Low End Suggestions (32" or so)

I regret your second para goes contrary to your first and what defines a "Home Theater" and the statement that this is where you do all your "IMPORTANT" viewing for sports and movies.

Here's what's wrong with that and then asking to suggest a weenie 32" Panel which is not a Home Theater size and becomes a 26" when displaying SD. Simply walking in and looking for a "Budget" panel or low ender is bad IMO. Seek a HT Size minimally and then seek certain feature sets that match your Important Viewing from a company that can support it's product line if ever needed.

Low end panels are considered disposable panels (per HDGURU) in the long term and they also are 8 bit units which lack shadow details, color spectrum and blacks that will be gray and have a haze look comparatively. If you plan on having and enjoying this thing for years to come go for the best budget level that is not a low ender and go for a minimum 40" panel that is a ten bit panel with ten bit processing. I cannot emphasize enough how important that is and I suggest the 40S3000 Sony that can beat budget 1080P panels as a result.

40" isn't very big at all and when you view a 16:9 panel with SD content the screen becomes smaller. I do not recommend the 32" S3000 as it is not a ten bit panel/processing panel and I haven't seen them match the 40" at all. Darn, try and go a minimum 37" but 40"+ is HT. I view a 57" at 8.5' and will go to a 65" in the future and viewing becomes dramatically different when I went from a 32" to a 45" and then to a 57" everything became new again - HD Sports viewing will knock your socks off compared to just watching TV on that 27" - you'll experience the event with a wide screen larger panel so go bigger if you plan on enjoying it for years to come.

I highly recommend the Sony budget panel 40S3000.

Take a look at the difference Ten Bit makes (It quadruples steps of gray = greater details)

Ten Bit


Eight Bit


Though this demo is Mitsubishi the same principles apply:

Look at the Panasonic TC-32LX700 32" LCD HDTV. It has a good price and very good picture quality (one of the few at that size with 120Hz refresh rate).

Innova said the "Home Theatre" is in the basement. Usually, the living room is on the first floor, so I think you misjudged the OP

Now if Innova is replacing a 27" CRT with a 32" HDTV, they'll only be 1" short on the SD size from their old TV.

I too think the S3000 series from Sony would be a good choice. My boss just purchased the KDL-32S3000 last week (and Dish) replacing an old 27" CRT. He needed it to fit in an existing wall unit, so 37" would have been 1" to large for it.

As westa6969 has stated though, it is an 8-bit panel but is 10-bit processing, so you should go to the store to view it in person.


I would check out either a Samsung or Toshiba Regza TV as well. I would do more research on either, but think start there.

As far as lowend, there is Visio and Westinghouse...with either, might be sure to invest in a PRP (product replacement plan)

I can make a solid recommendation for Olevia. I have a 37" 537h and I love it. Does a nice job with SD- better than vizio IMO- and is all around a LOT nicer set than its' price would suggest. Not particularly thin, however.
I may be asking for it on these forums but... Both PC world mag and consumer reports have awarded the olevia displays editors' choice.

Typed from my iPhone