i need some suggestions.....

[Soulyss]

Yep, LCD's cannot touch the picture quality of a Plasma in a dark room.   

Pioneer had the World by the arse and left it to others to fight over.   Something tells me they'll be back with a different platform. 

I wouldn't mind seeing them back in the game, it was a good product and I say that as someone who had to sell against them for a few years.  There's a couple other players in the high end plasma market, the first is Panasonic who came out with their Premiere line (sold on the professional/commercial side) which is a really fine set.  Panasonic used to OEM the panels for the Kuro line and I've heard alternating rumors that they bought some of Pioneer's patents or even hired away some of the Pioneer engineers when they got out of the TV game, but I haven't been able to confirm them.

The other player is Runco which also uses Panasonic as an OEM (the RS232 control codes are even the same) you pay a pretty penny for one of there sets but they are GORGEOUS.

Of course now everyone is trying like hell to get into the 3D game too, I say trying to stay on top of all this stuff is a task.

[ABDCWOT]

What kills me is, We all pretty much upgraded to HD tv's & now they come out w/ 3-D tv.....drats

[Soulyss]

3D throws a whole new wrinkle in the equation, some of the TV's are just starting to ship so I'm in the process of learning what's what right now. 

The first thing is active vs. passive glasses.  Both have advantages and disadvantages the passive glasses are what you get if you see a 3D movie in the theater.   They either use a color filter (think of the old blur and red paper glasses from back in the day) or polarized lens, the end result that each eye is only getting half the information, the brain then reassembles everything.  Active glasses are actually powered and have to be synced with the display (this is what Samsung and Panasonic are using on their new TV's).  The glass lenses are actually LCD screens that open and close in a certain sequence, the advantage is that each eye get's all the visual information, the disadvantage is that each eye only receives half as much information per second.  The other issue with active glasses is cost, MSRP is probably going to be between $100 and $200 per set depending on model.

That means you're looking at an extra $500 to $1000 to outfit a family for home 3D.  Other important little tidbit if anyone is considering getting one.  Right now the glasses you can buy from either Samsung or Panasonic will only work their own TV's due to the sequence that the shutters on the glasses have to go through to create the effect.  I'm still trying to find out if the source (ie  3D Blu-Ray player) has to also come from the same manufacturer or not.

[gyrene81]

I'll wait for the 3rd generation 3d-tv stuff before I even begin to think about it...next purchase might be a 240Hz led LCD...if I can't find one in the price range I'm willing to pay, then it will be a 120Hz...still a step up from what I have and it's only a year old.


Betty, don't sweat it...as long as you don't leave the screen sitting on a single image for a couple of days, you won't have to worry about burn in...next time say away from anything that doesn't say Vizio, Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba...and get the extra warranty unless you see the 5 yr mfg warranty in writing.

[Soulyss]

What kills me about the 120hz and 240hz rating on LCD's is that they are band-aids to fix a problem that is inherent in technology behind the TV, and that people have to pay more money for it.  If I had to buy a TV today and it was going to be over 42" in size I'd still get a plasma.  Spend less and get more for it.

LED based lighting for LCD's was a major step forward, but I still say plasma is best bang for the buck.

[betty]

ty all for the info! i do love this screen, the picture quality is much more deeper and crisp. the other one had a nice color to it but NOTHIN close to this plasma screen! i am very happy with it!

[RipChord929]

Wait a sec, you returned a Haier, and came away with a Samsung.... Woah, MAJOR score, lol!

I hate the whole technology race, as soon as you upgrade, the next gen shows up...
Sometimes I fell like a hampster in the wheel, run like hell, and never get anywhere,

RC

[ROC]

Current generation Plasmas will suffer a mild burn in effect.  Mine is 6 months old.

The logo on the movie channel burns in if it stays on constantly.

The older generation of games with stationary backgrounds and moving icons really messed up the screens for burn ins, but you don't see that as much with games like AH where the scenery is in constant motion.  You will have some burn in with games like Rock Band that have stationary objects, but it takes a while to show up and is quick to correct.

I have a 32" HD LED I play on in here, and a 47" Plasma in the other room. The only reason the 47" isn't set as my gamer is my eyeballs would fry, this 32" is almost too much as it is   Enjoy the new set!

[321BAR]

On sunday night I was getting ready for bed. Laying on the couch I noticed this vertical red line that had developed on my 42" wide screen LCD. Its my TV and my computer monitor. Anyways, I got my purchase invoice out and noticed that my manufactures warrenty had JUST ran out on the 22nd of Jan. I did not purchase and extended warrenty as the sales guy led me to believe my TV had a 5 year warranty.

I called the place where I bought it and told them what happened. All I kept hearing was "did you get the extended warranty?"...i was passed around back and forth between the manufacture and the place where I purchased it. The place I bought it from then tells me to call this TV repair store and that they can help me because they would only fix my TV if i had the extended warranty. I called the repair store they told me to call, they said " you blew a panel and its expensive to fix". I asked them "how expensive?"..the lady then replies " i dont know but i was just told they are REALLY expensive." So ofcourse my next question was "can you find out how much they are and call me back??". A few hours go by and she calls me back " your going to have to call the manufacture yourself, we are not having any luck finding a part to replace your panel". By this time I was soooooooo frustrated i just picked up the phone and called the place back where I purchased it. I talked to the manager once again that I spoke with earlier that morning. I told her what they said about the panel and she says "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh noooooo". She then puts me on hold. I was very upset, I had paid almost 800.00 for this TV a little over a year ago and this is going wrong with it already! grrrrrrrr! so then she gets back on the phone and asked me "what kind of shape is your TV in?" i replied "my TV is it perfect condition, i followed all the instructions on cleaning it as it said in the users manual." she then says "do you still have your box and packing?" "well of course! i always keep that stuff"...she then says that she has a shipment of samsung 42" screens comin in tomorrow and they will give me one of them and take my TV back. After this, I will ONLY purchase my stuff from this place. its called ABC Warehouse. They was great with me....

So we pack up my HAIER TV and take it down there, I return home with a Samsung 42" Plasma screen. I didn't have to pay anything extra or anything!

My question for suggestions is this...is it ok to play AH on a plasma screen also is it ok for my kids to play the Wii on it without burning into the screen???

anyone who had used a plasma to use any video or comp game knows that over time it will destroy the TV's visuals

[Dadsguns]

Betty,
I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma TV and played games using the Wii, PS3, and even had my computer hooked up to it with no problems for over 5 years so far. 

My only concern that I see that you did not mention was having a separate power center source like a Monster Power Box to maintain pure power levels.  http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2141 

Plasma TV's are power demanding appliances and any fluctuations or surge in power can damage a Plasma TV, this equipment was highly recommended when purchasing expensive (then) plasmas.  You can actually see the digital readout of your power change from time to time but the device will maintain a clean power state to ensure any devices connected is not affected by any of these fluctuations.  So far so good.

[betty]

Betty,
I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma TV and played games using the Wii, PS3, and even had my computer hooked up to it with no problems for over 5 years so far. 

My only concern that I see that you did not mention was having a separate power center source like a Monster Power Box to maintain pure power levels.  http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2141 

Plasma TV's are power demanding appliances and any fluctuations or surge in power can damage a Plasma TV, this equipment was highly recommended when purchasing expensive (then) plasmas.  You can actually see the digital readout of your power change from time to time but the device will maintain a clean power state to ensure any devices connected is not affected by any of these fluctuations.  So far so good.

actually i have a ACP power supply that all my electronics plug into. it has a battery back up also.