Best LCD 50" or larger?

[landshark99]

Looking to get a 50 inch or larger widescreen and looking at projection LCD's i think they are called... any advice on the best? Seen the Sony, looks pretty good, but i heard the Panasonic beats it and wanted to know if any of you have experienced these TV's and what advice you can give? oh... budget is around $3K Thanks!

[AVMASTER]

There is no such thing as the best projected lcd, since the very nature of the display technology is the same they will all have a similar performance. A better way to approach this is to determine the features that BEST suit your needs, i.e. Hitachi 50v500 has the "AVNET" feature which allows you to control other devices via the Hitachi remote. I carry the Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, and Zenith versions and just as an indicator as to which is perceived to be the "best" , The Sonys-in all sizes- are sold out till early Feb.

[sokelly]

Good question landshark.
i have been researching TVs for almost a year now. I was originally going with a RP, but I got permission from the wife to spring for the LCD. I have spent hours at CC looking at the Sony KF50WE610, the Panny PT50LC13 and the Hitachi 50v500.

I have decided to go with the Hitachi, although I think all three are good TVs.

I ruled out the Panny because I thought the picture was a little brighter on the other two. I did like however the Panny's ability to work as a computer monitor.

I really couldn't tell the difference in the picture between the Sony and the Hitachi. I went with the Hitachi for two reasons:

1) I think it has a cleaner look. I am going to mount the TV in a cabinet and the Sony's base has an oval bottom that sticks forward of the TV. I am going for a flush mounting look and don't want that oval piece sticking over the ledge of the cabinet

2) Everything I have read suggests that Hitachi's Ultravision system is the best projection TV around. I know all of these TVs are touted as being LCD, but they are also at heart a hybrid rear projection unit and Hitachi makes many of the parts used in other units.

So, off I go to get the Hitachi. Planning on buying in a week.

Regards,

Shane

[landshark99]

Well i did the same thing.. i went to circuit city and the hitachi and the sony where close... panasonic i didnt' like, too bright and saw allot of artifacts... so it came down to the hitachi and the sony. I think the hitachi had a slighty better picture, but the sony was very close... i think the differences were so small that they won't matter once either of them are setup in your house.

Anyway after 3 days of looking at them side by side literally, and doing research on the net for the last 4 months, i purchased the Sony. I know I will be happy (even happier when i get Directv HDTV setup..) but now the wait begins to get one. They told me about two weeks.... so we shall see...

[contractK]

Of the three only the Sony and the Hitachi should be considered.
I'm looking at the 60 (well I bought the 60v500)

Hitachi
-better remote (much better)
-you can really tweak the Hitachi, Sony doesn't have as many menu options (consider this)
-is almost 30 lbs heavier than the Sony, not that it matters but you need a good chassis to keep that LCD picture to look sharp. I hope the extra weight went into the chassis.
-has a finer pitch then the Sony
-looks better (the Sony looks like a huge monitor)
-they also make some darn good CRT RPTV's (better than Sony read the reviews)
-looking at other forums I would say that 80% of the people chose the Hitachi, reason better (more natural) picture

Sony
-better detail in the blacks (I know LCD dont have true blacks)
-better whites
-slightly higher resolution something x 788 while the Hitachi is 768 or something

[sokelly]

Now....anybody thinking of stepping up and getting the 60". The price difference isn't that big. I have seen $3599 at hhgregg and circuit city. I have been mulling it over. I'm sure the 50 will be fine, but man, can a TV ever be too big??

I would also like to know how you guys are going to hook it up -- i have direct tv right now, but am thinking of switching to comcast digital cable. Direct tv doesn't seem to have the same number of HD channels and they are charging more (10/month plus the cost of the receiver.) With comcast, it is only 5 per month for an HDTV box and I would be able to get local HD channels too.

Thanks,

Shane

[landshark99]

Well iam going to purchase a DirectTv HD box and go for that route vs. the cable route.. iam not a big fan of the cable companies but to be fair i haven't been a customer for a number of years and things might have changed a bit... so we will see, but like i said iam shopping around now to replace my current DDS box with a new HDTV one. Of course i will be using it with a DVD system too.. so i got that going for me.. but i just know once i see regular DDS on this new tv <gasp>, and whenever they decide to ship the damn sony... I will be upgrading to HDTV DDS (anymore acronyms?) very soon... at least my HT is ready to go... :)