Plasma was becoming the way to go, but LCD screens have made a stronger push in the last year.  I just wanted to see if we could get some feedback from people who have compared brands and formats.  I know some you out there recently upgraded TV's and it would be nice to hear which format you decided on and what you liked better about it.

Korey

   I'm not sure if you are asking about LCD direct-view or LCD RPTV's. I myself have a LCD RPTV that I am extremely happy with. I know it's not as flat as a plasma or LCD direct-view. But, I think that alot of people buy those for the "Gee-whiz" factor of being flat instead of a better video picture.  It's just my opinion really though after all.

                             Mitch

I've seen a few LCD tvs that actually impressed me. I think they were all made by Sharp.

I've only seen one Plasma that impressed me -it was a $17k Mitsubishi.

I was however very impressed by the DLP tvs that I've seen.

Korey, I am actually shopping for a 42" display currently.  I think I am down to the 42" EDTV Panasonic Plasma.  Other close contenders were the 43" LCD Panny and 42" Sony LCD.  Both LCD's offered HDTV for the same price as the Plasma (which is just ED), but since this is primarily only a DVD display, with no HDTV now and probably not any in the forseeable future (just don't watch enough TV to justify the monthly cost upgrade, although the sox in HD would be sweet!  ), that is not as much an issue for me as it may be for others?  The off axis viewing and brightness really put the plasma above the others in my opinion, again, space specific.  Also, the plasma seems more vibrant and also renders the blacks a little better.  My decision is not totally made up, but at this point, that is the set I am leaning towards.  It may change 2-3 more times before I actually pull the trigger though... 

I have a Panasonic 50 "LCD RPTV multimedia display. So far I have had some issues with it. First the lamp burned out after only one month. These lamps are $400 a pop but they are covered by the warranty for one year. They were on backorder and had to wait 6 weeks to see my TV again. After getting the bulb replace not a month later we have pixels sticking. Not sure if you've heard of this, the pixels are not dead they are stuck in a certain color I have 2 both in bright red. After some argument I have convinced Cicuit city to fix it with the warranty and its a huge repair. They pretty much have to replace the guts of the Display to get this fixed.  Other than those issues the TV has a great HDTV picture and poor normal cable picture. MAke sure that you talk with your sales guy about items like this prior to purchase. Sometimes they like to leave these items out when trying to make the sale. Ask him to turn the channel to a non HDTV station to get a feal for what they look like. HDTV looks awesome but youll watch it about 20% of the time, not many shows are in HDTV. I have the exstended HDTV service from time warner and even though I have 5 extra HDTV channels they play the same shows over agian so I find my self watching more and more regular tV. The lamps on these TVS don't last the stated 5 years. Youll be lucky if it last a year, and thats why they are all on back order.

 

We are in a transition time with displays, as technology gets better for plasmas and LCD's, prices will drop also. Buying into this new technology now is risky, but if you can afford the latest and greatest more power to ya. I can't see dropping so much on a plasma only to know is half life will creep up on you soon. THe fact that the more you watch the worse your TV gets bugs me. And not to metion burn in. Thats why I went with the LCD RPTV. Awesome picture no burn in, replace a lamp every once in awhile. It still has its quirks. Can'y wait till perfection, oh wait that never happens.

 

My wife asked me YEsterday after upgrading and spending thousands on our home thretre "Will this last you awhile"?

I replied "Ya, sure" with my finger crossed behind my back.

 

 

On another note I am excited tommorow I get my Aperion 6.1 speaker set up minus the VAC center channel that will be soon though. I am planning on using the 522 center channel as a back surround speak for the 6.1. I'll let you know how it works, and I am curios to see how the VAC sound in comparision to th e 522 center. I'll run a comparsion and post what I hear. HAs anyone else tryed using a center channel as a back suuround. Should be that big of a deal seeing that the 522-c is the same as the book shelves on there sides.. Any way I am excited that tommorow they will be here. Its like Christmas.

Richard, sorry to hear about your woes with the panny LCD.  I almost purchased the panny plasma I want a couple of weeks ago at CC, but by the time I was ready to pay for it, the guy I was dealing with kept changing his story of when I would get it, and tried to say I couldn't get the GC promotion because he was price matching it for me.  I walked out!  I hate CC!!!  SO frustrating dealing with those people!  I went to two other local A/V store and both were sold out for 2+ months!    Guess the plasma will have to wait til next year?

As for using your rear channel 522 for your center, that will be fine until your VAC center arrives.  There is a thread dedicated to the topic of the differences between the two here: http://www.aperionaudio.com/forum/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=2&messageid=641

After much research, pricing and looking, I finally pulled the trigger on a new Sony Grand Wega IV (KDF55WF955). My dilemma was that I can see the rainbows and macroblocking on DLP sets, and a good HDTV Plasma larger than 50" is just too much money. So I went with this 55" RPTV. One of the deciding factors is that a friend of mine had a 60" GWIII that we were able to tweak using the TV's service menus and some info we got online. After adjusting the picture on mine using relatively the same info we used on his, the picture output over HDMI from my Denon DVD-3910 is fantastic. The 3910 player upconverts DVD's standard definition of 480i/p to 720p or 1080i for a near HD quality picture from a DVD. I'm very happy with it except that, like all LCD's, it does have a high black level (blacks aren't as dark as a tube). 

Zach

Zach,

I bought a 50'' Sony Grand Wega TV (KDF50WE655) a couple of weeks ago.  I haven't hooked it up with my HD DVD player yet, as the player hasn't arrived yet.  I was wondering if you could share with me the tips about adjusting the picture.  Where can I get the online information?  Thanks for your help in advance.

Peter

I think for the money you can't buy a better HDTV than the Sony KDS-R50XBR1 SXRD! I think it performs as good or better than any plasma that I've seen.

I used to own a 42" Rear Projection Sony HDTV.  Now my brother and dad own Sony LCD HDTVs, non rear projection ones.  Plus, I have looked at many LCD tvs in many showrooms.  One of my best friends has a Panasonic Plasma, which I tried to calibrate, but was very dissappointed.

Hands down, the best TV I have ever seen, and now own, is the Pioneer PDP-5070 50" plasma.  It is "only" 720p, but what it lacks in lines of resolution, it more than makes up for in depth of black levels, color saturation/accuracy and viewing angle width (practically 180 degrees).  For 2500.00 bucks you can now get the next generation Kuro version, which features pure 0 degrees of light, or pure black for a near infinite contrast ratio.  For movie buffs, especially science fiction or noir movies that feature so many dark scenes, it is the best TV ever.  For those that insist that you cannot appreciate Blu Ray without a 1080P TV, think again.  This Pioneer accepts 1080p signal then converts it to 720p for the best PQ, even better than Cable HD, which is 1080i at best.  You would have to sit five feet from the screen to see the difference between 1080p and 720p anyway, and who besides teenagers, sit with their feet one foot from the bottom of the TV.

Mine gets no burn in, when treated properly:  I don't play video game on it, or leave CNN on all night long on it.  The picture seems to get better with every month of use.

Do yourself a favor and check out Pioneer's plasmas: they won't be making them for long.