Need a suggestion on a new LCD 1080p TV plus comments on room design

Hello. I am new to these forums and was recommended here by some people over at Hardforums and Anandtech.

My wife and I just purchased a condo this past August and we have decided that with our tax return money we would purchase a new TV. I had been to many of my local electronics stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) and narrowed my search down to these TVs.

Westinghouse 47" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HD Monitor - Silver/Black
Model: LVM-47W1

Sony BRAVIA 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL46XBR2

Sony BRAVIA XBR 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL40XBR2

Samsung 40" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LN-S4095D

Sharp AQUOS 46" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LC46D62U


We came to the conclusion that the Sony Bravia KDL40XBR2 40" LCD TV had the best picture and the glass bezel really put it over the top compared to the other TVs. Not that it matters or anything but we already had a Sony Home Theater system (DAV-FR1) so atleast the TV will match the surround system.

From there we designed our living room with the TV in mind and picked out furniture that would best suited. We hired a home decorator to help us out as well.

This is the floor plan design

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...LivingRoom.jpg

This is how it currently looks. Our furniture has arrived but our custom made area carpet is not. So we are just waiting on that before we have the furniture delivered. As you can see we have a 30" Sony CRT HDTV that does 720p/1080i, etc but it really takes up a lot of space. With the addition of the LCD we can wall mount it and free up some more space.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_1922.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_1926.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_1925.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_1923.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_1924.jpg

Excuse the mess but we just moved the old stuff out and our electrician is coming on Wednesday. We need to move the cable outlet from the one wall to the larger wall. The people we had bought the condo from had a Samsung LCD (not sure on the size) wall mounted on the opposite wall. We decided to put it against the longer wall.

Here was their setup:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_0937.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_0410.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_0409.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_0411.jpg

One of my concerns was the size of the wall and location of the love seat and sofa. I thought that maybe the 40" would look very tiny on such a large wall but did some research and people said with the glass bezel it actually made the TV look like it was 46" so that seems to be about the perfect size.

Now that you heard my background I stumpled upon the issues with the XBR2/XBR3 TVs - uneven backlighting and the cloudiness on the dark screens. Is there anything out there that is better then the Sony XBR series TVs? I listed a few earlier that I was interested in but I decided on the Sony instead. Is there anything coming out in the near future (next 2 months) that is wowing people?

When we purchase the TV we are also going to have it professionally installed as well. I had stopped by Magnolia and Circuit City's Firedog and got their quotes as well as doing it online with Crutchfield. It seems that it is going to cost about $800 to have the TV wall mounted, the 5.1 speaker system hooked up and all the wires hidden. Once the TV is wall mounted we wanted to have a little piece of furniture below the TV so that the Wii, cablebox and home theater system could be stored. Similar to what the previous owners had here:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t/IMG_0409.jpg

and similar to this (from Magnolia's website...sorry it is so small but it was all I could find)
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l3...nstallroom.jpg

Can anybody recommend a piece of furniture as well as a place to purchase it.

Sorry for all the questions but this is going to be a pretty big purchase and is the centerpiece to our living room. It is basically the first thing you will see when you come up the stairs and we would like for it to wow people. I am a n00b so please be gentle.

Thanks!!

bump

wow....and somebody recommended me check this place out because it was informative.....not one response yet

How would you compare the LT-46FN97 to any of the TVs that I listed more importantly to the lesser priced Westinghouse?

Thanks Chris

1. This screen name is the very same name I keep on ATOT and Hardforums and is also my XBL name. I'd rather keep them all centralized - its easier to remember that way.

2. I am from Middle Island, New York

3. I tried to mount the pictures and got an error message. Do you know the code to input to have the pictures mounted? The pictures are being hosted on photobucket and that is how I mount them on the other forums. Don't know why it doesnt work here.

4. I plan to watch TV on the TV. I have Cablevision and they provide a bunch of HD channels. I also plan to watch the occasional movie on the dvd player I listed in the thread. I will upgrade to a Bluray/HD-DVD player once the prices come down a little. The wii will be highlighted when we have large parties so that everyone can play. I also plan on getting a Logitech Harmony remote in the future but will stick with the Sony remote that came with the home theater as it will control the tv and will also use the remote that is provided by Cablevision.

You recommended a 46" TV....which brand and model would you suggest?

edit...found out the reason why i couldnt post with the pictures
You have included too many images in your signature or in your previous post. Please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.

Here is the first thread again broken into parts so that the pictures can be included.

Hello. I am new to these forums and was recommended here by some people over at Hardforums and Anandtech.

My wife and I just purchased a condo this past August and we have decided that with our tax return money we would purchase a new TV. I had been to many of my local electronics stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) and narrowed my search down to these TVs.

Westinghouse 47" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HD Monitor - Silver/Black
Model: LVM-47W1

Sony BRAVIA 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL46XBR2

Sony BRAVIA XBR 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL40XBR2

Samsung 40" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LN-S4095D

Sharp AQUOS 46" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LC46D62U


We came to the conclusion that the Sony Bravia KDL40XBR2 40" LCD TV had the best picture and the glass bezel really put it over the top compared to the other TVs. Not that it matters or anything but we already had a Sony Home Theater system (DAV-FR1) so atleast the TV will match the surround system.

From there we designed our living room with the TV in mind and picked out furniture that would best suited. We hired a home decorator to help us out as well.

This is the floor plan design



This is how it currently looks. Our furniture has arrived but our custom made area carpet is not. So we are just waiting on that before we have the furniture delivered. As you can see we have a 30" Sony CRT HDTV that does 720p/1080i, etc but it really takes up a lot of space. With the addition of the LCD we can wall mount it and free up some more space.












Excuse the mess but we just moved the old stuff out and our electrician is coming on Wednesday. We need to move the cable outlet from the one wall to the larger wall. The people we had bought the condo from had a Samsung LCD (not sure on the size) wall mounted on the opposite wall. We decided to put it against the longer wall.

Here was their setup:










One of my concerns was the size of the wall and location of the love seat and sofa. I thought that maybe the 40" would look very tiny on such a large wall but did some research and people said with the glass bezel it actually made the TV look like it was 46" so that seems to be about the perfect size.

Now that you heard my background I stumpled upon the issues with the XBR2/XBR3 TVs - uneven backlighting and the cloudiness on the dark screens. Is there anything out there that is better then the Sony XBR series TVs? I listed a few earlier that I was interested in but I decided on the Sony instead. Is there anything coming out in the near future (next 2 months) that is wowing people?

When we purchase the TV we are also going to have it professionally installed as well. I had stopped by Magnolia and Circuit City's Firedog and got their quotes as well as doing it online with Crutchfield. It seems that it is going to cost about $800 to have the TV wall mounted, the 5.1 speaker system hooked up and all the wires hidden. Once the TV is wall mounted we wanted to have a little piece of furniture below the TV so that the Wii, cablebox and home theater system could be stored. Similar to what the previous owners had here:


and similar to this (from Magnolia's website...sorry it is so small but it was all I could find)


Can anybody recommend a piece of furniture as well as a place to purchase it.

Sorry for all the questions but this is going to be a pretty big purchase and is the centerpiece to our living room. It is basically the first thing you will see when you come up the stairs and we would like for it to wow people. I am a n00b so please be gentle.

Thanks!!

not sure if you saw my other response to you as I re-posted the original with the pictures inside the thread. i had too many pics in it the 1st time - thats why i couldnt do it.

I watch cable through the cable box. I believe it is a Scientific Atlanta DVR. It is connected to the TV right now via a Monster 400 HDMI cable.

edit: wow that sharp from costco is really nice. that is about my budget tho...including the tv, installation and furniture.

hey buddy thanks for the reply. the tv that is mounted in the pic is from the previous owners. i currently have that big ol 30" sony tv with no furniture

i am going to be using my tax money so that probably wont come in till march-april or so....so ill just wait until then and hopefully something better comes along or those 1080p plasmas come down in price.

Quick update

Here is the floorplan again



The room measures 13.5' feet (162"). That would be measuring from where the TV is to the longer couch.

The coffee table in the middle measures 50"w x 34"d x 17.75"h

The longer couch measures 82" x 36" x 36"h

The shorter couch measures 60" x 36" x 36"h

So from the wall to the front of the shorter couch would be approx 66" (5.5') and aprox 10.5' from the longer couch.

So taking that into consideration about 5.5' and 10.5' from the wall where the TV would be hung how large of a TV would you recommend?

Hey guys thanks for the replies!

First Westa do you know how much the Sharps are going to cost around? What is the price difference between the 52" and 65"? Also are the Sharps going to have the same banding issues as the current lineup? Also the D92 lineup will be in silver only? From the Brochure it looked that way...I would prefer black.

Honestly I love the build of the Bravia's with the glass bezel. I think it looks gorgeous....BUT those TVs are suffering from major "clouding" issues and I am going to stay FAR FAR away from them. Unless the firmware update does something dramatic or they have some type of lineup refresh in the coming months I wont buy one. I also heard the Samsung's are suffering from the same problem.

Every time I go into the store and check out the DLPs I have to twist and turn every way to get a good viewing angle. It always seems that there is a glare. I been debating now on getting one because of the price and size. But I really have to be happy with it and I know I wont....plus they are kinda heavy at 100+ lbs when compared to the LCD/Plasmas...also I dont think they are able to be hung on the wall.

I was also thinking about just getting a 720p plasma for the short term and then go BIG when the 1080p panels fix their problems. If I was to do that...how well do they upscale 1080i? Also which of the 720p plasmas are good?

Thanks again!

Edit: just did a search and found the Sharp LC-52D92U 52" LCD TV and its got a price tag of $5000. Thats a little bit out of my range of $2000-3000. Is that the suggested retail price of the TV - $5000?

ftaok...thanks so much for your posts. It was exactly what I was looking for. As for the all in one unit...I had seen them in Ethan Allen and wasnt really fond of the look.

Do you think u can post some pictures of your setup? I'd be interested in seeing what it looks like.

Thanks!

Edit: alhow big of a TV should I get if I went with the Kingston Media Center? It measures 52" x 20" x 24" and I really like the look of it sitting on the stand rather then wall mounting it with the stand. Would a 46/47" TV look stupid on there? I'm leaning at getting a 52" as was suggested but I'm not sure if my budget will fit it in with the furniture (~$1000) and the total I'm wanting to spend with installation, tv and furniture = $3500

bump

Hey Nuance

That was exactly at what I was getting at. The 1080p LCD displays have been pretty disappointing. I was also under the misconception that people were advising me against 1080p because only HD-DVD and Blu-Ray were the only 2 formats outputting in 1080p....yet it also had to do with the size/distance of the TV as you had mentioned.

From the charts that people had linked the optimal size TV for my larger couch was something like 77-85". I'm sorry but I cannot afford a TV that size which was another reason I was considering a 720p set.

Westa had recommended a 52" sharp TV but I was worried if it was going to suffer from the banding issues that the current Sharps face. I also did a search and found the TV had a price tag of $5000....wasnt sure if that was going to be MSRP. I am going to wait and see how much these Sharps retail for and what kind of reviews they get as they look pretty nice.

If nothing comes up then I may go with the Pioneer plasma that you recommended. It is in my price range $2500 and I've seen the pioneers in action at Magnolia and they are lovely. I can live with it for a couple years until 1080p becomes standard and they have perfected the LCD/Plasma/LED/SED technology.

On a side note....how does that Pioneer do with 1080i content? I also read that it can take a 1080p signal and downconvert it to 1080i...is that right?

Thanks again everyone for all your help.

I just went to Best Buy to see the Pioneer PDP-5071HD 50" Plasma in action and saw something a little interesting. Apparantly they are having a promotion where if you purchased the Pioneer ProVision Elite 50" PRO-FHD1 TV you get the 5071HD for FREE.

The 1080p Elite blew me away. It was simply amazing yet the price tag was a little steep at $7500. However if anyone was interested in buying the 5071HD I could buy the Elite and then sell it to them. The 5071HD is selling for $3500 at Best Buy while the Elite was $7500. If I can sell the 5071 for $3500 that would mean the Elite would cost me around $4000 which is still pricey but I think I can swing it. Now the question would be.....anybody interested in buying the 5071 off of me?