20,000 hours is 2500 8-hour TV days – almost 7 years. The cost of buying a new bulb every few years is in any case low compared to the price of the sets, unless you watch almost constant television. I agree that the vertical viewing angle is limited, but we pretty much watch sitting down. Could be an issue if you watch a lot of TV standing up (e.g., on your NordicTrac or something), though.
True. But for me, the big screen is a huge factor when playing games or watching movies. I don’t care much about regular TV, and I don’t watch while walking around. YMMV, etc.
I think this was a problem at one time, but I have a 2.5 year-old set and haven’t had any problems playing games on it. I would research it, of course, but I think this is largely a thing of the past.
Yep. Ours has worked fine, but I do think the technology is intrinsically more failure-prone. Probably a no-buy if you are thinking of moving or anything like that.
If CostCo has something you like, buy there. If not, OneCall via Amazon isn’t a bad way to go – we got our set (on sale!) that way. Even though they aren’t supposed to come in and set it up, they did anyway – we didn’t even ask, they offered. Crutchfield is pricier but also very reputable.
I don’t think I’d play a DLP from the floor, but you could get a good idea by looking at one at the store. If you have a Fry’s near by, I’d go there – much less sales pressure than Best Buy.
I’ll second this. My parents bought a HD DLP and I was against it at first, but when I saw the picture quality I threw away all my notions of rear projection TVs. Theirs has a limited vertical viewing angle, but watching it from the side is fine, and the TV is slightly higher than eye level when sitting on the couch.
You get a lot of bang for the buck with these TVs.
Honestly 1080p is always better, but it depends upon how far back you’re watching. This sounds more profound that it really is, imo; i mean, stand far enough back from a standard def set, like 30’ back, and you’ve got HD-like quality. Because, you know, you can’t see the pixels.
My experience was that the quality of 1080p was worth the price in the long run, but honestly if your theatre setup is such that you’re sitting quite far from the TV, a larger screen is probably a reasonable choice.
if you’re fine with the low resolution of 1024x768, 1280x720, 1366x768 blown up to 37, 42 inches should you ever hook up your PC to it, then you MIGHT live with 720p.
I’d say 1080p. I know all the arguments of view distance, size and distance between pixels, screen door, ability of the eye to discern detail at a certain distance and all that. Having said that I’ll stick to 1080p at 37" or bigger no matter the view distance.
720p = budget lower end maybe older (last gen) parts, 1080p usually means higher end better performing parts (all the electronics that go around the glass). So just everything from color, contrast, scaling, deinterlacing, etc is usually better on the 1080p set (it applies more when comparing sets from the same manufacturer). So I believe (and this is just from anecdotal evidence and my opinion) that 1080p will look better not just from the raw resolution but that extra money you sink into a 1080p set gets spread around and you get overall just a better TV (more features, better performance).
HTPC point is a big one. Working at 720p (and I have an older 720p 40" LCD) is a big pain in the ass. Desktop is really cramped. Most dialogs extend into the task bar area so you have to autohide it, etc. You really really really want 1080p if there is even a chance you plan to hook a pc to that tv someday.
but trading 4" is a tough tough call to make. Hmmm just spend more money and get the 1080p at the bigger size? :-) Ideally for your view distance I wouldn’t want anything less than a 50" (plasma) or 52" (LCD). Those sizes are also a good $/inch sweet spot so they are a pretty good value relatively speaking. I’ve seen the sharp 52d64u for around the $1800-1900 mark. 65" would be even better but then you are talking 4-5K and that is out of most people’s budget including mine!
I vote for the DLP as well. I’ve got a room about the size you describe and I have an old 61" rear projection 1080i HDTV in it. I’ve been looking at tvs lately but after looking at all the plasmas, LCDs, etc. I realized there is no way I can go with anything smaller screen wise now. Once you get used to watching a wall, other tvs look small in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind a 61" or greater plasma, but the prices on those things are ridiculous.
In the time I’ve spent looking around, with a price point of $1500, the LED-based Samsung DLPs seem to be the most bang for your buck. And really, they’re only like 15" thick. Shouldn’t effect your viewing set-up at all.
It’s technically not a Best Buy-only thing; BB just recently started using ISF-certified technicians. ISF-trained people really do use crazy equipment and the service menu of your TV (I guess the closest analog is the BIOS menu that has no savestate) to produce reference/optimal color reproduction.
That price is about normal for ISF-level calibration, so it’s not a BB price-gouge or anything. But you can just go to the ISF’s website and search for any ISF-certified peeps in your area. AVSForums is also another good place to see which technicians are better than others.
I personally think it’s worth it if you’re investing a lot into your home theater setup. Most people can get away with using something like the calibrator in Ratatouille blu-ray or Avia/Digital Essentials to get your TV looking much more accurate than it would straight off the show floor, but if you’re serious about making your TV look the best it can, I’d recommend it.
Also, technically, the ISF’s color reproduction standards are based off of movies. But even games look snazzy on an ISF-calibrated TV, IMO.
