Short answer: Don't buy a TV from Walmart. Better yet, don't buy a TV at all until you do some more research.
Long answer: First off, you're falling for the standard marketing gimmic of choosing the TV that "looks best" in the store. You can do all sort of funky things in the settings to make a crappy TV look really good, and a good TV look really crappy - adjusting brightness and color saturation is pretty easy. You should also know that generally speaking, not all of the TVs are fed the same quality of video input. Usually the ones they want to sell are fed the master feed, while others just get "copies" of the video feed at a lower quality. This plays a big part in how "good" the TVs look in the store as well.
Secondly, ever wonder why you only find Vizio TVs at Walmart and not BestBuy or elsewhere if they're so awesome? Well it's because Vizio is a Walmart brand, made specifically to Walmart's specifications (read: made really cheap). It amazes me that so many people think Vizios are the cream of the crop... They're budget TVs.
If you really want to get into TV shopping, you should first understand the difference between LCD/LED, Plasma, and DLP.
LCD and LED TVs both use a liquid crystal display ("LCD") to produce an image. The only difference between the two is the light source. LCD TVs use fluorescent tubes behind the display and LED TV's use, you guessed it, LEDs. The LEDs can be arranged around the edge of the display with a mirror like backer behind the screen itself to even out the light, or arrayed directly behind the screen itself. Both types of LED TVs will generally use slightly less energy than LCD TVs, but only TVs with LED backlighting directly behind the screen offer any real improvement in image quality *IF* they support local dimming (individually turning LEDs on/off to produce darker blacks and brighter whites/colors). The major downside to LCD/LED technology is the liquid crystal display itself. The crystals do not produce light by themselves - they only filter it. Each individual crystal can allow white light to pass through, add color to the light, or block the light to create black. This "screen door" effect can make LCD/LED TVs seem dim when viewed at an angle because the light is filtered out straight ahead. Also, because the crystals need to be physically moved in order to change color, LCD/LED TVs have the slowest refresh rates of the three types of TVs, by a longshot, and experience the most judder and choppiness when displaying fast moving images or slow panning scenes. Another thing to consider is that most modern LCD/LED TVs have artificially fast refresh rates (120 or 240 hz) which can cause their own picture anomalies because they may multiply the frames of the host media unevenly (2,3,2,3,etc...). I could go into more detail but this is probably something you want to research yourself.
Plasma TVs use plasma technology where individual phosphor cells in the screen itself are "excited" with electricity to display color (they actually light up themselves). Since these cells can be turned "on" and "off" individually, plasmas offer the highest dynamic contrast rates of the three types of TVs. Side note - Dynamic contrast is true contrast; it is the difference between the brightest white and darkest black a screen can display at the same time. Static contrast is just the difference between the brightest the screen can get (all white screen) and the darkest it can get (all black screen). Back to plasmas - Plasmas also offer incredibly fast refresh rates and very good motion picture display. The downsides to plasma TVs are that they usually use quite a bit of energy and give off a ton of heat. They will also get progressively dimmer with use as the phosphor cells age, and may start to create "phosphor trails" at some point in their life cycle. Highly reflective glass screens and a relatively low maximum brightness also make Plasmas a poor choice for a brightly lit room.
I currently own a 65" 1080p DLP TV after doing much research on the three types. DLP technology outpaces both LCD/LED and Plasma technology on numerous fronts. The downside is their size - at 12"-24" deep wall mounting is definitely not an option. If you can get over that (most people put there TVs on a stand anyway
) they are definitely worth a look. They have the fastest refresh rates of the three types (each pixel can individually refresh over 50,000 times per second) and modern DLP technology has produced incredible color spectrums and contrast ratios that easily exceed LCD/LED TVs, and give Plasmas a run for their money. They are also REPAIRABLE so you can enjoy your new purchase for many many years, even if part of it breaks (something you cannot do once your LCD or Plasma screen goes out). DLPs are also much more affordable than a similar sized Plasma/LCD/LED of comparable quality.
So to summarize here are some of the main things to look for in a TV, and how the three types compare in that category:
Screen size: DLP > Plasma > LCD/LED
Dynamic contrast ratio: Plasma > DLP > LCD/LED
Refresh rate (for crisp fast motion display): DLP > Plasma > LCD/LED
Color spectrum: DLP > Plasma = LCD/LED
Price (for comparable screen size): DLP > Plasma > LCD/LED
Energy consumption: LCD/LED > DLP > Plasma
As for reliability, choosing a quality brand (NOT Vizio) and getting a surge protector/power conditioner will go a long way. Also, both Plasma and LCD/LED TVs can "ghost" so take that into consideration if you display a lot of static images, watch TV with logos or runners at the bottom, or play video games with static HUDs. You can use screen wipers or white screens to remove the ghosting *if* it does develop, but that will reduce your screen life and use additional energy. DLP TVs are immune to ghosting.
Not to sound like a DLP fanboy, but seriously... look into DLP.
Originally Posted by F-Trooper05
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2000 calling we want our DLP back 
" Be NOT ye afraid of them..
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