New tv?


Well it looks like the not so old Samsung 50 inch plasma is on its last legs. It has a blue vertical band running down the left side and repair folks are telling me it is likely the display panel which cost as much or more than a new TV to repair. So what are you folks liking these days as the best TV for home theater? This is a set up with an oppo 103 and NAD integrated amp and Sonus fabar toy towers. We are looking for a 55 inch set and are wondering if plasma is still the best way to go? As always thanks for any suggestions.
audiowoman
There is no Samsung LED tv what is able in giving a cinema smooth image. 1,5 year ago I had to teach people who work for Samsung what the difference is between plasma and LED. I explained all the difference in image. For a person who is taught how to Judge a screen. LED IS FOR DUMMIES!!. Plasma is superior in speed, 3d image. There is a lot more depth. LED backlight filter the cinema look of a movie. Movies look if they were taken with cheeep camera's. I showed this tot he people of Samsung. They were amazed, they never noticed it. Many people with less knowledge these days!!!!
One thing I miss in europe and like a lot about the US is the honnesty about screen's. In the US there are enough articles that plasma is better. And yesss it is. Oled will become the new standard. But this year you are still better of with plasma. I would go for the new topmodel of Samsung Plasma. I sell both Samsung and Panansonic. Samsung is sharper and is better in white. White is the most difficult colour for plasma. Panasonic has less white colours. This was the main reason why I went to the Samsung side after Panasonic plasma's. I hate the plastic material Panasonic uses. Samsung does this also a lot better with better materials. Tomorrow I have to install a GT60 Plasma of Panasonic.
As I have posted previously I believe that Plasma is the best way to go. However if you do want to consider LED I strongly recommend that you make sure that pixelation caused by motion is not bothersome to you. I, as well as about half of my customers notice it easily, to the rest it does not seem to bother them. Find two LED's in the size you are considering that are side by side, one having a 240hz refresh, the other 120hz and check it out for yourself. Some claim that it only makes a difference with sports but I find that there is plenty of high speed motion in action movies that require a higher refresh rate as well.

As far as waiting for newer tech, 4K is sharper, even with current sources as they can upscale the image. However it does not "knock your socks off" like the OLED tech that MAY BE just around the corner in large screen formats.
I forgot one important thing: Samsung is a lot more powerfull in ansilumen compared to Panasonic. Pansonic did improve it compared to last year. But Samsung does this still a lot better. There is almost no content in 4k. At this moment it doesn't matter. In the movie theaters it will come quite soon. But before broakcast is in 4 k, we are many years further. Wenn you see in the past, that this is the main reason why new formats go very very slow.
Jjrenman, when I set mine to highest rate (240Hz) movies look like video made by home camera (soap opera effect). There is a reason why movie makers still record exactly 24 frames/s while technology allows for much more.

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/05/why-does-my-new-tv-make-movies-look-like-soap-operas.html

Perhaps I can train my brain over long time but for now fluid motion at 240Hz looks HORRIBLE. Watching one movie in this mode I felt like seeing "behind the scenes" TV program - all magic was gone. I switched back to low rate and the movie came back. It is nice to have it for sports but I'm not sure how much difference 600Hz offers vs 240Hz.