Looking to buy a HD TV for gaming. Shat should I be looking for?

Question

LCD,Plasma,Widescreen

320i 720p 1080i

32" 35"

Its all so confusing HD this HD that but I want an honest opinion rather to be lured by a salesman...

It needs to be for gaming (my xbox 360) so needs to be sharp visually, so Hi Definition

Surround sound is a must as I already have a good set of speakers

It still needs to be able to view NORMAL CHANNELS FINE.

Erm LCD,Plasma - whats the difference? Which is better

Any reccomendations? TV Advice? Sorry im such a newb

Thanks

Answer 1

It depends on a number of factors, each are better at certain things. Although I will admit it would appear that to most people lcd's are better.

plasma tv's usually way much more and have glare issues because, they use two sheets of glass with glass trapped in between them.

Also plasma tv's can get burn in caused by a still image on the screen for an extended amount of time.

Not to mention the fact that lcd's are generally more energy efficient than plasma tv's are.

One advantage of a plasma is that if your watching non high definition tv on a tv 40" or larger it will look better than it would on an lcd. (under 40" it won't matter").

so if you watch a lot of television get high definition cable, I would recommend Lcd more so than plasma televisions.

Answer 2

LCD

42" + 1080p

42" - 720p

fast response time,

good contrast ratio

decent brand.

I would buy a Philips 32" 720p or a Philips 42" 1080p with Ambilight(google ambilight its nice)

The Philips 32" LCD, 720p, 3 HDMI inputs, 4ms response time. All for $850 at Best Buy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...

Answer 3

Great question; first of all, you don't need to get a 1080I or 1080P if the size of the screen you are purchasing is going to be less than 40 inches - you won't be able to notice any major difference between a 720p or 1080p.

What you have to look at is response time and contrast ratio.

Response time is the time info is translated from your external device through the television.  Many LCD's and plasma when first released had an 8ms down time.  Newer models out today that are a little bit on the higher end have a 4ms response time (smaller the number, the better).  If you go to walmart and plan on buying one of their tv's, all of which are lower-end with the exception of a few (the Sony's are the best they carry) will all have an 8ms response time.

And finally, you need to look at contrast ratio for the deepest and sharpest color.  Again, if you look at tv's now, you'll see contrast ratios that will range from 700:1 to 15,000:1.  Most of the tv's in this range fall under the current, standard contrast ratios (prices will change as the ratio goes up, in addition to the screen size).  I'm a gamer too and I plan on buying a Samsung touch of color series tv - these are Samsungs top of the line models with a contrast ratio of a whopping 50,000:1, which is considered high end.  There are a few tv's with a 100,000:1 ratio, but those are ridiculously expensive.  50,000:1 is the gold standard.

All HDTV's out now will provide a decent picture, assuming your HD provider provides a strong signal - this is a misconception about regular tv channels - there's nothing wrong with your tv - your provider has 90% control over this and in some cases, you just can't get a strong signal and may not get the absolute best in picture.

LCD/Plasma?  LCD's are light weight and will last longer than a plasma. A plasma is heavier due to the glass screen with heavy glare.  I'd go with the LCD if I were you.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

samsung