Whats REALLY the difference?

I wouldn't even bother with 1080p for a 32" set. Get them a bigger 720p set for the same price, older eyes see bigger screens more clearly. Unless they are videophiles they won't know the difference between 1080/720, unless they are sitting really close to the screen and watch a lot of HD material. If they are like my parents they most watch stuff made 20yrs ago anyways.

What are they watching, the local news and The Office? HGTV?

I would get a 42" 720p Panasonic plasma if they have room, and use bias lighting around/behind it. Then you get 600 Hz. They offer 1080p for more dough.

For an LCD, the 32" Sony Bravia L series (720p) seems to be on sale, not my cup of tea but Sony can be a placebo. Costco has a $499 40" 1080p, Proscan, looked nice.

120 Hz is not critical.

Do they have a short viewing distance? Unless they are closer than 8' I wouldn't bother with anything over 720p on a 32' set.

"TV content with little motion, such as news or talk shows, wouldn't reveal that problem as dramatically as our moving test patterns. But you might see some blur in sports, action movies, and video games."

I agree with all these statements

I actually bought a sony 32 xbr6 back in march of this year when it was on close out and its a 60hz set, the replacement of it is the xbr9 and is 120hz, I still love my TV even though it ticks me off that i can now buy the XBR9 for less than i paid for my XBR6 back in march!


honestly though 120hz is not going to matter to your parents, they most likely wouldn't even dig into the menus on the TV to even turn on the motion enhancer when watching something that could use it (mostly movies)

also reguardless of what people say about motion blur, 60hz TV's of good manufacture do not blur, if you see motion blur on them its because its film content that was made at 24 fps and it wont blur anymore than watching that same movie on your PC with its 60hz LCD monitor

Save some money, go 720p plasma.

I agree, I can see some blur on my Toshiba which is a entry level set at 60HZ, but none on my older Sharps that have a faster panel and are still 60HZ.

Chances are at 8' on a 32" screen it will be hard to discern any motion blur or the difference between a 720 vs 1080. You don't have to be over 50 to have eysite that will have issues with something this small at that distance.

If at all possible go with a 42 inch panny x1. I know you said you could only fit a 32 inch but usally adjustments can be made. If your parents are 8 feet away from the tv that would be fine for a 42 tv. If you do the d-nice offsets as stated in the plasma thread under 12g settings they are perfect for a cinema like feel for watching movies and I bet your parents would love the difference between 42inch and 32inch once they started watching it. And you can get this tv from dell for around $500 if you wait a little. You wont regret it.

I guess I don't understand all the big bucks being spent on such a small set. If you can afford a high end 32", you could get a larger set instead. At a viewing distance of 8' a 42" 720p is going to look better than a 32" 240hz. See if you can talk your parents into getting rid of the entertainment cabinet or moving the TV to a different location. A 42" flat screen set isn't hard to fit into a standard size room.

What the heck does their age have to do with it? I resent the continuing theme on this Forum that "parents" won't appreciate high quality or expensive electronic equipment. I would be offended if my "adult" children were thinking about buying me a TV that was of lesser quality than what they would buy for themselves. In fact, my two adult sons have inherited their love for fine electronics from my penchant for wanting the best not only for myself, but for my family.

Only you know your parents and what they may want, but for God's sake don't think that just because they're in their fifties (the horror of it all), that they can't appreciate the same things you do.

1080p on a 32-inch set is a total waste of $$$. 720p is just fine.

Jake - I don't know why everyone is avoiding answering your actual questions but I just bought THIS TV for my brother, seems to be just fine for "average" person viewing. There are quite a few threads on 32" LCD recommendations, do a search and I am sure you'll find at least a dozen

Well, I'm in your parents' age range, and I would love to have any of the above TVs you've mentioned. I recently bought a Samsung LN37B650 and love it. I was actually all set to buy the LN32B650, but bought the larger size instead when it went on sale at the world's largest on-line retailer.

I am a firm believer that 1080p and 120hz is very desirable in a TV as small as 32", but that's my opinion and I know it's not shared by others on this forum. Only you know your parents' likes & dislikes, so only you would know if they would appreciate the higher quality of the TV with better specs.

If you think they wouldn't care one way or the other, then go ahead and get a Samsung LN32B530 or one of my personal favorites, the Sony KDL-32M5000.

However, this "fifty-something" would opt for the Samsung LN32B650. And please, don't think your parents wouldn't appreciate quality "just" because of their age.

Big word of warning, i bought two tv's to fit existing entertainment centers and both the 26" and 37" ended up being too small for the rooms.

Gave the 26" away, moved the 37" to the bedroom and bough a 52" for the downstairs living room and all is right.

I dont care how good the tv is or isn't, it has to be the right size for the room or your going to be very displeased.

I modified both of my entertainment centers to fit the bigger tv's.

A weird thing happens when one goes to a hdtv, they are so accurate and show so much detail, one wants to see all of it, sitting to far away or having a tv that's too small, completely ruins the experience.

TC

Based on some of the responses in this thread you'd think your parents were in their mid 90s.

I would suggest one of the Japanese brands, Toshiba, Sharp, Sony. They all have good sets at this size and moderately priced. I would recomend Pansonic as well but when I was shopping for a set of this size earlier this year, I did not like the blockyness of the processing.

I didn't see the TV screen size or type that they are replacing mentioned.

A 4x3 image on a 32" 16x9 set will have the approximate image size of a 26" diagonal 4x3 CRT.
If it is 720p, optimal viewing distance is about 6 feet.
If it is 1080p, optimal viewing distance is about 4 feet.

If I were buying a 32" tv for my parents, I'd buy them a Samsung B360 model and be done with it. They'll never notice any of that extra junk on the higher priced models.

They will be disappointed with the small screen size of 32 when watching non HD programming (bars on side).

You can get a decent 40/42 inch for the same money you would spend on a feature rich 32.

Unless they were satisfied watching a 26" or smaller 4x3 TV that they could be replacing.

It was already made clear several times that 32" is the max. size being considered.
Anything bigger would have to be stood on end, resulting in a 9x16 screen.

Here we go again... Guess I missed the notice that it's "National Disparage Your Parents Day."

My mom admittedly only watches three things. The weather channel, Lawrence Welk reruns and the GB Packers (in that order).

She states that she could care less about big screens and fancy do dads. Doesn't even have a stereo TV.

No disrespect is implied.

None taken.

Obviously you know your mother's likes & dislikes. My only gripe is the members who make the blanket assumption just because someone has passed the age of fifty (or whatever age they have in mind) and is a "parent" then they won't appreciate the same things younger people do. That may be true in many cases, but certainly not in mine. I have a friend who still owns an old "boat anchor" CRT and is very happy with it. I have another friend my age who owns electronic equipment that would put mine to shame.

None of my friends have a 2009 'Vette, though.

+1. Unless you are using it as a computer monitor nobody will know the difference.