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Need help making TV decision

I'm looking to replace my ancient Proton 27" CRT with something new. I've poked around AVS forum and CNET but still feel confused and underinformed. Would welcome advice here and pointers to other sources of information.

Here's our situation:

-- Can accomodate up to 40"-42" wide display
-- Use Comcast digital cable box through TiVo box as main source; also DVD
-- TV (not DVD) probably 80% of viewing
-- Viewing distance is about 8 feet
-- Can accomodate the depth of a CRT or rear projection, but a flat panel would be just fine (will sit atop 40" AV cart)
-- Don't need built-in audio as I route audio signals through an AV receiver
-- Price not too much of an issue

So....LCD, Plasma, DLP or CRT? HD or ED? One of my main fears is that I will get a set that kills on DVD or HD but leaves me unhappy when I watch an old movie or a Seinfeld rerun or any non-HD TV program. There's also the issue of our addiction to TiVo and the absence of an HD TiVo box for digital cable (as far as I know).

Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
drubin
tvad
9,467 posts
 
40"- 42" = LCD or Plasma today. I suppose the subtext of my post was that there are new sets/technologies on the horizon that will address the flaws in current flat panel displays. Of course, if your time horizon is limited, then you pick from what's available.

Personally, if I was buying a TV today, I'd buy a good CRT at the present low prices and wait for the dust to settle on flat panel technology.
robdoorack
63 posts
 
May I suggest the Sony 36" CRT KD-36XS955, a steal for $1500. Yeah, it's not hang - on - the - wall sexy and it weighs well over 200 pounds, but the picture (especially after an ISF calibration) is fantastic. The Sony does blacks that LCD and plasma sets can only dream about. In widescreen mode for DVD or HD the image is 33" diagonal, and for SD it's a huge 36". The set has a tuner (and an HDTV tuner) and a whopping 7 video inputs including HDMI, component, composite, and S - video. It handles 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals. Yes, HD images are clearly superior to SD, but a calibrated SD picture looks pretty good on the Sony. We still watch a lot of SD programming so that was a requirement when I went shopping for a new TV. I looked at plasma sets but SD programming on a 42" Pioneer or Panasonic plasma just looked awful.
drubin OP
3,240 posts
 
Interesting! I have also heard some people say goood things about SD on plasma sets. It may depend on the source (sat or cable) and the set (this was Fujitsu).
tvad
9,467 posts
 
November 2005 issue of Sound & Vision is the "HDTV Special", FWIW.
semi
646 posts
 
If your primary source is digital signal, stay with micro display technology (LCD, DLP, LCOS, SXRD) or plasma/LCD. Using HDMI/DVI to transfer reduces the number of conversions and produce better pictures, though not significant with 42" display.

I own both plasma & LCD rear projection (Sony GWIV). For the same reason as Dlstephenson, I did not go for DLP. What bothers me more about LCD is SSE, not SDE. I recently saw Sony SXRD in store and it still exhibits some SSE, but absolutely no SDE. All of the rear projections fall short in color saturation when compares to plasma. Given your screen size requirement, I think it's a no brainer, plasma rules when it comes to color.
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