120hz LCD or Plasma for Blu-ray?

[acfink77]

I have found this site helpful in reading people’s posts and was hoping to get some help of my own. Specifically, I am looking for some advice with my current HD/Blu ray situation. I am a pretty frugal shopper, so I recently bought the 42” Westinghouse 1080p LCD w/ 60hz. This was my first HD purchase. I also have a Sony BDP-s300. I watch sports and blu ray movies and little of anything else. I was moderately satisfied with my setup until I went to circuit city and saw a clip of the Dark Knight in 120hz. I was blown away. Given what I have seen and read, my Westinghouse TV’s quality in fast action movies and sports is inferior to Plasma or 120hz quality. I have also heard some people complain about the unrealistic “video” quality of 120hz LCD. I suppose I should view some more displays, but at first glance it looked extremely impressive. My questions are as follows:

-will my Blu-Ray viewing experience be greatly enhanced with a plasma? with a 120hz LCD?
-should I return my Westinghouse (have about a month to figure this out) and buy the Vizio 42” LCD 120hz? Only about a $250 difference

Any advice would help. Thanks.

[Arturo Lugo]

My advice would be go for it, although yo'd better wait for someone more informed to tell you why, or at least the Pro's and Con's...

However, I think this thread would be right to ask a question I cannot seem to find an answer anywhere:

Would ANY 120Hz TV be compatible with movies in 24p without any sort of pulldown tricks? I mean, like a raw display of 2080p / 24p "as it was intended"??

I ask this because it's there on the PS3 and a lot of BD movies I have, and as of now, only the Bravia TVs publitice that feature on their newest models. I wanna get a Samsung TV Series 650 for Christmas that does 120Hz, but it does not announce this "24p" feature...

Should I go ahead and blind buy it, or there is a list somewhere where I can see a list of TVs compatible with a raw "24p" mode without any pulldowns, I repeat, that show the content "as it was originally intended"...

And another thing: for watching a 24p movie, I must make shure the 24p mode is activated instead of the 120Hz mode, right? Or do they work together then?

Thank you, I hope this is not a thread hijacking, I guessed this was an adequate thread for my question...

[usckid]

My advice would be to return it if still possible. There should be plenty of deals on HDTVs on Black Friday. I would take a 720p Panny plasma over a 1080p Westy LCD.

[Arkadin]

honestly the 120hz is a bunch of snakeoil imo.
is it perhaps helpful for a fast moving video game?
maybe.
buying a new HDTV right now is imo the most difficult decision one has in shopping today.
bonus tip: plasma is absolutely the way to go over lcd imo IF your main viewing interest is hd movies on disc.
I would also venture to say that this is the consensus professional opinion.
my other advice would be to close this thread under the EDIT function and re-open it in the Home theater forum for better results.
you could also pm a mod to move it for you.

[Chickengas]

120hz LCD is the best way to go

[acfink77]

definitely a difficult decision, mostly due to the high price tag on most models and the varying opinions. appreciate the response, all. honestly, ignorance is bliss. i was satisfied with my HDTV and Blu ray which combined cost me just $900 (we are in a recession right?) until i saw that 120hz display.

-i did move my thread over to the other forum, thanks for the tip

[Clessy]

Lets clear some things up first.

Vizzo's are crappy bargin bin tvs. While they have catch term phrases and features they lack the basics of a good tv. Thats good video processing and a good contrast ratio.

If you plan to do any gaming a 1080p 120hz lcd is the way to go.

Movies are hands down better to me on Plasma due to the much higher CR normally.
Plasma's have better viewing angles too. Especially over cheaper tvs like vizzio.

Go with a good brand.
Toshiba, Sharp, Samsung.

If you're just watching movies a good buy would be looking at disscount plasma. Samsung and Panasonic had tons of 720p plasma's with 100,000:1 CR for only about 700 to 800 at 42 inch.

My 42" 720p Samsung plasma looks way better than my roomates 1080p vizzio. No competition.

If you're doing anything via vga LCD is hands down better.
Older anolog connections seem to far better on plasma too.

[donconsolmagno]

Lets clear some things up first.

Vizzo's are crappy bargin bin tvs. While they have catch term phrases and features they lack the basics of a good tv. Thats good video processing and a good contrast ratio.

If you plan to do any gaming a 1080p 120hz lcd is the way to go.

Movies are hands down better to me on Plasma due to the much higher CR normally.
Plasma's have better viewing angles too. Especially over cheaper tvs like vizzio.

Go with a good brand.
Toshiba, Sharp, Samsung.

If you're just watching movies a good buy would be looking at disscount plasma. Samsung and Panasonic had tons of 720p plasma's with 100,000:1 CR for only about 700 to 800 at 42 inch.

My 42" 720p Samsung plasma looks way better than my roomates 1080p vizzio. No competition.

If you're doing anything via vga LCD is hands down better.
Older anolog connections seem to far better on plasma too.

Yup, I got the same TV, Samsung 42 720p plasma, neighbor has 46' 1080p LCD Vizio and it just looks like shit when we play the same blu-rays on ps3s...just complete washed out colors all over

[acfink77]

i dont do much gaming. is 720p plasma still better for sports and blu ray? why?

[Blinx123]

i dont do much gaming. is 720p plasma still better for sports and blu ray? why?

Because of the faster reaction timing.

You won't see too much blurring or such on a plasma.

I still bought a LCD. They're much lighter (comes in handy if you plan to move elsewhere in the near future), most of them are thinner and (very important for some people) they do live much longer.

[Blinx123]

Would ANY 120Hz TV be compatible with movies in 24p without any sort of pulldown tricks? I mean, like a raw display of 2080p / 24p "as it was intended"??

I ask this because it's there on the PS3 and a lot of BD movies I have, and as of now, only the Bravia TVs publitice that feature on their newest models. I wanna get a Samsung TV Series 650 for Christmas that does 120Hz, but it does not announce this "24p" feature...

Should I go ahead and blind buy it, or there is a list somewhere where I can see a list of TVs compatible with a raw "24p" mode without any pulldowns, I repeat, that show the content "as it was originally intended"...

And another thing: for watching a 24p movie, I must make shure the 24p mode is activated instead of the 120Hz mode, right? Or do they work together then?

Thank you, I hope this is not a thread hijacking, I guessed this was an adequate thread for my question...

There's a list somewhere in these forums (I think it was even a sticky), giving you all the information about 24p you need.

There are many TVs that can do 24p natively. LG TVs are listed as 5:5 pulldown for example. That should be native 24p too.

About 120Hz + 24p at the same time: I wouldn't do that. 24p is for Blu-Ray and HD-DvD movies and 120Hz is better used for SD or non 24p HD movies (especially action films) and soccer/football/tennis and so on.

[acfink77]

what about a 1080p plasma? worth the extra cash? I really appreciate all the advice here.

[gene9p]

I find that the picture quality on a 720p plasmas is every bit as good if not better than a 1080p plasma....I have panny 42 inch 50 u model which is 720p..the last made in Japan. 3 years ago ..the quality of the picture on the panny plasmas are great..you can get a panny 720p plasma for less than 700 bucks right now....it is a safe and great investment..bd's hd dvd's dvd's ,sports, everything looks great..no off angle viewing issues or blurring, excellent colors and black level..plasmas are also more forgiving with regular tv stations...you can get yourself a great tv at a cheap price and wait for the led powered lcd's to drop in price or wait for the oled sets to arrive...I keep thinking about buying a larger lcd set with 120hz..but every time after looking at them and testing them in stores.I come home , turn on my panny plasma and say..damn this looks great

Panasonic plasma ..#1 rated hdtv by Consumer Reports, 4 years in a row

[Clessy]

Simply put man it sounds like you're a movie lover yourself like me and plasma is the winner for movies.

[acfink77]

im sold on the panasonic plasma 42"...simply comes down to whether i want the 1080p or the 720p and what I think is best for watching blu ray. I anticipate watching a lot of blu ray movies so I feel as though I should pay the extra $300 or so for the 1080p. I will probably check out CC and BB displays over the weekend, hopefully I can get them to hook up a blu ray for me so I can study the differences bw 720p and 1080p plasma. By all accounts the difference is minimal, possibly even impossible to determine (expecting someone to tell me differently), and maybe not worth the extra bones.