Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer View Post
The AVS Forum has a lot of threads for specific TV models, including the calibrated settings that people use on their TVs. Might be a good idea to jot them down for the models you're interested in, and use that to adjust the picture to something closer to reference spec in the showroom. You will want to adjust the demo TVs anyway to try and match the actual picture as closely as possible, because every manufacturer (and even different models made by the same company) use different default settings.
Way ahead of you brother! I've already got the settings for all three tv's.

With energy consumption, most LCDs are fixed, while plasma power usage will vary depending on the material (i.e., watching a hockey game will consume a lot more power than a Batman movie). In general, especially compared with LED backlights, the plasmas will use more energy, even though the current generation of plasmas use a lot less energy than the ones from five years ago.
The wife ruled out plasmas for this very reason last night. Combined with the energy and heat already emanating from the electronics stack, the Panny was eliminated.

With LCD, you will want to look for full LED backlighting, not the edge-lit models found in the lower price ranges. With full LED backlighting, the backlights are sequentially dimmed in different places to match the image. It increases the contrast and improves the motion performance and color accuracy.
The only local dimming LED I could find was the very expensive Sony HX929 ($700 more than both of the other LED's I'm considering, but a home run from what I've read) and the ridiculously expensive Sharp Elite ($2500(!) more, but the state of the LED art w/ blacks deeper than the mythical Kuro). With OLED and 4K about 3-4 years from becoming affordable, it doesn't make sense for me to go for the brass ring when it's going to be outdated this fall. Thus, I'm stuck with edge lit.

Thanks for all of the tips as well, I'll make sure to pay attention to those features.

You know, audio is so much easier; you either like the way it sounds or you don't. All of these processing features and "smart tv" gizmos are ridiculous! Samsung should make a tv with the panel and performance from the 8000 but without all of the interactive crap that I don't want and sell it for $1,200. I'd buy THAT!

It does sound like Sammy has the edge based on your input. Thanks!