Advice on widescreen monitors, please... (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

I owned a 46" rear projection system a few years ago and thought it had great image quality... providing I was watching color dvd's. Because I am a huge fan of black and white, I was terribly disappointed by the fact that I could never completely eliminate the greenish or pinkish tints that resulted from the three separate guns in the unit. True black and white was never possible. Plus, for all 1.33:1 files, the left and right bars were gray, not black, in order to prevent burn-in.

Now that I am finally preparing to purchase a 42-46" widescreen LCD, I need some expertise from experienced buyers. The units that are on display at Circuit City, Wal Mart, Best Buy, etc. are always (naturally) running 16x9 movies or channels that broadcast in that ratio, and salespeople do not want to hook DVD players into them so that I can test 1.33:1 films, or black and white films. (They should be more willing to do this, as refusing to could lead to a lost sale).

What I need to know about current LCD monitors is:

1) Do black and white movies play as true black and white, with no color fringing?

2) When 1.33:1 films are chosen for play, are the side bands gray or deep black?

My budget will allow for only about $1200.00 for a t.v. this fall (I could upgrade later), so I also wonder if anyone has a suggestion for a decent 42" or 46" unit for that price range. I know nothing about Vizio, the economy brand many discount retailers sell. Any good?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Lew Crippen]

1)Yes—except for blacks on most (probably all) LCD displays not being as black as on a good CRT. For many one of the reasons to choose one LCD over another is how blacks are displayed.
2)This depends on the display. Some are black, some are deep grey and some lighter shades of grey. And on some you can choose.

 

[Martino]

For the problem you are listing, if you have your set calibrated properly, they will adjust the “grey scale” on your set. This will get rid of the greenish or pinkish tints that you were seeing…There are several references here on set calibrations. No matter what new display you get, if you don’t adjust the grey scale, you are likely to see the same probems with the new set as well..