Tv experts??

[Boost231]

Ok, i have been looking online for about 10-12 hours over the last few days.i'm looking at a nice tv since i want to keep it for awhile. i will be using it alot for gaming and movies as well. now the question is

led lcd or plasma?

i have been looking at the samsung un55b8500. what i have seen is led lcd or lcd tvs in general don't have as fast of a refresh on fast moving objects. thats about the only down side i see. now i have read alot about plasmas having burn in. they also have better black's and whites and great refresh rates on fast moving objects. anyways what do you guys think? i dont want to spend more the 4,500 thats for sure.

55" LED HDTV UN55B8500 55" 1080P LED HDTV - LED TV - Televisions | SAMSUNG

 

[DJ Red Barron]

Damn, that's a bad ass TV. If I were in the market for a new one, I'd jump alllll over that Samsung.

 

[usetaboost]

I have a samsung. Going on 2 years trouble free operation. I love it. But when it's time for basement entertainment I'm putting up a projector to take up the entire wall Those of you that have this love it, don't you?

 

[GSTOY]

Read the specs very carefully. LED is the rage right now, but their are many flavors. Some led sets are led backlit only, some are true led. I for one never like 1st year anything. I always wait for the following year's models, why pay for the R&D and the hype.

Plasmas are generally the cats meow for HD pictures, but they do have their drawbacks such as burn-in, but they are getting better at not doing so, power consumption and the heat they give off is another concern. Lastly would be weight, all the glass adds up, so you will need a sturdy wall mount.

LCD's have come a long way in a short time, refresh rates on better models is less than 2ms, and now with led backlighting, they are getting know for their inky blacks as people would call it. Drawbacks to the lcd sets are they can't be in a real bright room, otherwise they might look washed out since lcd's need the backlight to produce the picture. Refresh rates, lcd's still suffer some lag, but the old addage you get what you pay for applies, look for 120hz and higher plus the lowest refresh rate you can find.

IMO...I still like CRT's, but they are phasing them out. I have a 55" Mitsubishi projection and it still looks great after 6 plus years, I only wish it had HDMI inputs.

Best advice I can tell you is research, research, research. Visit AVSforum.com ask questions and spend some time watching the sets your intrested in.

Steve

 

[SIXBANGR]

Amazon sells it for $3900. That is where I got my Samsung. Mine is a 42" and it was free shipping. Did not check that on the 55.

 

[QWKRTNU]

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[usetaboost]

A local audio/video place has mitsubishi 72 inch tvs for less than 4k and were 3d compatable if I remember right. Even get to pay payments if you wish I think I'm still gonna go with a projector downstairs though

 

[Seffin]

I would not get a plasma unless you are planning on making the entire room pitch black. They don't as good until you get them in a room with no light. Also the LEDs don't have as good of picture as some of the new Sony's. Like the XBR6, XBR7, and XBR8. Try to stay under 50 inches if you want a good picture look at the resolutions and color displays. I worked at Circuit City until they went out and all the reps from Sony Panasonic, etc. said the best picture is on the 42 and 46 inch TVs.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Ok, i have been looking online for about 10-12 hours over the last few days.i'm looking at a nice tv since i want to keep it for awhile. i will be using it alot for gaming and movies as well. now the question is

led lcd or plasma?

i have been looking at the samsung un55b8500. what i have seen is led lcd or lcd tvs in general don't have as fast of a refresh on fast moving objects. thats about the only down side i see. now i have read alot about plasmas having burn in. they also have better black's and whites and great refresh rates on fast moving objects. anyways what do you guys think? i dont want to spend more the 4,500 thats for sure.

55" LED HDTV UN55B8500 55" 1080P LED HDTV - LED TV - Televisions | SAMSUNG

Hey Boost, I was going to make a post asking about TV's until i saw this one....

I'm sort of in the same boat....the wife and I are looking into a new TV.

The salesman at Sears told us plasmas do have better refresh rates and they're good if you're into sports and action films, otherwise stick to an LCD.

Also according to the salesman, Sony makes the best TV's followed by Samsung. But I don't know if he was just saying that to make a sale or what....

If someone knows for sure please chime in. We want to buy nothing but quality, not some junk that's gonna burn out in like 5 years.

 

[WeAreVenom]

Anything over 40" you should go plasma IMO. Better contrast ratios make all the difference in the world.

Also, never trust a salesman and NEVER buy a TV from a store without playing with the settings. They make some sets look like ass while the others are tuned to look beautiful knowing full well that the average person will say, "Well, this looks way better so I'll buy it instead."

Head over to AVS Forum and read until your eyes bleed. Those guys know their stuff.

 

[usetaboost]

For 4500 bucks you should be able to get a hell of a tv, maybe even two of them. You should get a vizio and be done with it

 

[aminga]

Also according to the salesman, Sony makes the best TV's followed by Samsung. But I don't know if he was just saying that to make a sale or what....

If someone knows for sure please chime in. We want to buy nothing but quality, not some junk that's gonna burn out in like 5 years.

Except for Samsung's recent problems with power supplies. FOrtunatly the fix will cost you about 10cents in parts and an hour with a soldering gun.

 

[Danster]

I would go check out your local Best Buy's and check to see if they still have the Pioneer's Plasma's. The best of the best.

I wouldn't worry about burn in. My son has played numerous hours on my TV and not a problem with Burn in. And no you don't need for the room to be completely dark, still looks good with lighting. :biggrin:

I may end up going to BB this weekend to check to see what they have left but it's still the best TV out there. All the rest are still playing catch up to Pioneer's Plasma's. Get them while you can! Truly amazing!

Dannyo

 

[Rodney87GN]

Well if you want quality get a Pioneer Elite series plasma. I'm not sure they still make em though because I believe Pioneer got out of the plasma tv business. The Pioneer Elite is usually rated one of the best plasmas out there...it'll cost ya though.

EDIT: Danster beat me to it what I wanted to say.

 

[topfuel]

Except for Samsung's recent problems with power supplies. FOrtunatly the fix will cost you about 10cents in parts and an hour with a soldering gun.

What is the issue with the power supplies?

I'm curious because I just bought a 58" Samsung plasma and it has issues
with shutting off and turning back on again, all on its own.

I Bought it from a high end store and they are going to ship out a new one with no questions asked.

fwiw they put a plasma along side of an lcd and the difference between the picture quality was amazing. The plasma looked much better.

 

[aminga]

What is the issue with the power supplies?

I'm curious because I just bought a 58" Samsung plasma and it has issues
with shutting off and turning back on again, all on its own.

I Bought it from a high end store and they are going to ship out a new one with no questions asked.

fwiw they put a plasma along side of an lcd and the difference between the picture quality was amazing. The plasma looked much better.

Search google for samsung on off cycling. There's 2 capacitors in the power supply located next to a heat sink. They burst and the TV will no longer power on it'll just cycle between all off and halfway on. Using a 16V instead of a 10V would have given them a little more heat tolerance.

The bad caps are easy to identify (they're bulged and burst open) and not to hard to fix.

 

[SGRIM]

What is the best for a bright room? Our family room has lots of windows and it is bright during the day. Still have a 65inch projection HDTV... I can't see paying as much for a TV as I would a car I am still looking the 2K and under models, as I don't watch that much tv! Kids play more games than anything...

 

[SloGN]

IMO...I still like CRT's, but they are phasing them out. I have a 55" Mitsubishi projection and it still looks great after 6 plus years, I only wish it had HDMI inputs.

Best advice I can tell you is research, research, research. Visit AVSforum.com ask questions and spend some time watching the sets your intrested in.

Steve

Steve

I work in the Game industry and i work on crt monitors everyday and i really like them.

I too have a mitsu 55" projection TV. Yes they have all kids of inputs but no HDMI. but you can get a cable that changes from HDMI to DVI and it has the same great signal.

 

[Rivical]

I've had nuttin but great viewing since March from my Samsung 46" LCD! Say what ya want about the other options but at $1299/36mo, no interest(BestBuy) I just couldn't beat it with a stick! It's alot better than their other 46" model BB had next to it for $1200! I actually ended up putting it in the living room and taking the Sony upstairs where it mostly gathers dust. I've got four windows in the room and never a trouble. Great contrast ratio, excellent refresh rate.

The projector IS awesome for gaming too!

 

[GSTOY]

Also, to anyone that is going to be spending some serious coin on a high end set, the best thing you can do for them is to buy a UPS that conditions the power coming into them. Switching power supplies hate inconsistant voltage and power spikes that come from your local power company...trust me..your set will last alot longer.

Steve