Monday, November 16, 2009

Which TV would you recommend?

I want to get a new TV. I'm not sure about the widescreens yet, but I know they are the future. So what would you recommend, a CRT tube TV 32", A plasma TV, A LCD TV or a DLP TV? Is there enough HD TV that does not cost an arm and a leg? Will I be OK for a few more years if I buy a CRT TV? I watch mainly regular TV, but I also like movies and have a PS2.

Which TV would you recommend?
Hmm, if you are on a budget, CRT is best. If you want HD on a budget, try a mid-sized LCD screen. DLP TV's give the best size for your dollar, but they are only very large and thus have price tags in the thousands.
Reply:I actually had our old RCA 31" CRT and a new 32" one and a Sharp Aquos 32" all set up in my den. The LCD Sharp was way better than the CRTs. The Standard definition picture did looked a bit funky but it was still better than it looked on the CRTs





I finally settled on the LCD Sony Bravia 40V2500. I have regular analog cable and the regular standard definition stations look OK. What people often do not mention is there are analog HD signal in that cable too. And they look great! (however you do have to search for them as if the were digital signals on the Sony. The Sharp found them as additional analog stations as I recall.)





Movies from our DVD player in 480i look very good too. I need to get a different cable so I can try the 480p. I have the PS2 also and a Svideo connection - great picture there too.
Reply:I have seen some sweet prices on Tigerdirect for some large LCD tvs.
Reply:I would go for a reasonablly priced hd crt set such as the 34 in sony xbr, becuase it will give you the best picture quality out of the types of sets you listed when watching regular tv and you will still be ok when signals switch over to digital in a few years. It will give you great picture on movies and games also especially with an upconverting dvd player used with it. And you should be able to do this on a reasonable budget, between 600 and 700 dollars which is vastly less than sets of the other types.
Reply:LCD flatscreens are a lot lighter than Plasma TVs which weigh over a 100 lbs. Nevertheless, LCD flatscreens may have limited viewing angles and can suffer from dead pixels. While Plasma TVs are very suspectible to ghosting which is the result of having a fixed image inadvertently left on the screen for a long period of time. This fixed image will literally remain as a ghost image backgrounded to the screen. Usually the solution is to install a floating screen savers which is activated when the screen is not active.





And then there are rear projection LCD's and DLP's which use mirror panels and color wheels to filter and project a very large screen image [ranging from 65" to 72" diagonally measured]. The major concern is replacement cost of lamps which usually cost between $200 - $300 and last any number of hours depending on how the TV is shut off. Failing to properly shut down either LCD or DLP units which involves leaving on the main fan running for some 20 minutes -- will result in early failure of projection lamps. And there's the added concern regarding the use of "organic" material which make up the LCD panels/mirrors and usually causes the blue panel to fade over a period of time. So you may have to look forward to purchasing a new LCD projection TV. But getting back to DLP projection TV, there is the issue of viewers seeing the dreaded "rainbow effect" which are color flashes appear in highly contrasty dark scenes. Their sighting can cause headaches and is quite annoying to the viewers. And a possible cure is to choose a color wheel which operates faster than 3X; say 4X which seems to be the threshold speed that virtually eliminates the rainbow effect.





And finally, we should also consider the "ultimate, best" TV technology: "Front Projection."





You may well want to check out another technology: DLP front projection which produces a movie-like experience of HD television, DVDs, videos and games. And according to Consumer Reports, "front projection has a superior image -- better than CRT's, LCDs or plasma."





Check out the reviews for a "92" DLP generated [front projection] TV image at amazon.com by submitting the search query: "Infocus SP4805." There are any number of customer submitted pictures of projected HDTV image(s) along with other high-quality regular DVD-movie images projected on bare white wall surfaces. And the price for a refurbished ScreenPlay 4805 is about $550 with lamps costing around $330 which will last around 4,000 hours. Also check out various reviews at Consumer Reports [November 2005 %26amp; December 2006] in which front projection is rated "superior" to plasma, lcd.





Good luck!


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