Asa Dotzler: Firefox and more

Couples who keep a TV in the bedroom have sex half as often.

just sayin'

Sorry I'm not very informative but I think in 2008 it's time to move into 21th century rather than a 20th century that's over since 8 years.

But to answer your question, I'd say for a bedroom you don't need full hd (1080) and hd ready (720) should be all right. 37 or 42" would be already large for a typical bedroom, but a precise answer really depends on the size of your bedroom and the distance from the screen you will be when watching. At work, we have a meeting room with a 52" screen and that's huge ! So I really don't see a 50" screen in a bedroom except if your bedroom has the size of a rock star one.

@jmdesp, yeah, I should have said "less than 50"" since what I really meant was to exclude the 50" screens I've looked as being too large.

We'll be about 8' from the screen and we'd like "large" in that context. I think 42 is probably nice and big. What we have now is 36" standard aspect ratio and that feels big but mostly because of the huge box it comes in.

fixed the century bit too. thanks.

First time I saw a Sharp Aquos LCD tv in a friends house I knew that was the choice for me.

Ended up getting a 52" from Costco for about $700 below what circuit chity's price was (which isn't all that hard to do). Shop around. They have smaller models that would fit better in a bedroom.

I've had the Aquos for over a year and still look at it in amazement.

cheers!

I'd lean towards the larger screen size and I'd get an HD capable set, other things being equal.

I recently inherited my first LCD set and have done some research aside, so here are some thoughts: On size, keep in mind that most LCD's are wide screens making the size comparison with a CRT a little difficult. A 32 inch LCD wide screen, for example, has a height dimension significantly less than that of a 32 inch CRT. The set I have is a 32 inch, but I would definitely get a larger size if I were purchasing the set myself.

Personally, I'm not convinced that HD is truly all that much better than a regular picture. Sure, if I want it if I can get it and the price differential isn't too great, but comparing shows in 720 vs 1080 on my set doesn't reveal that great a difference. You will get a significantly better picture as you make the switch from an old set to a new one and from analog to digital. The extra improvement between 720 and 1080 is no doubt real, but how much it is worth is debatable.

Looking at the literature - reviews, etc, it seems that LCDs are generally taking the market from Plasma. From what I can tell, the LCD vs Plasma issue is either a toss-up or a contents that is being win by LCD.

TVs are long term purchase, or at least they have been until now. Modern television sets may or may not have the life span of our older sets. Given the still changing technology and format battles, that may be a good thing in a perverse sort of way. However, my point is that you'll probably have whatever you buy for quite some time. In light of that, assuming that the cost factors are not too great, get the extra inputs and other features if you can.

As for brands, that is an interesting question. Clearly there are a lot of new players in the TV field. Depending on how you look at it, that can make an argument for going with the more estabilshed brands - Sony, etc. To be specific, my personal experience is with Olevia and, based on that experience, I'd recommend something else. Don't get me wrong, the picture is far better than the ancient CRT that was here before, but I think the Olevia's feature set and user interface are not as good as other sets I've seen (as noted above, I inherited this set).

Finally, remember that a TV today is increasingly like a computer and it may help to look at it from that perspective when comparing specifications.

Hope that helps,

-Danny

A Flatscreen just for the Bedroom? I got to get me a job at Mozilla, too!

;-)

tylerstyle, my wife and I share an 11 year old, well-dented Honda Accord. That saves us a few bucks for upgrading our bedroom television.

- A

I'd go with Sharp Aquos, Sony Bravia, or if they are too expensive with the latest Samsung. But I'd make sure to have a look at them in three stores at least, since normally stores have an interest to sell a certain brand, and now and then they make sure the programs look better on tv sets of that brand than on the other tv sets around. :)

You might want to keep in mind that on LCDs the picture quality is significantly better, when you use the resolution the screen is optimized for. In this case it's important to have the necessary distance between you and the tv as long as you watch non-780p programs to have the picture appear sharp but without seeing pixels or compression fractures. If you don't have enough room rather think about buying a smaller one.

Btw. for newer DVDs upscaling can make the movies look a lot better on your new tv set. E.g. Peter Jackson's KING KONG DVD looks fantastic if you have a DVD player which is capable of upscaling to your 780p. It might not be necessary to purchase a blu-ray player at the moment, as long as they are that expensive.

My roommate just picked up the Olevia 242V, which is a solid 720p LCD, and comes in at under a grand. Really impressed with the picture quality, and the built-in speakers are decent, though we only used it for a week until we got a receiver and speakers for surround. The Olevia 237V is exactly the same hardware in a smaller size, though I haven't seen one up close. I think it's a great set for the money. Tip: if you hook a computer up to it, make sure you turn off Cropping in the menu for that input. I do agree with Danny above that the UI is atrocious, but unless you use PIP, it's not really an issue.

Pick up cables from Monoprice or Blue Jeans, which are both reliable, online vendors who don't markup cables 100%+ like you'll find in retail stores. AVS Forums is an excellent venue for research, so check out anything you're considering there as well, especially if you can find an Official Owner's Thread, which are great sources of info.

Also have to second dex_sf on the upscaling DVD player--it makes all the difference in getting the best from standard-def DVDs.

* Look at 120 Hz. 120 is divisible by 24 fps and 30 fps. Google "3:2 pulldown" for more info.
* The quality of the scaler is important for non-HD broadcasts. Go to Video Only in SF and ask the rep to switch to a non-HD channel.
* Google Faroudja DCDi.
* Skin-tone really matters, avoid evaluating sets when animated films are playing.
* You'll always need more HDMI ports than you think, shoot for at least 3.
* Pay close attention to viewing distance and recommended set size, as in most cases you'll need a bigger set than you think (unless room aesthetics are an issue).
* Beyond my pay grade, but check out NuVision, http://www.nuvision.com/

Good luck.

Not sure what the status of these are in the US, but is an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) something you might also consider?

If you watch SD and maybe some HD tv, maybe occasional DVD then it can be any anything as long as it's Panasonic or Pioneer plasma. Plasma because LCD still looks artificial compared to plasma and traditional crt picture. The black is still blacker than any lcd etc.

JFYI, Sony Bravia LCD panels are produced by Samsung, but marketed by Sony.

I blazed your trail in early January. I had been looking for quite a while at the various LCD TVs in the store for a long time. Both the SONY and SHARP AQUOS stood out as superb picture quality. And I too started in the bedroom for our first flat panel. I got a 32" version 720p with outstanding contrast. (We're saving the 40" adventure for the living room sometime soon).

Anyway, the decision was right on. The picture quality at 720p HD is as good as they say. Note: for your HD service, see what they offer. My FIOS converter is limited to 720P, so a 1080P TV will not benefit from fiber (and will save you a few dollars). I got an inexpensive DVD upconverter (to 720p/1080i) and that is really nice from all those DVD movies which also aren't 720P.

Even my non-tech significant other is enamored by the clarity and sharpness and color saturation. (And that makes my next acquisition in the living room that much easier).

Go for it, and enjoy.

I like the Toshiba Regza I purchased for our bedroom- it looks very large but I do have it about 9 feet from my pillow. Great picture and sound, and the casing is black and simple- no waves or anything that looks distracting on it. And I got it at Costco for around $880 I think.

Are you looking for a nice Humboldt County House for sale? Right on the nicest golf course- about #3200 squ feet I think- and nicely redone bath and kitchen- gorgeous setting and nice views of course and hills. Anyway, look up Benchmark reality if interested- it's $795,000 or mayeb 775.

Good luck

I like the Toshiba Regza I purchased for our bedroom- it looks very large but I do have it about 9 feet from my pillow. Great picture and sound, and the casing is black and simple- no waves or anything that looks distracting on it. And I got it at Costco for around $880 I think.

Are you looking for a nice Humboldt County House for sale? Right on the nicest golf course- about #3200 squ feet I think- and nicely redone bath and kitchen- gorgeous setting and nice views of course and hills. Anyway, look up Benchmark reality if interested- it's $795,000 or mayeb 775.

Good luck