Topic: Help me decide on a new TV!

As I'm sure most of you are, I'm getting myself prepared for the PS4.  One thing I need to do though is upgrade my TV.  It's long over due.  I've been reading and hearing mixed reviews of which type I should go with: LED or plasma? I want it to be 3D and of course have all of the great specs for gaming like refresh rate and lag time.  I'm a fan of sports and FPS games. Which TV would best suit my needs?

There's a lot too consider:
How much do you to plan spend on it?
Do your  friends come over alot to play?
Distance from your couch/chair?
If you are not annoyed by using 3D and gaming at the same time?
Last TV size and if you are comfortable with it?
Do you want a Smart TV or just standard?

The only thing I'm sure you really want is a 120-240hz for refresh rate and the lag time can be reduced by just setting your TV in Game Mode.
If you add more details I might be able to find recommend something good for you

The tv I have now is 37" and it now seems small compared to what I've played on somewhere else.. I almost had my mind made up on the 60" LG smart 3D LED TV 240 Hz , but when I went into Best Buy the other day the guy said I should wait for the new Panasonic Plasma that's coming out because its 600 Hz and the 3D is awesome.. I don't have many friends over at the same time so number of glasses isn't a problem..

The new LG's 3D TV are amazing just for the fact they have Dual Play(Eliminate Splitscreen using 3D) and the glasses are really cheap you can even use glasses that you get from Theaters.
The new Panasonic that's coming soon its a OLED plasma tv in other words TRUE HD that's enough for any gaming console but its going to cost 3000$ dollars.

So if money isn't the problem and you are fan of HD games get the OLED Panasonic.
If you want to save some money to get those PS4 games and you are tired of splitscreen in games get the LG 3D TV.

@epic OLED plasma? I hadn't heard about that yet. Aren't those 2 different things?

I am very happy with my panasonic plasma tv and it has served me very well with gaming. My next TV will probably be an upgrade to 60 inches, 3D, and perhaps LED or OLED. I'm not sure about brand. All I know is that my Panasonic has been great.

Well the 60" Panasonic plasma that's coming out is actually only 1500 so that's what caught my eye..

Heck if it's a 3D Panasonic Plasma at 60" for 1,500 that seems like a good deal to me. Several years ago our 46 inch Plasma w/o 3D was $1000. Like I said it worked great for gaming for me.

Well the guy at best buy was adamant that plasma was better. And there is a Panasonic coming out that's 3000 but the one he showed me is 1500. If you go on cnet.com they show their highest rated tv's and Panasonic has 2 of the top 3.

LED! I'm getting one: the Sony Bravia HX855. Best TV in terms of specs. I'm getting the 40".
I searched for lots of TV, and this one has the best revew in the net. Read about it.

I have a Sony Bravia HX950 55". It's suppppppper awesome but a bit out of the price range. I believe for your budget, you should look into the Bravia HX850/750 or the Panasonic ET60 possibly.

I might be a bit off as I've not looked at the TV market since about October of last year when I got my Bravia.

For now, I'm holding off until I can get a 4k OLED TV so my current one better last me a few years

i thought I'd chime in here.

I've always found that there are great deals to be had a TVs between 12-24 months old to market. Even your big name 'supermarket' TVs (as in lower range Sony, Panasonic etc) are worth considering. In fact if you have a decent sound set up, even better.

Remember, that on the whole, the range of TVs by any given manufacturer will use the same display panel and driver, possibly minus a few superfluous bells & whistles, but the difference between the most expensive and the cheapest of a range can be thousands.

My advice is to choose your size, bigger's better for me, but it needs to fit the room. Ignore the bells & whistles- if you're buying this for your PS4- it can do a lot more than a smart TV and better at all of it, all the TV needs to do is show a great image, out of the box settings need a week's worth of running before you tinker, and you really don't need anything beyond something like the Bravia engine, and even then, with most advanced features turned off, if you're not using a surround set up, consider looking for a bundle, don't get sold on virtual from the TV or sound bars, surround all the way.

Between LCD, plasma and LED, it really is a personal preference. I'd stick with LCD unless a decent OLED was a t a good price. I've never liked plasma myself, but they're better than they used to be and use less power than they used to too.

A word on refresh rates. Be careful and try out a few things in store.

I've never had my own HD TV above 120hz (had Samsungs and Bravias). A mate of mine a great deal on a very recent 60" Panasonic that runs at 600hz. Playing PS3 it looks fantastic, we tried WipEout HD on it, and it was stunning, out of the box pixture on any new TV isn't perfect, but this was very good.

Watching movies and TV however is a different story. The refresh rate creates a bizzare sense of motion, speed and timing while watching live action scenes, so much so, I just couldn't continue watching it. He says he's used to it now, but it was horrible looking.

So, find a good electronics store, take your favourite Blu Ray and ask them to play it if possible so you can check it out.

One quick and important tip. DO NOT TRUST STORE DISPLAYS!!!!!!!!! Often times, they have a single signal that is run through a repeater. This means that the signal isn't clean and will often make some displays look better than others. I suggest watching CNET reviews as they are usually honest about picture quality.

If you want to test quality yourself, bring a USB drive with a series of pictures in order to compare as MOST modern TV accept USB.

Can always bring your Vita and use the HDMI outpu... oh wait

AV Forum for that sort of review. It's also a great resource for finding ideal settings for best possible picture for most series of TVs.
Also, store displays will be at stock 'out of the box' settings or using whatever 'dynamic' dross modes the Tv comes with.

SUPER VIVID DYNAMIC PLUS MODE!

hahaha, yeah, that!

Given the amount of crap my 4 year old 'low end' Bravia comes with, I was actually a bit shocked to find the absolutely enormous amount of crap that comes with my old man's new Samsung Smart TV!

The first thing you do when you buy a super fancy TV is turn off just about everything it comes with. The more features you are turning off, the more you paid for the tv!

Too right!

Best advice I found on AV forums was to let it settle for a week's worth of use- then adjust picture settings to your liking/or as defined by some of the users there. I did this for my Bravia, my Samsung 3, my brother's Bravia and my old man's Smart Sammy. Much better than out of the box settings and using any of the predefined set ups.

As an owner of a couple 3D tvs and all sucked due to one reason. 'Active Shutter' they just plan suck and are a hassle and over charge for the glasses, had to return both due to not liking half my 3D movies.

That's the main problem I'm having deciding on a tv. I've never really tried active shutter 3D and I've heard mixed reviews. The guy at best buy said its better than passive because you get more depth and the glasses aren't as bulky as they use to be

Active = 1080p 3D
Passive = 720p 3D

PERSONALLY, I greatly prefer active. My Bravia (with Bravia and PlayStation branded 3D glasses) is very good about ghosting compared to many others I've used. Compared to my friends Panasanic passive tv, mine has a much clearer picture and more depth in the 3D. It's going to come down to the display. I'm sure a cheapo passive tv would look better than a cheapo active. High end passive vs high end active, I'd put my money on active.

Also, as a reference, I charge my glasses about once a month. I only play my PS3 in 3D these days and I charge my dualshock more often than my glasses.