TV help please

[cyfanhood]

I'm looking to buy a 50 in. or bigger.

1. I do not want a plasma because of burn in since I watch a lot of TV (TV is on for 16 hours a day.)

2. I do not want a rear projection TV because the lamps go out too quickly considering my TV is on 16 hours a day.

3. Basically, this is leaving me with the choice of an LCD TV or an LED backlit LCD TV

4. Need to have plenty of options and settings. I used to have a Sony WegaGate rear projection TV. The options and settings were wonderful. I liked that you could zoom in on widescreen DVDs and it didn't distort the picture.

I just am getting sick of DVD widescreen movies getting more wider. I hate seeing all the black on the top and bottom when I'm watching a movie. But then when they show the widescreen movie on HBO high definition channel, it has no black on the top and bottom.

5. Has to be able to live through a ton of hours of TV. Like I said above, the TV will probably be on 16 hours a day.

6. Needs to be a reasonable price considering I do not want to spend thousands of dollars. However, I do want high definition TV to look wonderful. And I want get options and settings.

Any help would be wonderful. If I'm forgetting anything I will add it later.

[CycoCyclone]

I'm looking to buy a 50 in. or bigger.

1. I do not want a plasma because of burn in since I watch a lot of TV (TV is on for 16 hours a day.)

2. I do not want a rear projection TV because the lamps go out too quickly considering my TV is on 16 hours a day.

3. Basically, this is leaving me with the choice of an LCD TV or an LED backlit LCD TV

4. Need to have plenty of options and settings. I used to have a Sony WegaGate rear projection TV. The options and settings were wonderful. I liked that you could zoom in on widescreen DVDs and it didn't distort the picture.

I just am getting sick of DVD widescreen movies getting more wider. I hate seeing all the black on the top and bottom when I'm watching a movie. But then when they show the widescreen movie on HBO high definition channel, it has no black on the top and bottom.

5. Has to be able to live through a ton of hours of TV. Like I said above, the TV will probably be on 16 hours a day.

6. Needs to be a reasonable price considering I do not want to spend thousands of dollars. However, I do want high definition TV to look wonderful. And I want get options and settings.

Any help would be wonderful. If I'm forgetting anything I will add it later.

I'm now very curious on what you do...and what the answer is TVwise

[dmclone]

What's your price limit?

[HawkfromNorwalk]

I haven't shopped for one in over a year but last winter we were in the market for the same thing and we went through dell.com. They sell a lot of top brands (Sony, Samsung, Sharp) and they are reasonably priced. One thing I like about them is they seem to sell both this years and last years models so you can usually find good prices on the past models (usually there is little to no quality difference between last years and this years models). I was just over there and they had quite a few 50"+ 1080p LCDs for 1500.00 or less. We bought a 52" Sony Bravia last winter and I couldn't be happier with it. Also, not sure if things have changed or if you're even thinking about it but last winter was when the credit market was really tight and Dell still approved pretty good credit limits.

[cyfanhood]

What's your price limit?

$2,000

[jumbopackage]

Plasmas really don't burn in anymore, especially after the first 30-40 hours. I wouldn't be worried about that at all.

LCDs and Plasmas have about the same expected lifetime.

I really wouldn't dismiss them off-hand because of burn-in. Maybe if it's going to be in an area where there is a lot of light, glare might be an issue, but I really think Plasma is superior to LCD in a lot of ways, and it's a lot cheaper in general.

[cyfanhood]

I haven't shopped for one in over a year but last winter we were in the market for the same thing and we went through dell.com. They sell a lot of top brands (Sony, Samsung, Sharp) and they are reasonably priced. One thing I like about them is they seem to sell both this years and last years models so you can usually find good prices on the past models (usually there is little to no quality difference between last years and this years models). I was just over there and they had quite a few 50"+ 1080p LCDs for 1500.00 or less. We bought a 52" Sony Bravia last winter and I couldn't be happier with it. Also, not sure if things have changed or if you're even thinking about it but last winter was when the credit market was really tight and Dell still approved pretty good credit limits.

Are there a lot of options when it comes to settings? It would just be great to get rid of the black on the top and bottom of widescreen movies.

[dmclone]

Fr most people I would recommend a Panasonic Plasma but it sounds like you're dead set against tat technology so for LCD's:

In the LCD world, it's hard to argue against Samsung. As far as the LED backlit, they are supposed to look great but i don't know if this adds any reliability concerns. It sounds like reliability is your biggest concern so in your case I would buy it from someone like Costco who is good about returning TV's.

Keep in mind that if you're pumping in SD material into this LCD than it's going to look like crap on a 50" TV.

[jumbopackage]

Are there a lot of options when it comes to settings? It would just be great to get rid of the black on the top and bottom of widescreen movies.

Getting rid of the black at the top and bottom of widescreen movies is going to require one of two things:

1. Cropping off the left and right of the movie, effectively making it not widescreen
or
2. Changing the aspect ratio of the movie, resulting in everything looking all stretched out or squished.

There really aren't any good options aside from that.

[dmclone]

For $2,000 you probably can get the best 50" LCD made.

[cmoore_23]

dude if 2000 is ur limit u can pretty much pick almost anything..

this one is on sale at best buy its a 52
Sony - BRAVIA / 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV - KDL-52V5100

or if u go to 46
Samsung - 46" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV - UN46B7100

[HawkfromNorwalk]

Getting rid of the black at the top and bottom of widescreen movies is going to require one of two things:

1. Cropping off the left and right of the movie, effectively making it not widescreen
or
2. Changing the aspect ratio of the movie, resulting in everything looking all stretched out or squished.

There really aren't any good options aside from that.

Agreed. Letterboxing has little to do with the TV and more about the video source. I watch a lot of blu-rays and depending on the aspect ratio of the movie some don't have any letterboxing on the top and bottom and some do. There are different modes on the set that you can toggle but sometimes it may make the image look distorted.

[danrog]

dude if 2000 is ur limit u can pretty much pick almost anything..

this one is on sale at best buy its a 52
Sony - BRAVIA / 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV - KDL-52V5100

or if u go to 46
Samsung - 46" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV - UN46B7100

FYI- Bestbuy and pretty much everywhere online has been running deals w/ the Sony KDL V series where you get a free blu ray player. Also- the best line sony offers is the XBR, not V, if you are looking for what people call 'the best'

[CycloneCPA]

50" - 59"|$1500 - $1999 : TVs - BestBuy

I don't think you can go wrong with any on this list. Not sure how much difference you will see between a 120Hz refresh rate vs 240 Hz. From an LCD standpoint, I have read many places that Samsungs = Sonys in all phases except for price with Sony charging a premium for the name. I agree on above posts regarding potential burnin issues with Plasmas. 1. Unless you have a stationary image playing on your TV for the 16 hours (espn score ticker, news tickers, or gay porn (ie see internet story about some roomate playing a prank by pausing a porn on a guy's tv while he was away on vacation)). Basically, you shouldn't have burnin problems

2. Most DVD movies are shot in an aspect ratio that does not match the TV HD format (16:9 vs moves shot at 2.35:1 16:9, 4:3 or 2.35:1 - What is the best screen format?) Because of this, many DVDs will still show the letterbox.

[cyfanhood]

FYI- Bestbuy and pretty much everywhere online has been running deals w/ the Sony KDL V series where you get a free blu ray player. Also- the best line sony offers is the XBR, not V, if you are looking for what people call 'the best'

I want the best