Have abit of a dilemma. I have always been a fan of plasma's due to it has truer blacks and higher refresh rates(600 hz for plasma 240 hz for ledlcd). I rather go projection but wife nix idea. I have 2 pioneer elite plasma's(too small for mancave ie 50 inch)which are awesome but pioneer stopped making them. I'm looking at 2 so far. One is the Samsung 65 inch ledlcd 1080p 3d and the other is the Panasonic Viera 65 inch plasma 1080p 3d. Price difference between the 2 is about $1k with the ledlcd costing more. What are your thoughts? Go with better technology or old reliable plasma. Thanks. Mike

 

Mike you know I am all for black and as you know no other flat can match them..

So I vote Pioneer KURO 60" US link

 

I have a 65 inch Panasonic plasma 1080p. No matter what the LCD camp says, the Plasma TV's have better black resolution. I am very happy with it.

I have a 50 inch Samsung LCD in another room, and the picture quality of the Panasonic plasma is much better.

 

Cool...

I had bought several plasmas recently thinking that was the way to go from what I had heard... Then at some recent Porsche event (Porsche content) I had an engineer tell my region Pres that his plasma that he brought for the demonstration (high performance driving video) was NOT as good as the LCD. He (engineer) went on & on about the plasma version getting more deluded day after day from the day of purchase, and that the LCD was superior cause it does not deteriorate. I felt like I may have gone the wrong direction (by like 4 new units worth). But the other guy just let him talk - and ended it with "I like the plasma" to which the engineer shook his head talking about efficiency and heat off the screen etc.

Oh well. I am keeping my plasmas.

 

My wife just bought a LCD 1080p 32 inch lcd for the guest mancave bedroom and the plasma still has the better picture. At least for me plasma has more of a old filmlike quality picture ie softer. I guess I made my decision-going with plasma. Another thing there's LCD display and ledlcd display(latest technology based)- what are the differences. I haven't viewed a ledlcd display yet. Mike

 

We just had our home theater built and we decided on the 65" Viera 3D. That panel is the most amazing thing on the market right now. There is NOTHING that you can get for 5K that comes close. In fact, it has won multiple awards for best picture quality of ANY panel on the market. Just make sure you have it calibrated. You won't be disappointed.

 

Mike, you need to decide for yourself. Find a good store that can adjust the lighting levels to what you'd like and do a side-by-side test of some material similar to what you watch. I'm a fan of action movies which are usually darker so black level is important to me (I'm going with front projection so I haven't checked out the latest batch of flat screens).

As Dell said, the calibration is important. Factory default settings are meant to try and upstage one another in a bright showroom. You'll need to do a quick adjustment when you start comparing tv's (some might have a "theater" mode meant for a dark room that could be a good start) and a pro will go into the service menu and do some magic when the set is in your man cave.

So start with the tv's mentioned in this thread and then go compare them at your favorite store.

In the meantime, read this buying guide for flat screens from Home Theater Magazine:

http://www.hometheater.com/buyersguides/flatpanels/

 

Good point.

And to the OP..
The only way you can get this is to go to a dedicated home theater company. Places like best buy (even with their magnolia sections) do not have the ability to do this nor do they have the best selection of TOP tier sets.

 

i prefer panasonic lcd.

 

if you want to watch tv/movie instead of compare spec, get plasma.
but thank you for setting up my bedroom in ur mancave. make sure you park outside, i like indoor parking.

 

Another thing to consider is the lighting in the room. To really get the amazing picture the plasma panels provide you need near dark out conditions. Screens on plasma panels have more reflections. They also don't work well in high light rooms. The 50" Pioneer Elite above the fireplace in the living room sucks during the day when light comes in. Just no way around that unless there was a 50"+ panel in LCD at the time we bought.

 

My mancave home entertainment is away from any lite other then artificial so it's a non issue- thanks Dell- Panasonic viera 65 3d 1080p is my likely choice. Use to have my plasma in main floor above fireplace- during the day way too much reflection. Mooty my parking spot is exclusive to strippers only but your fully clothed RS- outdoors : ). Mike

 

Good Stuff..

I'll probably be digging this thread back up in a couple months when I go to buy components for our Basement mancave/bar/office project we are doing..

 

We're shopping at the moment and being TV illiterate we hired a residential home theater company to come to the house and asses what would work best. Their recommendation was Samsung plasma; relatively low light room.

 

imho only plasma delivers true proper black levels no matter what lcd technology is trying to do.