Since I acquiesced to my wife's demands that we get a new couch for the basement media room, I latched onto her comment that "It would be nice to have a bigger TV."

So, we're (read "I'm") going to move our 50" Pioneer Elite Kuro plasma to our upstairs family room where our current 43" plasma is. Since we sit about 12' away from the wall where the plasma is mounted on the wall, I figure we could get a bigger screen in the 58-60" range. We spent some time getting a recessed electrical outlet and moving all the wires behind the wall, so I am committed to getting a flat panal TV rather than a rear or front projection unit.

Since Pioneer bit the bucket in the plasma business and with the advent of all the new technology, what should I get in the ~60" range? My bias is that the picture on the Pioneer Kuro was way better than anything in LCD at the time I purchased it.

Panasonic plasma?
LED?
Brand?

Thanks in advance.

 

I agree about the Plasmas at that time. We've had Elites for years, currently have 2, 1 of which is getting replaced by Samsung's 65" LCD 3D model. Many will argue back and forth over which is better, but our decision was based on several factors. Plasmas are touted as having the more accurate picture, but looking at the one we purchased, the picture is so clear and crisp, the colors are brighter, not to mention the sleek aluminum frame..we were sold.

Have you looked at what's out there? Go take a look at the current LCD's and Plasma's (the Panasonic VT series are top of the line) Don't discount 3D's as a fad, whether you watch 3D or not, the 2D picture can't be beat.

 

This year the bst you can get is LG's local dimming LED backlit LCD TV since Samsung is toying with the crappy edgelit BS this year.

SONY and Samsung as of right now have no latest offerings in local dimming LED backlit LCD TV's.

If you can wait a few more months there should be a lot more of these TV's fro mthe big brands.

SONY hasn't had a decent TV since XBR8, for example.

 

^^ About as good advice as any. Only other tip is if you go LED LCD over plasma look for local dimming versus edge lit. Harder to find now since I understand it was expensive, but it really provides the deep blacks.

edit: stuka beat me to the punch.

 

Ok, I was going to ask what the benefit was over the edge lit. We are having ours custom calibrated and I believe it will help with that issue.

 

Yep, got my first gen 81F Samsung, still love it.

This is the third gen Samsung local dimming TV, it is out of production, which is why it is so expensive.

Amazon.com: Samsung UN55B8500 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LED HDTV: Electronics

Samsung and SONY are rumored to have the 4th gen local dimming units next year.

 

Local dimming puts the backlit elements right behind the screen. So you can control the lighting and have a really black black.

edge lit saves production cost by NOT having backlit elements behind the screen.

The difference between each generations of local dimming are the numbers of elements behind the screen.

 

I got a Panasonic V10 about a year and a half ago. 50"

My reasoning is that Pioneer and Panasonic were rumored to be collaborating on the next gen Kuro plasmas. Something happened (not between Pioneer/Panasonic) and Pioneer decided they weren't going to make displays anymore. So Panasonic was the next best thing I could get.

The V10 was the only trumped by the Kuro at the time. So look at Panny Plasmas.


Fortunately enough I work at the headquarters of a certain electronics retailer. That means I get to look at a lot of TVs. If you want a flat panel that cannot be beaten call Sony and have them make you an OLED display. They are unbelievable, sitting an 11 inch OLED panel next to a 46 LED or Plasma is scary. The tiny OLED is better looking. Prepare to pay out the ear/nose/throat/leg/arm though.

 

So, local dimming LED LCD>>plasma in the about 60" size?

I figure that the new TV's will be released during CES, so I'll wait. But, I find it hard to evaluate TV's @ the store, but the 58" Panasonic plasma next to a Sony 60" LCD both displaying the Planet Earth blu-ray was not even close with the Panny plasma>>>Sony LCD.

 

Have you considered projector / screen?