Hi everyone, I'm new to AVS Forums and decided to post my thought process on picking a display device for my home theater system AFTER I did my basic research on these forums and visiting electronic stores in person to see them.
Just moved into my new apt and so the old place I was at (roommate owned the condo) had a rear projection HD-ready Mitsubishi TV that is tall (betw. 4-5 ft) and 55" screen, from 2001. So now all I have is my little 13" regular SD Sharp color TV. How quaint!
So now it's time to move up.
The many questions I had, I finally answered them and here they are in order of importance (descending order). I'd like some opinions on them
So with all these questions answered my top three choices are:
1. Pioneer Kuro PRO-1150HD
2. Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080HD
3. Samsung HP-T5084
And I'm going with my 1st choice. So my questions are:
Calibration : professional or DIY
Line conditioner/surge protector or just surge protector
wall-mounted or on stand
extended warranty? Yes/no - if yes how many yrs (how many yrs do you get when you just buy it from the store or online - 1?)
My viewing distance I measured from the wall to the back of the sofa is approximately 12ft. So give or take 1-1.25 feet, viewing distance from screen to eyeballs is 10.75ft. And I use this for my primary viewing (TV shows, DVDs of action movies, and of course HD sports)
Any comments left would be appreciated. Once DIRECTV has caught up to their back log of orders for HD-DVRs to ship out to customers, then and only then can employees request their free upgrade. Gotta let you people (the paying customers) get yours first before I can get mine. For now I have the old DVR R10 with TiVO service with a Weaknees upgrade of (2) 160GB hard drives for a total of up to 282 hours of standard definition recording.
Thanks,
Gio
Just moved into my new apt and so the old place I was at (roommate owned the condo) had a rear projection HD-ready Mitsubishi TV that is tall (betw. 4-5 ft) and 55" screen, from 2001. So now all I have is my little 13" regular SD Sharp color TV. How quaint!

The many questions I had, I finally answered them and here they are in order of importance (descending order). I'd like some opinions on them
- Rear-Projection/DLP or LCD or Plasma?
Plasma. Why? Rear-projection is cheaper but big and bulky. LCD and Plasmas are flat panels so which one? LCD has too much pixelation and from reading reviews Plasma is much preferred. So with that main question answered, next is: - 720p or 1080p?
After reading all the debates, the one answer that simplified it for me is this...who IS broadcasting in 1080p? No one. I work at DIRECTV and I know we won't be sending out that signal until the networks decide it's worth it. Until then 720p is it for me. I'm not going to go crazy if it's not 1080p. Yes Blu-Ray is 1080p as well as video games but 720p will do fine for me. - Size?
50" - based on my apartment living room and wall size and what I feel is just right (55-60 would be too big). - Brand?
My original two (2) choices were Panasonic and Samsung. Based on history of reputation, Samsung has stepped their's up as before they weren't known as anything high quality. Panasonic has a good rep. Then I decided I could afford it or at least felt it worth it to spend more and looked at Pioneer. This brand I know of in the past with an excellent rep. - Model?
I had looked at theSamsung HP-T5084 (Official Supplier of the NFL) and thought, to me the display is the biggest item to worry about so I went with Pioneer. The question was model and I had two choices: Kuro PDP-5080HD or the Kuro PRO-1150HD. Price difference (online) is about $1k and better video signal processing is very important and if anything will definitely calibrate it.
So with all these questions answered my top three choices are:
1. Pioneer Kuro PRO-1150HD
2. Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080HD
3. Samsung HP-T5084
And I'm going with my 1st choice. So my questions are:
Calibration : professional or DIY
Line conditioner/surge protector or just surge protector
wall-mounted or on stand
extended warranty? Yes/no - if yes how many yrs (how many yrs do you get when you just buy it from the store or online - 1?)
My viewing distance I measured from the wall to the back of the sofa is approximately 12ft. So give or take 1-1.25 feet, viewing distance from screen to eyeballs is 10.75ft. And I use this for my primary viewing (TV shows, DVDs of action movies, and of course HD sports)
Any comments left would be appreciated. Once DIRECTV has caught up to their back log of orders for HD-DVRs to ship out to customers, then and only then can employees request their free upgrade. Gotta let you people (the paying customers) get yours first before I can get mine. For now I have the old DVR R10 with TiVO service with a Weaknees upgrade of (2) 160GB hard drives for a total of up to 282 hours of standard definition recording.
Thanks,
Gio