Hardware Canucks - Advice on a new 46"+ TV

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Advice on a new 46"+ TV

As some of you already know, I'm going through a split right now, which means I'm going to be moving and 'restarting' as it were. Due to this, I'll be rebuilding a lot of my home theatre and such from scratch. The bad news is, I have to buy new stuff... The good news is that I get to buy new stuff! (Silver linings)

So... on to the grit! Several years back I bought a 37" LCD Panasonic Viera (Thanks again Infinity! That TV is still AMAZING!) and I've been in love with it ever since. But now, with opportunity knocking, I'd like to buy something bigger. I'm thinking I'll go at LEAST 46" this time around. But I'd like to keep it under the $1000 mark if possible. I figure that's doable since I see some damn nice, brand name 50" TV's at WalMart for around the $700 all the time.

I have a few caveats:

~ I'd like to stick to LCD rather than Plasma. I like the brightness of LCD, colour depth always seems better on LCD, and they're significantly lighter, making an appropriate stand/mount easier to find. However, if the product is solid and the price is right, I'm not blind to the thought of Plasma.

~ I would prefer to stay away from LED back-lighting unless someone knows of an EXCELLENT option. I've always found that LED appears to give off a 'washed out' or duller colour reproduction. Not sure if that's just me, or just the early release LED's I've seen, but I've been less than impressed.

~ I do NOT want a 120Hz refresh rate! This is a no-compromise decision for me. I can't stand this technology when it comes to watching movies! I find that it actually detracts from the special effects, and gives high quality blu-rays a 'home movie' feel. I shouldn't be able to look at special effects and see that there's obvious CG involved, but with 120Hz 'true motion' I can. I've seen it on many TV's, and I've hated it every time. I just lose the immersion I want in my movies. Granted that the technology makes gaming much better, but that's only going to be about 15% of the TV's use at most. Sometimes 'too much clarity' is a bad thing.

~ Not sure it even needs to be said, but 1080p is a must.

Hopefully someone has some good suggestions on TV's for a good price. Also, where to buy them would be appreciated as well. I live in the Vancouver area, and have no qualms about buying from a smaller store if the deal is right, or even online if shipping doesn't destroy the price. Also worth noting is that I get free extended warranty coverage through Dell if I order through my company. Although their pricing has always seemed a tad high to me for TV's.

As a starting point, here's some TV's I'm looking at right now:

LG 47LV3500 - 47" LCD 1080p - $898
LG 47" Class 1080p LED TV (47LV3500) - 793275 - Walmart Canada - Save Money Live Better.

LG 47LK450 - 47" LCD 1080p - $690
Costco - LG® 47LK450 47-in. 1080p LCD HDTV**

Sony KDL-46BX421 - 46" LCD 1080p - $849
Costco - Sony® KDL-46BX421 46-in. 1080p LCD HDTV**

Samsung LN46D550K1FXZC - 46" LCD 1080p - $599
Samsung 46" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (LN46D550K1FXZC) : 40" - 49" LCD TVs - Best Buy Canada

Panasonic TCP50X3 - 50" Plasma 1080p - $699
Panasonic 50" Plasma HDTV (TCP50X3) : 50" - 59" Plasma TVs - Best Buy Canada

i'd get the samuel just cause my old samuel has been on 12 hours a day everyday with weed smoke blown directly in its face for 4 years now without a problem. Plus its the cheapest and it doesnt sound to me like you give too much of a shit about gimmicks.

Would you consider a 51" 1080P 3D plasma?

Samsung 51" 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV (PN51D550) : 50" - 59" 3D TVs - Future Shop

I have the 64 inch from the same series and it's a pretty good bang for the buck.

The 51 inch model has been as low as $899 + it includes the Shrek 1-4, 3D bundle + 2 glasses.

When I bought my LCD earlier this year, I took the Samsung panel lottery into account. I wound up going with the LG LD520 47" 120Hz. The trumotion is great for gaming, but sucked with tv/movies so I simply turn it off. This model has since been replaced with the LK520. The response time is great and has the added feature of playing your media through its usb port. In my opinion, I would spend the extra $150 and get the LK520 over the LK450. You won't be disappointed. Hope this helps.

47LK520 TV TV/Audio/Video

Reading your post it would seem we are of 'like mind' when it comes to viewing media. I'll just copy and paste a post I wrote in a similar thread.

Quote:

All the suggestions above are fine, but if you have a discerning eye and want movies to look exactly as they should as well the best monitor for gaming, go with a PANASONIC PLASMA, GT30 Model or better.

Nothing out there touches these. Period. I've drank the Kool-aid and went LCD/LED. 120hz, 240hz (and it's not even true 120hz, do your research) can't stand them. 2ms and I hate gaming on them, I notice the refresh rate.

Can't believe I thought I was 'taking a chance' when I went Plasma.

Samsung makes ok Plasmas, but they should spend less $$ on designers and more on engineers.

Panasonic has been the unofficial 'King' of Plasma for years. And we should start seeing some Pioneer parts in them now that Pioneer has bowed out of making Plasma's but has a deal to supply Panny with parts.

I suggest the Panasonic GT30 or better b/c of Picture Quality, 3D, extra's (USB etc) and they have improved aesthetics over previous models.

Burn in?? NO. A wise Plasma owner will still do a 150 hour 'break in' when they first get it so the Phosphors harden (also why new Plasma's burn hotter than a broken in one) making burn in highly unlikely, unless you actually try to.

I was high on T3's after a surgery and was playing Fallout New Vegas for 12 hours straight. Thats 12 hours with strong static images on the screen, no burn in, some image retention for a while, that's it. (image retention is similar as when turning off a tube TV that's been on a static image for a while, on the blank screen you can still kinda see it.)

Plasma- Colours, colours, colours.

600hz sub-field drive.

The best lcd/led is what, 240hz? And it's not even a true 240. The new Samsung 120hz 'Auto Motion-Plus' drives me nuts, all it does it recreate a Digital Frame in between two original frames to reduce motion blur (which it does) but the result is that it removes the 'polished movie look', making everything look like it was filmed with a cheap-ass camcorder. Think British TV show quality.

Once you go over 37" forget about lcd/led (same shit, just different backlighting system)

PS: If you like a bright display (as I do) use the 'Vivid' option instead of Theater.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bao (Post 549016)

Good pricing on that option. For that price I really don't have a choice but to at least go look at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mo' power (Post 549085)

When I bought my LCD earlier this year, I took the Samsung panel lottery into account.

Samsung panel lottery? I'm pretty sure I missed something along the way...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Quicken (Post 549161)

Reading your post it would seem we are of 'like mind' when it comes to viewing media. I'll just copy and paste a post I wrote in a similar thread.

Interesting... I didn't know you could actually turn that 'trumotion' option off. I assumed it was a fixed feature given the refresh rate. This is a seriously game-changing piece of information. Now I have to go to the stores and test a bunch of TV's to see the difference it makes...

The panny GT30 will be avaliable at BestBuy in the near future--this is what I would spend my $$ on.

CES: Panasonic's GT30 series plasmas tout THX - CES 2011 CNET Blogs

Baring that u could look at the GT25 (this years model)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Quicken (Post 549364)

$1800 and up is a little rich for my blood I think. But it does look nice.

Regardless... it looks like my decision is made for me. My brother is in the market for a 3D TV, and has offered to sell me his almost brand new (less than a year old) 50" plasma LG-PK550 to me for $500. And for that price, I'd be absolutely insane not to buy it. So that's what I'm getting for now.

In regards to the panel lottery in a nutshell, it was affecting mostly 46" samsung lcd tv's. Samsung couldn't supply enough quality panels to keep up with demand so they outsourced and wound up putting crappy panels in some of their tv's. Google it and it will come...

Great buy on your plasma! You didn't go wrong with that price.