Help buying a television

LG 55 LH-90 series - get the biggest screen you can afford. This TV is an ACL with LED backlighting,(probably the cheapest LED screen on the market too even the review says its expensive) meaning it illuminates incredibly well and uses almost no energy at all - plus its a great looking unit. After doing the rounds, I finally got this one and football is GREAT on it!

ALSO - Of the ones I evaluated, most tv's had a glossy screen EXCEPT Sony and LG units. In a fully darkened room,like the store's showroom, they ALL look nice right?.

BUT if for example you watch in the daytime and have windows facing it, you will see whatever great picture you have on your tv PLUS the window reflections. Same thing at night if there is a lamp that faces the screen.

I sold my last TV because of this - so - no matter how great a new Samsung may be - daytime watching is a bummer with windows reflecting through it. Sonys and LG's do not have this problem as they have a satin-matte screen, at least not when I shopped 2 months ago.

Last thing - the LG series (like other LG series I think) has the ISF fine adjustments on one of the available presets - this goes much farther than most tv's in getting fine-tuning on every parameters, including most i never heard about. I got sample isf settings from a website and used these parameters on the LG isf settings - and here you are - professionnal-calibration you can try yourself.

When you consider the beautiful picture, LED lighting, ISF calibration, low power usage, AND digital OUTPUT for sound (I was told this is somewhat rare), this LG was a no brainer.

This review says, ''poor angle performance'', I don't know, works perfectly in our home.

Good luck !

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/lg-55lh90/4505-6482_7-33485569.html?tag=mncol;lst;2

Yeah, the ambient light levels in the room matter. If it is bright just when the best sports are on, Plasma is the way to go.

At 12 feet, 50" is just fine. Ever since Panasonic bought out NEC, this is the way to go.

I have a 50" plasma at about 9', which is the recommended distance. I think you would want at least 60" if you are 12' away - do a google search and look up recommended viewing distances. At any rate, as big as you can afford. I can't believe how much difference there is - so much easier on the eyes.

And yes, plasma is WAY better than LCD for sports or movies - they have much better blacks, which makes all the color better.

If you can control the ambient light in the room. A front
projector is another avenue.No panel can match the immersion
you would get from a 100 inch screen. At 12 feet, a 100
inch screen would be exciting! I agree with others about the
size. 50 inches is much too small at 12 ft viewing
distances. Once you become accustom to it..there's no going
back to the little 50 inchers for serious viewing,whether
plasma or LED/LCD!

You could easily do it for the cost of some of the TVs
mentioned here..maybe less in some cases.

Good luck

I ran across a contrarian view when I was TV shopping a couple of years ago: the CAO (Canadian Association of Optometrists) recommends a viewing distance of 5 times the width of the picture -- which means something like a 32 or 37 inch screen for a 12 foot viewing distance!