My 43 inch Hitachi has finally taken a dump. My choices are limited as we get a discount buying the TV from WalMart and I have to strike while the wife is letting me do this. I have a HR20-700 from Directv. Here are my options:

This is my fav so far as it has 1080i.

[Mod Note Retail links removed. Use MFG website instead]

Thank you in advance. I wish I was able to choose from other retailers or online sites but you married guys know what I am talking about! ;)

From what I've gathered it seems out of those 4 the Vizio has probably gotten better reviews. You should search through the forum for those models and see what feedback already available that you can find.

Also, I don't think per the rules we are allowed to link to retailer sites. It would also be easier for everyone to answer if you could just list each set you are considering, along with model # and any specs instead of everyone having to follow each link to help. Do not post prices as that is not allowed.

Good luck!

This is my fav so far as it has 1080i.


Perhaps you misunderstood the descriptions, but none of these TV's "have 1080i". All of them have identical resolutions of 768x1366, and they will take either 720P or 1080i inputs and scale them to the native resolution of the panel.

I would probably stick to either the Phillips or the Vizio, but I don't know much about these sets. Head to some local electronics stores and check out some plasmas for reference. Circuit City should carry the Vizios, and you can probably find examples of the Phillips and maybe the others if you look around.

Personally I would save a little more cash and go with a name brand

Philips
Pioneer
Panasonic
Hitachi
Samsung

Personally I would save a little more cash and go with a name brand

Philips
Pioneer
Panasonic
Hitachi
Samsung

Agreed, its been a while since I said that to you ;) Also if there is a budget issue there is financing available from many dealers out there including box stores.

From what I've gathered it seems out of those 4 the Vizio has probably gotten better reviews. You should search through the forum for those models and see what feedback already available that you can find.

Also, I don't think per the rules we are allowed to link to retailer sites. It would also be easier for everyone to answer if you could just list each set you are considering, along with model # and any specs instead of everyone having to follow each link to help. Do not post prices as that is not allowed.

Good luck!

Sorry bout the links. The best picture would be the 1080i right? Thats why I like the Visio the best.

Agreed, its been a while since I said that to you ;) Also if there is a budget issue there is financing available from many dealers out there including box stores.

My buddy bought a Phillips 42 Plasma and had problems right out of the box with a "blue sparkly line on the side". They finally replaced it but their customer service was very poor. The crew that took his old TV and replaced his new one said that they replace more Samsungs than any else. Does this sound right?

My buddy bought a Phillips 42 Plasma and had problems right out of the box with a "blue sparkly line on the side". They finally replaced it but their customer service was very poor. The crew that took his old TV and replaced his new one said that they replace more Samsungs than any else. Does this sound right?

Ok let me take this back :( Pioneer's I can vouch for as well as Panasonic and Samsung's are starting to come around.

Sorry bout the links. The best picture would be the 1080i right? Thats why I like the Visio the best.

A 720 Panasonic (actually 768) will give you a better picture than a 1080 Visio.

Sorry bout the links. The best picture would be the 1080i right? Thats why I like the Visio the best.The Vizio is a 1366 x 768 tv like the rest (some may be 1365 x 768 but no difference). They all will accept 1080i and scale to 768p. Best for you to go look at them in action and see what you think looks best.

Sorry bout the links. The best picture would be the 1080i right? Thats why I like the Visio the best.

Did you not read the answers people gave you before you asked a follow-up question? ALL of those TV's have identical resolution, there is no such thing as a 1080i plasma....

(fends off Hitachi owners ;) )

Did you not read the answers people gave you before you asked a follow-up question? ALL of those TV's have identical resolution, there is no such thing as a 1080i plasma....

(fends off Hitachi owners ;) )

I read the answers very closely and still didn't grasp it. I come to this forum because I consider it the best info on the net and I am in a time sensitive position to upgrade my obsolete system. I do not appreciate your condescending tone.

Thank you all for helping me make my decision.

I read the answers very closely and still didn't grasp it. I come to this forum because I consider it the best info on the net and I am in a time sensitive position to upgrade my obsolete system. I do not appreciate your condescending tone.

Thank you all for helping me make my decision.

Apologies for the tone, but you asked if the Vizio was best because it was 1080i, and then multiple people EXPLICITLY said that it wasn't 1080i, and then you restated the exact same fallacy.

Hopefully this will be clearer: all flat panel displays are FIXED PIXEL displays, which means that they always display the entire image at the native resolution of the panel. In the case of every single one of these 50 inch plasmas that you are looking at, the fixed resolution is 768x1366 -- that's 768 horizontal rows with 1366 pixels in each row. This NEVER changes.

720p versus 1080i is a question of how the content is delivered to your tv from the source. The "p" stands for "progressive", which means that every pixel in the image is sent at the same time -- in the case of 720p, it means it sends all 720 rows of information 60 times per second. The "i" stands for interlaced -- this means that it sends alternating fields, each consisting of half the information, and then the complete picture is re-created from these interlaced alternating fields. 1080i is also 60 Hz (frames per second), but the difference is that it only sends half the picture with each frame, so you are getting 30 frames of the even rows and 30 frames of the odd rows.

They are both different approaches to delivering high-quality video without using the bandwidth that a full 1080p (1080 lines of progressive resolution) would require. Most channels broadcast in 1080i -- this provides slightly higher resolution, but the re-interlacing process can sometimes produce "jaggies" on edges because the image has to be interpolated when there is movement. Some channels, like ESPN and ABC and FOX, that broadcast a lot of sports, use 720p -- even though the resolution is slightly lower, it theoretically provides a smoother image with fast motion because there is no interlacing of alternate fields.

In PRACTICAL terms, you will almost certainly never see the difference when watching TV. Most can't.

Now, back to the TV -- again, all of these TV's will scale anything you give it, whether it's 480-line standard-def, 720-line progressive, or 1080-line (interlaced or progressive), and use its internal processor to scale it to the native resolution of the panel, 768x1366.

Is that clearer? If you google "720p vs 1080i" I bet some good primers on the topic will pop up.

I think you may be confusing the input signals the TV will accept vs. the TV's native OUTPUT resolution. For output resolution it boils down to either 768P or 1080P (aside from that funky Hitachi model). All TV's will accept 480i/480P, 720P or 1080i input signals. Some TV's will accept 1080P input signals. You also need to understand that not all 1080P signals are created equal. There's a 1080P/24 frames per second spec and a 1080P/60 frames per second spec. (much more common).

Hope this all makes sense. Anyways, do your research, keep reading this forum and when comparing TV's in stores make sure you're comparing apples to apples. In other words, understand the source material that's being played and how that affects what you see. Also be sure to do some basic calibrations when viewing. Some of the out of the box settings on these TV's are horrendous!

Apologies for the tone, but you asked if the Vizio was best because it was 1080i, and then multiple people EXPLICITLY said that it wasn't 1080i, and then you restated the exact same fallacy.

Hopefully this will be clearer: all flat panel displays are FIXED PIXEL displays, which means that they always display the entire image at the native resolution of the panel. In the case of every single one of these 50 inch plasmas that you are looking at, the fixed resolution is 768x1366 -- that's 768 horizontal rows with 1366 pixels in each row. This NEVER changes.

720p versus 1080i is a question of how the content is delivered to your tv from the source. The "p" stands for "progressive", which means that every pixel in the image is sent at the same time -- in the case of 720p, it means it sends all 720 rows of information 60 times per second. The "i" stands for interlaced -- this means that it sends alternating fields, each consisting of half the information, and then the complete picture is re-created from these interlaced alternating fields. 1080i is also 60 Hz (frames per second), but the difference is that it only sends half the picture with each frame, so you are getting 30 frames of the even rows and 30 frames of the odd rows.

They are both different approaches to delivering high-quality video without using the bandwidth that a full 1080p (1080 lines of progressive resolution) would require. Most channels broadcast in 1080i -- this provides slightly higher resolution, but the re-interlacing process can sometimes produce "jaggies" on edges because the image has to be interpolated when there is movement. Some channels, like ESPN and ABC and FOX, that broadcast a lot of sports, use 720p -- even though the resolution is slightly lower, it theoretically provides a smoother image with fast motion because there is no interlacing of alternate fields.

In PRACTICAL terms, you will almost certainly never see the difference when watching TV. Most can't.

Now, back to the TV -- again, all of these TV's will scale anything you give it, whether it's 480-line standard-def, 720-line progressive, or 1080-line (interlaced or progressive), and use its internal processor to scale it to the native resolution of the panel, 768x1366.

Is that clearer? If you google "720p vs 1080i" I bet some good primers on the topic will pop up.

Perfect. I have learned more about HD Tvs in this thread than surfing the net. I have been researching the Visio 50" from the 2 threads in the forum. Thank you for taking the time to explain it and I am sorry my feathers got ruffled.

Again, this forum rocks.

I think you may be confusing the input signals the TV will accept vs. the TV's native OUTPUT resolution. For output resolution it boils down to either 768P or 1080P (aside from that funky Hitachi model). All TV's will accept 480i/480P, 720P or 1080i input signals. Some TV's will accept 1080P input signals. You also need to understand that not all 1080P signals are created equal. There's a 1080P/24 frames per second spec and a 1080P/60 frames per second spec. (much more common).

Hope this all makes sense. Anyways, do your research, keep reading this forum and when comparing TV's in stores make sure you're comparing apples to apples. In other words, understand the source material that's being played and how that affects what you see. Also be sure to do some basic calibrations when viewing. Some of the out of the box settings on these TV's are horrendous!

I always looked at the 720p or 1080i TVs to measure their worth but now I can use alot of the info here to make my decision. Thanks again.