Would like to upgrade my display

[Blaser]

Hello everybody!

I have successfully upgraded my sound system for HT use, and it is now time to upgrade the display.

The first step I made yesterday was buying a 720p/1080i capable samsung DVD player HD 870. Blue ray and HD DVD players are not for people living in Egypt at this moment....the movies are not available.

I also found yesterday at the store a Samsung 50" plasma 720p/1080i and a 46" Samsung LCD 720p/1080i for about the same price of 3300 $ approx. (yes I know it is that expensive here)....do not even think of a 1080p display

my room is 1800 cu ft... lighting is not bright during the day (no sun...), viewing distance is 10 ft approx.
The salesman told me that Plasma may be better for satellite standard broadcast (that I have here).

I like the colours, brightness and life of the LCD, but I like the bigger size of the plasma,...

I will be using the display most of the time for watching DVD movies, but rarely for PC application.

What are your opinions??

Thanks
NB: I did not take note of the models, but according to Samsung Web site, I believe the models are:
LN-T4642H and HP-T5054.

[tonyvdb]

If this was two years ago I would have said go with the Plasma but todays LCD technology has come a long way and the contrast and blacks are in my opinion just as good as plasma. As far as color it could just be the setting of the display that they had on demo as plasma do have very good color/contrast as well . Plasma still has issues with burning out pixels and other issues where LCD usualy lasts longer. You could also look at getting a projector for the same or lower cost and paint on a screen this way you get a much larger screen size.

[Sonnie]

4" diagonal doesn't seem like it would be that much... I might would opt for an LCD as well.

I'm also in favor of investigating a projector, which should save you money and get you that bigger screen. You could go with a 60" screen size and have an amazing picture... or you could go on up to a larger size for that matter.

[Blaser]

I do not have the option of painting a wall and use it as a screen. How much does a 96" screen cost? And would the image quality be as good (sharp, bright, colourful) as a plasma or LCD? wouldn't I be concerned about the resolution if I seat at a distance 10 ft from the screen (i.e what would be the most allowable screen size for that distance without compromizing quality/vieing pixels...).

I have been tofay again at the store and found that the LCD do not have a black issue, but they look quite "artificial" and make movies quite like a cartoon...

The plasma looked more natural, but the glare was even worse than a CRT (I think)...

[Sonnie]

They vary drastically depending on manufacturer and type... good ones are probably $4-500 and up.

Check out some of the DIY options in our Screen forum. Those guys have got that stuff down to an art. You can buy a sheet of Wilson Art laminate, designer white for $75 or so and frame it out. Less than 100 bucks and equivalent to some $1000 screens. Mine is painted and looks great to me.

Do you have a spot for the pj?

[Blaser]

Sonnie wrote:

Do you have a spot for the pj?

No, never seriously thought of this option...Do you have a spot?

[Sonnie]

Yeah... I have a pj mounted in my HT room. What I'm asking is if you have location to mount it. How deep is your room from front to back?

[Blaser]

I see... I can mount it on the rear wall between the surround back speakers. The screen would be placed at about 11 to 12 ft away from the pj.

[Sonnie]

Oh yeah... that would be perfect. This might be a viable option for you if pj's aren't too expensive in Egypt.

[Blaser]

The advantage of pj is that they are relatively small and light...I can buy them from anywhere, I don't have to buy them from here.

Remember I bought dual RL-p18 from the US

[Sonnie]

That's true... very true. Keep in mind too that for what you were going to spend on a display, you can buy a super nice pj. Or you could get a very good one for a lot less and use that other money towards something else. If you have light in the room (even ambient light), I would look at one with a good lumen output and get the right screen material, whether that be laminate, paint or a real screen... so that you don't have any viewing issues.

Check out projectorcentral.com for tons of reviews and all the specs you could ever imagine on just about any pj. If you find a few you like... post them in the pj forum here so we will all know what you are looking at.

[eugovector]

blaser wrote:

I have been tofay again at the store and found that the LCD do not have a black issue, but they look quite "artificial" and make movies quite like a cartoon...

The plasma looked more natural, but the glare was even worse than a CRT (I think)...

If you do start considering direct view again, don't trust the picture quality in a store unless they have everything in a good environment and have set it up properly (i.e. not bestbuy or similar). The contrast and brightness controls come from the factory turned all the way up which is why everything looked like a cartoon, and the glare would not be as noticeable in a room with dim lighting.