what tv

[cdawall]

after my projector bulb went i figured i should get a cheap tv so i don't go through bulbs as fast. does anyone have a sub $550 suggestion? i don't care plasma or LCD and would prefer a larger tv. from what i was seeing plasma's had a good price to size...

[twilyth]

If you don't spend a lot of time keeping it on pause (like i do) and don't have it on for several hours per day, a plasma should give you a good high quality picture for a long time.

[cdawall]

doesn't stay on pause for any extended period of time. is 720P vs 1080P even going to be noticeable? most of the plasmas are 720P but now for $50 or so more in 42" you get a 1080P LCD which is about the cost of a 50" plasma

[twilyth]

If you view 720 and 1080 side by side I'm sure you will see the difference, but is it really huge? I don't think so but then most of the time I watch tv without my glasses and I have a slight astigmatism. Also I'm not very demanding interms of quality.

I would go look in person and see what you think - if that's an option. The claim to fame for plasma has always been the darkness of their blacks. LCD had a hard time comparing for a long time and think plasma still is noticeably better but the LCD's have gotten quite good.

8" diagonally is a lot of extra viewing area but a 50" at 720 might be a problem since you might start to notice the individual pixels.

It's hard to say since so much of it is subjective preference rather than which is objectively better.

[Wile E]

720p to 1080p was night and day to me. 720p never really impressed me. I was expecting a similar change in quality as VHS to DVD. 720p didn't do that. 1080p did.

If at all possible, I would actually avoid most 120hz+ LCD TVs. They do this weird thing where they make your movies look like daytime television.

[cdawall]

The only issue I was seeing when you went and watched the 1080p lcd's they were badly pixelated every time there was motion while the plasma did not and was smooth. Is that just cheaply set up stores or an actual problem?

[Triprift]

Youll see alot of pixilating as most of the stuff on even hd channels at the most is 720P or less. Ofcourse bluerays at 1080P will look great on a truehd screen. As for Plasma or LCD its entirely up to you. Plasma's are generally brighter but suseptable to burnin even though i have a plasma myself and the burnin disappears in seconds.

[cdawall]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia%26%23153%3B+-+50%22+Class+/+Plasma+/+720p+/+600Hz+/+HDTV/9745916.p?skuId=9745916&id=1218166152566

vs

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia%26%23153%3B+-+51%26%2334%3B+Class+/+Plasma+/+1080p+/+600Hz+/+HDTV/2691053.p?skuId=2691053&id=1218345398406

[Triprift]

If you have a hd player like a ps3 id say definitly go for the 1080P plasma screen.

[cdawall]

If you have a hd player like a ps3 id say definitly go for the 1080P plasma screen.

PS3 and a PC run into it through a HK AVR347. how do plasmas do when its not the native resolution? every LCD i have used looks like shit when its not the right res.

[Triprift]

For me unless its VHS wich is just tragic lower reses aint to bad. It also depends on how close you are to the screen. If you can be idealy a few metres away than you should be fine. Most channels here are at the best 480P but dont look to bad.

[jmcslob]

PS3 and a PC run into it through a HK AVR347. how do plasmas do when its not the native resolution? every LCD i have used looks like shit when its not the right res.

I think that depends on what the LCD panel is made of..S-IPS looks good all the time

[twilyth]

I think that depends on what the LCD panel is made of..S-IPS looks good all the time
I don't think any large consumer LCD's use IPS. It would price them out of the market. Haven't viewing angles on LCD's improved a lot? Plus the fast response of std LCD's has to be better for action movies and sports anyway.

[Wile E]

I don't think any large consumer LCD's use IPS. It would price them out of the market. Haven't viewing angles on LCD's improved a lot? Plus the fast response of std LCD's has to be better for action movies and sports anyway.

Most use MVA or PVA and the viewing angles match IPS at 178/178. Very few LCDs of recent years show poor performance in sports and such. Movies use blurring, so most people likely couldn't tell the difference anyway.

@cd - go for the 1080p plasma. Don't worry about upscaling, set your peripherals to do the upscaling. They almost always do better than the built in TV scaling anyway.