Hi-tech-tv.com: Television technology news & answers

Looking for information on Protron LCD TV sets. I can get a 32″ lcd for $500.00 (at Sears) and heard they were the third largest maker of oem parts for many major brands. Are Protron LCD TVs any good? And why are they so close to the Proton TV name?

Answer 1: My Fiance’s stepdad has the 37 inch protron. It has a really nice picture! $500 is a bargain for this TV!

Answer 2: There are some rumors floating around that Protron is in big trouble. Someone has posted the following message on at least two different forums:

I work for Protron.
We are in a big dispute with the Chinese factory that makes Protron LCDs. No replacement parts will be coming, ever.

There are no remotes and no power supplies available.

PROTON has already won their lawsuit which prevents us from selling
under the name PROTRON. As soon as they pay the bond, we are shut down.

Our management is in chaos. Our customer service dept is non-existant. Our rating with the BBB is ‘F’. The product is cheap because it is made with cheap parts. Getting the picture here?

If you buy a Protron LCD, you are completely on your own.

Good luck.

Sounds more like a disgruntled ex-employee than a real one to me so I did some checking. On one of the forums, the poster has been a member since March 2003, so I thought the rumors might be substantial. Then I did a Google news search and found absolutely nothing. If it’s not in the news did it really happen? As far as I’m concerned this is just a rumor but be careful - you never know when a rumor is going to turn out to be more or less true.

Answer 3: Proton makes the Puriti high def LCD TV from 32 - 55 inches. Protron also makes LCD TVs but these are less expensive. I don’t know why. I actually went to the Proton website and clicked on their email, protonusa at sbcglobal.net (which seemed like a very strange email for a real company). Anyway, I asked them about the Proton, Protron relationship and the email was sent back to me (addressee unknown). There’s something funny going on here.

I want to buy an LCD TV but don’t know where to begin. Can someone give me some advice on what TV to buy and where to buy it?

Answer #1: Vizio 37” LCD TV. Got one 24 days ago and love it. Buy from Costco if you can. They have the best return policy. My TV cost $999.000. They have a 32″ for $699.00. If your TV breaks down 6 months from now, take it back and get a new one. You do have to have a membership, $50.00 for one year. I saw the same TV at Walmart for $1500.00. My son loves it, he has xbox 360 and he’s in love. Football is the best I have ever seen, OTA HD that is.

Answer #2: So you’ve decided on LCD over plasma? As best I can tell, the big issues are:

Plasma: Truer Black, Colors “jump” a bit more
LCD: Brighter overall picture, slightly sharper image, more glare-resistant

My wife and I picked up a 46″ LCD as opposed to a 50″ Plasma, largely because we liked the way it resisted glare (our family room has A LOT of light). Look at both side to side, and decide which picture you like better. It’s purely an issue of taste, you can’t go wrong if you buy a solid TV. Make sure it has 2 HDMI inputs if you plan on watching HDTV as well as playing next-gen video games and/or DVD’s. Honestly, the main way the cheaper sets seem to let you down in their inputs.

I have Directv and want to know what experience anyone has had in getting an LCD or rear projection LCd and using directv. I know I will need to upgrade my directv box. I do have an updated antenna with 3 LNB’s and a local antenna to use if I can’t get the local channels over Directv. Will the wrap around antenna on the dish give me HDTV capability? I know if I had cable I could get a tv with a cable card slot. What else do I need to be aware of to maximize viewing HDTV (I am thinking Sony Wega 42″)? Thanks!

Answer 1: I have a plasma, DirecTV, and HD. I needed only a seperate, off-air antenna to get the local channels in HD. Generally, DirecTV is supposed to be upgrading their HD package. I paid $10.99 for fewer than 10 channels. Other than the Sunday Ticket, and ESPN, the local channels are about all I watch in HD right now.

Answer 2: At the moment I don’t get local HD channels on DTV, although that will change imminently in many markets (within 90 days I believe). If your current setup gets local OTA that’s fine, other than that if you’re in one of DTV’s HD local markets you’ll have a choice. Personally, my OTA HD works wonderfully 50% of the time, but that’s not good enough for me when football is on the line (and it seems to work best at night). That aside, DTV’s HD lineup is a joke. ESPN HD which is actually in HD about 20% of the time, Discovery channel (awesome), and a couple useless channels.

Answer 3: I went with the Panasonic 43″ rear projector LCD and I have DTV with the HD. I get CBS NBC ABC and Fox in HD. I get ESPN and ESPN2, HBO and SHOWTIME, HDNet and HDNet Movies, Discover HD, and so on. I love it. I can’t watch a baseball or football game thats not in HD; it’s ruined me for life.

Please leave your answers or questions in the comments section below.

Continued from Should I buy an LCD or plasma TV?

Answer #6: It depends on the size you’re looking for. I don’t think they make plasma in the smaller sizes. I have a Samsung 32″ LCD and it’s real sweet. Of the TVs I’ve seen, Samsung, Sharp, and Pioneer look great

The LCD is apparently better in rooms where there is light as the Plasma tends to be susceptible to glare issues more. That being said, the Plasmas tend to have higher contrast ratios. All things being equal, which TV has the better component extras? Does it have a PC connection? Which are more compatible with satellite vs. cable? If there is a difference, which one has the best most accessible input/outputs etc.

Answer #7: Plasma is kind of like a tube TV regarding glare and LCD and DLP are more like the old rear projection sets where glare isn’t an issue. Regardless of the contrast you’ll have a bad glare problem in a room with a lot of light with a plasma TV. Make sure the room it goes can
be controlled for light or you’ll be unhappy.

Answer #8: I own one of each. There are positives and negatives to each. Personally, my favorite is the plasma, only because it’s brighter and has better darks than the LCD. Granted, there is more reflectivity from ambient light in the room, but it’s so much brighter I think it’s a wash. Burn in isn’t an issue, unless you’re going to be staring at something that never changes, or you spend most of your watching time viewing channels that have static images (like the Bloomberg ticker running at the bottom of the screen 24×7, or if you always watch with closed
captioning).

Plasma has a better refresh rate than most LCDs, so it’s a bit better for gaming. All said and done, I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

And by all means, buy from Costco so you get a good, long, money back guarantee, which is necessary on modern TVs regardless of make or model.
Which ever technology you invest in, please make an effort to eliminate any light sources in your room. Specialty shades can be purchased to remove and sun light. Remember, the darker the room the better image quality you will have.

Answer #10: I just bought 42 inch Panasonic plasma. I spent many an hour researching the differences between the two…the plasma is pretty amazing. the colors “pop”…it’s the best way I can explain it. You may want to consider the 1080p version as well, as opposed to the 1080i…sort of the wave of the future. Plus it will work well with blue ray/ hd dvd.

I have a few grand burning a hole in my pocket and my TV is about to die. Any help would be appreciated. I have to decide between a plasma TV, an LCD, or something else.

Answer #1: I have a Sharp Aquos LCD and love every minute of it but DLP will save you a ton of money and the picture is still great. Also unlike the PLasma if the TV breaks you can get it fixed for cheap.

Answer #2: Burn in is not a serious problem any more, so don’t worry about that. In July I got the Panasonic 50″ HD plasma, the commercial version. It’s cheaper than the consumer version, all black (which I prefer), does not come with a stand (I planned to and did mount it on the wall), and does not come with speakers (I planned to and did take care of sound through my receiver/home theater speakers). I absolutely love the TV, it is amazing.

Answer #3: I Just bought a 42-inch plasma last week. Burn-in does not affect modern plasmas nearly as much as older models (pre 2004-2005). Also, the life of today’s plasmas can easily exceed the life of picture tube TV’s, some plasmas are expected to last 10 years or more. An added plus is that plasmas have the sharpest, brightest picture of any of the three technologies, can be wall-mounted (unlike DLP) and, depending on size/brand, is very competitively-priced. The best plasmas are Panasonic, Pioneer, or Hitachi.
Answer #4: If it’s going in a room that is fairly bright (as in sunlight), LCD will handle this better. Otherwise, it’s whatever looks better to him. I personally would stick to a brand name.

Answer #5: I like LCD better then DLP or Plasma, but there’s no real better among them. It just personal choice and the kind of picture you enjoy. Do you need a flat panel? If you want a screen bigger then 46″ and need or want a flat panel you have to go plasma. LCD flat only goes up to 46″ and there is no DLP flat.

It’s true that the days of burn in are over for plasma TVs with the latest models. But be careful with Panasonic; they were very slow to adopt the non burn technology and there’s still some Panasonics out there that you have to be careful with. I don’t like the “blur” or “clay face” you get on a lot of the plasma screens even with HD during a football game.

Whatever TV you go with try and get 1080p resolution even though it’s a big expense. If you’re spending 3 grand on a TV get something with the best technology you can.

I just added a 50″ Sony 1080 LCD to my collection. It was a lot less expensive then a 50″ 1080i plasma. If you don’t have to have a flat panel save the money and buy a 1080p LCD or DLP whichever you like better.

If you have a Circuit City near you go there and check out the 1080P DLP from Mitsubishi and the LCOS 1080p from Sony. There are also some 1080p plasma sets out now from Sony and Samsung but they are over 4 grand. About 1500 more then the DLP or LCD rear projections but they are direct pictures.

The first thing you need to decide is your space for the TV. The second thing you need to decide is what you’ll watch most. Then read and shop and have fun.

Read more on LCD vs. plasma TVs.