Sharp 46" 1080P LCD or Samsung 50" 720P Plasma?

[dane_peterson]

I'm struggling with making a decision. I've narrowed it down to the Sharp LC46D62U or the Samsung HPS5073, as they're both in my pricerange from SecondAct. I can't seem to weigh out the pros/cons to have one decided winner. Has anyone been faced with a similar struggle lately?

It's going to be in our family room, and will vary from fairly bright to pretty dark lighting. I've also considered going with the HLS5688 56" DLP, which saves me money. But I've had DLPs for a while, and want to try something new.

Any input would be appreciated. :D

[cheddar]

I have a sharp 45" 1080p tv and the only drawback with it is the black levels. In a really bright room, the blacks will look black, but in a completely dark room, there is the hint of the backlight shading the blacks just a bit lighter than completely black. It definitely is bright enough that is shows well in a brightly lit room.

It also depends on your viewing distance. If you sit fairly close to the set, you can start to see the individual pixels of the 720p set before you can see them in the 1080p set. But if you sit fairly far from the set, they'll both look the same. I've seen charts of recommended viewing distances, maybe someone can post a link.

[dane_peterson]

Thanks for the input, Cheddar. I've been sitting about 8' away from my 50" DLP over the last 8 mos. I sold it last week as I wanted to revamp my system when we move into our new place in a couple weeks. At that time, we'll be about 10.5' away from the display.
What I've heard is that you want the viewing distance to be 2.5x the size of the screen. With that math, we'd want a 50" display. I've got a PS3, so I would really like 1080p, and I'd prefer a flat panel, but maybe DLP is still the way to go.

Dane

[cheddar]

If you're going to be regularly feeding it a 1080p signal, I'd take the 720p set off your list. Just not worth the hassle of loosing all that extra capability. And a 53" screen will definitely be nice. Sounds like a good compromise. I would demo the pictures from both under the likely lighting conditions. The LCD might still have a better picture under daytime conditions. But you won't know unless you demo them somehow.

[Fireman32]

I have a DLP and im very happy with it. But you have to go with what you like the best. Your'e the one who is going to be watching it.

[dane_peterson]

Well I can't say that I was dissatisfied with my Samsung DLP. The 1080P picture was definitely nice. But I've had 4 DLPs now, and I'm bored! Wish I could afford a 50+" 1080P Plasma or LCD, but neither are in the cards right now.

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll save myself the extra dough and go for the DLP for the time being. Next upgrade time maybe I'll make the leap to flatpanel. I know there will be a lot more 1080P choices out there this year, anyway.

[dane_peterson]

Of course they'd do this to me the day after asking the question:

SecondAct has a one-day sale going on the plasma for $1599.

http://www.secondact.biz/product/HPS5073RB

Thoughts?

[cheddar]

720p is just old tech. These 50" plasmas with 720p will continue to drop in price. Especially when the 1080p plasmas go mainstream within the next year or two. You've got a console that outputs at 1080p. There really doesn't seem to be a reason to settle with the plasma unless you don't mind more stuff coming out that will feed into 1080p and you won't have the gear to take advantage of it. But you may not even notice the difference in daily use. You really should demo these things and let your eyes do the talking.

[dane_peterson]

Agreed. The problem I've found is that the big stores won't display BluRay or HD-DVDs on their TVs. If there was a smaller place I could check out that could, I would. But I have yet to find something like that.

I'll keep my feet rooted in the 1080P models. You're right... the prices for 720Ps are gonna fall off a cliff one of these days. With my tendencies to buy and sell, I'm better off with a current technology.

[gonzalr]

I would go with 720p plasma. Even it is an old technology, a good quality plasma can bested some other 1080p DLP in terms of picture quality plus there's no TV show whether satellite dish or cable that transmit a 1080p signal, mostly 720p or 1080i.

Blu-Ray or HD-DVD is a native 1080p but if the size of the TV is less than 60', you won't discern much difference between a 1080p and 720p in picture quality wise.

[cheddar]

Agreed. The problem I've found is that the big stores won't display BluRay or HD-DVDs on their TVs. If there was a smaller place I could check out that could, I would. But I have yet to find something like that.

I'll keep my feet rooted in the 1080P models. You're right... the prices for 720Ps are gonna fall off a cliff one of these days. With my tendencies to buy and sell, I'm better off with a current technology.

Well, the stand alone magnolia hi-fis that are still around in my area seem to have hd players hooked up to their flat panels. They're usually better at letting people see the signals than the floor of big box stores (and they actually have HT like viewing rooms). I haven't tried the customer service at magnolias in BB yet. Maybe you should start there and see if they'll hook something up for you.

[BaggedLancer]

all of the BB w. magnolia around here have the HD DVD and Blu Ray set up on 1080p tvs, just ask them to switch them to the TV's you are interested. I have found that in both Magnolias in BB i dealt with the CS is top notch and is ready to do what is needed to make a sale.

[Pepi28]

A friend of mine just picked up the 56" sammy you have in your poll and it is absolutely amazing picture wise. I brought my ps3 over to his to see how a hi-def picture looks on his set and was amazed. I have a 50" sammy plasma myself and am amazed every time I turn it on as well. So I guess what I am trying to say is it is up to you and your eyes. If I were you though I would go for the 56" sammy dlp. It beat out a bunch of other 1080p tv's in home theatre magazine including sony's new xbr3 sets.

[dane_peterson]

Sorry to disregard the recommendations from everyone, but I decided to buy that Deal-of-the-Day Plasma. The resale value of it, in my opinion, will be better than the DLP due to its flatpanel-ness. (That's what the people want!)

In the meantime, I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a good deal on a 50"+ 1080P flatpanel. Maybe at that time I'll sell the Sammy and make the switch back to Full HD.