Need help picking a new TV.

[the ringo kid]

Some additional help needed. Im NOT electronically up to date so--whats the Diff between Plasma and LED screens? Just wondering since im in the market to modernize my TV. I looked at a Toshiba 19 inch about 3 years ago but never bought it since my 13 inch 10 yr old set still works fine.

 

[smokindog]

I've got 10 Vizios of various vintages and sizes (20" -> 65"). I think they have all been great value sets and wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Black Friday at Sams typically has a decent buy but there are frequent sales at both Sams and Costco. For your defined viewing requirements, pick a size you like, pick a Vizio, and you won't be sorry. The money you save can be used at the range!!!!!

 

[wildenout]

Just avoid Vizio, they have trouble with their sound systems ALL the time! Got one as a wedding gift that is in our room, bad sound, got one out in the living room, bad sound...one day I'll have a nice TV.

 

[skeetshooter]

SAMSUNG,,,FOR HEAVENS SAKE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LVSteve]

Some additional help needed. Im NOT electronically up to date so--whats the Diff between Plasma and LED screens? Just wondering since im in the market to modernize my TV. I looked at a Toshiba 19 inch about 3 years ago but never bought it since my 13 inch 10 yr old set still works fine.

There is Plasma, LCD and LED.

Plasma is now considered an old technology but it was loved for its deep blacks and speed.

LCD with a single backlight source (you'll see why I say this later) uses less power than plasma and eventually caught up when it came to contrast and speed. I have a Sony Bravia from 2009 that is universally praised by visitors for its picture quality.

LED is essentially an LCD TV with multiple LED sources that in some TVs also adjust in intensity as well as the LCD part of the screen. It has great contrast as different sections of the screen can be run with different illumination levels. An LED TV is NOT as some think an array of thousands of LEDs making up the pixels. LED backlighting comes in several flavours. LED-backlit LCD display - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One word of caution with modern TVs. My TV is praised because it is a capable set and I took the time to set up the picture properly. As delivered a modern TV is set up to be viewed in a big box store with many things set to 11 if you get my drift. You have to tone down everything to get a natural picture. Biggest mistake I see in TV setups are too much backlighting leading to white clipping, too much contrast and/or colour saturation and way too much sharpening. Watching the TV at my buddy's place is like having razor blades fired into your eyes.

 

[scooter123]

Get a flat screen, the cheapest flat screen you can find. A dirty little secret that isn't widely circulated is that by accident a manufacturer in Taiwan learned how to make a capacitor with a service life of 3 to 5 years. TV's made today feature these capacitors and will only last 3 to 5 years. Don't believe it, just type in "bad capacitor" in Google and start reading.

BTW, currently I have LG and Samsung flat screens in my basement with bad capacitors and I'm still debating taking them apart to replace the bulged capacitors. Because while it's supposed to be rather simple to fix it takes a fairly high level of skill with a soldering iron and I'm certain that getting the motherboards out will be a real PITA. May end up hauling them to the dump.

 

[eddie234]

IMHO..
One word..

VIZIO..

Ive got three. No problems with them at all

Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Tapatalk 2

 

[wbraswell]

I bought a Sanyo 42" at WalMart a couple of years ago. It was cheap and so far, I've had no problems, and I'm happy with it.

 

[Maximumbob54]

If you can wait it out then it might be worth it for prices to start dropping. There is yet another new HD upgrade about to happen and the prices of everything on the shelf are already starting to fall. We have gone from 480i to 480p to 720P and 1080i to 1080p and the latest is something called 4K. 4K is supposed to have four times the pixels as the current standard of 1920x1080. They are only now starting to enter the market and most websites are saying that pricing on current models will be a fire sale come the Christmas shopping season which is (gulp) right around the corner.

For what it's worth, I'm in love with all things Panasonic plasma as I feel plasma offers the hands down best looking picture. However if you live in any serious elevation plasma has issues. Next I would go with anything that is marked LED 120 hz as those models seem to have the best pictures. Samsung usually looks the best in this catagory. Sony used to be king but the Koreans have really stolen a lot of that market.

 

[BearBio]

WE have two=upstairs in the living room and downstairs in the man cave. Both are Vizios. One is HD. and both are (or, were, at the time) big screens.

We mostly watch movies or a few series (True Blood, Duck Dynasty, Walking Dead, SOA, Boardwalk Empire, etc). Although we do not subscribe to HD, we do seem to get a better picture on the HD set as opposed to the older one.

Now, if I can keep the wife off of the DIY channel!

 

[the ringo kid]

There is Plasma, LCD and LED.

Plasma is now considered an old technology but it was loved for its deep blacks and speed.

LCD with a single backlight source (you'll see why I say this later) uses less power than plasma and eventually caught up when it came to contrast and speed. I have a Sony Bravia from 2009 that is universally praised by visitors for its picture quality.

LED is essentially an LCD TV with multiple LED sources that in some TVs also adjust in intensity as well as the LCD part of the screen. It has great contrast as different sections of the screen can be run with different illumination levels. An LED TV is NOT as some think an array of thousands of LEDs making up the pixels. LED backlighting comes in several flavours. LED-backlit LCD display - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One word of caution with modern TVs. My TV is praised because it is a capable set and I took the time to set up the picture properly. As delivered a modern TV is set up to be viewed in a big box store with many things set to 11 if you get my drift. You have to tone down everything to get a natural picture. Biggest mistake I see in TV setups are too much backlighting leading to white clipping, too much contrast and/or colour saturation and way too much sharpening. Watching the TV at my buddy's place is like having razor blades fired into your eyes.

Ahh, very much thank you. I had a friend that had a TV set they just bought which had lights on the back and I saw they changed colors during parts of whatever they watched. He put in one of those DvDs you could buy for $1 that had public domain movies on it churned out by cheapo companies. In this case-it had two old John Wayne early 30s B&W movies on it--and though the dvd quality wasnt much--it still looked and sounded great.

Thank you and now I know what to look for when I finally bite the leather strap (dont wanna give bullets a bad name) and buy one.

 

[2001gmc]

Get a LCD or LED stay away from Plasma. I like VIZIO and LG.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Some additional help needed. Im NOT electronically up to date so--whats the Diff between Plasma and LED screens? Just wondering since im in the market to modernize my TV. I looked at a Toshiba 19 inch about 3 years ago but never bought it since my 13 inch 10 yr old set still works fine.

Plasma is best for those who are sensitive to motion blur, particularly if gaming or watching sports. The difference is significant when comparing to 60hz LCD/LED. 120hz and 240hz LCD/LED are a big improvement and motion blur is less noticeable. I would caution about paying much more for a 240hz LCD/LED TV. It makes your picture look funky kinda like a semi-3d soap opera. I have a 120/240hz Sony and never use the higher setting. Now some people can watch a football game on a 60hz LCD/LED and not see any problem at all. I get woozy watching at 60hz.

Plasma is not near as bright as LCD/LED. This is very much noticeable in a room with a lot of windows during daytime. I would't even consider a plasma for my living room which has a lot of windows. For darker rooms or night time, plasma is fine.

Plasma usually has greater viewing angles than LCD/LED. I've got a Sony Bravia that if I get more than about 30 degrees off center I can start to see the picture graying a bit. No such problem with Samsung.

Flat panel TVs don't gobble up much electricity to begin with, but plasma can use about 4 times as much as LCD/LED.

Plasma is typically much lower in price.

A 19'' TV? I don't believe I've ever seen a plasma TV that small. I think the smallest I have ever seen was 32'', but they are usually 40in and above. For small screens none of the above matters much anyway. The one thing I would pay attention to is viewing angle. Cheap small LCD screens, particularly matte, can be horrible to watch off axis. I've got an Insigna 24in 1080p in the kitchen that doubles as a computer monitor. Get a few degrees off axis and the picture really sucks.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I feel compelled to defend plasma.

CHEAP plasma is not as bright as LCD whether it’s compact fluorescent tube lit or LED back lighting.
Decent (like my Panasonic or her LG) plasma is plenty bright enough.

You also get the best color availability, contrast ratio, as for the refresh rate plasma doesn’t even need the same thing as LCD but if you want to know the usual is either 480hz or 600hz on newer models which puts LCD to shame with the current 240 hz topping out in LCD sets.

This helps explain that some if you care to read more:

What is 600Hz? | TV and Home Theater - CNET Reviews

Bottom line if you want the best picture you can get it's still on plasma although some people prefer the "look" of LCD despite plasma being able to render a more accurate picture.

As for power demands, I didn't buy a big screen tv to save power, be green, or anything else. I bought a tv to have the best looking picture I can for watching whatever I want.

I do agree that for a picture less than at least 32" most of this talk is moot. Most any cheap LCD in the less than 32" size looks at least decent for watching regular tv even in non HD status.

As for matte vs. glossy to me that's just about how much glare you have in your tv viewing area. If you have too much glare then a matte screen may work best for you. I know glare drives me nuts with the glass screen plasma. I have shades and curtains over everything at night when it's movie time.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

If you like your dimly bright Panasonic plasma TV, hold onto it because you aren't going to be buying another. Panasonic has given up trying to sell plasma TVs. Sales of plasma TVs in general have fallen off a cliff in recent years, and forecasts indicate it getting much worse. Consumers simply don't choose a plasma when next to an LED at the local electronics store. Panasonic is supposed to be closing their last plasma production operation next year.

 

[BillK01]

Having owned 3 plasmas and 2 LED's - I will stick up for LED.

While I adore my old Pioneer Elite - it has developed burn-in on the sides from 4:3 content. It's not horrible - but it's there and you notice it especially on hockey games with a white background - that's why it's now hanging in my garage.

My 55" Panasonic GT30 plasma also developed burn-in on the bottom because of a workout DVD my wife used for approximately 35 minutes per day - 6 days a week over only about 3 months.

My OLD Panasonic 50" plasma has not developed any burn-in so I'll give it that.

Fortunately I had purchased an extended warranty on my GT30 - they sent out a tech who confirmed it was burned in and not stubborn IR (image retention) - attempted to find a new panel - and ended up refunding me my entire purchase price when they couldn't. I used that credit to buy my Samsung F8000 55" LED.

I do agree the PQ on a plasma is tough to beat - but no matter what anyone says - the potential for burn-in is there. I was FANATICAL about always running full screen content for at least an hour after any 4:3 shows, or permanent menu's, ticker bars or HUD's from video games on all my plasmas yet 2 of the 3 still got it. My wife would even put HD Discovery channel on after workouts and leave it run for about an hour or two.

I ran break in slides on all 3 for 100 hours straight to condition the panels when they were first purchased - and still got it. Once the burn-in was discovered on the Elite and GT30 - I ran the Disney WoW pixel flipper for 3 days straight to help wipe it away (hoping it was just stubborn IR and not burn-in) - which never worked.

No more plasmas for me.

 

[Maximumbob54]

If you like your dimly bright Panasonic plasma TV, hold onto it because you aren't going to be buying another. Panasonic has given up trying to sell plasma TVs. Sales of plasma TVs in general have fallen off a cliff in recent years, and forecasts indicate it getting much worse. Consumers simply don't choose a plasma when next to an LED at the local electronics store. Panasonic is supposed to be closing their last plasma production operation next year.

 

[the ringo kid]

Plasma is best for those who are sensitive to motion blur, particularly if gaming or watching sports. The difference is significant when comparing to 60hz LCD/LED. 120hz and 240hz LCD/LED are a big improvement and motion blur is less noticeable. I would caution about paying much more for a 240hz LCD/LED TV. It makes your picture look funky kinda like a semi-3d soap opera. I have a 120/240hz Sony and never use the higher setting. Now some people can watch a football game on a 60hz LCD/LED and not see any problem at all. I get woozy watching at 60hz.

Plasma is not near as bright as LCD/LED. This is very much noticeable in a room with a lot of windows during daytime. I would't even consider a plasma for my living room which has a lot of windows. For darker rooms or night time, plasma is fine.

Plasma usually has greater viewing angles than LCD/LED. I've got a Sony Bravia that if I get more than about 30 degrees off center I can start to see the picture graying a bit. No such problem with Samsung.

Flat panel TVs don't gobble up much electricity to begin with, but plasma can use about 4 times as much as LCD/LED.

Plasma is typically much lower in price.

A 19'' TV? I don't believe I've ever seen a plasma TV that small. I think the smallest I have ever seen was 32'', but they are usually 40in and above. For small screens none of the above matters much anyway. The one thing I would pay attention to is viewing angle. Cheap small LCD screens, particularly matte, can be horrible to watch off axis. I've got an Insigna 24in 1080p in the kitchen that doubles as a computer monitor. Get a few degrees off axis and the picture really sucks.

I might have used the wrong term for that 19 inch but--it was a flat screen made by Toshiba and it also had a built in DvD player (left side of set) and was priced at $250.00 and being sold at Fry's Electronics in Austin. In fact, if I also remember it correctly, the screen itself was slightly curved??/

 

[Engineer1911]

I'm a TV dummy. Go to WalMart, Best Buy, H H Gregg, and the mall. Look at all the gazillion tvs and write down the name and important specs on the one you like looking at for picture quality.

Go do your internet homework, price comparison at home, whatever your decision process is and make a decision. Use your data to get the tv of your choice at a lower price. It isn't a house, a car, or the perfcect boat, but an over priced TV. Fox news looks good on anything, Racheal Ray is hot or fat on any TV, and MSNBC never makes sense.

Go home and enjoy your new TV.

 

[the ringo kid]

I'm a TV dummy. Go to WalMart, Best Buy, H H Gregg, and the mall. Look at all the gazillion tvs and write down the name and important specs on the one you like looking at for picture quality.

Go do your internet homework, price comparison at home, whatever your decision process is and make a decision. Use your data to get the tv of your choice at a lower price. It isn't a house, a car, or the perfcect boat, but an over priced TV. Fox news looks good on anything, Racheal Ray is hot or fat on any TV, and MSNBC never makes sense.

Go home and enjoy your new TV.

Im eying some at both WM and Best Buy-just no particular in mind yet.