Plasma HDTV Prices
Figuring out the best price on HDTV
Consumer Reports top LCD TVs
06 Feb 2008
There’s no need to wait any longer to buy an HDTV. That’s the advice from Consumer Reports. Tests of 101 plasma, LCD, and rear-projection TVs for the March issue yielded more sets with top scores for picture quality than in years past. CR also reveals that prices are down as much as 40 percent on some TVs, so consumers continue to get more bang for their buck.
Consumer Reports notes that there are three major considerations when buying an HDTV: the type – LCD, plasma or rear-projection, the size of the screen, and whether it’s worth paying a premium to step up from 720p to 1080p resolution. CR recommends considering a 1080p model first, especially if price is not an issue.
But CR strongly advises that shoppers shouldn’t automatically rule out a 720p set. Not all 1080p sets were superior in CR’s tests, especially when selecting a smaller screen-size. CR found that on a 42-inch screen, the advantages of 1080p resolution aren’t as apparent as on sets 50 inches or larger. Some of CR’s top-rated TVs are 720p models. For example, the 40-inch Samsung [LN-T4053H], a $1,500 LCD set, was the top-rated model in its category. It has 720p resolution, sufficient for its screen size, and had deeper blacks than many LCD sets. Consumers interested in a 720p plasma set should consider the 42-inch Panasonic [TH-42PX77U], $1,300, a CR Best Buy for its combination of top picture quality and price.
CR also has several recommendations for shoppers looking for a larger screen. The top-rated 58-inch Panasonic [TH-58PZ750U], for example is a $5,000 1080p plasma model that has excellent picture quality, rich, vibrant colors, and deep blacks. Two 50-inch 1080p plasma sets from Panasonic, are among CR’s Quick Picks. Other highly-rated 50-inch plasmas include sets from LG and Pioneer.
Among LCD sets, CR recommends models by Sony [Bravia KDL-52XBR4], $4,000, Sharp [Aquos LC-52D64U], $3,000, and Samsung [LN-T5281F], $4,500. All of these 52-inch 1080p models did well for picture quality, brightness, image detail, and color accuracy. Other recommended sets include 46-inch models by Sony, Samsung, and Mitsubishi. The 46-inch 720p Sony [Bravia KDL-46S3000], $1,900, a CR Best Buy, did very well for picture quality. However, its 1080p sibling, the Sony [Bravia KDL-46W3000], $2,500, had finer detail.
If price, rather than screen-size is the priority, CR has quite a few recommendations. For under $1,000, consumers can get very good picture quality from the 37-inch 720p LCD Olevia 537H, $800 or the Insignia [NS-LCD37], $750. The 32-inch 720p LCD Vizio [VW32LHDT], $600, had comparable performance at a lower price. The best 32-inch 720p LCD sets came from Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung, all cost more than $1000.
The report also includes ratings of 14 rear-projection models. However, CR notes that a growing number of manufacturers – including Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Philips – have exited the category and have stopped making rear-projection TVs.
What it costs to run a big screen TV
One new feature in the latest HDTV report is energy consumption. CR’s engineers determined the amount of energy used by typical LCD, plasma, and rear-projection TVs turned on for 8 hours a day, 365 days a year. Most sets didn’t use significantly more energy than a 32- to 36-inch picture tube TV. One exception was 50-inch 1080p plasmas, which used twice-as-much energy as the biggest picture-tube set, and more than a comparably-sized LCD. Not surprisingly, bigger screens of all types consume more electricity than smaller ones. See the chart on the right to see CR’s estimates on what it costs to run a TV annually.
TV Reliability & Extended Warranties
According to Consumer Reports’ most recent product reliability survey, repair rates for LCD and plasma TV sets have been very low, an average of three percent overall, especially during the first three years of use – the time covered by many warranties. In the small number of cases where a set did need servicing, most repairs reported by respondents were free, presumably because they were covered by the manufacturer’s standard warranty. The few respondents who paid for repairs spent an average of $264 to fix a flat-panel LCD, $395 for a plasma, and $300 for rear-projection sets.
The latest issue of Consumer Reports includes advice on how to handle repairs in warranty and out-of-warranty. CR also advises whether to repair or replace a TV depending on its type and age.
Consumer Reports’ latest product reliability survey data also reinforces its long-standing advice to skip the extended warranty. Rear-projection TVs have been more repair-prone, but even for these sets, an extended warranty usually won’t pay off. And, consumers may be able to get longer manufacturers’ warranty coverage on their set without paying for it. Some premium credit cards add up to a year on the manufacturer’s warranty at no cost if the TV is bought with their card. Also, Costco offers a free two-year warranty on sets purchased in its warehouse or on its Web site.
Hitachi 42″ 1080i Plasma HDTV with 3 HDMI Inputs $750 @Sears.com
07 Oct 2007
58″ 1080p Panasonic plasma HDTV $3,250
03 Oct 2007
Panasonic 58″ 1080p Widescreen Plasma HDTV TH-58PZ700U is $3,250 at Frys.com. 1080p High-Def Resolution for Crisp, Life-Like Details. The extremely high 1920 x 1080 pixel count of this plasma TV allows for its incredible 1080p HD display capability, which provides twice the number of pixels as 720p HDTV displays for superior detail and extraordinary HDTV reproduction. One-Touch Playback. EZ Sync™ HDAVI Control lets you operate all of your home theater components by pressing a single button on your TV’s remote control.
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42″ Samsung plasma HDTV $799
03 Oct 2007
A refurbished Samsung HPT4254 42 inch Plasma HDTV is $799 with $95 shipping at SecondAct. It’s a refurbished unit.
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Top 10 LCD and plasma HDTVs compared
28 Sep 2007
PC World reviews 40″ and 42″ plasma and LCD TV sets:
We examined twelve of the latest 40- to 42-inch flat-panel TVs we could find to determine which ones give you the most for your money. Our test group consisted of five plasma sets (Hewlett-Packard’s PL4272N, Panasonic’s TH-42PZ700U, Pioneer’s PDP-4280HD, Samsung’s HP-T4264, and Vizio’s VP42) and seven LCD sets (HP’s LC4276N, LG’s 42LB5D, Philips’s 42PFL7432D/37, Samsung’s LN-T4061, Sony’s KDL-40V3000, Toshiba’s 42HL167, and Vizio’s GV42LF).
See the comparison chart here.
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42″ 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV $800 @BestBuy.com
27 Sep 2007
An instant rebate of $100 makes Insignia 42″ 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV (model NS-PDP42) $800 at BestBuy.com with the option of local pickup. With 10-bit color reproduction and color temperature controls, this 42″ plasma HDTV delivers crisp, vibrant high-definition visuals. The 20W speaker system with SRS TruSurround XT sound and 5 sound modes recreates the experience of cinema-quality sound. See also the official Insignia 42″ Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV page.
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HP PL5060N 50″ Plasma HDTV $1,200 @CompUSA
14 Sep 2007
HP PL5060N 50-inch 720p Plasma HDTV is $1,200 at CompUSA. The PL5060N 50″ Plasma HDTV weighs in with an expansive, state-of-the-art, high-definition screen. In addition to excellent panel resolution and contrast ratio, you get SRS WOW audio, an integrated digital/analog tuner, and detachable speakers.
Poor HDTV picture from DVD player
08 Aug 2007
What happens when you bought a brand new HDTV set, you plug it in, you sit down to watch a DVD, and the picture is far from perfect?
First of all, make sure you’ve gone into your Pioneer DVD player’s set-up menu to select “16:9″ for your TV Screen shape (the set-up menu option on the Pioneer player should be called something like “Initial settings… Video output… TV screen”). If you don’t do this, then your DVD player may still think your TV is the old 4:3 roughly square shape and widescreen DVDs will not play back in their correct aspect ratio.
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SAMSUNG Introduces 70inch Full-HD LCD TV with Local Dimming Technology
17 Jul 2007
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has introduced the largest (70 inch) commercially available full high-definition LCD TV in Korea. The new TV boasts Samsung’s very best image enhancement technologies and employs a light-emitting diode (LED) backlight instead of the conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) version. Moreover, Samsung’s unique local dimming technology enables the LED backlight to be turned off in dark image areas, delivering a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000:1. At the same time, power consumption is lowered by as much as fifty percent.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s LED scanning eliminates the flicker and ghosting problems associated with large-screen LCD TVs.
“I am pleased to introduce the 70′ Full-HD LCD TV with innovative Local Dimming Technology,’ said JongWoo Park, President of the Digital Media Business, Samsung Electronics. ‘Samsung will continue to strengthen its LCD TV leadership, enhancing Full-HD and large screen LCD TV line-up.’
A high-gloss, ‘piano black’ bezel and titanium chrome trim accentuate the elegance and sophistication of Samsung’s new 70′ full-HD LCD TV. The dual hidden speakers and rear woofer deliver the rich sound quality to match the larger-than-life on-screen images.
Samsung plans to put the product on sale worldwide in the second half of this year. Samsung is the largest LCD TV supplier in January-March this year with 17.4 percent share by revenue, according to Display Search.
42″ 1080p LCD HDTV for $1,000
25 Jun 2007
Vizio 42″ 1080P HDTV LCD is $999.99 after rebate in Costco with the coupon. This is the first 1080p model from Vizio at sub-$1,000 price.
JVC LAUNCHES NEW 1080p FLAT PANEL LCD TVs
25 Jun 2007
JVC today expanded its LCD TV line-up with the addition of four new models that offer 1080p full HD resolution. All four models, in 37-, 42- and 47-inch screen sizes, incorporate an array of JVC technologies that combine to deliver sharp, natural images with even the most challenging program material.
JVC’s expanded LCD line includes two series – in the 688 series are the 37-inch LT-37X688 and the 42-inch LT-42X688, each offering a new black cabinet. The higher performance 788 series includes the 42-inch LT-42X788 and the 47-inch LT-47X788, featuring black cabinets with silver trim and an ultra-thin bezel. The 788 series sets also provide a higher contrast ratio, faster response time and wider viewing angle.
All four models feature full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 and JVC’s fifth generation D.I.S.T. (Digital Image Scaling Technology) engine that upconverts all signals to display at full 1080p. Dual HDMI v1.3 inputs allow connection of the latest generation of 1080p sources that offer 1080p outputs. Other features include nine aspect modes, four picture modes, a new universal remote with new convenience features, and a USB photo viewer.
To ensure the best possible picture, the new sets feature JVC’s Genessa chip, a 32-bit CPU processor that combines all image processing, noise reduction and color management technologies together onto a single chip for more efficient communication, and thus better performance. Genessa includes JVC’s Motion Adaptive Dynamic Gamma control, an algorithm that preserves tonal details and gradations in dark areas so that the image doesn’t appear muddy.
Genessa also includes Digital Video Noise Reduction that reduces the graininess for both analog and digital video sources, a Block Noise Suppressor that detects and eliminates “block noise”, a Mosquito Noise Suppressor that eliminates noise in low bit-rate signals without degrading the image, and a 3D Y/C comb filter with DTV Cross Color Eliminator that uses an advanced 10-bit 3D Y/C separation process to eliminate cross color and dot interference that is imbedded in older source material.
Standard definition signals are improved through new Natural Progressive IP conversion, improved scaler performance and a new PLL (phase lock loop) system that improves the performance of a composite signal.
In convenience features, the new sets offer nine video aspect modes, including a full native mode that shows the full picture with no overscan, four picture modes (standard, game, theater and dynamic) to optimize performance for different room situations and program material, and a USB photo viewer – a USB input for connection to a USB mass storage device, including JVC’s Everio hard drive camcorders. Images can be zoomed and rotated, viewed individually or played as a slide show.
New with the launch of these LCD sets is a completely redesigned remote control. All four new sets come with an illuminated universal remote that includes five direct video input buttons, and can be programmed to operate many brands of set top boxes, DVD players, digital video recorders, VCRs and audio products. In addition, the remote features dual infrared transmitters so that the set receives the signal whether the remote is pointed at the TV or held vertically for a better view of the buttons.
All four sets offer a full complement of inputs – two HDMI v1.3 inputs, two component inputs, three composite inputs, three AV inputs, an S-Video input, and optical digital audio out, and a fixed audio out.
For HD program reception, all four sets include a built-in ATSC tuner for receiving over-the-air digital terrestrial broadcasts and a Clear QAM tuner for receiving unscrambled digital cable signals.
The audio package in JVC’s new LCD TVs is comprised of a 10-watts-per-channel amplifier, JVC’s Advanced Hyper Surround for simulated surround sound and twin oblique cone speakers. Also included is JVC’s Smart Sound feature, which maintains a constant volume level as content changes (such as from program material to commercial).
Prices and availability:
Model Available Approximate Retail Price LT-37X688 June $1,599.95 LT-42X688 June $1,999.95 LT-42X788 July $2,099.95 LT-47X788 July $2,699.95
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HDTV antennas: pros and cons
28 Apr 2007
Associated Press talks about The Pros and Cons of HD Antennas. Pros include the facts that it’s free and you get better picture quality for over the air HDTV. Among the cons they list reception issues, and availability of local channels only.
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TV antennas back in fashion because of HDTV
28 Apr 2007
USA Today talks about new demand for HDTV antennas: HDTV perks up old-fashioned rabbit ears
Local TV channels, broadcast in HD over-the-air,
offer superior picture quality over the often-compressed signals sent
by cable and satellite TV companies.And the best part? Over-the-air HD is free.
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HDTV buying guide
01 Apr 2007
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Vizio 42″ plasma reviewed by Fox News
22 Feb 2007
Vizio 42″ plasma HDTV was reviewed by FoxNews:
Other than a couple of quibbles about its handling of standard-definition video and about some undocumented advanced picture controls, the VP42 turned in a solid widescreen viewing experience without sacrificing important video-connection options or ease of use. The VP42 HDTV weighs nearly 90 pounds, and Vizio wisely recommends that at least two people tackle the task of unpacking and hefting it onto its new perch. Including its factory-attached base stand, the VP42 measures a full 44.3 by 29.8 by 11.4 inches.
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HDTV buying guide from CNN
31 Jan 2007
CNN published an HDTV buying guide:
You let the holidays come and go without pulling the trigger. But March Madness looms, not to mention the new season of “The Sopranos.” You know it’s time to go high definition, but with all the 1080p’s and HD MIs and whatever, buying the right TV seems as straightforward as buying the right nuclear submarine. Good news: Now that prices, and the technology, have stabilized, HD is officially a no-brainer. So take this guide and pick your set.
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1080p LCD HDTVs from Microtek
05 Jan 2007
Microtek, a world-leading manufacturer of digital imaging products, introduces two new 42-inch LCD HDTVs with Full-HD 1080p resolution in the United States through its North American subsidiary, Microtek Lab, Inc. The new CL42HA joins the Cineon(TM) series — a high-end line of HDTVs created for the custom A/V installer and home theater channel — while the new L42CX2A joins Microtek’s line of HDTVs for video enthusiasts.
With 1080p full-HD resolution, these LCD HDTVs display two million pixels; twice the resolution of typical plasma HD TVs at 720p and six times the resolution of standard DVD movies at 480p. “We are proud to offer these new LCD HDTVs in addition to our plasma HDTVs,” said Parker Plaisted, product brand manager at Microtek. “LCD and plasma have emerged as the top choices for consumers for high-definition televisions because they offer outstanding picture quality with the flat-panel convenience and affordable prices. Some people prefer plasma technology and others LCD technology.
By offering both to our customers we can satisfy the full range of consumer needs, and we can monitor and compare the advances in these technologies to make critical decisions on future products.”
Full HD at 1080p
Both the L42CX2A and the CL42HA deliver Full-HD 1080p with a native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels in the wide-screen 16:9 format and are the perfect match for 1080i or 1080p video that is available now from broadcast TV, cable and satellite TV, Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs. Using advanced scaler technology, the L42CX2A and CL42HA also accept and accurately display video at 480i, 480p and 720p in addition to 1080i and 1080p.
Design Specifications and Factory Calibration
With more than 20 years of experience in digital color imaging, the Microtek engineering team has chosen high-quality components and implemented rigorous design specifications to deliver outstanding picture quality. The L42CX2A and the CL42HA LCD HD TVs offer a brightness of 500 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 1200:1 and viewing angle of 176 degrees. Each individual TV is calibrated at the factory to set the optimum brightness, contrast, sharpness, color saturation, and color balance for a typical home viewing environment.
For the Microtek L42CX2A, factory calibration means the customer can enjoy the picture quality right out of the box with plug-and-play simplicity. For the Cineon CL42HA, factory calibration sets the middle-ground starting point for tuning the TV to a specific viewing environment. The controls used for the factory calibration are separate from the on-screen adjustment controls, so the factory calibration can be restored by simply restoring the default settings for the on-screen adjustment controls.
Input Connections
The Microtek L42CX2A and Cineon CL42HA feature a full array of input options that allow you to connect several devices to the LCD HDTV to create a comprehensive media center. These input connections include antenna ports for analog NTSC and digital ATSC tuners, composite video, S-video, component video (YPbPr), computer RGB via VGA port, and HDMI for 100% digital data transmission. The HDMI input facilitates direct input of digital signals from a variety of sources — making the L42CX2A and CL42HA perfect displays for home theater, game consoles, digital photography, and the latest digital entertainment applications.
Availability and Pricing
The Microtek L42CX2A 42″ LCD HDTVs carry a one-year parts-and-labor warranty and will be available soon through Microtek’s distribution channels and select direct mail and online retail stores for $1,899.99. The Cineon CL42HA 42″ LCD HDTVs carry a two-year parts-and-labor warranty and will be available soon through custom A/V and home-theater installers for $1,999.99.
42″ Toshiba HDTV $1,200 @Amazon.com
01 Jan 2007
Meet the New Year with Toshiba 42HP66 42″ Plasma HDTV from Amazon.com (shipped for free, too). Step into the future with the 42-inch Toshiba 42HP66 plasma screen HDTV, which features a stylishly contemporary black cabinet and space-saving bottom mounted speaker system.The set’s built-in ATSC (DTV) tuner pulls HD signals (480p/720p/1080i) right from the airwaves, and its QAM tuner is fully compatible with unscrambled HDTV cable reception. A standard analog NTSC tuner receives standard-definition (SD) programming. It comes with a tabletop stand that can be removed for wall mounting (with optional hardware). The 42HP66 has a 1024 x 768-pixel resolution (XGA), a peak 1200 cd/m2 (candela per square meter) brightness rating, and an amazing 8000:1 contrast ratio. (The higher the contrast ratio, the greater a TV’s ability to display subtle color details and not get washed out by ambient room light.)
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Philips 42″ plasma $1,145 @Buy.com
28 Dec 2006
Philips USA 42PF7321D – 42″ Widescreen HDTV Plasma TV with Pixel Plus is $1,144.45 at Buy.com. Experience the superior picture quality of this excellent Flat TV with the latest Plasma technology and Pixel Plus. It’s packed into a stunning design that will complement your interior. Share music and photos via the built-in USB.
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50″ plasma HDTV $1,650 @Sears
19 Dec 2006
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