OT - TVs

[Bayside44]

Guys, figure this is the place to ask and get a good opinion.

I am building out my basement and need to get the jumbo-sized TV (60 inch of so). Like UEO, I am a FiOS guy that isn't really interested in all the digital tricks, just want to watch sports and whatever when I can. Also don't need sound coming at me from all angles, one of those sound bar things would be fine.

Anyone have a TV they can recommend? Also, do you need to have the cable box with FiOS with one of those TV or can that bipassed?

Thanks for the help!

 

[TexanMark]

Join COSTCO, they offer a free offer 2 year warranty...I like LED uses less energy. The LED Picture is VG. Best to go to COSTCO and just look at all the TVs and compare. The usual suspects are good: SONY, LG, SAMSUNG, VIZIO...stay away from Westinghouse and Chinese brands you never heard of. They are fine for a $179 TV but not when spending some serious money.

Also, make sure your car will handle the box. LED TVs are the lightest out there and that is a huge advantage when dealing with 60 inch screens.

 

[orangejunkie]

Don't know about FIOS. I am with Time Warner. I had a home theatre installed in our lower level (wife didn't want it in our main living area). It has a Denon surround sound system with Boston Accoustic Speakers. You could get by with a sound bar but I would spend the extra $100 or so and get one with an accompanying sub woofer. The sub woofer adds a ton to the music quality. I got a 65" Sony. The price starts to climb as you get larger. Also, when you buy a large screen TV you basically have to get 3D and stuff you really don't want. That is how they are packaging the big screens. The quality of the large screens is supposed to be better though so at least you are getting something else besides the size. BTW, absolutely love what I have. It is great for sports and with dolby sound it really rocks! Also great for SU games...

 

[xc84]

Guys, figure this is the place to ask and get a good opinion.

I am building out my basement and need to get the jumbo-sized TV (60 inch of so). Like UEO, I am a FiOS guy that isn't really interested in all the digital tricks, just want to watch sports and whatever when I can. Also don't need sound coming at me from all angles, one of those sound bar things would be fine.

Anyone have a TV they can recommend? Also, do you need to have the cable box with FiOS with one of those TV or can that bipassed?

Thanks for the help!

I believe some TVs have the ability to use the HDMI CEC channel in the HDMI cable to carry the Remote's IR ( Infrared) signal from your TV to your Set Top Box. this allows for putting the set top box inside a cabinet or even another room (you have to run the HDMI cable still but the box does not have to be in sight of your clicker). Unfortunately, most boxes do not have the capability to receive the signal from the HDMI cable directly. I don't know if you can eliminate the "box" but you can keep it hidden. I have my box in the basement and run the HDMI cable up to my TV on the first floor. I use this to extend the Infrared signals of my clicker to the remote box. It's worked great for me.

http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-Dual-Band-InjectIR-IR-over-HDMI-for-Remote-Controls.asp

 

[javadoc]

Guys, figure this is the place to ask and get a good opinion.

I am building out my basement and need to get the jumbo-sized TV (60 inch of so). Like UEO, I am a FiOS guy that isn't really interested in all the digital tricks, just want to watch sports and whatever when I can. Also don't need sound coming at me from all angles, one of those sound bar things would be fine.

Anyone have a TV they can recommend? Also, do you need to have the cable box with FiOS with one of those TV or can that bipassed?

Thanks for the help!

Check what Consumer Reports says, and look at other online review sites that cover A/V. Plasmas in general use more electricity but have sharper pictures with deeper black rendering, and are higher rated in terms of image quality. Backlit LED sets use a grid of LED lights to provide raw illumination, and the unevenness in the light field can show up, especially in dark scenes.

I have also read that the LED sets suffer from (relatively) rapid color drop-off as your viewing angle moves away from straight-on perpendicular center. I have never been able to notice it that much in rudimentary tests in the store, but I am also red-green color blind, so who knows.

And when you get your set, make sure it can be calibrated to NTSC standard.

I'm still using a 10-year old flat widescreen Toshiba CRT that has a better picture than anything I can see on the market today, but if I were to replace, I would go for a plasma.

 

[ImperialOrange]

How far will your seating be from the tv, and how much (in any) natural light gets int your basement?

 

[Alsacs]

Best TV I have bought is the 60" LG Plasma TV.
Here is the link I bought mine from.
60" TV

 

[Bayside44]

How far will your seating be from the tv, and how much (in any) natural light gets int your basement?

2 windows in that room facing north and east, prolly 12-15 feet maybe?

 

[OrangeTown]

Best TV I have bought is the 60" LG Plasma TV.
Here is the link I bought mine from.
60" TV

I, too, own a 60" LG Plasma and it has been fantastic to me. I did spend a bit to have it professionally calibrated, but if you're in an environment where you can control the lighting, plasma is the way to go.

 

[Toga]

A year and a half ago I bought a 56" plasma from Best Buy. It was a Best Buy brand (can't remember name at moment). Best Buy brand plasmas (not non-plasmas) are actually made by Samsung (a good thing). Think I paid $699. Awesome TV.

 

[Finwad32]

I bought a larger Westinghouse on Black Friday on the cheap and it's been solid. Picture quality is good beyond some minor adjustments to the blacks. The sound can get funny. If you're going to buy a larger TV as a centerpiece though I'd have to agree with Mark on the brands.

 

[Jeepers]

Got mine about 2 years ago, so probably outdated info. Got a top of the line Samsung, minus the 3D. Not sure where 3D falls now, but I think it's just a big gimmick and not worth the money. Couldn't be happier--the picture is great. When people with their own wide screens come to visit, they always comment how much better my picture is.

 

[TexanMark]

Plasmas use a lot more energy and weigh a lot more than LEDs...to each his own. I think LED picture quality is excellent

 

[KaiserUEO]

got the 60" Samsung Smart LED 1080, 44 belly option on 2...

best buy threw in a blu-ray and free shipping. i negotiated 'if i buy this cabinet/stand, will you bastards install it on my wall for free?'....home run.

i have the dvr hooked up to it, which has the HDMI coming out. not sure how it work if you didnt have that setup.

love it by the way, never seen jake and the neverland pirates appear so captivating.....

 

[Bayside44]

got the 60" Samsung Smart LED 1080, 44 belly option on 2...

best buy threw in a blu-ray and free shipping. i negotiated 'if i buy this cabinet/stand, will you bastards install it on my wall for free?'....home run.

i have the dvr hooked up to it, which has the HDMI coming out. not sure how it work if you didnt have that setup.

love it by the way, never seen jake and the neverland pirates appear so captivating.....

So is it glued on the wall or do you have one of those faux wood stand things?

 

[javadoc]

got the 60" Samsung Smart LED 1080, 44 belly option on 2...

best buy threw in a blu-ray and free shipping. i negotiated 'if i buy this cabinet/stand, will you bastards install it on my wall for free?'....home run.

i have the dvr hooked up to it, which has the HDMI coming out. not sure how it work if you didnt have that setup.

love it by the way, never seen jake and the neverland pirates appear so captivating.....

Yo-ho, let's go!

How many gold doubloons did you score?

 

[Moontan]

Panasonic plasma for me. Very happy with it. Surround sound is nice.

Wish I had my media room from TX in my current house. No outside light, no outside noise... sigh.

 

[Chip]

I prefer LED. They are the thinnest and lightest. Use a full range of motion bracket to put it on the wall. We had it done (luckily a friend of the family who did it for free, but I didn't get the sense it's all that big of a job if you pay someone to do it).

Make sure it's a Smart TV, and make sure it has 1080P. Most TVs have both these days, but if you try to play the cheapskate you'll find a few hanging around that don't. Higher the MHz the better. I think at least 120 is fine, but others can probably comment on that.

I'd go with Kaiser's exact specs. Mine is a little smaller, but that's due to the room it's in. Mine is LG, picture is incredible, but can't beat Samsung.

Hope the Potomac doesn't flood that basement.

 

[Bayside44]

I prefer LED. They are the thinnest and lightest. Use a full range of motion bracket to put it on the wall. We had it done (luckily a friend of the family who did it for free, but I didn't get the sense it's all that big of a job if you pay someone to do it).

Make sure it's a Smart TV, and make sure it has 1080P. Most TVs have both these days, but if you try to play the cheapskate you'll find a few hanging around that don't. Higher the MHz the better. I think at least 120 is fine, but others can probably comment on that.

I'd go with Kaiser's exact specs. Mine is a little smaller, but that's due to the room it's in. Mine is LG, picture is incredible, but can't beat Samsung.

Hope the Potomac doesn't flood that basement.

Ha, thanks. Got that sucker French-drained, and the pumps have been working overtime. House next to mine is still for sale...can knock down the fence and build a par 3.

 

[rosconey]

have a 54 plasma panny for about 4 years- great picture-
led can look cartoonish at times to me-

a yamaha sound bar and a honking sub woofer -its called a vmps large and its powered by a crown k1-

 

[Dnyr85]

Plasmas use a lot more energy and weigh a lot more than LEDs...to each his own. I think LED picture quality is excellent

The thing with LED's is that they have a lot of motion blur. He want's to watch a lot of sports and the motion blur is just too much on those sets.

Plasma has a higher refresh rate, so motion blur is almost non existent. Excellent TV for movie and sports is the PLASMA by far. I just received my new Panasonic plasma and am breaking it in past the 300 hour usage mark so that I can get it professionally calibrated.

But, it all comes done to budget and how you feel towards said set.

 

[TexanMark]

The thing with LED's is that they have a lot of motion blur. He want's to watch a lot of sports and the motion blur is just too much on those sets.

Plasma has a higher refresh rate, so motion blur is almost non existent. Excellent TV for movie and sports is the PLASMA by far. I just received my new Panasonic plasma and am breaking it in past the 300 hour usage mark so that I can get it professionally calibrated.

But, it all comes done to budget and how you feel towards said set.

I have 120Mhz refresh rate and I really don't see the issue of motion blur.

 

[HtownOrange]

Good info, but that's expected of Orange fans.

1080dpi
120 Hz sweep rate
Smart TV (look for ones with ACC or do so with you accompanying blue ray player)
LED or plasma. in my opinion,less than 40" go LED, above 45" go plasma, in tge overlap, get the one you want.

I have a 42" Toshiba (fits in the armoir) with a good sound bar that has sound effects options. For sports the sound is modified to sound like you are in a stadium, very cool!

Lots to choose from, ask a few experts at local stores. Best Buy personnel are not on commission so they tend to give more honest opinions.

 

[Chip]

I have 120Mhz refresh rate and I really don't see the issue of motion blur.

Yeah, I've read and heard about this motion blur, but to be honest, I can't detect it. Could be that I'm just getting old and my eyes are bad. Ok, not even 40 (quite yet) so let's hope that's not the case. But I watch a ton of sports, and mine is 120 Mhz. I can't ever remember thinking anything in HD was blurry. With the exception of Daniel Bailey running, but that was blurry to those who were live in the Dome.

 

[bevosu]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Panasonic Plasma. So far the cheapest I've seen it (55") is $1399. Amazon jumps the price around between $1399 and $1700.

I'm convinced it's the best bang for the buck.

Cnet rates it the best TV for the money and gave it their highest rating ever. They also have a 60" model.

Yup LCD's use less energy, but the difference isn't that great.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p55st60/4505-6482_7-35567256.html