School Me on HD TVs

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Paging chavez?
1080P 720P features sizes inputs plasma lcd???

Craig-R · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 19 Dec 2008 Posts: 1676

1080p, LCD with HDMI inputs, i have a sony 42 in. and love it

joedirt00 · Posted: Sep 05, 2009 2:07 pm Post subject:

1080p, 120hz, 4ms refresh. shoot for all those and you should be good to go.

I do hear, but have not seen that Vizio has a 240hz refresh. I don't know how they actually achieve that but it might be worth looking in to. The top model is suppssed to have Wi-fi and network streaming capability.

If I end up moving I plan on looking heavily ito that model for the new house.

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

joedirt00, I think I saw a Samsung with that too... I don't really want to pay a ton though, just looking for something decent that is a good value. I kind of schooled myself on TV's I figure everyone is away for the weekend. Laughing

I'm taking next week off instead haha. Anyway, I found this one and it seems to be a pretty good value (keep in mind it's CDN $$$) http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B002JUZMMK/sr=1-0/qid=1252189388/ref=sr_1_0/184-0842161-5232120?ie=UTF8&searsBrand=core&mqnodeid=493158011

JV · Posted: Sep 05, 2009 3:46 pm Post subject:

ontrider, good choice. It's extremely similiar to the TV I have which is the easily the best one I was able to find for under $1000. The only difference I can see is the contrast rates and response time and maybe the Hz

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9300437&type=product&id=1218079755374

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Yeah, I noticed they have like 4 models in the same series and there doesn't seem to be much difference. Is there any reason you need 4 HDMI inputs vs. 2 or 3?
Also, is there anything specific you need for it to work with those over the air HD antennas? I noticed another neighbour just put one up today.

EDIT: Nevermind... I Just Bubb Rubbing Googled it and got a whole FAQ on OTA TV.

joedirt00 · Posted: Sep 05, 2009 4:30 pm Post subject:

If you ever plan on Blu-Ray, a faster response time would be crucial. 4ms seems to be about the fastest, although I think samsung got one down to 2ms.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

Definitely 1080p

Do you like sharp & bright or smooth & deep?

LCD is going to be very sharp and quite bright. LCD, even at 4ms/120hz is going to have a very tiny bit of motion blur. LCD can have nearly direct light on it.

Plasma is much smoother (softer) and the colors are deep/rich. Blacks are represented better, and there is no motion blur. Plasmas work best when direct light is not present as the glass screen can really show reflections.

LCD is very light weight. Plasmas can be quite heavy.

Enough facts. On to opinion.

My opinion: if you plan to watch a lot of fast moving sports (i.e. HOCKEY), Plasma is the better choice.

If you are in a really bright room, then LCD might be the better choice.

If you plan to watch a lot of action movies, Plasma.

If you just want to watch the news, LCD.

If you plan to use it as a megalo monitor, probably LCD.

All in all it really is up to your preferences. I really am happy with my Panasonic plasma. At 50" it's a hoss, but it is just sick to watch sports on. Watching the OKLA-BYU game right now....awesomes.

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

^^^^ +1... Completely agree!

Before you drop some coin on a new set go to this site and get yourself edu-micated:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

If you do opt for plasma (which I personally think is the better choice) keep an eye out for Pioneer. They announced earlier this year that they are getting out of the plasma business. However, they make the best plasma on the market. I've heard places advertising them for up to half off. If they were in my price range when I bought my Panasonic last year I might have gotten a Pioneer instead.

Boost Deuce · Criminal Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 94 City: Fort Collins

Sony XBR.
I've never seen a picture compare to it.

I have burned too many images into a plasma TV in the past to ever consider it.
And i'm talking 10 minute burn-ins. Thats not very long.

SaveTheMotherland1 · Soul Rider Joined: 23 Dec 2003 Posts: 314 City: Eugene

I got 42' Vizio 1080p LCD with HDMI inputs. Been very happy with my purchase, have it hooked up to my desktop, great for watching video's on interwebs. There's better brands out there but Vizio is a great budget buy, Very dependable and great picture quality for the price. My TV ran me a grand.

Bowen · Posted: Sep 07, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject:

Also, if you care about this stuff, the Plasma is a power hog and get's hot when the LCD...not so much.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Thanks for all the tips and good summary chavez. I'm gonna go out and grab something tomorrow... just have to see how low I can get the salespeople to go Laughing

tonality · Soul Rider Joined: 20 Aug 2004 Posts: 435 City: DFW

i've been digging the new LED's...

http://www.buy.com/prod/lg-47lg90-47-widescreen-1080p-led-backlit-hdtv-120hz-1-000-000-1/q/loc/111/210500707.html?adid=17070

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

No matter which type of set you buy you will be doing yourself a favor if you calibrate it after the break in period. Like Chavez said, calibration will make it more energy efficient, but more importantly it will make the picture better. Knowing that the majority of retail stores will just pull the set out of the box and plug it in, the factories ship the TVs with the picture settings at the brightest. This is so that their TV will stand out in the crowd.

You can pay a professional $300-$1000 to come to your home and calibrate your set. These professionals have access to sub-menus that the manufacturers do not tell the consumer about. You really need to know what you're doing if you get into these menus, otherwise you can really screw up your TV. Retailers like Best Buy offer calibration, but they are not going to access the sub-menus. They are just going to use a computer program that will adjust your primary settings. You can get very similar results by doing it yourself with a calibration DVD like "Digital Video Essentials". I had originally planned of paying a professional calibrator to adjust my set, but I was pretty happy with the results I got using Digital Video Essentials so I just left well enough alone.

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

That's a lot of dough to calibrate Laughing

Samsung 40' LCD = purchased this morning. Thanks for the help.

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

JV · Posted: Sep 08, 2009 8:19 am Post subject:

Nauty, is the DVD similiar to the HD optimizer in Pixar movies (i.e. a handful of bar tests for contrast, brightness, color), or is it more advanced than that?

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

JV, I haven't seen the Pixar tests, but yes, that is pretty much what it is. However, it also includes tests for your surround sound audio as well. In addition, it gives you about an hour long history lesson on broadcast TV which is pretty enlightening as to what benchmarks you should try to achieve when calibrating your TV. It also comes with color filters that you look through when adjusting your color.

The bottom line is that to have a "true" to life picture your TV should be set to the standards that the program you are watching was broadcasted in, not so much what you think looks best. The test patterns in the DVD will help you calibrate your TV to these standards. The overall result is much better than what you would get by eyeballing it. After calibrating your set you will notice that not all broadcasts are equal. It comes down to whether or not the broadcaster is adhering to the broadcast standards.

Example.... the other day I was watching the local pre-game show for the Dallas Cowboys pre-season game against San Francisco. Our local Fox station was doing the pre-game show and the picture looked like crap! Later when Fox's national network took over to show the actual game the picture was awesome! You’ll find that the majority of broadcasts are to the industry standards and if your TV is calibrated as such the majority of the shows you watch will look great.

ctgretzky99 · Posted: Sep 08, 2009 12:40 pm Post subject:

love my lg lcd 42. I dont know the model # but it was their highest end a few months ago (bought in February) I wont buy a plasma because of the kids' vid games. They are CONSTANTLY left on the screen.

No problems, great picture.

AbsoluteZero · Criminal Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Posts: 50