HD Televisions

[Johnny]

I soon plan on buying an HDTV (ntsc), something flat and widescreen and 32" or above. Anyone have any recommendations? Tips on things to stay away from?

[curman]

Samsung = :monocle:

The only downside to our Samsung HDTV is this annoying blue LED at the bottom. You can't turn it off or undue the bulb anyhow. We had to put a piece of tape over it. It was terribly distracting when trying to watch a movie.

Also I've seen a few good Sonys (Though I'm not sure how well those perform personally).

You're pretty smart, stay away from unknown brands like TVMASTERZ and DIGITALCOOLIMAGES. Just get something well known and established, and make sure it has a warranty. Also most places like Best Buy or Circuit City will offer to install it and wall mount, so you can usually save on that if you want to wall mount it. I wouldn't go mounting it though unless you're 110% sure you want it there for a good long while. Otherwise there will be 4-6 screw holes in your wall.

[Thrik]

Basic stuff:

• 
  [*:1xo98olg]Cheaper and more obscure brands/televisions will have poor black levels, which completely ruins dark scenes in films and games as what's meant to be black really looks dark grey
  [*:1xo98olg]Plasma has the best blacks, period
  [*:1xo98olg]The Pioneer Kuro (plasma) has the best black levels of any television, but is probably out your intended price range
  [*:1xo98olg]The Panasonic VIERA sets (plasma) have the second-best black levels of any television, and there're more affordable models
  [*:1xo98olg]Sony and Samsung are definitely leading the LCD side of things; seeing as they both have a range that covers many budgets, you're probably best off sticking with those if you're not going plasma
  [*:1xo98olg]Plasma is at its best in darker conditions, LCD is at its best in lighter conditions (helps to hide inferior black levels)
  [*:1xo98olg]Pay close attention to the specified resolution of a television; just because one is 'HD Ready' and supports 1080p doesn't mean it can actually show it in its full glory — if the television's resolution is only 1280x720, any 1920x1080 (1080p) images will be resized down

Hope those tips help steer you.

If I were in your position I'd be looking at a Samsung or Sony LCD for anything below 42 inches, and a Panasonic VIERA plasma for anything of 42 inches and above.

[Johnny]

Great advice, thanks guys. Have either of you hooked up your HDTV to your PC using an HDMI cable? Or at all? Hows that look?

Edit:

Hows this one look?: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... escription

I know Wal-mart may not be the best place to get a tv, but their prices are better than Circuit City and Best Buy

[Sentura]

the contrast ratio is pretty bad on that tv. if i were you i'd go for at least 5000:1, which is half as good as a regular plasma screen. 20 watt speakers is alright if you dont plan to plug in some speaker system yourself. that being said, how much are you willing to spend on a tv? no doubt you could find a better tv for a lower price than that one probably.

personally i have a LG that works like a dream, 5000:1 contrast which is amazing, and 30 watt speakers that can go louder than i can withstand listening to without being noisy.

[curman]

yeah that contrast ratio is really low. even my monitor is a 3000:1.

[Thrik]

Another thing I forgot to mention is that when looking at contrast ratios, try to find out if it's native or dynamic.

A dynamic contrast ratio basically lowers the actual light behind the panel to achieve darker blacks, which has the side-effect of also darkening everything else. They try to balance it so you don't notice, but with stuff like game HUDs it's usually quite obvious (or they can screw it up as the TV's algorithm will always see that big, light HUD and stop it from going darker).

A native contrast ratio is how well it can display contrast between black and white without any special tricks, which is definitely ideal. Dynamic contrast ratios aren't to be avoided, but it's good to aim for as high a native ratio as possible. A TV with a dynamic contrast ratio will also have a native contrast ratio, of course.

In general, most LCDs have dynamic contrast ratios and plasmas have native ones. This is because LCDs are inherently not so good at producing true blacks without severely compromising detail or whites, while plasmas can do it quite comfortably nowadays — even rivalling/beating CRTs.

[Sentura]

Another thing I forgot to mention is that when looking at contrast ratios, try to find out if it's native or dynamic.

A dynamic contrast ratio basically lowers the actual light behind the panel to achieve darker blacks, which has the side-effect of also darkening everything else. They try to balance it so you don't notice, but with stuff like game HUDs it's usually quite obvious (or they can screw it up as the TV's algorithm will always see that big, light HUD and stop it from going darker).

A native contrast ratio is how well it can display contrast between black and white without any special tricks, which is definitely ideal. Dynamic contrast ratios aren't to be avoided, but it's good to aim for as high a native ratio as possible. A TV with a dynamic contrast ratio will also have a native contrast ratio, of course.

In general, most LCDs have dynamic contrast ratios and plasmas have native ones. This is because LCDs are inherently not so good at producing true blacks without severely compromising detail or whites, while plasmas can do it quite comfortably nowadays — even rivalling/beating CRTs.

usually this is said when viewing the tv specs, and will be very visible from the images. on phillips tv's they have ambi lights on the back. you can get lcds with "native" contrast up to 8000:1, which is fine considering that plasma tv's are 10000:1. the downside of buying plasma is that plasma cells are short lived and you could find yourself buying a new tv within a few years again.

[Thrik]

It is true plasma cells degrade, but they've not been short-lived for a while now. Ones from the past year or so will easily manage over 20 years if used for 6-10 hours per day, and that's not even total death — that's how long it takes for them to operate at half their original brightness. That's well above and beyond expectations IMO, and they're pretty much on par with what an LCD (and a CRT) manages on an hour-by-hour basis.

It should be noted I'm not a total proponent of plasma televisions. They have their own drawbacks, mainly their inability to be produced at smaller sized satisfactorily and their higher power usage — I wouldn't recommend a plasma for anything below 42 inches.

However, plasmas did receive a lot of negative press in their earlier days that's still etched into people's heads despite not being true anymore, which causes them to overlook some of plasma televisions' key advantages. I'm just making sure everyone understands those advantages. The old criticisms of plasmas not being able to produce bright images and that they die early are simply not true. LCD isn't the only technology that's moved forward dramatically during the past few years.

[Mazy]

I've had 2 Bravias and I've loved both of them. I was researching on loads of TV's before I bought each of them, and I always came to the conclusion that Sony's were the best. They might cost a tad more in some cases, but I definitely think its worth it.

The new 2008 line up has some pretty crappy design though, so I'd wait for them to release the new ones (W4000, if they aren't out already) and then get a W3000 (The one I've got) cheaper. It generally feels like you'll always get something solid, even in the lower price ranges of Bravia's, although you gotta be careful and check the specs so you dont get one without HDMI or Component (Some of them have some wacky specs).

That said there's plenty of other good ones, Samsung is probably the best if you're not looking into spending a lot on it and you're looking for something fairly small (40" and under).

And again there's probably gonna be the morons that say that if you wait you'll be able to get it cheaper, but with that mentality you'll never buy anything

[Nysuatro]

I have always heared that samsung is quality. We have one at home and we don't complain.

[Johnny]

Here is the tv I went with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... bLN-T4061F

SAMSUNG 40" 1080p LCD HDTV

Screen Size: 40"

Recommended Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Viewing Angle: 178°(H) / 178°(V)

Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 10000:1

Response Time: 8ms

Thanks for your help everyone

[Buddy]

I gotta buy this for my pc

[Zeta]

I have this, 47 inch. I'm not sold on HD at all to be honest but regular DVD's definatly look blurry in comparision to bluray's on it.

I think bluray will be a dead format in a couple of years though due to it being the prefered format for no reason whatsoever + digitial distibution = future.

Oh and i actually really like the blue light myself.

[Cybbe]

It is true plasma cells degrade, but they've not been short-lived for a while now. Ones from the past year or so will easily manage over 20 years if used for 6-10 hours per day, and that's not even total death — that's how long it takes for them to operate at half their original brightness. That's well above and beyond expectations IMO, and they're pretty much on par with what an LCD (and a CRT) manages on an hour-by-hour basis.

It should be noted I'm not a total proponent of plasma televisions. They have their own drawbacks, mainly their inability to be produced at smaller sized satisfactorily and their higher power usage — I wouldn't recommend a plasma for anything below 42 inches.

However, plasmas did receive a lot of negative press in their earlier days that's still etched into people's heads despite not being true anymore, which causes them to overlook some of plasma televisions' key advantages. I'm just making sure everyone understands those advantages. The old criticisms of plasmas not being able to produce bright images and that they die early are simply not true. LCD isn't the only technology that's moved forward dramatically during the past few years.

Another downside with plasmas is the insane amount of heat they generate. They get rather hot, not necessarily the tv itself, but if you have it positioned in a small(ish) illventilated room, it'll easily heat up the entire room with prolonged use. I've managed to do that on seperate occasions in the winter with no heat on the radiators while watching tv-series with my dad. I'm sure that aspect has gotten better with newer models as well though. But they do generate a fair amount of heat :x

Still though, plasmas are pure awesome. And they really aren't shortlived anymore. My mom's plasma is about 5 years now and is still excellent. No visible reduction in quality at all. Sadly, I can't afford one of my own