Opinions on big screens and 3-D

I recently went plasma due to space issues where I was going to put it. There are differences in plasma displays (quality), and Panasonic makes some real nice ones. I got a nice Panasonic 65".

For pure bang for buck, it's hard to beat DLP-based rear projection. Mitsubishi makes good ones if you have the space.

Do note that plasmas and tube-systems are subject to burn in. LCD and DLP systems are not. DLP's will need a bulb or 2 in their lifetime also.

You should be able to find a projector that has the right inputs with a 1080-line DLP chip if you want to stay with old school front projection. They're in the $800-2000 range.

As for 3D...Still not sure if it's a passing fad, or if software (DVD's) will continue to be available.

 

I would like to comment on the 3D.

I have not seen a 3D TV yet but from what I understand of the technology I think its stupid. They are currently using shutter glasses to get the effect. I had a video card from Asus that did 3D using shutter glasses. It did the job at getting 3D but it made my eyes hurt.

The best 3D I ever seen was in a theater using circular polarized glasses. Using circular polarizing glasses instead of the regular polarized glasses lets you move your head around without disturbing the 3D effect. Also I did not get a headache when watching a 3D movie with the polarized glasses.

Personally I would stay away from any home 3D TV until they start using the circular polarized glasses.

As far as plasma vs LCD I like the look of plasma the best but I personally would just start comparing TV's and look at the reviews.

I personally have a 62" DLP rear projection TV and it looks great. The TV came with my house so I did not have a choice on what to get but I still like it.

 

One comment I would like to make, if you want long term, get an LED lit TV, not an LCD or Plasma, the problem with LCD and Plasma is the power supply, they have a tendency to go out early due to the high demand of energy to light the florescent tubes, LED lit ones don't require the high demand power, so run cooler and the power supply doesn't have to work as hard.

 

The first hurdle the 3D folk are going to have to overcome, there are 4 or more "STANDARDS" for the 3D audience to choose from! Of course none of the current "STANDARDS" are COMPATIBLE with each other!!!

THAT"S PATHETIC!!!

Will someone come up with a standard, ONE SYSTEM, that we all can buy or reject, but until you come up with one, I am not WASTING ANY MONEY on 3D CRAP!!!

We all remember how well AM Stereo turned out.... they had 4 standards....

Oh, let the consumer sort it out they are smart, sadly there are many folk who cannot get the flashing clock to display anything other than a FLASHING 12:00A much less make an informed decision on 3D much less LED vs. LCD, vs. Rear Projection 720P 1080I

And all those 1080P disks you bought, watch out, there is no STANDARD FOR 1080p YET, which is why broadcasters are not planning to broadcast any 1080p... until a standard is set up!!! You may have to trash everything you have already bought when they decide that a different varient is in order to meet broadcasters needs for 1080P....GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Well, in a word...YES!!!
Unless EVERYONE in Hollywood, and the world of Cable & Broadcast adopts the current 1080P as the "SYSTEM STANDARD" you might just have to replace all of it!!

Do not think that the Entertainment community isn't chomping at the bit on this one...WOW, we can sell all those movies all over again, think of the profits..

SIMPLY PATHETIC!!!

 

The new Samsung LED backlight TV's are very thin, have low power consumption, and a great picture with a suitable HD source like BluRay.

The 3D is a gimmick. Tried it out, not that big of a deal.

Personally I'm waiting for the Holodeck

 

i learned that lesson 25 years ago with betamax.

 

When my boss went to NAB, there were all sorts of vendors hawking "Their" 3D as the best... Mitsubishi was one of the contenders, Panasonic had theirs, as well as a couple of other manufacturers. All needed some sort of EXPENSIVE goggles, and you get one (1) per TV, the rest of the family has to buy their own..not cheap either! You can google it, but as far as consumer info, your gonna have to dig it out!

Besides, look how long it took to impliment just plain ole HD, I think you can safely buy a new set, and not really worry about 1080P being broadcast in the next 5 years.
Personally I would stay away fom 3D, just find a regular HD set that pleases your eyes, as far as size, once again, it depends on your room size, how far away from the screen you will be, how much cash you have in your pocket! Do not let the salesman push you into "The latest and greatest", just buy what looks good to your eyes, fits YOUR budget, and circumstances! Afterall, it's ALL subjective anyway!!

 

I tried out a 3-D setup at Best Buy using a nice Samsung display and a BR disc. I do not know what the 3-d method was. All in all I was underwhelmed. Certainly not worse quality than HD, but I wondered if actually better. Occasionally a snippet would show up where I could convince myself that it was actually 3-d, but not often.Part of the answer is the video material: cartoons and animations are more 3-D than camera material.

Anyway, if it was me I would spend the extra money on a larger screen rather than 3-D, at least as things now stand. As for LCD vs LED vs plasma I think this is more a subjective decision for each consumer, that also takes into account the room conditions where the TV will reside. E.g, I appreciate contrast and dislike false skin coloration. My old eyes with early cataracts definitely chose plasma over LCD when I bought a set a couple of years ago, at least when Panasonic plasma was compared to all the other LCD companies except for Sony.

 

Plasmas tend to have deeper blacks than fluorescent-backlit LCD TV's, have a much wider viewing angle and have less of a problem with judder (choppiness during fast moving scenes). 120HZ and 240HZ processing for LCD TVs helps correct judder, however.

LED-backlit LCD sets (usually marketed as "LED TVs") rival and sometimes surpass Plasmas for black levels, especially if it's a "local dimming" set, but you still may have issues with "blooming" (halos around bright objects in dark scenes) and viewing angle.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information about electricity consumption, however, since LED backlit sets use about 1/3 the electricity of even newer Plasmas (though we're only talking 90W vs. 270W).

Color accuracy, viewing angle, artifacts from video processing, some sets have banding issues, some LCD sets may suffer from uneven backlighting, etc.

CNET has a good guide as to the best sets they currently like:
Best 5 HDTVs: Picture quality - CNET Reviews

Plasmas dominate, though, again, they use more juice.

The active shutter glasses on a HDTV will probably have better 3D effects than the theater (the theaters can't afford to give everyone $70 pairs of glasses for every show), but you'll notice the picture becomes dimmer because each eye is blacked out half the time (that's how active shutter glasses work).

There won't be "flicker" per se, but some sets have issues with "ghosting" where a 3D object has a sort of a second image that's a little off.

I personally haven't taken the 3D plunge yet. You have to really like a (very) limited number of kids movies to get excited about the technology, because those constitute most of the bigger-name 3D titles available at the moment.

Personally, I'm waiting for 3D technology to improve, prices to come down, and more movies to become available.

That said, some Panasonic plasmas offer a package with 3D version of Avatar that is pretty drool worthy. You can probably check it out if you go to Best Buy or some big box retailer.

 

Only ?

 

Fixed that for you.

 

I guess it's subjective, but most people only note that the energy savings of LED backlit sets won't ever pay for the price premium over the life of the set.

I hear you, though. I bought an LED backlit set largely because of the energy savings vs. Plasma. The extra cost was worth knowing I was polluting less (sort of like the Prius).

 

i have a 6 year old panasonic 42" plasma that i only watch when we have company. and a 2 year old samsung 37" lcd that we watch every day. every time we go into the living room to watch the plasma, i'm always amazed at how sharp the picture is. when i'm watching the lcd, it looks good and i don't realize the plasma is better until i see it again. i'm thinking of setting up a movie room and have done a little research on 65" tv's vs projectors, but it's difficult putting it all together. and there's always the problem pulling the trigger because of what's coming down the road tomorrow.

 

I have a 50" pioneer plasma, if you could find one to look at they are the best

 

Screen size:

Choosing Screen Size and Placing Your TV

Crutchfield is a great place to find out all kinds of things about home theater. :thumb: