New plasmas now offer better blacks and detail in the darker values than any LCD. The biggest problem of an LCD is its response to ambient light. When LCD's are off, they still reflect some light off the surface and the non-glare face doesn't help either. It tends to fog over the blacks and darker tones in a bright room.
The newer plasmas have anti-reflective masks which cut down on the direct refraction that bothers some people It's has been like a mirror so anything bright within 30 deg. off axis will show on the screen, like windows in the daytime.
The Panasonic Pro Monitors are not only rated the best by reviewers, including Consumer Reports, but don't put the money into the usual portable radio speakers included with a set (not very good ones, at that) nor a tuner which one only needs if they are using an antenna. Their three LCD WEGA and SXRD rear-projection cannot be wall mounted but are very thin depth profiles compared to older models. The picture is great with little pixel ID when viewing close in -- a more cinema-like image. DLP's are now going to LED and Laser light sources, doing away with the color wheel and the lamp. Wall mounted flat screens are not really flat on the wall, anyway. The mounts add depth themselves, unless one uses a J Box and cuts into the wall. The era of the really flat screen is coming, however. Sony is going into production of a small screen electro-luminescent system which is really a true flat-on-the wall possible technology.
As to price, Costco by-and-large buys inventory of displays they know are being discontinued and discounts them. So you end up with last year's technology when it is progressing so rapidly, it could make your head spin. I've already had my say about Vizio elsewhere -- a very bad failure rate on the main boards, which means the set is utterly worthless. They will replace it with a rebuilt.
A Panasonic Pro Monitor in the latest model 42" should be, fully calibrated to ICC specs, around $1500.00.
Samsung has a new black mask on their LCD's which approaches the new plasmas but has some side-effects to the edge resolution on graphic images.
None of the technology has blacks like the old CRT's and the Canon (now divorced from Toshiba due to patent rights) is planning on introducing SED, or flat screen CRT -- it simply thousands of CRT three color guns mounted on a fabric which project on a flat screen from behind.
Chai wrote:yeah, I'm going to go for the 1080, no doubt
While 1080p will make the picture appear smoother from a standard DVD or a 1080i broadcast, it adds no detail over 1080i. You have to have a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player and I've pointed out earlier than a lot of the catalog of 1080p movies will be older films that have not been restruck on 70mm and rephotographed to digital. Basically, it's the same as a 1080i image in clarity on a smaller screen. If you are buying a 50" or larger screen and plan on sitting closer than recommended, it will make the picture look smoother.
Ya have to have a source that was photographed in 1080p pure digital to really see a 1080p displayed.
Plasma Buying Guide's review of the 42" Vizio follows. Dell's entry into the market was instrumental in a lot of price decreases but their product isn't much better. Their LCD's have a diffused focus on HD, looks better on DVD and standard broadcast. Vizio and Maxent are trying to fill he hole left by Samsung after it seriously began to upgrade their technology and QC, raising their prices out of the bargain class. The part of the review that states the sets will likely last half-as-long as, say, a Panasonic which for a 50" is only $400.00 more and get the best reviews, is conservative. My experience is you're likely to get only 20% before the picture deteriorates or the set completely fails.
Link to Plasma Buying Guide Vizio Review
I don't expect it to be as good as a top tier HDTV. Then again, I'd pay almost $1600 for a 37" Sony Bravia (2X), and as much as $3000 for a Pioneer Elite, if they made such a thing.
I like my Vizio. I also like my Sony 46" projection, which is far superior, but also weighs 160lbs and is about 24" deep.
The 37" 3 LED Sony E Series is now at $999.00 and that's calibrated to ICC standards. Another example of a big price decrease in the top-tier brands. I wouldn't have an idea on the Pioneer Elite depending on when you bought it and what size screen. They're dropping consumer models in the next few months but the scuttlebutt is that they will be 1080i but will accept 1080p and down-scale it. The electronics in the Elite is not any better than the professional monitors -- Elite is mostly a difference in cosmetics.
Lightwizard wrote:The 37" 3 LED Sony E Series is now at $999.00 and that's calibrated to ICC standards.
I have another two months if I want to take my Visio back. I might just do it if I can get that Sony for around $850 (gotta count the hassle of the return for something).
$ 850.00 is a good price if it's the latest model -- they are tricky there, so be careful. If you have any technician/installers in your area that will calibrate, it is a tremendous difference. It would be between $150.00 to $250.00 depending on if you want it done in your home. That's how prices are matched as our company automatically calibrates every set.
They can barely spell HDTV here in west MI, I doubt I could find anybody who could calibrate it.
Yes, I know.
Believe me, however, even in the OC, nearly every customer comes in wanting an education about HD. I've had many of them return sets to Costco, BestBuy, Circuit City because the salesperson was ignorant about the display they bought or literally made something up. It's really unbelievable. It's rewarding, though, when they call me back after having a display installed that has been calibrated -- now they know what they were missing.
Of course, I'm not a perfectionist. Right.
Finding anyone to calibrate a video display here in the UK is as rare as finding hen's teeth.Over the years,I have used
This Disc to adjust,not only my displays,but many friends and families sets also.
No way is it as good as a professional calibration (they get into set-up menus that us humble plebs didn't even know existed),but a little time spent using this disc is well worth the effort.No matter how humble or expensive the set,you can get it working to it's best ability.
The ICC calibration disc is not hard to come by with their specification instructions but each make and model of TV has their own professional set-up program. You're right, the consumer can't get into it and it requires a scope and other testing equipment. I've seen the before and after and it's astounding.
Calibration- at the risk of sounding like a total moron (an act I'm quite adept at) what are you talking about when you say calibration? And is it only concerned with HD?
Re calibration,did you read the last 2 paragraphs on the This Disc link I posted above? And no,it's not HD dependent.Once set up properly,it will give of it's best on ANY signal fed into it.
I just bought my television online. 107cm LCD. Cost me $100 more than the same size from the factory seconds, but it's got more features. And I took the trouble to subscribe to a local consumer magazine for testing, and it got the highest rating of the LCD tv's and the second highest rating overall.
You're keeping the brand a secret?
This is a link explaining ICC calibration.
ICC COLOR CALIBRATION
There are other non-consumer accessible calibration settings that are not specifically color. Black levels, gamma settings, et al. It's rather complicated.
Regal. Don't know if you've got them in the US.
Distributed by an Australian company but off-brands can be manufactured by another company:
http://www.skywave.com.au/42inch.html
bought it from a different site though
