Warranty...overrated? HDTV question

[the_Journeyman]

So, I'm seeing a common theme with spendy DLP bulbs.  Do plasmas have this same problem?  If not, do they have their own common but expensive pitfall?

JM

[mitt]

So, I'm seeing a common theme with spendy DLP bulbs.  Do plasmas have this same problem?  If not, do they have their own common but expensive pitfall?

JM

Only rear projection TV's have bulb issues (LCD RP, DLP, and a few others are rear projection).  True Flat panel LCD and PLASMA and OLEDs TV's have other issues instead of bulbs.

mitt

[Bun-bun]

Plasma TVs have trouble with black spots on the display. As it was explained to me, the screen is composed of thousands of tiny gas bubbles that flouresce when current is applied. If the gas escapes from one of these bubbles, you get a black dot on the screen. There is no fix for this problem.

[Jarvicious]

We have a Vizio 40" as our bedroom Tv, and we've been very happy with it. Excellent picture, decent sound, no problems in over a year now.
The 50" Sony DLP in the theatre room has been a different story. Bulb blew after two years, replaced it for $160, it blew again a year later. Another $145 and 6 months, and we're holding. Hopefully this bulb will last longer than a year.

Sony really is one of those brands where you have to pick and choose which type of product you want to buy from them.  Car audio??? Never, but I've always been impressed by their TVs.  DLPs in general always run the risk of having the bulbs crap out on them, but there are plenty of deciding factors that go into that such as venthilation and average minutes/hours of use per day.  From straight in front, I'd compare DLP to many LCDs or Plasmas but the viewing angle turns to total shite even by simply standing up.  I think I'm getting off point. 

I don't have much experience with Vizio, but the GF has a 40" Olevia that looks pretty good (especially when you factor in the cost) but she and I both agree that the image on my Sharp Aquos is noticably better.  I think you'll be happier with the Sony or even the Samsung over the Vizio.  I guess if you're leaning towards the Sony or the Samsung it would depend on which product line you're looking at.  I think it's the Sony V series tv (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that they push as a fairly high end set, but Samsung hails most of their products across the board as equal with exception to size, refresh rate, etc.  Just remember though, it's not just the TV that has an effect on quality but whatever you're plugging into it.  Standard def cable looks poor on an HDTV and, as I've found out recently, if you run an upconverting DVD player's video output through a reciever and THEN out to the TV, the image is a bit more garbled than if you go straight from DVD to TV.  Signal quality makes a huge difference.   

*annnnnnnnnnd the high horse dismount gets a 9.2 from the judges*

[NAKID]

Standard def cable looks poor on an HDTV and, as I've found out recently, if you run an upconverting DVD player's video output through a reciever and THEN out to the TV, the image is a bit more garbled than if you go straight from DVD to TV.  Signal quality makes a huge difference.   

*annnnnnnnnnd the high horse dismount gets a 9.2 from the judges*

That's why you run video cable directly from the DVD player to the TV, and run the audio from the DVD player to the reciever...

[Jarvicious]

^^^^^^ Yahhhhhhh.  I've since moved and have also redone the system.  The image wasn't toooo awfully bad, but it was definitely noticeable.  I had everything run and setup "just so" at my last place that I didn't want to jack with it.

[He Man]

Still have not purchased it. Lots of final projects/test comming up for school  and their prices are still the same so i think i have more time to hold out. Eitherway its better this way since it would just distract me from getting my work done.

News papers are reporting December 15 to be another day of droppage of prices!

I went back this morning to costco (seeing how i live adjacent to them) and they only have 4 Samsungs left. but they have a whole new stock of Sharp Aquos 32s for the same price. The samsung defintely looks cooler though.

man. i hate this waiting game. Though in the long run its for the better.

[Jarvicious]

Man, I'm telling you you won't be dissapointed by the Sharp.  I've had it since June of 07 and I've not regretted it once.  Ever.  Next year, in fact, I'll probably upgrade to the 46 or 53" aquos. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

Man, I'm telling you you won't be dissapointed by the Sharp.  I've had it since June of 07 and I've not regretted it once.  Ever.  Next year, in fact, I'll probably upgrade to the 46 or 53" aquos. 

Upgrade now and sell him the old one 

[PizzaMonster]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere but maybe I just missed it. 

Are all the TV's you are looking at LCD's or are any of them plasma?  Both are good but they both have their pluses and minuses.  Some people say the colors are more vivid on a plasma but personally I can't tell the difference.

The LCD screens are better if the room you are putting it in gets a lot of daylight.  Plasmas tend to have a big problem with reflection and glare unless they are in a darkened room.  Also, it is surprising the amount of heat that a plasma will generate after a couple of hours of operation (they also use more power).

The DLP's are okay but IMHO they are old technology and prone to bulb and/or fan problems from what I've heard.

I bought a 50" Samsung plasma a year and a half ago and am quite satisfied with it.  Good picture and no problems.  It's in a room that is pretty much dedicated to a home theatre (windows covered) so outside light isn't a problem.  I do notice the room temperature rises after a few hours of viewing which is annoying sometimes.  If I was to do it again, I think I would have still gone with a Samsung but an LCD instead.

[He Man]

I cant/wont go plasma. Plasmas SUCK for video games. The burn in is HORRIBLE. And if anyones gonna disagree, turn on your xbox and leave it on for 45mins hours with an First person shooter. Your gun would be stuck on the screen for quite a while.

Anyway, I pulled the trigger on the samsung 32" 5 series. Hooking her up right now while i take a breather from moving junk out of my room. thye had a toshiba 37" for the same price, but theres no way im getting that thing to fit in my room

[CairnsDuc]

I cant/wont go plasma. Plasmas SUCK for video games. The burn in is HORRIBLE. And if anyones gonna disagree, turn on your xbox and leave it on for 45mins hours with an First person shooter. Your gun would be stuck on the screen for quite a while.  SNIP

Just make sure you are not mistaking Image retention with Screen burn, Screen burn on a Plasma now is very very difficult to achieve, The new generation of Plasma are almost as good as LCD for handling still/fixed Images, you would have to leave a high contrast image on a Plasma for days now before screen burn becomes a problem.

Image retention is just a case of a non moving Image leaves an excess charge in the Plasma pixels (And yes, you get this on LCD as well) and it leaves a shadow behind on the screen, use the TV as normal for a while or switch it off and the Image while disappear, this is normal on just about every TV design  (excluding DLP) 

Plasma TVs have trouble with black spots on the display. As it was explained to me, the screen is composed of thousands of tiny gas bubbles that flouresce when current is applied. If the gas escapes from one of these bubbles, you get a black dot on the screen. There is no fix for this problem.

Gas leakage from Plasma's is an old wives tail, Dead pixels can affect Plasma, but it affects LCD more. who ever told you that has no idea what they are talking about.
The ONLY way to get gas leakage from a plasma is to break the panel, and in that case the whole panel will die.
And Plasma panels are under vacuum any way, so in reality, the outside air will be leaking in and destroying the delicate mix of Xenon and Neon.

[Super T.I.B]

I was waiting for you to get in on this thread.

Thanks for clearing some of those myths up, now I'm definitely getting a plasma. 

[He Man]

Ive seen image retnetion on my own computer monitor, but it usually goes away in a few minutes. The Plasma at my friends would hold that image in for almost 1/2 a football game and annoy the shit out of us.

He did have an older plasma though. If your saying the new plasmas are just as good as LCDs...i might just hold onto this one for a while, and return it for the cheaper plasmas. The video quality looks much better on plasmas too!

Sadly, i do not have any antenna waves comming into my room, or my front yard. so it looks like ill need to get cable. :/

[CairnsDuc]

Image retention on older generation plasma's was shocking on some brands (Samsung was probably the worst, and a lot of brands used Samsung's OEM panel's)

Sometimes to clear the image it was best to turn off the Plasma panel wait about a minute or two and then switch back on.

Sony's new RGB LED backlight LCD's have one of the best pictures for colour and black level I have ever seen on an LCD TV (It will give some of the best plasma's a run for there money!) but it still is only an 8ms response panel, soon as I put on a football game the blur was very distracting, motion blur is still a problem on LCD.

You have to weigh up the pro's and cons of each type of technology and where you are going to use it, and then start to compare brands and features from there.