Buying a New TV? Look here.

[SovXietday]

This seems to come up a lot on a bunch of other forums that I frequent, and I find myself writing it over and over again. So I figured I might as well as make a fairly straight forward and easy to understand overview on televisions and the technology. I have over 5 years of experience working with home entertainment and have mounted hundreds of televisions in people's homes around the tristate area. I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't

Basically, I want to cut through the technological garbage that really doesn't matter and get to the stuff you should really worry about when buying a TV. (Anything underlined is included in TV terminology explained at the bottom).


-------------------------------------------------------

LCD

Technology

LCD basically works by sending backlight through a liquid crystal display which uses electricity to change the way these crystals reflect light in such a way that they all collectively produce a picture. LCDs use a flourescent fixture in the back for backlight.

Good and Bad

LCDs are an extremely popular choice for smaller televisions, from around 15" - 40". They exist upwards of 56", but there are better options. They are light in weight, have a bright picture, and come with an anti-reflective screen. These traits make them perfect for bedroom, kitchen, kids room, shore house, or dorm room conditions. Anywhere that being able to move them around is nice or in places that have a lot of sunlight. They are pretty much the only choice for small TV or outdoor applications. They do come in larger sizes, but are outshadowed in both picture quality and price by their newer sibling, the LED TV.

There isn't much "bad" about them. The use of a backlight to create color washes out the contrast of the TV. Overall a quality unit is fairly reliable, pricepoint is pretty much right on in the low to midranged sizes. 1080P? Some do, but in the specific size range that I would recommend buying an LCD it is totally useless and just a gimmick to get you to pay more, just get a normal 720P version. For something in the range of 15" - 40", an LCD is without a doubt the cheapest and simplest way to go.

Install

You have a few options here. You can either place it using the supplied stand on an elevated surface, or you can mount it using a wall bracket. Please read "Things to know about installation" at the bottom for rules/FAQs about wall hanging.

LED

Technology

LEDs are basically just LCDs that are using LEDs for backlighting instead of the flourescent fixtures. This technology also allows them to use the properties of reflection instead to make the TVs ultra thin. Some TVs are even reaching only 1" of thickness total!

Good and Bad

LEDs are the newest technology and have all the buzz right now. They are extremely bright and vibrant televisions, which means that they will work in just about any conditions regarding amount of sunlight. They come in anything from a small 23" size to upwards of 52" and larger. They weigh roughly the same amount as their standard LCD counterparts, but are extremely thin in design. Most of the LCDs come with the 240Hz refresh rate, which is especially important in the larger sizes. Reliability is very similar to that of the LCD, which is overall very good. They are pretty much all 1080P compatible, although some lack in some of the internet options that their LCD counterparts do have. Also, they do happen to use less electricity, although I doubt you'd really notice a big difference on your electric bill.

They do have some downsides though. First and foremost, pricepoint. As of right now, they are staggeringly expensive. Upwards of 3-5K for the larger ones. Often times, they are too bright. In a room with a lot of sunlight this works out great, but at night the brightness needs to be turned down. Also, like LCDs, the nature of using a backlight, while making a brighter picture, also washes out the color. The contrast is lacking when compared to a plasma. IMO, this is not the TV that I would go with if you're looking for the best picture possible. However, if you're not as worried about picture quality and are looking for a TV to fit a design aspect this TV fits the bill perfectly. The thin nature of this TV allows it to be similar to a picture on the wall.

Install

Install with these TVs is actually much more difficult than a standard LCD or plasma due to it's thin nature. You will need to resess the outlet and make sure that all cabling is as flat against the wall as possible. You will also need to buy a special mount which works very similar to hanging a large picture on the wall via a cable. While not impossible, this will likely be an expensive wall hang. You can also place it on it's stand, but that sort of defeats the purpose of buying a super thin TV. Please read "Things to know about installation" at the bottom for rules/FAQs about wall hanging.

Plasma

Technology

Plasma uses a plasma gas that when exposed to electricity excites and turns into different colors. There are no bulbs in these TVs, nor can the plasma gases leak or ever need to be refilled.

Good and Bad

Plasma's are the TV if you want to focus on picture quality. They have an inherent 640Hz refresh rate, the technology allows for a totally unlimited contrast ratio, and they are available in the largest sizes for the cheapest prices. Starting at 42" they go up to 65+" often times for half the price of the LED TVs and with far superior picture quality. They no longer suffer from their burn in issues due to changes in technology and have a very good reliability rate.

They do have glass screens, which means they are susceptable to glaring. This one depends solely on the manufacturer, as better ones have a very good anti-reflective coating that minimizes glare. They are also very heavy, the 65+" ones are upward of 150lbs. That said, this is the type of TV that is best for the main home television where everyone spends most of their time watching movies or gaming or watching their favorite nighttime shows. The size, picture quality, and price package can't be beat.

Install

These can be both placed on a stand or hung on the wall. Hanging the larger ones on the wall needs to be done with care, as I said they are very heavy. You must use a bracket rated for this size television and it must be anchored properly to the wall. Please read "Things to know about installation" at the bottom for rules/FAQs about wall hanging.

Projection

Technology

There are two types of project (well, 3 technically, but I'm only going to go into 2)

1) Projector - This is the movie theater esque style projector that shoots an image onto a seperate screen. This is the most common.

2) Projection TV - This is the projector with screen all set up into one. This is pretty much being completely phased out at this point, I wouldn't waste your money. They require bulb changes every 2 years, they are very dim and have very little color, and they are HUGE televisions. Don't bother.

Good and Bad

Projectors are great for going big. Actually, they are really the only way to go big. They have 1080P availability in fairly small packages now, gone are the days where you need a 75lb behemoth to get a quality image. They are two pieces, both the projector and the screen need to be purchased. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can put together a pretty decent setup that will cover over 100" of wallspace for fairly cheap (1-2K).

These really are only used by people who want to set up a home theater system. They require very long cabling, often times 30+ feet of it. Best placement is on the ceiling, so access is often an issue as well. They need to be located in a fairly low light situation, as they are easily washed out by ambient light. They also do not come with speakers, so there must be an audio system included. Point is, this is for a straight up home theater room. Not good for a party room, unless you like having parties in complete darkness (hey, maybe you do, idk!) Also, they do have bulbs that will need replacing, and replacing them F's your alignment up. Aligning a projector is no fun.

Install

First of all, you need to know the distance. Projectors are set up to work in a certain range of distances, commonly 10-14 feet. If you are too far or too close you will not be able to get the projector to focus. The distance also depends on the size screen you are using, there is manufacturer information for this for each projector. Like I stated earlier, you will need to get both power and video cabling to the projector, and that is often going to be fairly long runs (aka, expensive). You also need room to hang the screen. I would suggest some serious research before diving into this. (I have had to install ones in people's homes who did not do the research, and they were not happy with the results due to poor planning.)

General Info

- Many TVs are coming with "internet" features. This does not mean that you can surf the web on your TV. They have "widgets" similar to apps on your phone. Netflix, youtube, weather, etc are all available through this. They also sell USB Wifi Dongles that you can buy and use, I highly recommend this option vs hardline.
- Common failures in all TVs are the power supply boards. These are a fairly easy and inexpensive fix. Any other failure in an LCD/Plasma is usually a totalled out TV if not under warranty.
- Never clean a screen using windex/chemicals. They sell special stuff, it's cheap, use that and the microfiber towel that comes with. Clean it with the screen off and cool. Spray, wipe, and buff. It leaves a protective coating on the screen. If you do use windex, it will damage the LCD plastic screens and turn Plasma screens Purple!
-Kids, Wii remotes, and flatscreens do NOT mix. Buy the straps, your TV and your wallet will thank you later (you have no idea how many I've seen broken this way).

- All of this info is based off of my years of experience. Most is factual, but personal preference is personal preference.
---------------------------------------------------------------

TV Terminology, what does it mean?

1080P, 1080i, 720P, 480P? - This is just a resolution. There isn't much else you need to know about it other than higher is better, and that if an "i" follows the number (it stands for interlaced) than it more or less acts just like the next number down in "P" (progressive). Basically, 1080i and 720P are nearly the same thing when it comes down to actual resolution. 1080P is the current market's highest resolution, but is only available on Blu-ray movies.

Blu-ray vs DVD - Again, really just a resolution thing. Blu-ray is a 1080P version of a DVD, and can only be played by a dedicated Blu-ray player. Blu-ray players CAN play DVDs, but DVD players CANNOT play Blu-rays. If you see the below image marked on a player (or the box), it is Blu-ray compatible.



HDMI - This is high-definition cable format that is universal to anything that will distribute or recieve information 720P or higher. Audio and Video are both carried through this cable. They are also rated, the newest of which is 1.3. Basically, this is just a bandwidth rating. Price ranges of HDMI cables are totally insane, my suggestion is to buy a cable that meets the 1.3 standard (most ~$30 cables will). Do NOT use the supplied comcast/verizon cables, they are barely able to support both audio and video (often times they will drop audio) let alone 1080P. (Note, for those of you who are doing remote systems, if you are using an HDMI cable over 50 foot in length you MUST use an HDMI amplifier or you will likely see audio or video dropouts).

Contrast Ratio - this is basically the amount of different colors that the TV can support. The more the better. Plasma's are unlimited, LCD/LED is often in the range of 5-6000:1 realistically.

Refresh Rate (120, 240, 640Hz?) - Televisions are actually showing you still pictures at an extremely fast rate. Your mind doesn't pick up on this, it just sees a continuously changing picture. At 120Hz, your mind can pick up "ghosting" effects. This is best described during fast motion, say a football being thrown. You will see the football, and then successively ghosted footballs behind it. At 240Hz this effect is dramatically reduced and many people cannot see it at all. Plasma's run at 640Hz, completely undetectable.

[SovXietday]

------------------------------------------------------

Things to Know about Installation

Mounting - In order to mount a TV on the wall, you need to purchase a wall bracket. Good ones can be had for around $50-$200 depending on the size and whether or not they will tilt forward or are locked flat. Cantilevers allow the TV to protrude from the wall and turn left or right, they are much more expensive but totally worth it in some cases. Physically anchoring it on the wall depends on the type of surface, most commonly used is lag bolts into drywall studs. It is possible to mount on brick, stone, metal studded walls, hang from ceilings (pole mount), and depending on how creative you are can look pretty amazing. When it comes to masonry or complicated areas, I would leave this job to professionals.

Connections/Cabling - HDMI cables are pretty big here. You will need as many cables as you have components (Cable box, PS3/Xbox, Blu-ray). Only 1 if you go with a HDMI pass-through receiver. They will need to be long enough to reach all of the components, go up the wall, and out into the TV. A normal hang needs a 10-12' HDMI cable. If you're unsure, go a bit longer, you can always tuck the rest into the wall.

Power - This is EXTREMELY important. You must put an outlet behind the location of the TV if you do not want to see the power cable at all. You cannot run the power cable down the wall, it is not only illegal but if you were to suffer a fire your insurance may not cover it regardless of whether or not the power cable was the source of the fire. For best results, use a recessed outlet (or "clock" outlet).

Fireplaces - This is a pretty big thing, and many people horribly undershoot what it takes to do this. A "fake" fireplace (gas fireplace) is fairly easy to get around and completely safe to have a TV above it. You just need to make sure that there will be room to pull it off and that you get a tilt bracket. Real wooden fireplaces are extremely difficult to pull off, while I have it is very touch and go and often times wiring is exposed. Also, real wood fires give off a lot of soot and heat that could potentially ruin your TV, and absolutely effect the performance of the crystals in your LCD/LED.

Other than that, here are some examples of the cooler/weirder things I have done and that some of you may be able to benefit from with ideas.





Small LCD TV on a cantileaver. Family is able to watch TV at their small dinner table (they have a real dining table too) and the wife could swing the TV into the opening to watch TV while in the kitchen as well. Neat, but what a pain in the ass it was to pull this off.





Perfect example of a gas fireplace with a concealable TV. 52" LCD TV (should have gone plasma but not my house). When not in use, the picture rolls down to cover the TV. (We hung the TV, but the picture and frame work was hand made by a seperate company).



Small LCD with cable box above the entrance to their bedroom. Definitely one of the stranger ones I've done lol.



Great example of a recessed TV. This is a 42" standard LCD (too much lighting in the room to comfortably use a plasma).



42" plasma over gas fireplace. I was actually able to fit the cable box behind the TV, and it is controlled with an IR repeater.



Like I said, you can mount onto a stone wall. Totally doable, but not easy.



This is a 52" LED. This is pretty much run of the mill everyday wall hangs. They look great, totally unobtrusive in the room, and fairly easy in and out job for a professional.

Hopefully this thread is helpful to someone who is looking to get a new TV and especially with preparing for installation and getting what will work best for your needs.

[Ender81]

Not top of the line but I heart my Vizio XVT LED. Just wish I had gotten a larger size.

Good information.

[Elliott18t]

got a 42" LED for !~$530. YAY LG.

[OMGz Turbo]

I have a 52" plasma 1080p...freakin love it good write up

[05Accent]

yea workin in home theater iv seen some pretty sweet setups!

** On the last one are u sure thats a samsung 52? looks like a 55C8000. never recalled samsung making a 52 LED.

[TROLL]

Nice, thanks for the info... skimmed through now and will go back and read more thoroughly later.

I have a couple questions since it sounds like you might know the answers:

1) I bought a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma about 9 months ago for my bedroom and from what I had read expected the picture quality to be quite good. Unfortunately when I had it up next to my Samsung 32" LCD it looked flat... lacked saturation and contrast. I tried to adjust these settings but it still never really popped. I'm used to it now and its not something I notice, but I still wonder about this.

2) Just in the past 2 weeks I have noticed sometimes that whites have pink discoloration in them sometimes. I noticed this in clouds in the sky or other bright white spots in the picture... not all the time but sometimes. I read online it might be a result of the unit being too hot which falls in line with this only appearing toward the top of the TV (where the heat rises, or where more hot components are located?). I don't know, but I assume the TV is still under warranty for at least the first year... can't say for sure if it is the TV or another component in the system. Any ideas?

[justinlansdale]

nice write up d000d, perfect time too because kristen and I have been looking to upgrade to a 51" samsung plasma.

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by 05Accent

yea workin in home theater iv seen some pretty sweet setups!

** On the last one are u sure thats a samsung 52? looks like a 55C8000. never recalled samsung making a 52 LED.

Haha, yeah you're right. Sorry, been a while since I did that. It is a 55C8000.

Originally Posted by TROLL

Nice, thanks for the info... skimmed through now and will go back and read more thoroughly later.

I have a couple questions since it sounds like you might know the answers:

1) I bought a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma about 9 months ago for my bedroom and from what I had read expected the picture quality to be quite good. Unfortunately when I had it up next to my Samsung 32" LCD it looked flat... lacked saturation and contrast. I tried to adjust these settings but it still never really popped. I'm used to it now and its not something I notice, but I still wonder about this.

2) Just in the past 2 weeks I have noticed sometimes that whites have pink discoloration in them sometimes. I noticed this in clouds in the sky or other bright white spots in the picture... not all the time but sometimes. I read online it might be a result of the unit being too hot which falls in line with this only appearing toward the top of the TV (where the heat rises, or where more hot components are located?). I don't know, but I assume the TV is still under warranty for at least the first year... can't say for sure if it is the TV or another component in the system. Any ideas?

1) I guess I should emphasize that "bright and colorful" is not "good." It's pretty, but it's fake. Real grass isn't bright green, it's just green. Plasma's give a TRUE color, which often times can seem dull compared to an LCD. It's not that it's dull, plasma's emphasize blacks whereas LCDs emphasize whites. Hope that makes sense.

2) As far as the pink I'm not entirely sure, never really ran into that before and I don't get it on either of my Plasma's here at home, and sometimes they're on all day lol. Call Panasonic and see what they say.

[Subie_sleeper]

AWESOME write up !!!

We have an OLD Hitachi 42" plasma that still looks great. No HDMI ! it has the input for a pc monitor
RGB/VGA ??? I got an adaptor to hook an HDMI cable to it & WHAT a difference it made from the old inputs.

What are your thoughts on the 3D TVs?
Fad or Future standard ???

Thanks!

[05Accent]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

Haha, yeah you're right. Sorry, been a while since I did that. It is a 55C8000.

Its all good. lol
Yea great write up!! spot on with alot of the info. Now if only all my customer could understand the concept(s).. (I work in Home Theater at bby for 4 years)

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by Subie_sleeper

AWESOME write up !!!

We have an OLD Hitachi 42" plasma that still looks great. No HDMI ! it has the input for a pc monitor
RGB/VGA ??? I got an adaptor to hook an HDMI cable to it & WHAT a difference it made from the old inputs.

What are your thoughts on the 3D TVs?
Fad or Future standard ???

Thanks!

It wouldn't happen to be the Hitachi with the power swivel base would it? Loved that TV so much.

3D TVs. I don't think that it will ever catch on for a lot of people UNTIL they can get the effect without needing glasses. But that's a hologram, so I wouldn't expect that anytime soon.

The simple problem with the 3D stuff are those glasses, or actually, the inability to even WATCH the TV without the glasses while the 3D is turned on. You can't, it will probably make you throw up. (Heck, I get sick watching 3D with the glasses, lol).

Honestly, I think 3D is a neat try at technology, but not something that they should have bothered selling to the public. But it's all the rage now, I just can't get on board personally. To each his own on that topic, but do yourself a favor and actually watch the TV for 30+ minutes with the 3D glasses on in the store before you buy. Just to make sure you don't get sick like I do.

[Subie_sleeper]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

It wouldn't happen to be the Hitachi with the power swivel base would it? Loved that TV so much.

3D TVs. I don't think that it will ever catch on for a lot of people UNTIL they can get the effect without needing glasses. But that's a hologram, so I wouldn't expect that anytime soon.

The simple problem with the 3D stuff are those glasses, or actually, the inability to even WATCH the TV without the glasses while the 3D is turned on. You can't, it will probably make you throw up. (Heck, I get sick watching 3D with the glasses, lol).

Honestly, I think 3D is a neat try at technology, but not something that they should have bothered selling to the public. But it's all the rage now, I just can't get on board personally. To each his own on that topic, but do yourself a favor and actually watch the TV for 30+ minutes with the 3D glasses on in the store before you buy. Just to make sure you don't get sick like I do.

No, it doesn't do anything as cool as power swiveling.

But it's lasted for 6 years & counting. Got it as a floor model @ Circut City. (remember them? )

Based on your write-up I'm most likely just going to get another plasma when the time comes to upgrade.

A relatively large loaded up plasma is a good bit less than a smaller LCD or LED setup, right?

[DPancoast]

I love my 42" 720p Samsung Plasma. No issues with glaring either. I've had it for almost 3 years now. I must say it does give off quite a bit of heat but I guess thats a small annoyance for an amazing picture and performance.

[fitftw]

your house is insane. All your TV setups probably cost more than my car lol.

I do love my Sony XBR9 46" 1080p 240hz LCD that is simply on a dresser-ish stand.

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by Subie_sleeper

No, it doesn't do anything as cool as power swiveling.

But it's lasted for 6 years & counting. Got it as a floor model @ Circut City. (remember them? )

Based on your write-up I'm most likely just going to get another plasma when the time comes to upgrade.

A relatively large loaded up plasma is a good bit less than a smaller LCD or LED setup, right?

Of course I remember Circuit City, I worked there for 3 years. The last 3 years actually, I was actually laid off from there TWICE! First time was the restructuring and the second was when they went totally south haha.

Yes, relatively large plasma (we got our 1080P 58" for around 1500?) will be much cheaper than an LED of around the same size (you can expect one of those to be around 3-5K!)

Originally Posted by fitftw

your house is insane. All your TV setups probably cost more than my car lol.

I do love my Sony XBR9 46" 1080p 240hz LCD that is simply on a dresser-ish stand.

Haha well what I posted wasn't my house, just jobs I've done for other people that I happen to have on my phone. We do have a 50" and 58" plasma here though, love them.

The Sony is a good TV, they've dropped off a bit though. They used to be the absolute **** but now Samsung has taken over that role in the LED/LCD technology.