Been a long time!

[ninerbj]

My 9 year old Hitachi rear project finally took a dump this morning. I could spend a couple hundred and get it fixed...but what's the point right? Time for an upgrade!!

I am very familiar with several sites to visit when researching audio, but where should I go to get the skinny on the latest and greatest for specs and reviews for TV's?

Any direction would be appreciated.

[cnh]

Nine years is NOT a particularly long time for those sets. RPTVs should have a bit LONGER lifespan than that...unless you REALLY HAD HEAVY USE!

They should come close to direct view sets so 15 or more years should be possible!

But yeah...flat screens are now so cheap that it's not worth the bother. So be happy you can upgrade to 1080p, none of those early sets could do more than 1080i...my Toshiba is about 4-5 years old. I'm hoping for AT LEAST 10+ years from it!!! Fingers crossed.

cnh

[ninerbj]

So, any ideas of some good sites for research?
I am also open to any ideas from my fellow Polkies.
LCD is probably the way I want to go right now.
I want good solid blacks but most important, I do not want to see one stinking lagging pixel. So, what do I look for? 200+ Hz?

[cnh]

What's your price range? My recommendations are a PIONEER KURO plasma if you can afford it.

And if not a good Panasonic Plasma 1080p! Don't need to worry about 120hz/480hz/etc. with those.

Not great in BRIGHTLY LIT ROOMS THOUGH!

cnh

[ninerbj]

Those Pioneers give me wood...but don't want to spend THAT much.

Plasma would work well for the Man Cave is dark...but, that could change in a few months to a year. I better stick with LCD.

[billbillw]

As far as professional review sites:
hometheatermag.com
avguide.com
soundandvisionmag.com
cnet.com

For model specific insights, go to avsforum in the display section. There is a dedicated thread for virtually every TV that is out there.

[Fongolio]

I'm using a Samsung 530 50" Plasma in a fairly bright room and the screen is plenty bright enough. I had a Panny but took it back due to grainieness on broadcast HD pictures. The Sammy is much much better. LCD is catching up but Plasma pictures are still the best and for the just over $1000.00 I paid for the Sammy you can't go wrong. Go plasma!!!

[ninerbj]

Leaning in the plasma direction.

Anyone have a plasma and wish they didn't?

[SKsolutions]

Plasma. Wanted the Pioneer, ended up with two Panny Pro models. No regrets.

[Talweh]

I have two Panasonic Vieras, we got a 52" for the living room, about a year and a half ago, just to see if we really liked it. My wife insisted on a flat panel, and she is a size queen, but the refresh rates on LCDs are so not great, so I insisted on plasma. Truth be told, it didn't suck as bad as I thought it would, especially after I got the calibration disc. it still looks great, and now that it's calibrated it runs alot cooler too. You might have a problem with the blacks though, it seems to me that when the screen fades to black, it sometimes leaves an artifact image which I find distracting, but bearable. anyway, after testing the big one in the LR for a year I went and got the smaller 42" version for the bedroom (my gaming rig) I am about 93% happy with it. If it's important to you, I will go and get the model #s for you, but all in all I am pretty happy with the Vieras. The only real drawback for me is plasmas are more susceptible to "burn-in" which means I have to interrupt my gaming at times to change the screen.

[tcrossma]

I have a plasma and have no regrets. I also have an LCD, and my plasma is far superior in every way. And burn-in is not an issue on newer plasmas. Long gaming sessions can sometimes leave *temporary* retention, but goes away in a few minutes. For real world use, no need to be concerned with it.

[Rivrrat]

I have two plasma's, a Phillips 50" and a Panny Viera 42". I haven't had any problems (the Phillips is 3 1/2 yrs old now), and friends of mine with lcd's like the pics better on both sets.

[CaligulaPolk]

I recommend 58 Panny viera plasma.

you can find one for about 2000 with free shipping at amazon.

[Talweh]

I have a plasma and have no regrets. I also have an LCD, and my plasma is far superior in every way. And burn-in is not an issue on newer plasmas. Long gaming sessions can sometimes leave *temporary* retention, but goes away in a few minutes. For real world use, no need to be concerned with it.

I don't mean to "call you out" or anything TC, perhaps it's an issue with my particular model/set, but it's less than a year old, and it has a burn from "Singstar" on the screen that hasn't vanished yet, and I haven't played that game in over a month. (and I have used the "screen wipe" thingy -the white scrolling bar- to no avail) which leads me to ask... Is there a known good solution to burn-in? thanks in advance for any suggestions!