HDTV Recommendations

[HoustonCuse]

I'm looking for a new TV to watch cuse basketball this season. I am looking for recommendations.

Requirements:
1. Must be top notch for sports. Basketball in particular, but also football. High quality picture, great with motion, etc. Deep oranges.
2. Must be 60+ inches.
3. Must be good in a bright room with big windows (ie no bad glare/refection problems).
4. Must be less than $2000.
5. No "soap opera effect" or at least can turn the feature off and sports motion still looks great (see Req. #1)

What do you guys recommend? I'm also looking for "steer clear of model xyz" type experiences.

 

[rrlbees]

Go with DLP.


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[Orangezoo]

have samsung 60 inch that i got for 1k and love it. went non- smart tv and non 3d

 

[HoustonCuse]

Go with DLP.

I'm coming from a front projector in my old house (moving to a new place). 110" screen. It's awesome at night - during the day it is just ok. The room I am putting this new one in doesn't lend itself to a projector though - both physical room/wall/ceiling layout and ambient light wise. Plus I am looking forward to not having to replace $300 bulbs every 18 months.

 

[HoustonCuse]

have samsung 60 inch that i got for 1k and love it. went non- smart tv and non 3d

Can you give me model number?

 

[rrlbees]

I'm coming from a front projector in my old house (moving to a new place). 110" screen. It's awesome at night - during the day it is just ok. The room I am putting this new one in doesn't lend itself to a projector though - both physical room/wall/ceiling layout and ambient light wise. Plus I am looking forward to not having to replace $300 bulbs every 18 months.

DLP isn't front projection.


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[HoustonCuse]

DLP isn't front projection.

OK, I'll bite, what is it then?

 

[Orangezoo]

samsung series 6

 

[realorange]

If it's a bright room, you probably should stay away from plasma.

I've had very good reception with 2 different Samsung LED. Smart TV is a matter of personal preference.

 

[Tcuse]

From CNet, their reviews are excellent
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57605269-221/best-tvs-for-very-bright-rooms/

 

[TheRoyalIveyFund]

I'm looking for a new TV to watch cuse basketball this season. I am looking for recommendations.
What do you guys recommend? I'm also looking for "steer clear of model xyz" type experiences.

If it's a bright room, you probably should stay away from plasma.

As RO said, if it's a bright room, stay away from Plasma. After a lot of research, for my basement with no glare, I went with a Samsung 60" plasma smart which is great. Ordered from ABT after researching many places. If you order online, be sure to use a place like http://www.resellerratings.com/ to verify the company. That said, I literally paid 1/2 what I would've paid buying at Best Buy or a big box.

 

[Orangezoo]

the samsung led i have works good in dark and light and has settings to adjust that work really well. it also is faster (higher processing speed or something) so that at first it seems like you are watching a camcorder when your watching movies. Just a good all around- not going to break the bank tv.

 

[JohnCuse44]

CNET has all your answers.

 

[Bayside44]

I asked this a while ago, got a Samsung 60 inch smart TV, LED I believe. Got it at Costco, nut was around $1500 maybe? LG sound bar. So far so good.

 

[Tcuse]

As RO said, if it's a bright room, stay away from Plasma. After a lot of research, for my basement with no glare, I went with a Samsung 60" plasma smart which is great. Ordered from ABT after researching many places. If you order online, be sure to use a place like http://www.resellerratings.com/ to verify the company. That said, I literally paid 1/2 what I would've paid buying at Best Buy or a big box.

I have used ABT many times, no problems, excellent prices and delivery has always been prompt

 

[CuseFaninVT]

FYI, I have a plasma in a bright room and it works great, even during the day. It's a Panasonic which has a nice matte coating and was designed for this application. I tried an LED in the same room and didn't like it. Colors were wrong all around.

If you have young kids who watch a fair amount of shows on Cartoon Network I would however not recommend a plasma. The stupid CN is burned permanently into the bottom right corner of my screen.

 

[Orangemen]

don't be pressured to buy 1080p. No one broadcasts in it (save PPV movies), and I've never seen a timeline for when it will happen on a broad scale.

Save money and buy 720p.

 

[orangecuse]

I'm kind of a videophile, so I would not recommend limiting yourself to 720p, especially not in the 60" size that you're considering. It may be a moot point anyway, as you'd be very hard pressed today to find a high quality TV in that size that isn't 1080P. And, although there isn't any sports programming in 1080P, you may occasionally watch a blue ray movie, PPV, on demand programming, etc. that is 1080P. If you limit yourself to 720P at the 2k range, you'll be doing yourself quite a disservice imo.

From a pure picture quality standpoint, I doubt you can find a TV whose picture is better than the Panny ZT/VT series or the Sammy F8500. These are all plasmas and have the highest refresh rates that provide the most favorable motion effects. These are going to be outside of your 2k cap, however, the 61" Sammy F8500 was about $2200.00 during and around the Labor Day holiday. I picked up the 64" model then for about $2700.00. The Sammy gets great reviews, and although plasmas are typically best for dark/darker rooms, this Sammy model rates excellent in bright rooms as well.

If you do go with LCD/LED, just make sure your refresh rate is at least 240 Hz for that 60" size, otherwise I believe you'll be disappointed in the lower quality 120 Hz variety, unless, you enjoy that shrooming affect.

 

[PartTimeFan]

I'm a fan of panny plasma's . I've had great success with Vanns and like that I can easily negotiate a few bucks off .

 

[HoustonCuse]

Thanks for all the responses! I am an avid CNET user and agree its a wealth of info. I'm torn because they are ga-ga over the Panny ST series, which would save me some money but they are plasma. Since I am coming from a projector, I'm thinking brightness probably won't be a giant problem for me, I'm more worried about glare because the viewing position for this TV will have a 19 foot tall wall of windows behind the viewer.

Someone mentioned "camcorder" look above. I think that is what I am calling "soap opera" and I am fervently trying to avoid that.

One reason I'm asking opinions rather than just trusting CNET is that even their high rated ones looked like reheated poop at Sears compared to my 720p Epson Home Cinema projector, they had jaggies, were not crisp, had motion blur and soap opera. It scared me. I was expecting this to be a big upgrade in PQ and viewing experience. Maybe they are using terrible input quality??

 

[realorange]

If you haven't found a store with very clear and sharp picture quality on their best TVs, keep looking until you do. I've never understood why some stores totally undersell their televisions by having lousy input.

 

[TerryM]

Go with DLP.

You must be kidding correct? You are aware it is 2013 and zero companies make or sell these anymore?

 

[TerryM]

samsung series 6

+1 F6400 is the best in the group for what you get.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I recommend Plasma. I have a 58" Samsung that is probably 4 years old, but still looks better than any LED i've ever seen. No problems in a "bright room."

"No 'soap opera effect'"
Not sure what you mean, but i think you're referring to a video 'aesthetic' i associate with LED screens. They just look so 'digital.' Plasma is a more 'film-like' experience, without being soft. LEDs are better now in that respect, but still 'not good enough.'

 

[HoustonCuse]

I recommend Plasma. I have a 58" Samsung that is probably 4 years old, but still looks better than any LED i've ever seen. No problems in a "bright room."

"No 'soap opera effect'"
Not sure what you mean, but i think you're referring to a video 'aesthetic' i associate with LED screens. They just look so 'digital.' Plasma is a more 'film-like' experience, without being soft. LEDs are better now in that respect, but still 'not good enough.'

I'm referring to the motion smoothing algorithms they use. I've especially noticed it if there is a movie playing in the demo clips. It gives this otherworldly sort of dreamy drift to all camera pans. It is really an invasive change to the original content in my opinion. The problem is, I want to be able to see a full court DC2 inbounds pass without the ball moving 25 feet for every frame update. Maybe these TVs need the smoothing to make that possible?