Help me with a TV?

[juniorotty]

Considering I still have a 17" CRT TV, I really do know little about the new technologies with TV's.

I have some general knowledge but I would like you to recommend me a TV.

First of all it has to be HD. Is HD built in to most? Are blue ray players in some? How much do these generally cost?

Is it better to get a LCD TV or a PLASMA? Which lasts longer? Which consumes more power? Which has a clearer picture?

When they give specifics of TV's what should I be looking for?

I know I could be getting a lot of this information of the internet, but many people are knowledgable on these forums and have helped me before with my problems.

I am looking at the price range of $1500? I am not looking to spend much more then 1.5k and definately no more then $2000.

 

[x Steel x]

Every single Flat Screen is HD Compatible. However you need a high-definition source; be it a blueray player, cable box or satellite box with an HD broadcast. All blueray players are sold separately and do not come with the purchase of a new TV. Blueplayers are coming down in price currently, you can head over to Circuit City and pick up a player for about $299.99 now while they are still on sale.

LCD TV’s are Liquid Crystal Display. TV’s that provide a brighter display, truer white colors, and are great for brighter rooms. LCD’s have plastic screens and have an anti-glare to provide as little as of a reflection in bright rooms. LCD’s typically last 60,000 hours (about 8 years).

Plasmas on the other hand are TV’s generated by gas. They deliver by far the best colorization in a TV, with the truest black levels, and smoothest motion in a TV. They are dimmer in brightness in comparison to LCD’s. Plasmas have 480HZ, essentially meaning 480 frames per second which grants an extremely smooth picture in fast motion sequences. Plasmas have glass screens and are meant for darker rooms. Something to definitely be aware of is burn in with these TV’s. Burn in has been a huge issue with Plasma TV’s, what burn in does is sometimes permanently burn a static image into your TV screen. Thankfully manufactures are working out a majority of the kinks to prevent these issues from happening. My recommendation is to purchase a Panasonic Plasma because they have a white wash mode that washes out burned-in images. If a Plasma was in a bright room, then there would be a substantial glare on the TV screen. The disadvantage to Plasma TV’s is that they consume a third more in energy then LCD TV’s do. Plasmas last roughly 80,000 hours (about 10 years)

If you’re looking for a TV, the things you should be on the look for are: contrast, if its 1080P or 720P, how many HZ it has, and which brand it is. The contrast is a big thing and ultimately determines the overall better colors to your TV and clarity. The only way to get 1080P currently is a blueray player or high end gaming machine, the reason being is because Cable/Satellite providers are broadcasted in 720P. But its beneficial to have a 1080P today because in the near future there will be 1080P channels in HD. If you had a 720P TV and 1080P channels were out, then your picture quality will be severely degraded. A majority of LCD TV’s only have a standard 60HZ refresh rate which doesn’t provide a smooth picture in fast action sequences. Something to look for is 120HZ LCD TV’s due to their crisper motion in fast action events. Or if you are interested in Plasmas, then great; because they all have 480HZ. Brand names are important and make a difference on both picture quality and longevity of the TV’s lasting longer. Sony is the best manufacture for LCD’s and Samsung as well. For Plasmas, Panasonics and Pioneer Elites are the best brand names for Plasma TV’s.

I hope that all of this information synced in for you smoothly. If you have any more questions, then please feel free to ask.

-x Steel x