I finally became an HDTVer. 1.5 gees plus to play games.

[squirrel]

Anyone have an opinion on this HDTV?  I have a hard time keeping up on stuff like the pros and cons of Plasma/LCD/DLP, contrast ratios, and all that.  I'm looking into buying an HDTV sometime soon and $800 is around the price range I'm looking for.  Amazon has this one with free shipping (and of course no sales tax), and it's got a good sized screen (I play a lot of split-screen multiplayer games) and good customer reviews (not that I entirely trust the reviews of people I don't know, who may or may not know the difference between a good HDTV and a bad one).  Doesn't have 1080p, but beyond that it seems to be a decent TV for the price, but maybe there's something I'm missing.

Mostly looking for something to play games and watch movies on.  Almost never watch TV, and don't have cable or a dish or anything.  Don't care much about weight or the size of the TV either (at least not to the point of wanting to pay extra for a lighter TV).

Totally decent TV. Lacks the whiz bang features of the newer models and is "only" 720p but that's a great deal all in all - has all the inputs you'll need. Not a high end HDTV by todays standards but Sammy DLP's are pretty decent sets (Im biased, I have a 56" sammy DLP). Also the Samsung DNie stuff does actually work on some sources. I think you'd be happy with this set provided you aren't susceptible to DLP rainbows.

EDIT: DLP rainbows are hard to explain and very few people see them, it's essentially a visual artifact from the DLP system when a white or light coloured object moves across a black or dark background. Go look at a few DLP sets in store, if you don't see an issue your fine.

[Trippy]

Anyone have an opinion on this HDTV?  I have a hard time keeping up on stuff like the pros and cons of Plasma/LCD/DLP, contrast ratios, and all that.

Did you look into that "black grass" problem?

[Velorath]

Anyone have an opinion on this HDTV?  I have a hard time keeping up on stuff like the pros and cons of Plasma/LCD/DLP, contrast ratios, and all that.

Did you look into that "black grass" problem?

Yeah, I just did a quick search and found a handful of threads on the avsforums and a couple other sites mentioning the problem.  Some people find it more noticeable than others.  I'll have to see if I can find one of these TV's at a nearby store that I can look at, just to see if it's something I'd find distracting.

Edit:  Looks like for a lot of people, it's not really noticeable or not an issue.  Some people who have had problems with it say that calibrating the TV can help, and others say that their problem has gone away over time.  Also, I notice that most complaints about the black grass are from last year.  Haven't seen anything that says one way or the other whether Samsung fixed the design flaw that causes it.  The main thing that worries me about buying one of these now is that I've seen a few people who have had some serious problems with their TV's, and Samsung seems to be a pain in the ass to deal with when it comes to trying to get repairs or replacements.  I guess the question is whether or not I feel like gambling or if there is anything comparable in the same price range.

[Sky]

By gaming do you mean console gaming? For pc gaming, I'm starting to find my 720p set a bit limiting. And at the size I have, 1080p would look much nicer (61").

If you're not pc gaming (and honestly, a pc to play 1920x1080 would be a beast), the 360 is 720p native. Samsung has great scalers, and at that size, 720p is just fine for most things. It's basically a smaller version of what I've been gaming on for the last 3 1/2 years.

I can find rainbows if I'm looking for them, the THC ring test or a dark hallways with a very bright torch, then quickly avert your eyes, you'll see the effect. But in 99.999% of my tv viewing, it's a total non-issue. The worst thing about the DMD is actually strobe lights during concerts, sometimes the mirrors can lag if the strobe is set to a certain timing. So like .001% of the time, as well.

I don't know what the black grass problem is? I didn't have mine calibrated, I did tweak it a slight bit to get some green out of it. I've heard good things about Samsung's replacements. Replacing my bulb was no big deal (and a warrantied replacement).

Samsung DLPs are nice sets. Thinking of maybe going for a 1080p version next year, with the LCD bulbs, because their image quality is better and their bulb life is WAY better. Weakest part of a DLP is bulb replacement imo, though after you replace it you basically have a new set again.