newtolcd

Some LCD questions

I was hoping to get a little advice/information on some of the LCD tvs. I have a hard time comparing them since I don't know what alot of the information means. Heck, it took me 3 days and a few phone calls just to find out that the only difference between the Sony XBR2 and XBR3 is the fact that the XBR3 comes in piano black and costs alot more. (Direct from a Sony rep!)

So, here is my questions. I am buying an LCD, 40-46 inches. Because of lighting, LCD is my only choice, no plasma here.
I had my heart set on a Sony XBR3, but I was looking at the Samsung LN-S4695D and was wondering how much of a picture difference there is with these two. The price difference is big, but I have been told that the Sony name alone makes the price go up.

Also, I have been told that if I buy an LCD tv, but I don't have HDTV cable, then alot of my channels will look even crappier than they do now? I do have digital cable, but I am not interested at this time in moving up to the HDTV for price reasons. I was also then told by someone else that this is only true in some televisions and that the processor in the XBR evens the signal out so I will get at least the picture quality I already was.

I'm in the dark here, and any and all advice and information would be greatly appreciated. With all of the presidents day sales coming up, I would like to have a firm decision in mind of which brand/model I want to get.

Thank you in advance!

ChuckSolo

Re: Some LCD questions

I currently have two LCD sets. A 32" Norcent in the bedroom and a 37" Olevia in the living room. The two sets produce great HD pictures and some of the SD channels are fine, others however, are of poor quality. On each TV I have one dead pixel (inherent on most LCD TVs). But they are not noticeable unless you are looking for them. The HD picture on each is nothing short of spectacular. When viewing "CSI:Miami" the shoreline view shots are nearly postcard quaility. Most of the SD channels are pretty bad looking with some of the independent channels being really bad. The network SD channels aren't too bad though. Make sure you inspect the screen when you buy and make sure that there are no bad pixels.

Mort Corey

Re: Some LCD questions

Don't know who your cable company is, but mine (TW) only charges an extra ten bucks a month for the box and programming.....pretty small charge considering the price of the TV itself. Why buy an HD set and forego the right software?

As far as SD programming, most of the digital stuff on channels 99 and up usually looks pretty good. If you're concerned about how SD programming is going to look on any particular set you might want to buy a DVD (or VHS even better) of an old TV program (circa 60-75) and demo it in the store. It'll give you a pretty good appriximation of what you'll see when the set is in your house.

Mort

SethH

Re: Some LCD questions

Where do you live? Chances are you can get all your networks in HD over the air for free with an antenna.