Which HDTV do you have and why?

[Gavin Allan]

Sony 32" and it ROCKS!

 

[Jeff Jolley]

The two that I have are:



First is a 50" Panasonic Viera Plasma that is two years old, fantastic, crisp picture and handles fast motion flawlessly. Almost like looking out a window at whatever you are watching. The support from Panasonic is amazing and software updates are free by download from the internet.



The other is a 52" Samsung LCD the picture is nice, very bright whites and seems to have more of a 3D aspect but the picture is not as clean and the colors are not as natural looking as the plasma. The main reason we chose the LCD this time is that there are alot of windows in the family room and it handles glare much better than the plasma.



Again make your choice based on your opinion of the picture not by what other people think.

 

[Doctor CAD]

YOU CANNOT JUDGE A TV AT THE STORE.



TV mfgs. have a "torch mode" to make their sets stand out. You will never use that mode at home, step 1 in my Samsung owners manual tells you to take it out of that mode.



Buy one that you can return.



Calibrate it.



See if you like it.



If you have a BluRay player, I will lend you my calibration disc to get it set up right, if not, look at www.tweaktv.com for close settings. A high-dollar TV will look like crap if not calibrated and a cheap TV can out-perform a good one.

 

[swshawaii]

doctorcad- Well said, but, side by side comparisons aren't possible at home, unless you buy one of each. Very unlikely. All manufacturers calibrate and adjust their TV's for brightly lit showrooms. If you compare the "Picture Mode" options with an identical ISF calibrated panel, the settings are DRASTICALLY different. Factory defaults for brightness and contrast/picture modes are set excessively high. HD flat panels are designed for HD sources. The biggest adjustment people have to make after viewing their CRT "dinosaurs" for so many years, is viewing NON HD 4:3 content. My 20 year old analog Sony XBR tube looks FAR better than my Pioneer Elite Pro-111HD Plasma watching NON High Def material. Stretching the 4:3 picture to fill the 16:9 screen degrades the picture even more. There are several inexpensive Blu-Ray Calibration DVD's available. " Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics", by Joe Kane, is widely used and available at Amazon for $16 w/ Free S/S Shipping.

Rodger, thanks for a fun and useful forum. Enjoy !!!

 

[Dingo]

I have a 50" Panasonic Plasma, a 32" Sanyo LCD, a 26" Vizio LCD, a 22" Vizio LCD, a 32" Magnavox CRT, and a 19" Sanyo CRT.



The Panasonic kicks ass, and the Vizios are a close 2nd and 3rd. To me, a Plasma has the best contrast and picture, and the 600Hz processor makes the fast (NFL) action not look like crap.



That being said, don't decide based on what any of us say. Use and trust your eyeballs.

 

[swshawaii]

Amen, Dingo ! :banana:

 

[Richard L]

Most reviews rate the Samsung as the best in most screen sizes.



I just bought an LG 55" LCD HDTV 120Hz. I puirchased the LG because it had very good reviews and ranks up there with the best - Samsung, and I got a great deal on the price with free shipping....Cheapest price I found anywhere.



I think Samsung is the only one who currently makes an LCD TV with LED backlighted screen but they are expensive. Most conventional LCD TV's use a flourescent backlight which works fine, however Samsung's LED backlight has a white LED for each LCD pixel and each LED can be dimmed individually. This gives much darker blacks (contrast) and allows for more subtle details in the darker shadow areas of the image..



If Panasonic makes and LED backlight LCD TV it must be a new model and I have not seen or heard any reviews on it, bu the Samsung has been making LED/LCD TV's for over a year and have the best ratings of any LCD TV.



Samsung has the best rated TVs, while LG and Panasonic have several in the top 10. Sony comes in with only one LCD TV ranked at #10.



I don't think you can go wrong with a Samsung, Panasonic, LG or even a Sony...I just have not much luck with Sony. They have great pictures, but they don't seem to last very long in my house? My new 55" LG is replacing an 8 year old Sony 51" that died about a month ago. I had to have it fixed within the first month I owned it... That was my 4th Sony TV and my last Sony.



...Rich

 

[swshawaii]

From their inception, their are only FIVE manufacturers of flat panel screens, LCD or plasma. Not sure about LED. Samsung, who has supplied Sony's LCD screens from day one. Others include Matsushita (Panasonic), LG, and Hitachi, and one more out of China, which supplies Vizio and others.

I did NOT mention the use of surge protection. The single most important add on after your flat panel purchase. They have "saved" MANY TV's due to power outages, voltage spikes, lightning strikes, etc. Most offer "conditioning" and "filtering" as well. Don't confuse a $10 power strip with a true surge protector. Most start at about $50, and have an guarantee that covers the equipment plugged into them. The Monster Cable HTS800 can be found at Amazon for $34 with Free S/S Shipping.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Roger,



Our only HDTV is a rear-projection 1080p Mitsubishi, 55". It is old, circa 2001, and doesn't support HDMI or any of the new-fangled imputs.



But, it has low power consumption, and it still looks great in our home theater area which is in our basement, therefore dark all the time.



If I were going to replace that TV tomorrow, I would do so with a DLP-based system, because I don't need a TV in that room that can hang on the wall. Would look COOL, but I can get 20% more picture for almost 1/2 less the price by going with DLP rather than LCD.



I wouldn't get plasma as it has simply become the betamax of HD.



That leaves LCD. I'd get an LCD if I were going to hang on the wall, or put along a wall in a tight, bright room. However, if not needing to hang on the wall, and putting in or having placed around the TV some large wall unit, then again, I suggest DLP for the price.



For the money, I think the Mitsubish DLPs are still about the best deal in HD.



Regards,

TJR

 

[Richard L]

swshawaii,

Yes, there are a limited number of LCD panel manufacturers in the world, but that does not mean all panel are the same in quality or features just because they were made by the same company or even in the same factory. TV manufacturers must specify exactly what they want in their LCD panels and then agree on a price. If Samsung makes LCD panels for Samsung as well as most other brands, is probably why Samsung LCD TV's are so highlty rated, and perhaps why they have a goo one year jump on the LED backlight and the other brands are just getting started?

...Rich

 

[Carey Frennier]

Monday last week we bought and installed a LG 47" LED LCD TV. We chose LCD because it's better in high light areas. We bought a full motion wall mount so we can watch it from our living room or kitchen or ....from outside on either side of the house if we wanted too!



We liked this LED better than Samsung or any other LED because the entire back of the unit is LED lit instead of just the border of the screen.



We chose 240Hz. We chose this for the speed while we watch a lot of action movies or gaming.



We chose 1080p because we wanted the best possible image.



We chose this TV also because it had some of the darkest blacks we could find on a LED LCD.



We chose LG because it was a better deal and value combined with nearly flawless consumer reports. I originally had made up my mind on a Samsung but this one model won both myself and my wife over.

 

[TomT]

Just get one with the price and features you want. Don't worry about LCD or plasma. The differences between the two is very minimal these days. I'm looking to get a new HDTV that will operate through my home network with my computer so I can enjoy downloaded content on my computer on a large screen in my living room. Anyone else have that type of setup?

 

[Carey Frennier]

Everything in my house is now on a wireless network and I can pull just about any contect from my computer onto the TV. This is done with my Xbox 360. My brother actually hooked me all up when he was up for my wedding.

 

[swshawaii]

Richard L- Good point. Wasn't implying ALL panels are the same. Nothing further from the truth.

Picture quality is achieved using quality components and strict QC.

One mfgs. "engine", will make a TV vastly superior to another, using an identical front panel.

I understood this when I bought my Elite Plasma, I was buying NEC mfg. single pane glass.



TJR- Always loved the DLP image quality, particularly "skin tones". Somehow, people are CONVINCED they need a FLAT panel, when fewer than one third actually wall mount them.

Am still apprehensive with the Mitsubishi "Diamond" Series DLP's several years back. Had at least a 50% FAILURE rate after LESS than one year. Even a "class action" lawsuit involving hundreds of customers. (Google, "Mitsubishi Class Action Lawsuit") Not isolated to one single problem, either. Color wheels, cooling fans, condensation, to name a few.

Dropped the line after Mits refused to warranty their product. Other thing with newer RPTV's is the "user replaceable" lamp that costs between $150-$300.

VERY suspect life expectancy of 6000 hours. Had a few customers replace them after a little more than 6 months, in a controlled environment. Lamp warranty is 90 days.

(Average use 4 hours per day, A/C always on) Thanks.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I bought one of the last flat CRT HDTVs that Best Buy sold. I think I paid $169 on closeout. Beautiful picture and 25-inches. I don't watch much TV, but when I do I enjoy it. Sure, it isn't a home theatre, but then I just can't justify the cost when I only watch one or two hours of TV per month.

 

[Johnny O]

Sony because my uncle worked at a Pittsburgh TV station for many years (recently retired) and told me that virtually everything they had was Sony because it was the shiznit.

We have an LCD because the smallest plasmas are 42" as I recall and that wouldn't fit in our living room.

Also I was told that sports and action look better on an LCD, which was like, the main reason we got a hi-def.

 

[Galen Burden]

Panasonic 50" plasma. Trouble free for 4 years.

 

[Doctor CAD]

wow, lots of "under-educated about HDTV" posts here.



Number one is that LG has ever made anything good.



LG is Gold Star from Korea, the same people that brought us the $8 toasters and $59 microwaves a few years ago. Now they make quality TV's???



LED is only for the backlight.



LCD (even at 60 hz) will do sports just fine. Lots of people that get 120 hz or even 240 hz sets turn it off quickly because it looks "funny". Lots of people say plasma is best for sports, but I watch hockey and its fine on LCD.



LCD typically work better than plasmas in direct light, but only because LCD's have matte screens and plasmas have high gloss screens. Even that is changing. If they had matte screens on plasmas when I bought my Samsung, I would have bought one.



SD will suck on any HDTV, get used to it.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Doctorcad,



Just came from Tokyo. Asked several Japanese what they thought of Samsung since I just bought my wife a Samsung smart phone. They said Samsung is a cheap, inferior brand. Sounds only like a step above LG.



Personally I try not to be a brand snob. I own several Samsung LCD computer monitors.



My brother swears by Toshiba LCD TVs.



Brands can be important, I guess...but as many said above...there are only a handful of LCD screen manufacturers. There was a time I wouldn't buy a Westinghouse or a Vizio, but now I might get a Vizio.



TJR

 

[David Ponder]

To be fair, and for disclosure, I work for Sony Electronics (on the repair side) and I do speak with authorized servicers several times a day. I do feel that Sony is the best TV brand, but I would rather everyone make their own decision.



Here are a couple of tips for purchasing any brand. (Just my opinion)

Call up a local factory authorized servicer...

- Ask them what brand they see the least for repar?

- Which ones do the see the most for repair?

- What brands have parts readily available if a repair is needed? Which ones dont?

- Ask them for their opinion on which brand performs the best?

- Will the brand offer in home service, or would you have to send it off for repair?

- If you were to have a problem, which brand would offer the best customer service in your area? (For this one, searching online forums may be a good start)



All this said, once you narrow it down to a few brands, then you might do a side by side comparison and decide which one would best fit your needs for size, input connections, features, your budget, and best picture. Then shop for the best price for your choice.



Again, this is just a suggestion.