Newbie here, and probably know enough to be dangerous.
I'm in the market for a flat screen TV. It will be the first one I've ever bought. I think I'd like a plasma, but I think I may have too much light.
it will go on a huge wall in my family room. Could be mounted at any height (or on a stand) and have plenty of space all around.
Viewing from 9-10 feet away sitting on the sofa, sofa is about 8 foot wide.
The family room has skylights. During the day, it's not what I'd call "bright", but there is definitely no need to turn on any lights in the room during the day. There are shades on all the windows so they can effectively be completely blocking the light so it's only the skylights letting light in (well, there's some ambient light from the front side of the house, and our floor plan is open).
I am a college professor and I don't work all day 9-5 or anything, and am home with my kids in the afternoons and during the summer. So there is a good chance that I'll want to catch the occasional mid-morning movie, and I do watch TV often around 6:30 PM, and in the summer it's still light outside until 8 or 8:30 at the height of the longest days. Putting it on that wall would also make it possible for me to watch from the kitchen (probably another 7-10 feet away) so I might do that while making dinner, anywhere from 5:30 or so on.
I'm looking to spend not more than $1,000.00 USD. $750.00-850.00 is a happy range for me.
I'm way behind the times and I don't have HD from satellite - just regular signal.
Here's what I have to plug into it:
Sony Blu Ray player (1 year old, has wi-fi)
DirectTV DVR (older but I apparently can get a free upgrade to the latest "basic" model) - non HD!
Wii and/or Xbox
Mac, or Kindle???
I guess I don't need a "smart" TV because the Blu Ray and mobile devices could handle that.
We do use Netflix a LOT. In fact, I'm strongly considering ditching Satellite, and going Netflix, Amazon Prime, DVDs (though don't actually watch many), and maybe I'd be willing to pay for HULU because despite commercials on HULU Plus, it's not like there aren't commercials on subscription satellite stations I'm paying through the nose for!
For those reasons, I would like to have a built in tuner of some sort to at least pick up local stations especially if the internet goes down (we do not have FIOS, and there are no plans to support our city in the foreseeable future, and Cable modem is possible but the only company here is rated so poorly - that's why everyone has DirectTV!)
I don't care for 3D. Would be rarely used, if at all. We will rarely pay to go see the 3D version of anything at the theater.
I would like pretty decent sound, because I'm probably not going to be able to buy any kind of fancy surround sound system any time soon. The TV will be investment enough (this is a HUGE investment for us, and it's going to need to be something that lasts).
I don't think it needs to be huge, but I'd like as big as reasonable for the size of the room and features - but I'd rather have a 50 with better picture than a 60 with not as good a picture - I think.
I've seen other people's TVs and sometimes the images look like "cutouts". It bothers me when I watch something that's supposed to be black but the black has all kinds of varying shades moving around in it. I've heard people say "soap opera" effect and I'm not sure what that is. But if you ever see a Videotaped Twilight Zone versus a Filmed one, I don't like the Videotaped image - I think that's what happened with Soap Operas back in the old days which is why they looked different than things shot on Film (or like old British shows that used 16mm for outdoor scenes and 35mm for indoor scenes, or something like that).
I do NOT watch any sports whatsoever. I watch a lot of old B/W TCM movies, as well as modern TV shows and all kinds of movies. I would expect Enter the Dragon, Star Wars, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly to look and sound as close to a theater experience as I can afford in a "basic" TV at my price point
Any and all help much appreciated!
TIA
Newbie here, and probably know enough to be dangerous.
I'm in the market for a flat screen TV. It will be the first one I've ever bought. I think I'd like a plasma, but I think I may have too much light.
it will go on a huge wall in my family room. Could be mounted at any height (or on a stand) and have plenty of space all around.
Viewing from 9-10 feet away sitting on the sofa, sofa is about 8 foot wide.
The family room has skylights. During the day, it's not what I'd call "bright", but there is definitely no need to turn on any lights in the room during the day. There are shades on all the windows so they can effectively be completely blocking the light so it's only the skylights letting light in (well, there's some ambient light from the front side of the house, and our floor plan is open).
I am a college professor and I don't work all day 9-5 or anything, and am home with my kids in the afternoons and during the summer. So there is a good chance that I'll want to catch the occasional mid-morning movie, and I do watch TV often around 6:30 PM, and in the summer it's still light outside until 8 or 8:30 at the height of the longest days. Putting it on that wall would also make it possible for me to watch from the kitchen (probably another 7-10 feet away) so I might do that while making dinner, anywhere from 5:30 or so on.
I'm looking to spend not more than $1,000.00 USD. $750.00-850.00 is a happy range for me.
I'm way behind the times and I don't have HD from satellite - just regular signal.
Here's what I have to plug into it:
Sony Blu Ray player (1 year old, has wi-fi)
DirectTV DVR (older but I apparently can get a free upgrade to the latest "basic" model) - non HD!
Wii and/or Xbox
Mac, or Kindle???
I guess I don't need a "smart" TV because the Blu Ray and mobile devices could handle that.
We do use Netflix a LOT. In fact, I'm strongly considering ditching Satellite, and going Netflix, Amazon Prime, DVDs (though don't actually watch many), and maybe I'd be willing to pay for HULU because despite commercials on HULU Plus, it's not like there aren't commercials on subscription satellite stations I'm paying through the nose for!
For those reasons, I would like to have a built in tuner of some sort to at least pick up local stations especially if the internet goes down (we do not have FIOS, and there are no plans to support our city in the foreseeable future, and Cable modem is possible but the only company here is rated so poorly - that's why everyone has DirectTV!)
I don't care for 3D. Would be rarely used, if at all. We will rarely pay to go see the 3D version of anything at the theater.
I would like pretty decent sound, because I'm probably not going to be able to buy any kind of fancy surround sound system any time soon. The TV will be investment enough (this is a HUGE investment for us, and it's going to need to be something that lasts).
I don't think it needs to be huge, but I'd like as big as reasonable for the size of the room and features - but I'd rather have a 50 with better picture than a 60 with not as good a picture - I think.
I've seen other people's TVs and sometimes the images look like "cutouts". It bothers me when I watch something that's supposed to be black but the black has all kinds of varying shades moving around in it. I've heard people say "soap opera" effect and I'm not sure what that is. But if you ever see a Videotaped Twilight Zone versus a Filmed one, I don't like the Videotaped image - I think that's what happened with Soap Operas back in the old days which is why they looked different than things shot on Film (or like old British shows that used 16mm for outdoor scenes and 35mm for indoor scenes, or something like that).
I do NOT watch any sports whatsoever. I watch a lot of old B/W TCM movies, as well as modern TV shows and all kinds of movies. I would expect Enter the Dragon, Star Wars, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly to look and sound as close to a theater experience as I can afford in a "basic" TV at my price point
Any and all help much appreciated!
TIA