Plasma TV purchase advise
 

Black Friday is upon us. A lot of good deals out there. I have googled for ideas and advise on what to chose so far as 720p or 1080p. Viewable distance for a 50" plasma says 1.5 times the screen width for a min and 5 times the screen with for a max. Also they say "A fully resolved high definition TV signal (1080i or 1080p, 1920x1080) supports a closer viewing distance than standard analog TV". Ok now maybe some of you has some experience in this. Which would you choose for a 50' PlasmaHD TV?
Thanks for you help and advise in advance

Harry

Just a couple general thoughts... I recently got a Sony Bravia 46" 1080p LCD TV which I really like. Previously I had a 4 year old Panasonic Vierra 37" ED (852x480) plasma. The plasma screen definitely has high contrast ratio and blacks which are really BLACK. Also has a somewhat better maximum viewing angle.

All things being equal, it would have been nice to go with another plasma screen instead of LCD, but the LCD's have come a long way in the past couple years. It seems like all the best deals are on LCD's, and for the buck you will get higher resolution (1080p is pretty standard now). Since I went from ED to HD, naturally there's no comparison in terms of resolution. BluRay disks look fantastic on the new screen. I think that resolution really does matter, and I would get the highest level possible or you will probably regret it down the road.

LCD's also use less power than plasma - I could heat my living room with the plasma TV :-) The contrast ratio on the new Sony is quite good, but since it has a backlight, even with a totally black image you still see a glow from the screen. To me it's an acceptable compromise though- I paid $1,500 for the 46" 1080p LCD screen and the 37" 480p plasma screen cost $2,000 when I originally bought it. You can probably find even better deals now with the train-wreck in the retail sector.

Plasma TV purchase advise
 

Boyd
Thanks so much for you input. I think you put it all in a nutshell. Couple of more questions.

1:What have you heard about the life expectancy of the LCD"s?

2:Also did you replace your Plasma with the LCD or put it in another room?

I'm looking too put the new TV down stairs in our family room which is a remodeled basement. Lots of room. :-)
Again thanks for your input I appreciate it.
Harry

Sorry, don't really know anything about LCD life expectancy. My *guess* is that I would want to upgrade for other reasons long before the backlight goes out.

I gave my old plasma TV to my daughter and they are thrilled - it's a perfect size for their small apartment and a big improvement over their old 4:3 CRT screen. More often than not, when I upgrade some kind of gadget I gift the old one to family or friends... helps to provide me with some mental justification to get new toys for myself :-)

FWIW, I posted some photos of BluRay vs DVD on the 46" LCD here if you're interested...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/958462-post32.html
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/958465-post33.html

I like the look of the plasma screens better. Just personal preference. Both Panasonic and Samsung have good deals now on the 720p versions. There's always going to be something better but the 720p looks great compared to my old TV.