TV time

[Fluffyumpkins]

I'm ready to upgrade my TV to something big and nice, but I don't know a lot about what to look for. I hear a lot about plasmas and how great they are, but I couldn't tell you if that's true in 2013 compared to LEDs. For those that keep up with what's current (MonMotha, Riot, Potter, Ho) what would you recommend? I'm looking for something between 55 and 60 inches in a room with a few windows and ambient light. I'd like to pay for something of higher quality that will last, and hopefully handle lag pretty well since I'll be playing video games.

Thanks in advance.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Someone suggested this:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P55S ... viera+st60

[MonMotha]

The higher end LCDs (aka "LED", which is just an LCD using LED backlighting) are pretty much hands down better than any of the plasmas, but this comes at higher cost. If you're looking for something on the cheaper (under $500) end of the scale, the plasmas often offer better value. Especially on the lower end, the plasmas will generally have substantially better actual (non-dynamic) contrast and response time.

At this point, I don't figure it's worth buying a TV that "will last". The technology is changing very rapidly. Last year's $2500 TV is this year's $250 TV in some cases (ok not quite, but close enough).

As far as input lag goes, which as you point out is important for gaming, it's all over the map and essentially independent of display technology as it depends mostly on the TV's internal scalers. Models marketed as "monitors" are usually a bit faster but priced for businesses (i.e. add a 0 to the price). Either do a lag test yourself (there are several methods) or find a reputable place that's already done the research for you and hope that the manufacturer hasn't changed the internals without changing the model number (this happens).

I think there's some OLED model TVs starting to come out. They're still very expensive, but this is pretty much the "perfect" display if done correctly. Probably outside your budget, though.

[MonMotha]

I guess what I'm getting at is that you should probably first identify the size of the TV you're looking for and roughly how much you're looking to spend. That will quite possibly pick the technology for you, then it's just a matter of selecting a suitable model.

The budget is more fluid than you might think. You can spend from $50 to $50,000 and, to some degree, get what you pay for at any price.

[Potter]

as brandon touched on there is mad amounts of image processing going on inside your average tv these days, far more than scaling. It causes input lag and It's a bitch. When I bought my first decent projector I researched for two months on the one with the sharpest image, the color gamut coverage and calibration features, etc, but I only bothered to look into the input lag by doing a quick search and that's it. $2500 later I had a projector set up rivaling the cinema in terms of brightness, sharpness, and gamut coverage - with what I would say 40ms of input lag. It worked amazing and games looked redonk, mirrors edge, etc, using it as a main pc display for work. However in really fast games such as CS, I could tell it was there, and mind you I adjusted to it really quickly, and stopped noticing it, but when I would use a normal lcd I would be like "woah, that's responsive"

so do dat. if you can don't settle for anything less than actual posted lag numbers. there's a couple groups that measure and post results.

I hear nothing but good things regarding Panasonics panels from the various post production circles. Try to find one that's an LCD and LED backlit. If you can, try to avoid ones marked "600hz super color processing blahblahblah" because that is all useless processing that you're going to pay for with your money and will fuck with your image, including adding latency. Whatever you get, make sure to turn off "smooth motion" of whatever that brand calls it, frame interpolation is on by default on basically every panel Ive seen in the last 5 years, and it's hoooorible

[Potter]

Here is an LED backlit LCD screen utilizing an IPS panel made by Panasonic which you definitely want, the one you linked to appears that it's an olderschool TN panel, bad viewing angle, bit depth, etc.


http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-L55E ... B00752R9SM

Browsing through the hundreds of comments I noted at least one person specifically stating he tested it and found no noticeable input lag with games, as long as you appropriately set the TV to game mode (turns off some of the useless oversharpening, motion interpolation etc processing off)

I also noticed two reviewers stating they had it professionally calibrated (If you buy me a pizza I'll come over and do this for you some day) and it had great gamut coverage and had the needed controls in the service menu to get it looking proper, within Rec.709 spec.

Oh, and it's cheaper

And it's passive 3D and comes with four pairs of glasses which I'm sure right now you think you don't care about, but I promise you the second you decide to plug in your computer and play a game that has true 3D support, you'll crap your pants at how cool it is

[Fluffyumpkins]

Thanks for the tips. I'm super torn on the whole lcd vs plasma thing, especially since technology today is so different that technology even one year ago.

I'd like to get something between 55 and 60 inches, and I'd like to keep it under $2,000. I have a bad habit of putting off purchases like this with the mindset that something better will come along in 3 months. In 3 months, I say the same thing. If it helps, I put down a chart below that sort of identifies what I'd like to get with regard to what's new and in-demand. Above average quality, but not necessarily the 2013 model that would get me a bunch of likes on Facebook.

The higher end LCDs (aka "LED", which is just an LCD using LED backlighting) are pretty much hands down better than any of the plasmas, but this comes at higher cost.

At what price point does an LCD become higher end? I know that's a vague question, but do you think I'd start to see that benefit around $1,500, or would plasma still offer a better picture? I hear a lot about black levels and why plasmas are the best option.

The TV Potter suggested looks promising.

[MonMotha]

$2000 is solidly mid-range or even approaching high end, though at the larger sizes like 60"+, it'll still be more mid-range. Larger sets tend to exhibit a bigger spread in price between plasma and LCD as one of the benefits of plasma is that they can be made large more cheaply than LCD.

I'd say to go try to check things out in a store, but you'll spend an hour setting them to something other than "showroom bright", and the lighting is all wrong for comparison. If Ovation happens to have the models you're looking for, they actually show them in reasonable conditions.

As potter says there's little reason to buy a non-LED backlit LCD these days. The gamut on the old CCFLs was sometimes better, but modern mid-range and high-end LED backlights are RGB, not fluorescent type, so they can attain a much wider gamut and can also, on some sets, actually vary the backlight color temperature (white point) which is not as easily done on fluorescent style white LEDs without also varying the brightness.

I wasn't aware Panasonic was still making their own LCD panels. You sure they're not OEMing them from Sharp (not that this would be a bad thing)?

[DAVE101]

Why not get a monitor that we've all grown to love and adore? A 30 inch CRT.

[Fluffyumpkins]

I've been looking at the various models (including the recently suggested this http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDL-55W802A- ... roduct_top) but I keep psyching myself out. There's always some random person that posts something about why 'sony dropped the ball this time' or 'such and such issue made it an instant return.'

Am I better off just waiting for some killer TV right around the corner? I'm not even sure (price wise) this is the best time to buy.

On the other hand, I'm just wasting hours of my time looking at the same sorts of reviews over and over.

[MonMotha]

Why not get a monitor that we've all grown to love and adore? A 30 inch CRT.

Very few models were made that could do more than 480p, and most of them were actually pretty much crap. They were mostly made when plasma and LCD was starting to take off and were made to be cheap. Most of them had awful awful scalers on them and were actually fixed-mode 1080i. They're also huge and weigh a ton. Basically, all the disadvantages of a cheap plasma with none of the advantages. With anything used, you'll also have to consider that the tube is going to have some hours on it. Even if it's not visibly burned, it won't have the luminosity of a new one.

I've been looking at the various models (including the recently suggested this http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDL-55W802A- ... roduct_top) but I keep psyching myself out.

I've not been fond of Sony TVs since the WEGA CRT era. They seem to be more focused on gee-whiz features and aggressive marketing than actually using a decent panel. It's been quite some time since I was looking at specific models, though.

[Ho]

I saw some sexy, sexy OLED sets while I was in Korea. I was looking at a 60" (I think) that was absolutely stunning. And it was only 27,000,000 KRW. I'll let you do the conversion.

[Ho]

I also saw these curved OLEDs on display:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/lgs-curved-oled-tv/

I kind of stared at them for a bit and...well, I pretty much didn't get it. After the initial eyecatch of "whoa, that's curved!" wore off (approximately 3.2 seconds), I just couldn't see any real benefit to having the curve.

[Merk]

Can MonMotha and/or Potter chime in on the pros to having a curved TV?

Is this going to be the hip new trend in TVs once 3D dies out?

[Ho]

I think you could argue the benefits of a curved screen if you're talking movie theater-sized screens like Omnimax, SimEx-Iwerks, or Cinerama. But on your average (or even above average) television screen, I think it's probably more of a gee-whiz gimmick. I mean, it looks pretty neat and it's the type of thing that will get attention when guests walk into your living room, but I don't think it will really improve your viewing experience in any meaningful way.

Also, I hope you're right about 3D dying out.