I'm going to be buying my first HDTV soon. I was wondering what the power-on time is like for the flat panel HDTV's (plasma or lcd)? I mean, how much time does it take when you press the "on" button before you can start watching TV? How does it compare with CRT? I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. I'm not looking for exact numbers, just general impressions.

Thanks,
- Steve

20-25 seconds depending on type (lcd/plasma) and size.

One would think with all solid-state electronics, no cathode filaments to warm up, flat panels come on quicker than that. NOOOOooooooooooo! Go figure.

Am I wrong in guessing u just wanna play music out of the HTPC and whadda heck waiting for TV to come on? I would investigate for an iphone solution.

I'm going to be buying my first HDTV soon. I was wondering what the power-on time is like for the flat panel HDTV's (plasma or lcd)? I mean, how much time does it take when you press the "on" button before you can start watching TV? How does it compare with CRT? I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. I'm not looking for exact numbers, just general impressions.I got curious so i put a stopwatch to my various TVs. My 46G10 Plasma and my HP LCD TV both take 8 seconds to display a picture, and my Toshiba LCD TV takes 12 seconds. My older PZ700U Plasma takes 6 seconds. I don't have the numbers, but i do remember that my first Plasma (a 2005 PX50U) actually came on quicker than the Panasonic HD Tube TV that it replaced which kinda surprised me back then, but then again it's a whole different type of technology. Nonetheless, it doesn't matter to me - the TV will come on when it comes on :)

How long does it take your CRT to come on?

Thanks a lot for the info, guys. That sets my mind at ease. I was worried that the new flat-panel HDTV's would take a long time to warm up each time. If it's just 10 seconds, that's not a big deal. Even 30 seconds is okay to me. But if it was more than a minute, I'd be kind of annoyed. I just wanted to know what I should expect. I remember back in the early days of rear-projection TV's, the bulbs had to warm up first, and that took time.

Nowadays it sounds like the "warm-up" for the panels is actually not warming anything up. It's probably taking time to boot its operating system software, get internet communication started (if it has that feature), look for add-on devices, and do system checks. Just like PC's. I would imagine that some of the lower-priced HDTV brands might skimp on streamlining this part of the design, thereby increasing power-on time. I'll be buying a Panasonic 54v10 it looks like, so it sounds like that won't be an issue.

- Steve

Thanks a lot for the info, guys. That sets my mind at ease. I was worried that the new flat-panel HDTV's would take a long time to warm up each time. If it's just 10 seconds, that's not a big deal. Even 30 seconds is okay to me. But if it was more than a minute, I'd be kind of annoyed. I just wanted to know what I should expect. I remember back in the early days of rear-projection TV's, the bulbs had to warm up first, and that took time.

Nowadays it sounds like the "warm-up" for the panels is actually not warming anything up. It's probably taking time to boot its operating system software, get internet communication started (if it has that feature), look for add-on devices, and do system checks. Just like PC's. I would imagine that some of the lower-priced HDTV brands might skimp on streamlining this part of the design, thereby increasing power-on time. I'll be buying a Panasonic 54v10 it looks like, so it sounds like that won't be an issue.

- Steve

I wouldn't even consider it a factor no matter if it's LCD or plasma. as it's pretty instantaneous. :)

20-25 seconds depending on type (lcd/plasma) and size.Which LCD and Plasma TVs take 20-25 seconds? How did you arrive at those numbers?

Nowadays it sounds like the "warm-up" for the panels is actually not warming anything up. It's probably taking time to boot its operating system software
Yup. The more complex, the more peripherals, the more "feature," the longer it takes to boot up.

But if yer OK under 1 minute, this is a non-issue.

I'm going to be buying my first HDTV soon. I was wondering what the power-on time is like for the flat panel HDTV's (plasma or lcd)? I mean, how much time does it take when you press the "on" button before you can start watching TV? How does it compare with CRT? I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. I'm not looking for exact numbers, just general impressions.

Thanks,
- Steve

17 seconds.

That was using my Harmony Universal remote to power up my receiver, cable box, TV and switching to the proper input on the TV and receiver also. Each piece of equipment is automatically turned on one at a time and the input is switched to the appropriate setting when hitting the watch TV button on the remote. It would have been even quicker if it were just a matter of turning on the TV. :)

My lone HDTV (a slightly old Samsung LCD TV) takes around maybe 10 seconds or something like that. I wouldn't mind though if it took longer though (i.e. 30 seconds).

However yeah I agree with you if it took more than a minute. That would be dismaying IMHO.

Thankfully no such HDTV out there takes that long thankfully.

Or is there?