Personally, I'm not quite ready to make the leap to Plasma, LCD or DLP, etc...
None of these have a very long track record in my opinion.

You mentined you currently own a 27" Sony Wega. Sony still makes some of the best picture tube televisions. Why not upgrade to a 36" Sony Wega? This will give you some big screen benefits and a price that won't break the bank.

Just my 2 cents.

-jasper

Hi Jasper,
I agree. I think it's outrageous that folks pay $2000 for a TV that they only expect to last 4 or 5 years, and has a crummy picture 99% of the time to boot! I had really wanted the rectangular shape, as a lot of the movies they show on TV now are in the widescreen format, but if I have to accept crummy picture quality to get it I don't see how it's worth it. If you calculate $2000/4 years, that's $500/year for the TV..plus an average of $70/month for cable+ one premium feature...that's over $1,200/year you're paying to watch television....and the picture stinks? OMG...

I just read an article that someone here linked to, that said that in 2006 the industry would start to address the issue of "poor quality picture when viewing analog stations". Start? Are they kidding? So they've been selling these super expensive, short life TV's to people for the past few years, knowing that the picture will be crummy 99% of the time when they watch it.

They get people into the showrooms of places like Best Buy and Circuit City to see the "latest and greatest", and show them TV pictures that are HDTV loops, which look beautiful. I think they show those HDTV loops because if the public saw the real picture as it looks when hooked up to cable, they wouldn't buy it. I gotta tell you, that's blatant fraud and misleading advertising to me.

Folks see these "stunning" images, are delighted and hand over their hard earned cash, only to discover that their silk purse is a sow's ear once the set gets home and is hooked up. What do they do then? The old TV's gone...what do they go to the store and buy to replace this one? Nothing...so they keep it, live with the reduction in quality, and then hope that the technology will improve. Well, some do anyway. One of the Best Buy execs. indicated that return on these sets is high, compared to other products that BB sells.

I can't believe this passes as acceptable business practice today. What a shame.

Clara,
sounds like you've done your homework. Amen!

-jasper

I recently got a High Def ready TV in the wide screen format. Have you noticed that 90% of the broadcasts on these wide screen TV's are distorted and all stretched out width wise? I don't get why they are doing that? How could a person possibly think a distorted picture is better than a true picture. All the big screen TV's are wide screen, but the broadcasts aren't. Is that supposed to change? I was perfectly happy with the old format (4:3 ratio). Sometimes you have to wonder about the people forcing these decisions. Most of the time the thing that limits you TV size is the width, not the height. Now you have to get a TV that actually has less surface are if you're width limited.

Actually plasma TVs are in their 8th generation of technology and have been around for several years now. Current models have the same 20-year lifespan as a traditional CRT and don't suffer from any more artifacts than current CRT technology. All Hi-Def plasmas have 720 lines of vertical resolution, the Enhanced-Def versions have the traditional 480 lines of res.

Panasonic makes the best plasma for picture quality for movie watching. They have industry leading CRT-like black levels and gray-scaling which makes for a very realistic picture. They used to have trouble scaling up the standard 480i signal to the 720p and Pioneer used to beat them on that issue, but their current generation is much improved, providing an excellent picture from a standard transmission.

Don't expect to get a better picture over the air if you use an antenna. Digital cable and satellite connections will give you a decent picture, at least as good as you get now. But the hi-def picture really shines on DVDs and HD broadcasts where you see a significant improvement in picture quality.

You can stretch a standard 4:3 image to the full width of the screen, but that is optional. You can also view it with graybars on the sides. They even have a scaling option that only distorts the sides of the picture, leaving the center portion properly scaled, that many people find more than acceptable.

I've spent a great deal of time looking at all the technologies and I can't find a better buy for image quality than the Panasonic professional monitor, model TH-42PHD8UK, or its commercial clone which includes a tuner, the TH-42PX50U. I looked at DLP, LCoS, LCD, et al. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses. LCDs tend to shift color over time. Rear projection DLP and LCoS loses brightness off center, not good for my viewing environment. And traditional CRTs are too big and bulky for the space I need to put it in. I need at least a 42"-50" screen and I don't want to pay more than about $2500 for it.

Of course, I am planning on buying this thing for health reasons. I don't see as well as I used to and I noticed that I can't see what the score is during the game unless I move closer to the 32" TV we now have in the family room. So I gotta get something bigger just to get rid of my headache from straining to see the dern thing.

I think this March will be the best time to buy the model I want. Prices go down about that time through August as they try to move out the older models. Also, new 1080P models are coming on the market that they will be pushing hard, making the older 720P versions look passe. However, I have looked at the 1080P next to the 720P and in a side by side comparison, I don't see enough of an advantage to the picture quality to make me go that way. And Plasmas, my preferred screen technology, are not likely to go all the way up to 1080P in the size I want anyway.

You definitely need to get a decent AV reciever to complement this beast, something like the Yamaha RX-V1600 that can handle HDMI digital switching and give a good set of speakers fantastic 7.1 sound. I just found one on eBay for $300 off the price in the video store. The receiver can handle converting analog signals from older VHS tapes to the digital HDMI interface to the monitor. The step up Yamaha model, the RX-V2600 can even increase the resolution of the video signal to 720P prior to sending it to the monitor. But the Panasonic does a pretty good job of that itself, so I felt I didn't need it.

Two years from now the analog channels will be turned off. The congress is trying to pass legislation to help pay for digital to analog converters for people that can't give up their old sets. Estimated cost of the converter is $40. They want to provide a subsidy so it only costs $10 for low-income families. Personally I think that's dumb. Watching TV is not a right in the constitution so I don't see any sense to set up another bureaucracy to waste our money. However, I suppose cable companies will continue carrying the analog signal for a while longer. It's just that broadcasters need to give up the old analog spectrum, which has been promised to emergency services and other users. There's only so much spectrum to go around, and the broadcasters are tying up both the old analog and the new digital wavelengths and making it hard for others needing the air.

Anyway, I just saw this on the forum and was compelled to do a memory dump, since I just came from the video store. Good luck. :-)

I feel the same way about spending $2000.00 or more for a TV that does not get any more channels and no better picture and in many cases not as good.

You can buy a 27'' to 36'' for a resonable price these days.Then add a high quality surround sound system.That does more for me then a large distorted picture.I think the Wide screen and large screen thing is more of a out doing the Jones thing then it is a value to a entertainment system.

groschuni - thanks for taking the time to share all that great information. I'm confused though - because I have had several people tell me as well as reading on forums and articles, that Plasma's have a very, very short life span in comparison to to their CRT counterparts. I've been told that once the screen begins to dim, you can turn up the brightness only so far to compensate, and when it's finally gone that's it - there are no repair options. I've been given lifespan estimates of 5-7 years, tops. I'd be curious to hear what other plasma users have experienced.

As to the cable vs. antenna issue, I have digital cable...but so does Best Buy, and when they converted their 60" screen from the HD loop to cable (it was the only one in the store they could convert) the picture was absolutely horrible. In fact, it was so bad, that other people in the area commented on it too. There was no way in the world you would have bought that TV based on that picure. The salesguy said that all of the TV's would have a worse picture when we got the set home than what was being shown there.

Johndeere - It sure is tempting to buy a 36"...but then I'm stuck with a square screen..and I was going to have an entertainment system built to house the set, which means I would be locked into that shape for keeps...Arrgggh! Why does this have to be so complicated?

Older generation plasmas had shorter half-lifes of around 30,000 hours. The current Panasonic plasmas have doubled that. This is basically the same life as a CRT. CRTs fade over time due to exhaustion of the phosphors. However, most TVs will usually be replaced for one reason or another before the image becomes too dim to be objectionable. A plasma or CRT with a lifespan of 60,000 hours, used 7 hours every day of the year, will last nearly 24 years. At that point you will probably want to upgrade to 3DTV. Don't believe what you hear about the picture from someone else. Go to a smaller high-end AV store where you are more likely to find someone who will know what they are talking about and be willing to show you what to expect. View the monitor from a standard viewing distance. Different manufacturers will have different results with a standard signal. The no-name brands will definitely look worse than brands like Panasonic or Pioneer who put lots of processing power behind improving the appearance of low-res signals. These things are basically supercomputers behind the screen processing tons of data every second you see the image on the screen. And like any program, the results are only as good as the programmer. Most of these panels can look good with a hi-res signal, but you really have to look carefully at the standard signal performance before you make a decision because the results there vary greatly between mfgs. Good luck. :-)

I have an interesting take on this subject as my husband and I did alot of research and just bought an sony wega lcd (widescreen and HD ready)
We DO NOT have cable or satalite. Now most people think that we would be crazy to get a HD tv without the cable and just use air however the Air channels come in BETTER! we are even using the same stupid bunny ears for reception that we used on our old tv. Not only that we were so surprised that we can get 18 channels now, compared to the five we had before. WXXI has about 3 HD air channels and we get a local weather channel!!! My husband loves it. The HD air broadcasts are much better looking on the tv than the non-hd. Our tv doesn't stretch the images though however I understand that not all tv's have the same scaling so it is important to research this first.
Our DVD's look awesome too and the sound it much better than our old tv. Although it was expensive I am really enjoying it. We saved up for a while and did alot of research first and I feel we made a really good choice.
I was really impressed with the new plasma and lcd technology. We chose lcd because it has a much lower power consumption than plasma and is not prone to burn in like plasma (although this isn't so much a problem anymore)
The sony has a usb port (awesome!!!!) so I can hook my camara up to it and view videos and pics. Also you can hook a computer up to it and use it as a computer screen. This is great for my husband who likes to work on it.
Our previous tv was 26 inches and now we have a 40 inch widescreen. It is a big jump however and although i was worried about the channels coming in poorly they come in much better and look better!
We really only use our tv for DVD's (hence us deciding on this specific tv). We stopped going to the movies long ago because they play commercials (which make us SO mad). We decided we would save our money and then buy a nice tv so we can enjoy our movies at home commerical free!
I think the most important thing to do is think about what your tv will be used for most often and then do research to figure out what kind of tv will be good for you. If you are playing video games alot then you really need a tv that is different than if you are watching dvd's only.
-renee

I just bought a Sony Wega 36" flat tube set from circuit city. I assembled the tv stand last night and the tv should be delivered tomorrow. It's a huge bulky set (227 lbs.). I'm glad they offered free delivery and setup.

I thought about my choices for a while. And
all I really desired was a tv that will produce a great picture from cable/satellite, DVDs and PS2/xBOX gaming. And this fits the bill just fine.
Plasma or DLP are way over my budget now. I figure I can wait a few years when prices come down.
Thanks everyone for your input.
-jasper

groschuni - That's great news that they've extended the life of the plasma TV's - it makes it more acceptable to spend that kind of money for us. I checked around to see if there were any smaller TV stores to go and check out since the big box places like Best Buy don't have the ability to show you what the TV picture looks like on cable, and it seems there really aren't any hardly anywhere. I think the closest one was about 45 minutes away, and not in a good area. Others were about an hour away. I think I'll call a few places and ask if they have the ability to show the TV on cable and then maybe we will go and take a look, but I feel bad doing that as obviously I won't be buying a TV from someone who won't deliver and set up because they are an hour or more away.

Scryn, that's GREAT to hear about your Sony Wega! I have always loved Sony TV's. We would primarily watch cable programming on our TV..but we do watch DVD and pay-per-view as well. I know what you mean about the commercials at the movies...I was surprised the first time I saw it, and pretty angry that I had paid good money to be advertised to. LOL - I guess it's true that there's nothing sacred any more. I keep expecting to unroll a printed ad on my toilet paper any day now.

Jasper, congratulations on your new Wega...they sure weigh a ton, don't they? We just about died getting the 27" up the stairs and into our bedroom. We had to put it up on a high boy and honestly, we came a hairs breath away from dropping the darned thing. We found out later that the Wega is the heaviest TV on the market. Love the picture though!

Someone at work yesterday told me that Consumer's Reports rated Pioneer as providing the best picture and sound for LCD TV's - has anyone else heard that? I've also got a co-worker that said that I don't really need a TV because I've got a digital cable box....just a monitor. He said that's what they got and it works just fine and is cheaper. I'm a little squeamish about doing that - does anyone else have any experience with that?

Thanks everyone, for all your help so far!

i did a pioneer monitor and used my external speakers. it works great and i did save money. be sure to ask for the card you plug in. go for it.

we purchased a 51" rear projection widescreen HDTV made by Phillips a couple of months ago. we purchased the tv on a black friday sale for 899.00, although now i've seen it advertised at circuit city for 1399.00 (which is still not a bad price for the size and features). i am amazed at the quality of dvd's and high definition programming. (we have comcast digital hdtv cable box) since we've had this television, i find that i have become a bit of a tv viewing snob, i only want to watch hdtv broadcasts and movies. the difference in picture quality is astounding. it's funny how i thought the regular cable picture was perfectly acceptable before, but now i almost can't stand to watch non-hdtv programming! (and i still remember the days of tin foil on the rabbit ears of my parent's basement black and white tv when i was a kid! and how i'd have to let the tv "warm up" and once in a while i'd even have to whack the side of the tv to adjust the picture quality, lol!)
my honest opinion is if you are looking for a large sized widescreen television with hdtv capability, in an affordable price range, you can't do any better than a rear projection model. yes, they still are quite large and bulky, but if i get 5 years out of it for the price i paid, hopefully by then the plasmas will be in the same approximate price range as the rear projections are now.

We just purchased LCD Aquos 45" TV. Got it yesterday. Hooked it up to the cable. I told my husband if that's the best picture that we can get it is not worth it. He called comcast and ordered a hdtv box. He thinks that when this is installed it will improve the quality of the picture. I told him before we purchased that you really need to do your homework before you buy. The stores have the highest quality hook-up and they want you to buy. I want to know if anyone knows of any particular plasma,lcd or dlp tv that shows a high quality picture and what determines the quality of the picture.

Just a couple of comments reading through these posts. One, direct-view CRT-based HDTVs still offer the best pictures, but are typically very heavy, bulky and limited to 34-inch screens. A few companies, such as Samsung and Canon, are offering short-tube CRTs that are thinner, but which are still relegated to smaller screen sizes (typically 34, 32 and 30 inches).

Two, regular analog TV looks like hell on most HD sets; that's just the way it is, and will be so until February 2009 when the FCC shuts down analog TV signals and forces broadcasters to go completely digital. So remember that the set you're buying today will be receiving digital signals three years from now. But HD sets look great today when used with HD content (cable, satellite and over-the-air), or when used with progressive-scan DVD players, and many of them will upconvert signals to 720p or 1080i for the best possible picture (not true HD, but getting close.
3) 1080p sets are great, but right now there's no 1080p content, which is why you don't see a demonstrable difference (there will be later in this year when Blu-ray high-definition DVD players hit the market. But the first generation of HD DVD players -- a competing but non-compatible high-def DVD format backed by Toshiba, Sanyo and RCA -- will NOT output 1080p. They will introduce 1080p players this fall).
4) If you spend $2000 for an HDTV, for god's sake calibrate it when you get it home. TVs are set up for displays in a bright retail environment, so they crank the brightness way beyond the recommended 6500 degrees Kelvin the set was designed for. They typically oversaturate the colors as well so they stand out on a display. You can buy a calibration disc, such as the Avia Guide to Home Theater, and make basic calibration adjustments yourself, or spend $250 and have someone from the ISF (Image Science Foundation) come out to your home and really tweak the TV for optimal performance. The ISF guy has gear you couldn't afford, and you will be able to receive the full enjoyment your TV can deliver.

Hope this helps.