Need a big screen TV! what do I need to know???

I’ve decided to splurge, buy a big screen for my newly renovated basement. After stopping at the local Future Shop, I was told the following: Rear projection TV - old technology, go for the new DPL (I think that’s what is, they are lighter, thinner and better pic ($2,300 for a 51")) or if you really want to splurge (which I don’t) go for plasma ($4,000+) 0 ‘High Definition’ is a must as well is a wide screen; you need a “monster” plug in, which is basically a power bar ($100-$200); TV stand (for a nice one $400-500, which the DPL needs); home entertainment kit ($100-$300); some plug in things for the High Definition (can’t remember what they are worth) and so on and so on. Anybody got anything to add in my quest for a big screen??? Would appreciate any advice cause I know zippity do dah about TVs. Thanks in advance

I have only one piece of advice: measure the path your new TV will have to take to reach its new home. A friend bought a new TV and, unfortunately, it was bigger than the door and bigger than the windows. He ended up storing it at his parents until his lease ran out, then he went out and rented a place with a nice, big, sliding glass door to the back that the TV fit through nicely.

I highly recommend DLP. from what I’ve seen in the shops.

DLP (“Digital Light Projection”, I think) uses a chip covered in a squillion tiny movable mrrors to control the reflection of light from the set’s lamp to the screen. I’ve noticed that it seems to give seamless pictures with the best colour, and while sets using it are rear-projection, they seem to be a lot smaller than other rear-projection sets, and they aren’t as expensive as the plasma and LCD panels. I think there’s a bit of a sweet spot for price/picture quality there.

“Monster plugin”? Do you mean a power bar made by Monster Cable? If it’s anything like their audio cable, it may be somewhat overpriced.

I’d recomemnd just going to Radio Shack and getting a power bar that includes a circuit breaker of sufficient capacity for the equipment. Filtering and surge protection is also good, especially for such expensive equipment.

What’s in the “Home Entertainment Kit”? What are the other “plug-in things” for the HD? You may need to get a few cables and adapters, depending on what devices you already have.

Does the set include an HD tuner? If not, and you want to receive over-the-air HD broadcasts, you will need an external HD tuner box. To receive broadcasts, you will also need an HD antenna.

Connecting other devices… bear in mind that I have never owned any HD equipment.

I believe that HD devices can connect with a “DVI” connector, in the same way that many computer devices can, such as my monitor. There may also be (in order of decreasing picture sharpness) a group of cable connections for red, green, and blue signals; an S-video connector; a composite video connector; and (maybe) an RF cable connector). Use the one closest to the beginning of the list for the sharpest picture.

Your disc player and cable box/PVR should also have some of these connectors.

I am ignoring audio connections for the moment.

Can you give us some model numbers, both of the planned set and the things you want to connect to it? We could look them up on the net and see what kind of connections thay have, and figure out how best to connect them…

Your main choices would be:

CRT Projection- Old school. Huge and bulky. Dim picture. Can’t be seen from sides. Good prices for a huge picture.
DLP- Probably one of two technologies you should look at. Lightweight, bright, sharp picture.
LCD Projection- The other technology to look at. Lightweight, bright, sharp picture.
LCD Panel- Very nice but can be pricey.
Plasma- Very pricey. Very heavy despite being thin.

DLP and LCD Projection are where it’s at IMHO. Expect to pay $2500-$3500 for a 50" or bigger screen.

If your primary source for TV is with a roof antenna then consider getting a TV with a built-in HD tuner. If your going to get HD broadcasts from a cable provider or satellite provider the boxes they provide have the HD tuners built into them.
If you use a DVD player get a “Component” cable for the best picture.

Monster makes a ‘powerbar’ but they are overpriced and not necessary. Get yourself a decent surge suppressor/protector and you’ll be fine.

A matching stand can be overpriced also ($300-$500). If you don’t have to have the aesthetic match you can get good stands for $150 (Bush,Sauder,IKEA).

Get the ‘right’ connections but don’t pay for the big name brands of cable like Monster. Salesmen will try to sell you on them but it’s snakeoil.
Let us know when you want to get into surround sound and we can help you there.

Man, I am SO glad this thread happened.

I have a few questions which SHOULD dovetail nicely with the OP.

[ol]
[li]I have heard that a Plasma TV is only projected for 5-7 years of use until the plasma"runs out". Wive’s tale or truth?[/li][li]I’ve heard that LCD has worse picture quality than Plasma. True?[/li][li]DLP? What does that stand for?[/li][li]HDTV. Internal tuner…got it. Forgive me for being ignorant, but that still allows normal cable reception, correct?[/li][/ol]

So, if money were no object (and it is, but I want some guidance), I would want a DLP TV with an internal HD tuner. Correct?

-Cem

I agree. Bang for the buck, DLP and LCD Projection is where its at. In January, i purchased the Sony LCD Projection, 50", for about $2,700. (With all of the bonuses and sales I got at best buy, I got it down to about $2,200–so watch when you buy it) I really recommend the TV I have, I love it. I also really recommend the Hitachi 50" DLP. Both have amazing pictures. One thing to keep in mind is that you have to replace the bulb in these TVs every 2 years or so and it costs about $200 for a bulb. I got the service plan at Best Buy which covers my TV for 4 years and I spent $200 or so to get the plan which includes bulb replacement.

As for the TV stand, you can buy a good TV stand at a furniture shop or off the internet for a lot less than the “brand” name stands. $400 to $500 is way too much IMHO.

I personally don’t recommend plasma. I know too many people that have had major problems with them and they cost a fortune.

My mom has one of these 51" rear projection HDTVs. For $1699 I think it’s fantastic. The only drawback is the optimum viewing angle is a bit tight. It’s fine in her family room, though, where the seating is an L shape and the TV is in the corner diagonal to the bend in the L. The sound is excellent for a standalone TV and it’s on wheels.

DLP = Digital Light Processing

See http://www.projectorcentral.com/lcd_dlp.htm

  1. Yes, this is the case. Plasma tvs have thousands of plasma pixels that light when electric current is passed through them. Like a light bulb they will dim over time from usage and eventually burn out. A repair is actually a replacement of the entire screen which is essentially the cost of the tv. However, better and newer technology is being used to give these sets longer lives.
    (Another point on plasmas, they consume a lot of electricity over other sets.)
  2. Worse picture? Well, maybe just because many believe plasma to be the best. LCD panel is similar to a notebook pc screen or flat monitor.
  3. DLP-Digital Light Projection. See Sunspace’s entry for how it works. DLPs have been noted for their exceptional color quality especially black.
  4. Yep, even with a built in HD tuner the set will still accept non-hd signals from cable, satellite, dvd, vcr, etc.

If money were no object I’d probably get the biggest plasma set I could find and buy 2 more as back ups.

I’d suggest going to sites where people give reviews on electronics. That’s what my husband did before we bought our TV. We ended up with a 50" Panasonic LCD rear-projection.

Before you buy a TV, you may want to think about a projector. If you have the right conditions (i.e. a room where you can control the amount of ambient light), you can get a much bigger image, for the same price.

You can now get HD resolution projectors (1280x720) from Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, etc. in the $1600-$2500 range. Throw in a couple of hundred bucks for a screen, and you will have a 100"+ image that is fantastic.

Check out avsforum.com - for great discussion on both TVs and projectors.

Unpossible

From what I’ve read, plasmas lose about 10% of their brightness per year due to discharge, giving them a finite lifespan. However, they should last quite a while.

Picture quality: both plasma and LCD flat panel are high-def capable. The rub is when you display a non-high def signal (80% of TV is still standard def). They tend to look worse on an LCD, whose resolution is fixed based on the pixels the screen has, than on a plasma. If you have a laptop computer, try setting the screen resolution lower than the native resolution of the screen to see what I meen. The interpolated image looks like crap.

I’ll second DLP and rear-projection LCD as being the best technologies right now. Each has its own limitations, however:

DLP: If you sit too close or get a screen that is inordinately big for the room, you may sense a “rainbow” affect. Its a little disoorienting:

http://www.twentysix.net/HLM507W/artifacts/

LCD Rear projection: most models have trouble projecting a true black color, and display dark gray instead.

Both will require you to replace the internal projection lamps at some point (6K - 10K hours of use). These can run a few hundred dollars. Depending on how much you use the TV, you may never have to use this. Both are also subject to “burn-in”: be careful not to display a static image, such as a paused video game, for a long period of time.

CRT: nice image, same tech as your old TV but now in a high-def flavor, but the sets weigh a ton (my 36" is easily 300 lbs). They don’t some any bigger than that, but offer great pictures in both SD and HD modes, as they are multi-sync, much like a normal computer monitor. If you can deal with the size and weight limitations, you may want to consider these.

LCD flat panel: generally poorer quality standard definition display, but nice HD. Bigger sets may have some stuck or dead pixels on them (but are hard to notice).

For AV components, no need for the Monster Power Center. You should, however, get a decent surge protector that covers both outlet power and the cable inputs and maybe consider a line conditioner (so that when your neighbor turns on his vacuum during the Hawaiin Tropic bikini contest, you don’t get annoying lines).

You will need:

Digital (DVI or HDMI) connector cables, if your set and cable/satellite receiver has such connections. Since these are truly digital connects, you’ll get the cleanest picture and there is no digital to analog signal conversion between the receiver and the TV.

Component Video cables: the only analog cable-type capable of passing HD resolutions. If you don’t use the digital connections between your reciever and TV, you’ll definitely need component cables. (S-video and composite connections will not carry an HD signal, so if you hook up with those you’ll be watching normal TV on your HDTV). I read somewhere that up to 80% of consumers who buy HDTVs make this mistake and only think they are watching HDTV.

You’ll also want to use component cables to hook up your progressive scan DVD player to the TV, as S-video and composite won’t carry a progressive signal. If you’re DVD player is not progressive scan, you might benefit from upgrading it. If not, your TV may “upconvert” the interlaced feed into a progressive image. This does not mean your DVDs will be at HD resolutions (non are), but may better utilize your TVs hardward to display the image in the nicest way.

Same deal if your looking into a surround-sound reciever: you’ll need either co-axial digital audio cables or optical (digital) audio cables to pass Dolby or DTS Surround from your DVD/cable box/satellite reciever to your audio receiver. No other connection will enable digital surround sound.

Regarding cables: if your buying digital cables (DVI, HDMI, digital co-ax, or optical audio), go with the cheapest possible. A digital signal is either transmitted or its not - high end digital cables offer no benefit over the normal ones.

For any other cable (componet, S-Video or composite (the latter two are fine for hooking up a VCR), go with a decent brand shielded cable. Monster cables are decent, but way overpriced. Your local Radio Shack you have some more reasonable options. If you bring all your owner’s manuals in, they should be able to help you pick the proper cabling.

In regards to an integrated HD tuner, you’ll only need this if you don’t subscribe to either cable or satellite system that don’t provide HD set-top boxes.

September is when most manufacturer’s start releasing next year’s models. If you wait until then, you may find some pretty good deals on the current year model as they close out.

After you decide on the type of set you want, write down the model numbers for all the brands you’re considering. These are usually referenced in the “part-number” caption in Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, etc. ads. Once they change, you know they are advertising a new model. You can also check each manufacturer’s website to see what model they highlight - these will change, too, as they transition into a new year’s line.

You can then determine if the newer model offers enough new features to buy over the old one.

Be careful about smaller retailers - they often try to sell last year’s model slightly cheaper than the price as the current year model at other retailers (and claim “big savings”). There is a small chain down here in FL that is terrible in this respect.

I saved a lot of money on my TV by buying an open-box special at Circuit City. Many TVs get returned for various reasons (defects, or simply it was too big or too small once someone got it home). Mine actually had a technical issue (shadow mask was misaligned) that I didn’t see until I got home. CC replaced it under their normal warranty with set they had just opened to be put on display (it was practically new). I paid paid $1250 for an essentially new TV that retailed at $1799.

Tough call. You really need to control ambient light for a low budget projector to work well. Most people don’t want to have to shut off the lights and close the curtains to just watch some TV.

I have a projector and HT system that I roll out for ‘movie night’ usually on the weekends. I set everything up, dim the lights, crank it up, and we have a grand time of it. We use a tube TV for everything else.

Projectors are great for watching movies or TV under controlled conditions, but for day in day out usage as a TV I don’t think they would be so great. I guess it depends on your viewing habits.

Crap - sorry, I’m trying to be helpful as possible. Be careful of lower-end plasmas, as they may not be true HDTVs. There is an intermediate type between standard definition (SDTV) and high-definition (HDTV) called EDTV (I think its extended-defintion). Its essentially the same resolution as SDTV but offers progressive scan at this resolution.

An EDTV may fit your needs, just be aware they are not the same as HDTV.

Minor nitpick: full HD resolution is 1920 x 1080. :slight_smile:

This is why I sugned up for SDMB after so many lurking-years.

Thanks, all.

-Cem

Well, the OP does say it’s going into the basement. I would therefore strongly second the front-projection approach. That’s what I’ve got, and it’s great. I put the whole thing together for less than $1500, and my screen is like seven feet across.

Try asking your question here. Two points about projectors: firstly, they can be very noisy, which can be resolved by building them into a false sound-proofed ceiling and projecting an inverted signal onto a mirror and then on to the screen; secondly the bulbs can be expensive and have a limited lifespan. If you go for a LCD or plasma screen, you can mount them on the wall.

Wow, thanks! This information is worth way past the price I paid to sign up, wish I could take a couple of you with me. Anyway, I’m going to print this out and study it before I go out shopping. Thanks again, great information, great board, great people, glad I signed up … I’ll let you know what I decide

Now I gotta think of my next post …