Advice on new LCD 1080 purchase (1 Viewer)

[Bsmooth]

I've looked and looked and from what I've seen it looks as if it comes down to Samsung or Sony. Basically it should be either a 42" or 46" 1080i.
If you have any suggestions for which model or even a different brand let me know. I will also have to upgrade my DVD player too.The toshiba that I got because of the advice of this board is still working great,but it won't play HD DVD's.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !

 

[GeorgeAB]

My advice, if your primary objective is picture quality for video and movie programs, would be to get a Panasonic or Pioneer plasma instead. There are still too many imaging deficiencies generic to LCD when put up against a well designed plasma.

 

[Bsmooth]

Well I basically decided against a plasma quite awhile ago.There very expensive,and they give off quite a bit of heat also.But the one thing is the built-in life expectency.Granted the LCD may not last either,but I've just never been that impressed with the Plasma.
Even is side by side comparisons,I didn't see much of a difference.Then again I'm comparing it to my regular TV which is not the greatest picture,so anything in comparison would look really good.

 

[Todd H]

Bsmooth, if you are definitely going LCD, then the Samsung **71f and Sony XBR4 sets are very nice sets. You can't go wrong with either.

I own a Sony 52XBR4 and couldn't be happier.

 

[allprolab]

I recently purchased a samsung 40" 1080p and am very happy with it.

 

[Tyoneon]

Hi Bsmooth,

My research seems to indicate that the two best panels are the Samsung 81-series panels and the Sony XBR 4/5. The Samsung HL-T4681F is an LED panel and supposedly has awesome blacks for an LCD. The 71-series Sammys are supposedly good, but not as good on blacks as the 91s. The Sony many consider to be not quite as good as the 81 series Sammys, but maybe a bit better then the 71-series Sammys.

 

[Audioman321]

kWell the 1080p tvs are better than the 1080i, Philips 42PFL7422D/37B 46" 1080p tv is very good tv, you can have a look at it. BTW I have got to know a coupon on tvs from onsale.com you can have a look there.

 

[Tyoneon]

I have never been a big fan of Philips TVs. They are king in Europe but here there are many better choices.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Most of the Samsung LCD's have the glossy screens which result in a lot of glare if the room isn't dark. If you want a glossy screen and can minimize light in the room, the plasmas are probably the better choice.

 

[Tyoneon]

Hi,

I would generally agree with that although I must admit the Samsung 81-series is better then most plasmas with the exception of the Pioneer Elites of course.

 

[Billy Fogerty]

Your still much better off going with a Panny plasma. Much more bang for your bucks. Rated no. 1 in consumers.

 

[Stan Welks]

What should I look for in the specs when comparing 46-50 inch 1080p LCDs?

Resolution - what should be the resolution at this size?

What else?

Thanks.

 

[marcIs]

if you look @ home theater mag the did a review of the 81 series samsung, and it did'nt do so well. the off viewing angles arn,t so good. I would look at the pz77 panasonic plasma or the new modles the 80 series. the have a life of 80 thousand hours and are light reflective. and unless you play games 10 hours a day 7 days a week i would not worry about burn in. lcds in the 46 plus size also get hot and use a fare amount of power. plasma is way better then lcd in every way

 

[andrew markworthy]

It would be fairer to say that they're commonplace in Europe. They aren't necessarily universally critically admired, although some of their sets get good reviews (and justifiably, as far as I can see).

Bsmooth - I think there are two basic issues here. In spite of my love of LCD, I agree with the comments that a top of the range plasma is better. It's better provided you've got tons of cash to spend and can live with the thought that within a couple of years a TV with the same specs will be available at a quarter of the price. But at the sort of price most of us are prepared to pay for a TV set, you have a stark choice - lower resolution plasma or higher resolution LCD. I've yet to see a budget or even mid-range plasma that has the screen resolution of an LCD, one to one pixel mapping, 24 fps, etc. The blunt truth is - you won't find one. I think the only reason for automatically always preferring plasma is if motion blur really seriously bothers you.

The other issue is the question you first asked - Samsung or Sony? Why limit yourself to these two makes? If it's on what they look like in the store, then be very careful, my friend. Although some will say this is heresy, the truth is that in a TV showroom, all sets can be made to look pretty damn good, provided they have a decent picture source and have been reasonably tuned in. I may be preaching to the choir, here, but if you're basing your findings on what you've seen in a store, be very very careful. It could be just the way those specific sets were set up.

The issues I'd say matter are these:

(1) 1920 x 1080 and progressive is essential - if it ain't this, it ain't Full HD, and no matter what anyone says, any lower resolution screen reproducing 1080p is is in effect cutting corners and, well, 'lying'.
(2) one to one pixel matching is essential - again, without this, no matter what other virtues a set has, it ain't showing you truthfully what the source is producing
(3) good upgrading of SD signal is essential - SD is going to be with us for some time yet, and you have to live with it; there's no point in having a handful of great looking BD discs or high def broadcasts and the rest of your viewing looks like Albanian daytime TV circa 1980.
(4) 24 fps is useful but not as amazing as some folks claim
(5) separate picture memories for different inputs is very handy, but again, not perhaps essential

I'd personally say - choose the one you like with attributes 1-3 and if it has 4+5, that's a bonus.

 

[Bsmooth]

Well for my Birthday,my wife got me a small viewsonic 20 LCD HD set and I must say on regular (non-HD?) programming the picture looked terrible.I tried and tried and it still looks awful.
maybe after this I should be asking myself why I even want a HD set If thats what regular programming looks like.
Especially now with the first led sets coming out I hear they look pretty good,but for sets to come down to the level I can afford it will probably take quite awhile.
You say be careful by going by what I see in the stores,well I'm not sure what else I can go by,other than what others tell me about what they have or reading material or views on here and in published material.I also try and go by Consumer guide and that usually puts Samsung and Sony near the top.
So what sets make SD material look good,most look pretty bad from what I've seen. I'm not even sure whats sets have one to one pixel matching or how I would know if it has it.
I'm definately going the 1080 not 720 despite the fact I'm only looking at 42"or 46" size range. So who has good reviews other than here on what sets would be a good buy?

 

[Patrick Sun]

If you would relax the 1080p requirement, you might find that there are some 720p sets (mainly plasma) that do a decent job on displaying SD material, and still look pretty good with the 1080i and 1080p material, I can only attest to my own personal Panasonic plasma set (720p, 768x1366). But I would be surprised to find out that the current 1080p LCD models can do an acceptable (in your eyes) job on 480i or 480p SD material (probably see macro-blocking or artifacts when you are looking at SD material), though you might want to take a look at the 1080p plasma models and see how they handle SD material.

Since I've been watching more HDTV programming, and that's mostly in 720p and 1080i, than BDs and HD DVDs, my choice of a 720p plasma hasn't detracted from my viewing enjoyment that much. Over the summer, my viewing will probably lean more towards a closer 50/50 split between HD TV programming and BD/HD DVDs.

If you watch a lot of 4x3 SD TV on DVD sets, you might have to get used to how SD material looks on 1080p LCDs if you go that route, or look at lesser resolution sets that do a better job at displaying the DVDs/HDM for your particular viewing patterns.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I agree totally with this advice of Patrick's, and this was a point I hadn't fully considered. FWIW, on my set (Toshiba 37X3030 - I think you could get this model in the USA, perhaps under another name), SD material when broadcast at a low bitrate [all my TV viewing is via digital satellite] has a tendency to show the problems Patrick describes. They're not overwhelmingly awful, but they are there. To me, this doesn't matter, because these programs form a very tiny proportion of my total viewing, and it tends to be programs where picture quality is not exactly paramount (e.g. shopping channels, local news and weather reports). But if a high proportion of your viewing is going to be of this type, then perhaps a 720 set might be worth considering.