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Lewis Ehrhardt
09-01-2010, 4:59 PM
Looking to buy a television, don't need top of line.
Just decent television, connected to basic satellite.
Thinking about 46 to 50 inch. I'll be about 8 feet from television
Room leans toward the darker side.

There's plasma, LCD and looks like something new, LED. Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. Thanks Lewis

dennis thompson
09-01-2010, 5:09 PM
Lewis
I bought a Panasonic from Costco,I'm happy with it.When I bought it Costco extended the warranty up to 2 years which is a big plus. I think they still do extend the warranty but you should check that.
Dennis

Mitchell Andrus
09-01-2010, 5:28 PM
Looking to buy a television, don't need top of line.
Just decent television, connected to basic satellite.
Thinking about 46 to 50 inch. I'll be about 8 feet from television
Room leans toward the darker side.

There's plasma, LCD and looks like something new, LED. Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. Thanks Lewis

I had a 42" plasma and it heated the room to the point that we'd crack the window in winter... before the power supply blew. Stay away.

LCD and LED are the same except for the light source. LED lights are the new part, else they both have LCD screens up front.

Cut a few hunks of cardboard and tape it to the wall for size comparisons.
.

John Lohmann
09-01-2010, 7:31 PM
Samsung, great TV for non fanatics, Vizio is good for the budget minded

Matt Meiser
09-01-2010, 7:39 PM
I went back and forth between Vizio and Toshiba LCD's at Costco. The Vizio actually had better specs, but I just liked the picture better on the Toshiba. This was about 2 years ago BTW, and I'm still happy with it.

Unlike Best Buy and some other stores, if you buy at Costco, get it home and aren't happy after a week, they'll take it back. I'm hesitant to buy anything expensive at BB anymore. The savings over BB's return fee would pay your membership for a few years.

Dan Hintz
09-01-2010, 7:52 PM
Vizio is an excellent budget brand... in fact, in the last couple of years their screens have approached Samsung in quality (Sammy makes very high quality LCD panels... when they're made in house and not subbed to another subcontractor factory).

That said, there is a very wide range in quality levels. Your best bet is to see them in person, but the way they set things up it's not really a fair fight. If you watch SD channels, you do not want to purchase an HD set before seeing SD displayed on it... some of the processors make SD channels look horrible! If you plan on watching a lot of HD, do your best to see the screen plugged into an HDMI source, not RCA jacks.

I will assume by your very basic question on getting a new set that anything more detailed than this will be lost in translation, so the above points should get you 80% of the way there.

Joe Mioux
09-01-2010, 8:36 PM
early this summer, I was forced to buy a new Sony TV (old sony had a design defect).

So I had three choices. I chose a Sony Bravia KDL46NX700 Lcd (led backlit).

all i can say is wow. I like it, but retail on it is 18xx-ish. I got it for a 1k off srp.

my son just bought a 32 inch version. I think 32ex600 (ithink) for his dorm room. he likes it.

joe

Jim Rimmer
09-01-2010, 8:38 PM
early this summer, I was forced to buy a new Sony TV (old sony had a design defect).

So I had three choices. I chose a Sony Bravia KDL46NX700 Lcd (led backlit).

all i can say is wow. I like it, but retail on it is 18xx-ish. I got it for a 1k off srp.

my son just bought a 32 inch version. I think 32ex600 (ithink) for his dorm room. he likes it.

joe
+1 on the Sony Bravia

Bryan Morgan
09-02-2010, 12:44 AM
I have 2 LCD's (Vizio, Sony) a couple years old and a 2010 model Panasonic plasma. The plasma blows the others away hands down. People talk about the noise or heat and that may be true for the older models but not the new stuff. The plasma looks way better in daylight as well. I run all 1080P and have it running through a decent sound system. The TV and audio stuff is all THX certified (supposedly...thats what the stickers say...the TV has THX mode). The LCD and LED stuff looked pretty good but still not as nice as the plasma, in my opinion. (I told myself I'd never buy a plasma because of the past things I've read about them).

Really though, you need to get to a store and actually look at them. Shove the sales geek away and fiddle with the buttons yourself. Find what fits your budget and what picture quality looks nice to you. Figure out what kind of inputs you need and whether or not you are going to have a separate receiver for audio. My Panasonic plasma has a awesome picture but TERRIBLE built in speakers.

And do not believe their BS about expensive cables. Buy what you need from monoprice and save yourself a ton of money.

Jeff Monson
09-02-2010, 8:46 AM
We have a 42" samsung lcd for our tv room, its a great tv, sharp picture and zero problems in 2 years. Last fall we bought a vizio for our sunroom, I'd have to say for the money the vizio is definately worth looking at.

Dan Hintz
09-02-2010, 9:00 AM
We bought a 32" Toshiba for the bedroom for Black Friday two years ago based upon the HD content being displayed... but we play SD in the bedroom. Bad choice, the TV sucks for SD content :(

For downstairs I purchased an LG 55LHX with local dimming LEDs... SD content is decent, but HD content blows me away (and it should for the hefty price!). Distance to couch is about 10-12', and I want something in the 65" range for the next purchase. I'll wait for the 3D train to pull into the station from its current wild ride before pulling that trigger.

John Shuk
09-02-2010, 9:31 AM
I hook up alot of TVs for people and I am always impressed with Vizio. I wouldn't hesitate to get one.

Jeff Heil
09-02-2010, 9:47 AM
I am happy with our 50" Samsung Plasma for HD and SD. We do have Dish Network's HD package, and football and baseball look awesome in HD. We watch lots of over the air HD as well. I have only noticed te heat when right next the the tv, but it has never been an issue for climate control in my experience. The plasmas seem to be a little more cost effective and have "blacker" blacks.

Be cautious of what you see displayed in the store as it is often a HD feed and check reviews for SD picture quality through a reliable source like consumers reports or cNet websites are my best recommendations.

Zach England
09-02-2010, 10:05 AM
There are still SD broadcasts? Lame. All the channels I watch are in HD all the time.

Pat Germain
09-02-2010, 10:32 AM
I had a 42" plasma and it heated the room to the point that we'd crack the window in winter... before the power supply blew. Stay away.

Don't know what TV you had, Mitchell, but my Panasonic 50" plasma puts out very little heat. It's been a great TV and I highly recommend it. My brother has the same TV and it's been great for him as well. I think it's the best HD TV for the money.

I've seen some very nice Vizio TVs. But I don't think the picture is quite as good as my Panasonic plasma.

Brian Elfert
09-02-2010, 10:35 AM
Older plasma TVs used a lot more power and thus dissipated a lot of heat.

I have not had an issue with my newer 50" plasma. I bought a Pioneer 50" which is top of the line, but I hope to keep the TV for a long time.

Pat Germain
09-02-2010, 11:59 AM
I have not had an issue with my newer 50" plasma. I bought a Pioneer 50" which is top of the line, but I hope to keep the TV for a long time.

When I was shopping for my TV several years ago, the Pioneer was the only TV I saw with a better picture than the Panasonic. Of course, the Pioneer was literally twice the price, which was outside my budget. Sadly, I heard Pioneer no longer makes televisions.

Andy Pedler
09-02-2010, 3:28 PM
Add another vote for the newer Plasma TVs. The older ones were hot and power hungry, but in the last few years technology has advanced and resolved those issues.

A plasma TV from a quality vendor (I have a Panasonic and they may be the leader in plasma quality, but other top names will have similar performance) will have a more natural image than any LCD. It's an analog medium with phosphors that allows neighboring pixels to blend together which results in more natural looking motion. Technically speaking, it is not as "sharp" on a pixel-by-pixel basis, but unless you spend your time watching test patterns or the zebra network, you don't necessarily want razor sharpness. You want a picture that is bright and beautiful and easy on the eyes.

Plasmas can also create true black better than LCD's. The phosphors aren't excited so they stay off and you get true black. LCD's struggle to get similar black levels because the CFL backlight is always on, so "black" winds up being more like "really dark gray". This is the problem that LED backlit TV's solves, since they can simply turn off the LED backlight behind a portion of the screen as a function of how "black" that part of the screen wants to be. The LED backlit TVs look absolutely amazing. And as a side benefit the LED backlights use less power than CFL backlights so they are "greener".

I would buy plasma if I had to shop again now because I love mine. I watch a lot of sports and I think the images are simply amazing.

That said, I have relatives with a Sony Bravia LCD TV and it looks really good as well. We're splitting hairs on the degrees of picture quality between new TV's. And if you're upgrading from a non-HD set you'll be drooling over the image quality of any new HDTV running a 1080P feed.

Good luck in your shopping.

Andy - Newark, CA

Neal Clayton
09-02-2010, 4:14 PM
When I was shopping for my TV several years ago, the Pioneer was the only TV I saw with a better picture than the Panasonic. Of course, the Pioneer was literally twice the price, which was outside my budget. Sadly, I heard Pioneer no longer makes televisions.

i sprang for one of those pioneer elite 1080p plasmas last time i moved, still using it. still the best tv i've ever seen.

i had a panasonic before, didn't really have any complaints with it, just saw the pioneer and it looked so perfect that i had to have it :D.

as for recommendations to the OP, the only real consideration between plasma and LCD besides which looks better to you is ambient light. plasmas with the glass screen will have glare if there are windows/bright lights near by. LCDs have a plastic screen so they don't have that issue. plasma works like old tube TVs did, so they look like tube TVs...bright regarldess of viewing angle. LCDs can have some washout at extreme viewing angles, so that's a consideration too. but if you only watch directly in front it's really personal preference.

Bill Cunningham
09-02-2010, 8:48 PM
I also have the Panasonic from Costco.. I had some other 42" piece of garbage I had bought at Costco (can't even remember the name of the thing) but it died before it was two years old. I called the service center listed in the manual and they basically said warranty's up tough luck.. I called Costco and complained bitterly about wasting $2K on a piece of @$$#% that didn't even last two years.. Their answer? Bring it back, we'll give you a refund.. I was floored!! I brought it back, they gave me a full refund, and in that time, the price of the 50" Panasonics had dropped considerably, so I bought one then and there, and even had some cash left over.. I think they may have had other complaints about that 42" because there was no hesitation at all in offering me the full refund. I agree, the built in speakers are not very good, but I never use them anyway.

Brian Elfert
09-02-2010, 9:52 PM
When I was shopping for my TV several years ago, the Pioneer was the only TV I saw with a better picture than the Panasonic. Of course, the Pioneer was literally twice the price, which was outside my budget. Sadly, I heard Pioneer no longer makes televisions.

Pioneer left the TV market in early 2009, but they continued to make TVs into mid 2009.

I bought my Pioneer 50" new in March of this year for $2,000 including stand and free Pioneer Blu-ray player. Pioneer had a hard time selling the last batch of TVs they made. You can still find a few brand new Pioneers out there. $2,000 was a stretch for me and the original $3,500 to $4,000 price was not happening for me.

Lewis Ehrhardt
09-03-2010, 10:06 AM
Thanks for the advice and insight. I think the plasma route will be best for my situation. And thanks for the heads-up on tuning to the SD mode. That's not something I would have known to do. All of you have been a GREAT HELP! L

Dan Hintz
09-03-2010, 10:10 AM
I brought it back, [Costco] gave me a full refund... there was no hesitation at all in offering me the full refund.
Bill,

I think Costco offers full refund/replacement for life on most everything they sell. After having bad luck with "Sears" brand car jacks that lasted a few weeks at best (including one that was recalled), I was going to purchase another Harbor Fright (the first one lasted me two years + before giving out). I found a similar model (both Chinese) at Costco for roughly the same price, and the lifetime warranty listed on their webpage convinced me to buy it... if it ever fails, it said to bring it back (with receipt) for a full refund. I keep my receipts for stuff like that now...

Jerome Hanby
09-03-2010, 11:09 AM
I'm not too sure that among models with comparable specs that there is too much difference between brands. In Sams I noticed that Sony and Samsung seemed to be brighter than the others. Big thing I would be looking at is a model with several HDMI inputs. Seems like everyone I know that has a set with one or two HDMI inputs ends up buying a HDMI switch. I'd also spend less money for a proven technology that you know is going to work and is currently in wide acceptance over more money for bleeding edge state of the art. If the new wizz bang gizmo is the wave of the future, everyone else is going to start making them, and in 4 or 5 years you'll be ready for a new set and the price tag will be much lower.

Another factor in my next purchase is form factor. It will definitely be suitable for hanging on a wall. Having an entertainment center own the room is getting old...

Pat Germain
09-03-2010, 11:35 AM
Seems like everyone I know that has a set with one or two HDMI inputs ends up buying a HDMI switch.

I'm not sure why people would bother with an HDMI switch. That's what a receiver is very good for. Shoot, you can buy a very nice receiver these days for not much dough. A decent receiver will have many HDMI inputs. You just run one HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV and let the receiver do the switching. And with the receiver, you get very good Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 sound; certainly much better than you're going to get from a "home theater in a box". You can always add or upgrade components and keep the same receiver. This isn't possible with an "in a box" system.

I think it's pretty amazing how inexpensive a nice home theater system can be these days. I remember not long ago when it took major loads of cash at a specialty store for good hardware. Now you can pick it all up at Costco for great prices. Sure, you can still spend lots of dough at a specialty store. But you can also get very good results from the inexpensive (not cheap) hardware.

Jerome Hanby
09-03-2010, 1:26 PM
I'm not sure why people would bother with an HDMI switch. .

I can think of one example off the top of my head. At one time I had all my video except the cable box capable of providing s-video output. So I bought a new Onkyo receiver that could handle video switching all of those s-video inputs, cobbled together an adapter to get the cable box to s-video, and had all my functions swithed through and controlled by the Onkyo remote. If I just had to have that same functionality after all the video had upgraded to HDMI, I would spend the money on a much cheaper combination of a HDMI switcher and a Logitech remote. That Onkyo was too expensive to just toss out.

Buying all new equipment, I completely agree, why bother with an HDMI switcher.

Dan Hintz
09-03-2010, 1:27 PM
In Sams I noticed that Sony and Samsung seemed to be brighter than the others.
Someone cranked up the Brightness setting?

Jerome Hanby
09-03-2010, 1:33 PM
Someone cranked up the Brightness setting?

I don't think so, the displays didn't look distorted. I just noticed that in the bright florescent warehouse lighting inside Sams, some of the displays were dimmer than others. I suspect all would have been perfectly acceptable sitting in your living room, just side by side comparison underscored the difference...

Wayne Hendrix
09-03-2010, 1:36 PM
I have seen several suggestions to view the picture in SD mode. Does that stand for Standard Definition and how does one go about viewing the picture in SD mode? I will soon be in the market for a new TV and appreciate all the advice being given in this thread.

Pat Germain
09-03-2010, 2:17 PM
I have seen several suggestions to view the picture in SD mode. Does that stand for Standard Definition and how does one go about viewing the picture in SD mode? I will soon be in the market for a new TV and appreciate all the advice being given in this thread.

Yes, SD is standard definition. Unfortunately, most stores just pump one or two channels to all their TVs. You'd have to ask a store rep to change to a SD channel. It would be a good idea to view multiple channels. There's a big difference in quality between stations. For example, I have a local, SD station that looks downright awful on my Panasonic plasma. But looks awful on any TV. It's just a lousy broadcast.

Also, most stores display their TVs in a very poor lighting environment. That makes it hard to really judge picture quality. Note specialty stores have nice, darkened, simulated home theaters. They also typically have higher prices. (But not always.)

Gordon Eyre
09-03-2010, 7:12 PM
Well first the type of TV must be considered. Plasma sets are great but the best viewing is done in a darkened room. Viewing from an angle is best with a Plasma set and also the blackest blacks are had with this type set. This makes them ideal for home theater. LCD'd are are bright with lots of contrast and vibrant colors. They are my personal choice at this time, primarily they can be picked up at a lower cost and yet fulfill the need for a great picture. True, the side to side viewing angle is the worst of the three choices but for the room you described and the distance from the set this set would more than fulfill your needs. LED are the latest design but are not truly LED overall on the screen. This will come at some point. Today's sets have LED's around the periphery of the screen for backlighting and give a great picture with very black blacks and a little better side to side viewing angles possible. The problem with the LED sets are the fact that they cost a few hundred more and frankly at this time are not that much better than a good LCD in most situations.

As to brand, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung would be my brand of choice with LG coming in just behind that.

Dan Hintz
09-03-2010, 8:40 PM
True, the side to side viewing angle [of LCDs] is the worst of the three choices but for the room you described and the distance from the set this set would more than fulfill your needs.
I'm watching my LED-lit LCD at least 60 degrees off-axis right now and it still looks nice and bright (and clear). I'll be much happier when I finish remodeling this entire room, but still...

LED are the latest design but are not truly LED overall on the screen. This will come at some point. Today's sets have LED's around the periphery of the screen for backlighting and give a great picture with very black blacks and a little better side to side viewing angles possible.
This particular set also uses local dimming, not side-lighting. I believe the LHX uses 2,000 LEDs split into something like 180 zones, give or take. That localized lighting allows for practically perfect blacks since the LEDs can be turned off, at the disadvantage of having some hazing/halos around bright objects against black backgrounds.

Bryan Morgan
09-04-2010, 12:08 AM
Well first the type of TV must be considered. Plasma sets are great but the best viewing is done in a darkened room. Viewing from an angle is best with a Plasma set and also the blackest blacks are had with this type set. This makes them ideal for home theater. LCD'd are are bright with lots of contrast and vibrant colors.


I have to disagree. My experience has been 100% opposite of yours. Plasma has been better for me in our brighter front room (which is why I replaced a perfectly good Sony LCD with a Panasonic plasma). I find plasma to be noticeably more vibrant, with the sets I've owned plus watching them side by side in the electronics store.

Frank Stolten
09-04-2010, 2:23 AM
Whatever you buy make sure it can be returned if you're not satisfied using it in your home environment. Store displays use video content chosen to make all the sets look good and the apparent differences between the various brands aren't that great. Plus, they're all fed from an HDMI source so they perform their best.

However, not all programming is in HD. As mentioned in other posts you need to check out it's performance with SD since there's a lot of it being broadcast and sets are all optimized for HD, not SD. When I got my first LCD set I was shocked how poorly it displayed SD. It wasn't anywhere near as good as my old analog Sony which I still have as a second set. I went through 4 different brands before finally settling on a Samsung which I'm totally happy with.

The point is, you won't know until you get it hooked up in your home and feed it your normal programming. If you have a Costco near you, you may want to consider buying from them. They have a 90 day no-questions-asked return policy which is plenty of time to evaluate the set.

Dan Hintz
09-04-2010, 1:31 PM
Store displays use video content chosen to make all the sets look good and the apparent differences between the various brands aren't that great. Plus, they're all fed from an HDMI source so they perform their best.
When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? They're absolutely horrible, to the point of it being criminal in some cases (false advertising). They'll use HDMI on the TVs that have a high mark-up and place them next to a perfectly good TV connected using coax from a crappy 50-way splitter.

Dick Latshaw
09-04-2010, 1:46 PM
When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? They're absolutely horrible, to the point of it being criminal in some cases (false advertising). They'll use HDMI on the TVs that have a high mark-up and place them next to a perfectly good TV connected using coax from a crappy 50-way splitter.

Nooooooo!!!! Not our "friends" at Worst Buy. Say it isn't so, Dan.:(

Ronald Blue
09-04-2010, 2:01 PM
As you probably know now there are more opinions then their are tv's out there. I have a plasma and 2 LCD and the newest is the LED technology. Go to Cnet and read the reviews. I bought a Vizio 552 with wireless built in and bluetooth remote. It can download netflix movies and several others with the push of a button. Cnet says it is a great value for the dollar. Good luck and have fun shopping.

Bryan Morgan
09-05-2010, 12:36 AM
When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? They're absolutely horrible, to the point of it being criminal in some cases (false advertising). They'll use HDMI on the TVs that have a high mark-up and place them next to a perfectly good TV connected using coax from a crappy 50-way splitter.

My local Best Buy actually broadcasts their own HD signals in the store. No wire hookups at all. I think its only 720p though.... They don't get mad when you push all the buttons and change the channels and whatnot.

They did get caught awhile back at the Monster Cable display using HDMI cables to show off the "great" quality of the monster cables and RCA cables for the supposed lesser brand... So much for an apples to apples comparison eh? ;)

Of course this is why Bose mandates that their display is far away from the other audio equipment.... if you hear them side by side you'd notice Bose sounds inferior and is way overpriced compared to just about everything else. :)

Maybe its part of getting older but my tolerance for dishonesty is pretty much at 0 these days. Not only will I not buy from these losers I'd like to see them suffer in some way as punishment for their dishonesty.

Pat Germain
09-05-2010, 10:04 AM
They did get caught awhile back at the Monster Cable display using HDMI cables to show off the "great" quality of the monster cables and RCA cables for the supposed lesser brand... So much for an apples to apples comparison eh? ;).

A friend of mine just bought a TV; 50" Visio LCD. Can't comment on the picture because he hasn't yet installed it. But he told me he was seeing displays for different types of HDMI cables based on frequencies, resolution and such. I admit I'm no expert. But isn't a digital cable a digital cable? Sounds like marketing hype to me. I do know when it comes to the Monster brand, they are all about marketing hype.

Dan Hintz
09-05-2010, 5:10 PM
He told me he was seeing displays for different types of HDMI cables based on frequencies, resolution and such. I admit I'm no expert. But isn't a digital cable a digital cable? Sounds like marketing hype to me.
It used to be that one digital cable was as good (bad?) as the next... in those days, bandwidth of digital content was measured in 10s to 100s of kbits/second (i.e., mostly audio). These days, as the bandwidth requirements increase well into the 10s of Mbits range, quality of the cable plays a larger and larger role in proper transmission.

That said, there's nothing wrong with a $5 HDMI cable in all but the most demanding of setups, and even in those cases a $10-15 cable is plenty adequate. Anyone who spends more than $30 on a high-end cable (and was not simply in a mad rush to see video on their new TV) needs to have a talk with P.T. Barnum.

Steve Griffin
09-05-2010, 5:46 PM
You say you are 8 feet away?

We are 10' away and have a TV half the size that you are looking at. We don't care much about TV these days anyway, (is reality programing really better if bigger???) , but it's fine for watching the occasional movie or news.

There is certainly a hundred better uses of extra money than a big TV....

-Steve

Joel Goodman
09-05-2010, 6:10 PM
+1 on Plasma. In general a Plasma has blacker blacks and better off axis viewing. Downsides -- a lot heavier, and uses more electricity. Burn in is, I think, more of a theoretical issue than a practical one, unless you have a video gamer in the house who leaves a still image on the set for a very long time. I have a Panasonic 42"-- the cheaper 720 model (which may not even be available now). In that size the difference between 720 and 1080 is there but minimal-- I looked at both side by side.

Dan Hintz
09-05-2010, 8:20 PM
There is certainly a hundred better uses of extra money than a big TV....
The same could probably be said about a lot of the woodworking and lasering equipment most of us own...

Bryan Morgan
09-06-2010, 12:34 AM
A friend of mine just bought a TV; 50" Visio LCD. Can't comment on the picture because he hasn't yet installed it. But he told me he was seeing displays for different types of HDMI cables based on frequencies, resolution and such. I admit I'm no expert. But isn't a digital cable a digital cable? Sounds like marketing hype to me. I do know when it comes to the Monster brand, they are all about marketing hype.


Exactly. If the 1's and 0's get to where they need to go nothing else matters. Sure, there are some frequency specs related to how many/how fast the 1's and 0's need to travel but anything beyond that is pure grade A BS.

With analog signals there is a difference between cables (supposedly...although "audiophiles" can't determine the difference between a coat hanger and an expensive cable in testing...) but not with digital.

Van Huskey
09-06-2010, 1:48 AM
Lewis, if you are still on the fence give us a budget, and a idea of how often you watch your different sources and what they are (OTA TV, Cable, Sat, Bluray, DVD etc). How much ambient light you have in the room when you spend your critical viewing time.

One big thing to remember is NEVER judge a TV on its picture quality in a big box store, they are usually not properly calibrated and are set to "torch mode", most TVs now when you set them up ask if they are going in a home or showroom during set-up.

Now for the two minute advise I always give if you don't want to spend week or months studying nuance:

If you decide plasma get a Panasonic, Pioneer was the king (and charged a princely price) but left the market, Panasonic bought the tech but it has not been fully integrated yet

If you decide LCD get a Samsung

If you want to overspend for what you get buy a Sony

If you are on a tight budget get a Vizio

If you wall mount get it from Monoprice.com

If you need cables get them from monoprice as well

If there is a HDMI connection from your source(s) us it (them)

Whatever you do calibrate the set
1. if you want the best picture and have the money get a ISF tech
2. if you are a geek do it yourself with the available discs
3. if you are tight on time and budget go to avsforum.com find your models user thread and try some of the settings others have vetted
4. if you think the "correct" setting is too dark live with it for a week and watch a couple of movies with dark scenes before you abandon it
5. unless you are enough of a videophile never to have ask this question do NOT go into the service menu of the TV

Bigger is usually better and at 8 feet you still have some breathing room above 50", I watch 60-65" at 8-9 ft comfortably.

Most people that wall mount TVs mount they way to high, perfect center height for the display is where you eye naturally falls when you sit in your viewing chair, most people eshew this since it usually negates the need for wall mounting and people are gonna wall mount a flat panel no matter what, 'cause thats what you do...

If you aren't a videophile quit your research the second you buy a set, it is the only way to prevent buyers remorse!