*(Warning, Long non-graphics card post)*
Well at work we have a 50inch Sony Plasma in the Lobby for quick glance info (like time, company stock price, scrolling news, video interviews with company officers, etc.) from the company webpage. It looks great and has well defined edges for text, but it's like 1400x768 so you have a good pixel size for characters in that case. You still won't think of it as being VERY crisp thanks in part to the size of the display, although plasma is one of the best IMO, but considering your uses it should be fine. If you are thinking of a new TV for this, then LCD and Plasma would be my choice for HTPC based applicantios, but they are the most expensive too. I don't like DLP (we use the portable projection ones for presentations at work) the whites looks a little yellowy-grey and under motion I don't like the colouring. I find even LCD projection to be better than DLP, and they are about the same price. My personal favourite (I'm always interested in upgrding my TV to a bigger one [my 27" and 32" are getting small]) is LCOS. I like the picture fidelity on LCOS screens, but honestly I haven't focused on text quality with them. The biggest barrier, Phillips dropped their LCOS line and INTEL dropped their development of the next GEN LCOS chip (Cayley), so it's likely gonna disappear it seems. I don't know why they dropped it (maybe something as sad as not being 'protifable'
, I know INTEL dropped development because R&D costs were high, and with all the format competition out there it likely was a gamble, and INTEL of course has so little money!
). Thid sux if it's your choice which is the case for moi. Personally I'm still waiting for Xx<b>1080</b> to be 'reasonable'. But LCOS was 1400x800 almost universally (smaller Phillips 1280x768), and some 1400-1600x1050. Among the highest of 'entry level' to 'mid level' options IMO.
For the uses you have listed, I think any of the above will be fine, depending on which you like as a motion video viewer, the only one I would stay away from is the regular projection models because the cheap ones are just that, damn cheap. The Runco's are GREAT, but they are F'in expensive!
One of the problems will still be the refresh of the screen, TVs are almost all lower than monitors, and you may still notice the occasional flicker. Plasma does get rid of that though with it's scanning frequencies.
Now the things to look for would be DVI (a must IMO) forget HDMI for this application (although if you can get both, even better) and component inputs is too much of a pain and not as good a choice with this price range. Check the resolution, many lower priced Plasmas, LCD, DLPs have TERRIBLE resolution and are almost no better than a standard TV. I once went to see a Norcent Plasma TV on what appeared to be a super sale ($1200 CDN) only to find out it wasn't only NOT fully HDTV, but it was freakin' 7??x480 for a ~42-43" TV! So try and look for at least XGA Xx<b>768/720</b>. So if your current budget is around $2000 and you're in the US, I would say you're probably restricted to LCD projection (either as a console unit, or separate portable projector) and DLP (once again console and projector). IF you can find an LCOS TV, be it from Phillips or from someone else (like OleVia) I would say go for that. And you may find some deals on prices. But really you have to see them all in action before spending that kind of coin.
Nothing beats seeing them all side by side, make sure they are all properly set; alot of people I get asked to help, are initially impressed by TV A over B until I ask the sales guy if I can change the settings. Too many TVs are not properly adjusted in the showroom or people have messed with the settings when they con't know what they are doing (more colour is a good thing right, set that to max, same with sharpness!). I'm not saying all stores do this, but I tend to find that the lower priced TVs are the ones with the contrast off, colour off, and the sharpness off. Could this be to make people think that only the top TVs have good pictures, well I don't know but I do find it strange that they are the only TVs that don't seem to be even set at the mid-point for the controls.
Also, bring your own laptop if you can, or force them to use an in store laptop to show you what these screens look like with a basic picture. Take a screen caputre of THG or something plus a word document or two, so you don't have to connect to the internet (but I've found BestBuy and FutureShop in Canada and the US have unprotected wireless access in most of their stores. You may think that's asking alot, but most sales reps are very interested in making a sale, and if they aren't willing to do that for your 2 grand then re-think dealing with that store, there's lots of competition out there. Also know what you are looking for before you go in so they can't just pawn of the exclusive inverse-motion-AI-shadowing-enchancer feature, which is just their name for comb filtering or something.
EDIT: Also don't let them confuse you, be sure to find out the NATIVE resolution. ALOT of TVs/Salespeople will refer to 1920x1200/1080 with DVI connector or 1280x1024 using VGA, but really you want to know native resolution because text looks kinda bad when they are trying to mimic other resolutions, it's worst on LCDs but still not good in any situation compared to the true resolution.
- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 11/14/04 02:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
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