So my parents want a new TV and I've volunteered to do the research for them.

They have a "will not exceed" budget of $2500 and would like something in the 50" range.

Now I bought my TV (Olevia 537) two years ago so I've been out of the HDTV world for a while. Back then it was all 720p or spend to get 1080p and contrast ratios.

Now I see stuff about 120hz and 8ms refresh and all that jazz. They're getting a Blu Ray player as well and after seeing Spiderman and Pirates 3 playing at the store at a Blu Ray display they want something that will give them that "3-D" effect that those two movies gave. My friend has an older 1080p TV and PS3 and Blu Ray movies did not look as amazing as these two did at the store.

So is it the 120hz stuff that's making the image look so full of depth? If so which between LCD and Plasma gives you this type of performance but fits in the $2.5k/50" parameter?

Any help at all would be much appreciated.

Overall, you will get better black levels with plasma. Also, they are a cheaper to buy in a 50 inch size than lcd. Plasma does not seem to have a problem with motion, where lcd does. The 120 htz and the 8ms you see are ways to improve a lcd's motion. The 120 means the image is refreshed twice as much as the previous lcd's, which were at 60hz. The reponse time is the 8 ms number. That means the reponse time is 8 milliseconds. The lower the number, the better. Some lcd's are now at 4ms response times.

Plasma would be a great choice, however, if your room is very bright, and lighting can't be controlled, lcd may work better. Most folks don't have a problem with plasma in all but a very bright room. Typically, Pioneer is the top rated plasma, but can be expensive. Panasonic is also a top plasma company and are more reasonable. The th50-pz700u is a 50 inch 1080p plasma that should keep you in your budget. The new Panasonic plasmas are coming out soon. So the price on this model should come down a little.
Lcds, Sony is the best, but a 52 inch is closer to $3500.

So my parents want a new TV and I've volunteered to do the research for them.

They have a "will not exceed" budget of $2500 and would like something in the 50" range.

Now I bought my TV (Olevia 537) two years ago so I've been out of the HDTV world for a while. Back then it was all 720p or spend to get 1080p and contrast ratios.

Now I see stuff about 120hz and 8ms refresh and all that jazz. They're getting a Blu Ray player as well and after seeing Spiderman and Pirates 3 playing at the store at a Blu Ray display they want something that will give them that "3-D" effect that those two movies gave. My friend has an older 1080p TV and PS3 and Blu Ray movies did not look as amazing as these two did at the store.

So is it the 120hz stuff that's making the image look so full of depth? If so which between LCD and Plasma gives you this type of performance but fits in the $2.5k/50" parameter?

Any help at all would be much appreciated.

The Samsung 71 LCD series is quite awesome. In addition to the 120Hz, they have a motion enhancer technology that gives a live performance look to most sources. You can see it in action at a Circuit City or Best Buy store. The motion enhancer has four levels: off, low, medium and high so it's tunable depending on how much you like it. Even without the motion enhancer, it's still a very quality display, comparable to the recent Sony XBRs.

The 52" model has dipped to the $2.5k-$2.6k level on Amazon recently.

If you look in the threads here and actually go look at some lcd's in BB or CC, you'll see that the XBR4's and the sammy 5271's have smearing and ghosting when using thier motion technology. If you don't like it, turn it off and then you'll have a nice 120hz tv.

Consequently, I've been trolling thru here for 2-3 months now with the same objective of finding a 52 LCD for about $2500. I've looked at the sony/sammys in person 20+ times and can't get over the smaearing using bluray w/ motion on.
With that said, I stumbled on the Toshiba 52lx177. Took forever to find one in Houston and was impressed. No smearing/ghosting and 120hz with motion technology AND looks every bit as good as the other two big names. I noticed that there weren't many posts about "issues" with the lx177. There are some posts about "green push" on Toshibas lower line but not the Cinema Series lx177's.
Since it's the least written about tv on this forum and with major reviews on it, I'm going with the 52lx177 as soon as I get my tax check. Toshiba is about to release thier new line also in a few weeks so you'll be able to get the lx177 even cheaper but also the new line is competitively priced. Check out any Toshiba thread in the LCD area and see for yourself.

Hopes this helps!

Thanks for the responses....yeah i've priced things out and with buying everything at one place (which is what i was planning on doing) i can get a discount at BB that puts the Samsung 5271 in my parents price range.

Kind of makes you depressed at what kind of markups are on these things when the salesman asks you to name a fair discount and you say 15% and they agree with a quick "done deal". Shoulda said 25%


I didn't notice ghosting/smearing but then again maybe I did see it but was just ignorant of it's presence (I likely don't have the keen eye that many here do).

I'll try and track down that Toshiba though next time I'm at the store though and take a look at it. Thanks for the suggestion.

The sammy's are nice but I have to have matte screen which sammy's don't

telemon's right on the good price from amazon...probably save yourself a bunch

For up to $2500 and at 50" it would be tough to beat the Pio 5080. However, supply on the Pio is decreasing quickly.

The resoulution on the Pio is not full HD. But in my experience resolution is down the list of factors to consider. Others may disagree.

The sammy's are nice but I have to have matte screen which sammy's don't

telemon's right on the good price from amazon...probably save yourself a bunch

The Sammy 69 series is the same panel as the 71 series but with a matte screen.

Yeah but it's a 46 not a 52...wish they had made the 69 in a 52

I would strongly recomend the pio kuro 5080.The PQ is a step above on the kuro sets never mind the res on 768.The 5080 accepts a 1080p signal at 24p and it looks incredible just look here for some screen shots http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=920011 see pgs 6/8
Then on top of that get the set Pro calibrated:D

As for Blu-ray player try to get the PAN BD30