I am looking for a new TV for my family room – right now I have a 10 year old Pioneer Elite 60”. The room is 22x22 with 15’ ceilings – the tv will go in a wall unit set on a wall
with 3 large banks of windows – so it is a very bright room. My dilemma - I like the picture on the Panasonic 58” 77 series – but I am afraid of the reflection. My concern with LCD is the motion blur and also the cost of a 57 or 65” screen.
My choice would be the Panasonic 58PZ700U or the Sony 52 XBR4.

Should I trade off the 6” difference in screen size for the fear of the refection on the plasma screen?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated – thanks in advance

I'd get the plasma. Those were my exact choices -- 58pz700u or 52xbr4. I have a bank of West facing windows which are opposite my wall-mounted TV on the east wall of the room (i.e. direct sunlight in the evening); click the link in my signature to see the layout.

When it came time to buy the TV, I got a "commitment" from the Circuit City manager that if I bought the plasma and it didn't "work out", I could exchange it for the XBR4 with no penalty and they'd come get the Panny and drop off the XBR4. I kept the Panny for any number of reasons (including the significant size difference and the various picture quality advantages of plasma over LCD), and have discovered that I really only have to "control the light" coming through the windows in two scenarios (i.e. shut my blinds) -- (a) watching dark movies in the mid- to late-afternoon and (b) during the hour or so block in the late evening when sunlight is coming directly through the window onto the TV (of course, I'd have this same problem with an LCD as well, so that's a distinction without a difference). So, in the end, for me (and I have a fairly significant "bright room" issue), the plasma was the way to go; and if you watch a lot of sports, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

--Mav

Thanks Mav - Another problem with my family room no blinds on the windows - my set will be on the wall where the windows are - the oppsoite wall there is no windows - so the light will be coming from behind the set - not directly on the screen

Bright rooms call for LCD's, hands down. Just need to factor in when do you watch TV & if you want to sacrifice 3" on each side.

Bright rooms call for LCD's, hands down.

Interesting. Thanks for the thoughtful, insightful tip. I was getting him all worried about irrelevant things like the lighting characteristics of the actual room in which the TV will be sitting, and the trade off in performance and picture quality he would have to make to get the light-handling advantages of the Sony. Shucks. Wish I'd have known that sooner. :rolleyes:

--Mav

Interesting. Thanks for the thoughtful, insightful tip. I was getting him all worried about irrelevant things like the lighting characteristics of the actual room in which the TV will be sitting, and the trade off in performance and picture quality he would have to make to get the light-handling advantages of the Sony. Shucks. Wish I'd have known that sooner. :rolleyes:

--Mav

U R welcome

Bright rooms call for LCD's, hands down. Just need to factor in when do you watch TV & if you want to sacrifice 3" on each side.

I think it's more of a factor of just how bright, what kind of anti-glare coating the particular TV you are interested in buying, and if you are the type to calibrate or not.

For most folks LCD brightness and more prevalent anti-glare technology makes them a better choice for a bright room. That being said, there are plasma models out there that do just fine. SO YMMV. Best option is to go out and look for yourself. :p

If you can wait Panny will have plasmas out in the late summer that are supposed to be 30% brighter, have blacks almost as good as the Pioneer Kuros and have tinted black screens and are supposed to do fairly well in a bright environment(in 58 and 65" models). The 42-50" models should be out any time.

There's very few options in LCDs over 52" and the ones that are available are way overpriced IMO.

Thanks Mav - Another problem with my family room no blinds on the windows - my set will be on the wall where the windows are - the oppsoite wall there is no windows - so the light will be coming from behind the set - not directly on the screen

if your light is coming from behind the set then you might stand a chance of getting an acceptable picture. if you have any significant light in the room bouncing off walls, from lamps, etc then you'll still have the problem of reflections in the glass in the presence of any significant dark areas in your picture.

if you can take that fact in stride for daytime/ lights on watching then you'll also enjoy a stellar image when viewed in total darness where the plasma shines.

personally i like the trade off of lcd. i like to watch alot of material with lights on and not looking for reflections in the glass all the time, but that's just me.

I am looking for a new TV for my family room – right now I have a 10 year old Pioneer Elite 60”. The room is 22x22 with 15’ ceilings – the tv will go in a wall unit set on a wall
with 3 large banks of windows – so it is a very bright room. My dilemma - I like the picture on the Panasonic 58” 77 series – but I am afraid of the reflection. My concern with LCD is the motion blur and also the cost of a 57 or 65” screen.
My choice would be the Panasonic 58PZ700U or the Sony 52 XBR4.

Should I trade off the 6” difference in screen size for the fear of the refection on the plasma screen?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated – thanks in advance

You already have the Pioneer Elite on the same wall? If the current reflections are really bad for you go for the LCD. If they are acceptable but not great, try the plasma. Anti-glare technology has improved on the latest plasma screens, not up to the level of a LCD Matte screen but should be far better than a 10-year old Pioneer. I had my plasma on wall opposite the window. The window faced north so I was OK.

Also, ask yourself when and what you are watching. If most of your watching is night/movies then plasma is probably the better bet.

I think this issue has too many vairiables to it. First off, one person may say that his LCD looks great in his bright room with windows allowing light in all day and his buddy may say "man that light really screws up the picture on your TV". its all about how each one of us sees. I just think its hard to set the record straight on this topic. You just have to get the TV you want in your room and see how it looks. The time of day, the room lighting, the content being displayed and the person watching it all play different roles in this debate over plasma vs LCD in a bright room. I bet even the type of lighbulbs used in a room will have some effect on glare in the screen.

it sure would be nice to bring home 3 or 4 different tvs to try out and see which one works best but that can be a bit over the top.

on a side note, for those of you that are just getting into this new age TV stuff, DO NOT expect for the TV you see in the store to be as bright and clear once you bring it in your house. These store display units are in an ideal location with no outside light coming in. Most of the time, your forced to look at a 50" TV from 3 feet away and that is just not the best way to get an idea of how the tv will look in your home. Also, the stores will mess with the picuture settings to get the brightest image they can to "enhance" the picture. They will also always play HD content. I found this out when shopping for my last tv. I went back to the store about 3 weeks after buying it and went into the menu to see what settings where being used and sure enough, the brighness was maxxed out as well as sharpness and other various little settings. You gotta be very careful when looking at these TVs in the stores.


its kinda like the stero shop that is demoing a new sub in their store. you dont know it but there is a second sub playing on the floor behind closed doors. SOME stores do this to "enhance" their product and make it better then it really is.