LCD TVs

Looking to buy a new LCD. 40" or so. Budget is about $6-800. I've always been a Sony person, so I think that is the direction I'm headed in. I've got a 26" Sony LCD for my comp. and am pleased with it.

Wondering if you guys have any suggestions though (any brand) ?

I've heard alot about contrast ratio and 60hz vs. 120hz etc. My understanding is that alot of this is a numbers/price game. Most of the motion-flow (et al) processing bugs me out because it looks so unnatural, and I'm not sure if there's a huge visible difference between the two refresh rates. My current display is 60hz and while at first I could notice "blur", I have long since adjusted to it. As for contrast ratio, is the human eye even going to notice the difference between 10,000:1 and 50,000:1 under typical lighting conditions? I don't have a home theatre and am not overly fussy.

Thanks for all input

FFS this is an idm board, most people are around 11 and won't buy a telly until the next decade

Get the 120hz screen cause its future proof. Movies and games are going to make use of that high refreshrate since 2010 is the advent of 3D Gaming and Movies. With 120hz when your TV renders two images it will cut that in half thus making it only an apparent 60hz in 3D. Always go for the highest Contrast Ratio you can get in most cases. Its not the biggest deal in the world but you can still tell the difference in shades with a 50,000:1 Ratio. If you don't really care about any of that stuff then in all honesty as long as it does 1080p you will be a happy person.

make sure to research about input lag because if you like playing games it is very important to know about.

  On 1/20/2010 at 5:51 AM, ZiggomaticV17 said:

Get the 120hz screen cause its future proof. Movies and games are going to make use of that high refreshrate since 2010 is the advent of 3D Gaming and Movies. With 120hz when your TV renders two images it will cut that in half thus making it only an apparent 60hz in 3D. Always go for the highest Contrast Ratio you can get in most cases. Its not the biggest deal in the world but you can still tell the difference in shades with a 50,000:1 Ratio. If you don't really care about any of that stuff then in all honesty as long as it does 1080p you will be a happy person.

good info, thanks. i don't game at all or watch sports (although i do watch loads of film), although i think a few hundred more dollars may buy me some longevity / adaptability. local deals at around 500 dollars are tempting though. i think it would be the difference between a tosser in 6 months/a year and something i can keep long term.

any opinions on plasma vs lcd ? i seem to read that plasma inherently doesn't have the motion issues (i reckon the refresh is very high and probably a multiple of 24) and that the lighting is much better. As of now I'm using a good Sony LCD but obviously it's back-lit and comes with a superb feature called auto-dimming which is clunky and attempts to dim/brighten globally based on screen information. Seems like the plasmas have alot of inherent qualities that LCDs have to compensate for.

If you care about image quality you choose plasma. I don't understand why people go for LCDs, because they're brighter?

you will like whatever you buy because they're all good enough. I have a samsung 46" lcd and it is godly, have never had any problems.

i found this to be a very compelling argument

  Quote

its a pure fact

by tony565565 - 11/21/08 8:27 PM In reply to: Is that your by masonaries

 

im not a proffesional dude and i really dont need to be, i have a 40" mitsubishi tube thats never been taken apart period and i punch and throw remotes at the screen every sunday watching football and i have never had a problem, do that to a plasma/lcd and see what happens. plasmas were designed as disposible throwaway television. hell i droped a 34" sony crt on the concrete while moving and it scratched the screen and still played fine in 2006. and yes best buy did ban the sale of these big crt tvs after 1999. mitsibishi kiss there rear end stopped there 40" in 1997 sony stoped in 2003. now all you can buy is lcd/plasma and there has never been a plasma/lcd last more than 6 years without needing major work. the giant crt kills the plamas. the sony 40" wega trinitron flat screen is the best tv of alltime built to last 35 years problem free, it weighs 400lbs though. if bestbuy only sold these they would be out of business right now. hd projection, hd crt projection, hd plamas/lcd, is all HYPE.they will be in landfills in 10 years or less guaranteed. i shop at the good will in arizona and every other projection tv for sell is a newer silver one made after 2003. it usually needs work and sells for $299 or less. plasma is the new platinum spark plug hype of the millenium, in the 90s platinum spark plugs started selling like crazy, just to steal your money if you be a fool and buy them, copper is a way better conductor of electricity, the old muscle cars used only copper and were super fast, the steel frames just made it look like they were slow, if put platinum/irdium in a old nova it wont even move, it needs copper plugs thats why. now put copper plugs in a small light weight subaru wrx turbo and that car is a rocket. i use copper plugs in my little chevy aveo and gets better gas mileage then with bullcrap hyped up platinum. botton line is dont buy hype products force them out of business, plasmas are all hype and cause you more money and problems, stick with crt tvs (cathode ray tube) a hard glass crystal ball tv.

and a follow up

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true they have a better picture qaulity, remember i never said the old tube was high def, its just built to last 20-30 years where as a plasma cant even go 6 years problem free, and they burn 2 times more power than the average 30" tube tv set. sure you will love the close up picture, but what good is it if you get mad a throw the remote at the screen or you get in a argument with your wife and smack the screen, its done. there are alot if plasmas in landfills and counting, they will one day out number the tubes thrown away. if i see a 1997 42" NEC plasma tv($25,000 when new) anywhere on this earth that still runs and plays perfect, i will give the owner my entire bank account thats how confident i am plasmas/lcds dont last, they just lowered the price because of supply and demand. it only cost $125 to build the average 42" plasma. when tubes were made, it was very hard because of the reinforced glass. but yeah plasma play better they just wont last and will destroy the planet worst when thrown away then a lead filled glass tube.

can't get pissed at your wife and smack the tv

-10

if you care about the picture in any way, you will not buy a LCD, you will buy a plasma screen. i'm not being biased, it's the truth. everybody that says LCD has as good picture as plasma (let alone better) is just simply wrong. there are other valid reasons to buy LCD over plasma, but picture quality isn't one of them. also motion handling is just impossible on LCD. you will never get the cadence right (as according to film).

not to mention you can get a plasma three classes bigger than LCD for the same price.

plasma's superior as long as you are good about having the diodes refilled every six months. if you don't want that hassle and can tolerate (slightly) less favorable pixelation attributes, lcd will be sufficient. how many colors does your current cathode ray drop?

how much television do you watch? plasmas these days are specced to last at least 60000 hours before the picture starts to deteriorate. don't even get me started on the "black level" of lcd screens, clouding etc...

  On 1/20/2010 at 2:27 PM, LOL Alzado said:

plasma's superior as long as you are good about having the diodes refilled every six months.

this is a joke, right?

http://www.avforums.com/forums/plasma-televisions/1149423-re-gassing-plasmas-plasma-lifespan-information.html

If you're getting LCD go with Samsung, they are top notch and if you are not connecting to a sound system their speakers are a bit better than the competition these days. The 120hz for 3D is not a deciding factor, you will need a new set for that when it hits the market. It does make over the air broadcasts pop in my opinion, especially analog channels.

if you are using your new tv for gaming, lcd is a safer choice as plasmas can suffer from screen burn.

CAN suffer. under extreme conditions - like tens of hours of games with bright static graphics. and it's not even real burn, but just image retention, that can easily be reversed. i'm serious, do some research.

i got a plasma a few months ago and since then i had people over that bought LCDs recently. and i'm talking proper LCDs, not the low-end stuff. they were sad. don't make the wrong choice.

but if image quality isn't of crucial importance to you, then LCD just might be the right technology. they consume less power, the screens are less reflective and... err... i'm sure there's some other benefits i can't think of right now :)

Speaking as an owner of a Samsung LNS4041-D LCD and having advised friends to go w/Samsung LCD's - they are good, but would still suggest getting a plasma if you're going to be using this for primarily movie watching.

Plasmas tend to have better blacks and perform better in semi-lighted environments. I think a lot of advances in tech between when I got my TV and now have reduced many of the issues with burn-in - contrast ratio DOES make a difference so go for the highest one you can find.

Agree w/the poster above about the 120hz tv's - don't plan on them being future proof for 3d apps. Too much vaguery about what tech exactly will be the new standard for 3d, so I'd wait until something has been decided.

If you do go w/LCD - Samsung's are great. Solid, affordable, choice, have been 99% pleased with mine (though, again, will get a plasma when I do upgrade).

Panasonic Elite's are the end-game though - fuckers are shit-hot awesome.

I had a plasma screen. The diodes leaked all over the place. Never again.

anyone know if LED based LCD are any good?

  On 1/20/2010 at 4:22 PM, azatoth said:

anyone know if LED based LCD are any good?

segment LED backlit LCDs are definitely the best LCD screens out there, but they're *really* expensive. blacks are supposed to be comparable with plasma's. however, the fact remains that there are far less LED segments as there are pixels. that, i read, can result in funny looking effects if the scene is black, with just a few bright objects.

LED edge-lit LCDs are no better than conventional LCDs, they can even have less uniform "black" (gray).

again, plasma.

whatever you do, get your info from reliable sources. people like kokoon have no idea what they're talking about but have a plasma agenda just to reassure themselves about their own purchases.

if you're considering plasma, take into account the refraction rate, the crystal to pixel ratio, and the refresh dynamics. on a top end plasma set, yes these factors will be optimized and you'll get an hd boner every time you switch it on. but, assuming you're budget is not unlimited, you need to research these variables before unwisely making a purchase that you won't be satisfied with. the kid at best buy should have more knowledge about these specs than somebody like kokoon. just don't go spending mega bucks on something with poor battery life and diminishing refractive qualities because you were feeling impulsive.

  On 1/20/2010 at 5:01 PM, LOL Alzado said:

whatever you do, get your info from reliable sources. people like kokoon have no idea what they're talking about but have a plasma agenda just to reassure themselves about their own purchases.

 

if you're considering plasma, take into account the refraction rate, the crystal to pixel ratio, and the refresh dynamics. on a top end plasma set, yes these factors will be optimized and you'll get an hd boner every time you switch it on. but, assuming you're budget is not unlimited, you need to research these variables before unwisely making a purchase that you won't be satisfied with. the kid at best buy should have more knowledge about these specs than somebody like kokoon. just don't go spending mega bucks on something with poor battery life and diminishing refractive qualities because you were feeling impulsive.

I've been a happy plasma owner going on 5 years now (50" LG) - my next TV will be a plasma as well. There are some nice LCD TVs out there for sure, but you can't beat the image quality of a plasma for movies, sports, and gaming. If you're watching standard-definition TV mostly, and aren't concerned about image quality, then any LCD really will be fine.

are you guys serious? the only real options going forward are LED and TPC chassis. you get stupid good photoreal and motionreal output on either, 3000x magnification per pixel, a 45hz AVERAGE refresh matrix, solar burst glare optic technology, and over 1 million square microns of liquid magnesium Heisenberg cells firing a pretty much infinite array of bosons per second. my LED makes plasma look like a flipbook drawn by a 2 year old, recorded at 90 btus on an old 1940 black and white redenbacher movie-tron, then played back on a dial-up 92k password-free cable login. seriously.