Olbrannon wrote:Nalod wrote:I have both. Perhaps there are other factors but my 720 is not as good at my 1080 but the 720 looks damn good.What is most important is the "FOR THE MONEY" factor. First off the tv is going to be better than what you had and everyone is different.
Make sure you have HD box and have the HD service. 720 is going to look great.
Im really into this stuff and help my friends build systems. Fun hobby.
There are no real answers. Side by side you'll notice a difference but my 720's in HD look good.
So if they are giving it away, go and get it! The only thing is 1. Budget and 2. will you be happy. You can always spend more and always be happier.
These things are easy to cross shop on spec. You have to compare plasma to plasma (still best bang for the money) vs LCD's vs LED's. Big thing to look for when watching sports is the refresh rate. Especially on basketball. Slow rate on a dirt cheap LCD or LED you will see whats called "ghosting" or "pixelizaton". Plasma's are less prone to this as the refresh rates are higher. Most 720's have lower refresh rates. Its a pirce thing.
Don't know where your shopping or your budget or how big, or how big your room is. I'd sacrifice size for quality. Smaller with clarity is always better than big and blurry. Go with plasma if they still have them. Problem is most stores have stopped carrying them.
Seem to recall plasma suffering from burnt in image problems occasionally and the life of them is reputed to be less. LCD's at higher refresh rates are much better there days but LED is the newer technology and the better one in the long run since it uses less energy and doesn't require a back light vs LCD. Also said to do better at a wider viewing angle iirc. but his forum isn't the best place to ask. Search google ...find the real experts. Think Best Buy had an interactive guide...if they don't there messing up 
As noted in Cnet 100k hours is about the same as LCD. My living room does not have a reflection problem I Im good there. LCD's are better at light reflection. In my house I have a 58 1080p inch Plasma, 50 inch 720 Plasma, 37in LCd with 120hz, and a 27 in LED which being small is just fine at 720. I forget the refresh rate. All premium models except the 50 which is 720.
The plasma's are better for my needs. I don't play any TV's in the demo mode which is super bright and super defined. They look great in the store but in reality hard to watch after a while. The refresh rates are a huge factor and plasmas inherent in their design do this much better. Burn in is only if you watch the same type of program and maybe it would happen if you just watched ESPN ann the time and not much else. I don't know a single case of it happening with the newer sets. Read reviews and you get a sense of whats out there.
The LCD is a good one and in that room we would have lots of glare so its screen works great. The LCD impresses people more but its the nature of LCD which does not have a warm character to it.
Size matters depending on how close you sit to the set and quality.
My LED I got for the bedroom because its super thin but the sound is awful. Its mounted on the wall but I was able to install a Zvox speaker and subwoofer to get it smooth. My Panny Plasmas have great sound on them. My 50 runs thru a decent 5.1 system all the time. My 58 has fantastic sound by itself and don't use the 5.1 unless watching movies.
So if sound is important,an it is, make sure you consider that as well.
The future is in LED with the more expensive variable discrete back lighting and thin frames. These make my Plasma which is only 2.5 years old look obsolete. Thats also a consideration as all this changes quickly. My 58 was perhaps the 2nd best rated in its day and for the money by far the superior value with only the pioneer elite costing 40% more (and maybe was worth it!) but the "FOR THE MONEY" factor weighs big with me. Its given me great service and don't even think about replacing it yet.
yet with all this, here I was with a friend who came over to watch the game watching the game on League Pass with only a non HD signal and it looked like crap.
Most of everything you read is good advice. Quality of signal is important but that changes. Some stations on some systems are better than others.
Make this simple, compare refresh rates of a plasma to LCD. A 720 plasma still trumps by far a 60hz fresh rate on a 720 LCD. If glare is a problem try to get AT LEAST a 120hz refresh rate. If your gaming A LOT on the same game with the same graphics then plasma might have burn in issues. Im thinking value wise LED's are not in the mix quite yet.
If you can get the better name brands. You likly won't need aftermarket warranty expense.
12/28/2010 6:52 PM
