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Author Topic: High Def TV's. Which would buy? Jeremy Weigel Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1062 From: Edmond, OK, USA Registered: Mar 2007 posted 02-11-2010 12:15 AM                     Recently have been looking at buying a high def tv and just can't come to a decision and now with the addition of LED sets I am even further from making a decision. So which of the 3 types; plasma, LCD or LED; would you buy?  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 02-11-2010 01:18 AM                        Jeremy, I am only familiar with a LCD HDTV because I have one and not too familiar with the other type. I suppose they are also good and I know others who know the difference will chime in with their opinion. I used to be a SONY man and only bought that brand everytime I bought a TV but for some reason, I purchased a Samsung 1080p HDTV and is very happy with it. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-11-2010 02:03 AM                        We have a Toshiba LCD 52" and I think it's great. No complaints. No experience with the LED models...although given my experience with LEDs in flashlights and theatre aisle lights, I'm not so sure I'd spend a lot of money on an LED TV.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 02-11-2010 08:21 AM                        Technically speaking, LED sets are not a standalone technology. You have LCD sets made with LED lighting and you have LCD sets with compact fluorescent lighting. The LED-lit LCD's tend to have better black levels than compact fluorescent models, but Plasma sets still have the best reputation for that as well as overall picture. LCD sets also tend to look artificially sharp (and if you stand up close, they kind of look like a blocky video stream). I have a 42" compact fluorescent LCD and a 61" LED-lit DLP. I prefer the DLP.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-11-2010 10:16 AM                     Not all LED back-lit LCD televisions are created equal. The less expensive models (such as the ones sold by Samsung) are only "edge lit" using White LEDs. They do sport better color accuracy than the LCD televisions back-lit with cold cathode fluorescent lamps. And they consumer significantly less power. Unfortunately, those same TV sets have a more narrow "sweet spot" of viewing angle and suffer from uneven brightness levels and blue-tinged blacks in imagery. Some higher end televisions, such as Sony's Bravia XBR8 model, are back-lighted using Red, Green and Blue LED clusters. RGB LEDs will provide a wider color gamma range, superior black levels and better viewing angles. Naturally this approach costs quite a bit more money. I'm "in the market" again for a good quality, large HDTV set. However, I'm not going to buy anything to truly replace the 52" Sony Bravia XBR4 TV set stolen from my home a few days ago until a good number of the 3D capable HDTV sets arrive in stores. Panasonic and Samsung may have 3D capable models in stores by this Spring and Sony plans to have its new line of 3D capable Bravia TV sets in stores sometime during summer. Meanwhile, this past Sunday I bought something more modest just to get through the next few months: a 40" Samsung Series 630 LCD-TV set. It was on sale for around $875 at Sears (no interest & no payments for 1 year). It's a 120Hz TV set with 4 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, a LAN port and computer monitor port too. The TV set's picture quality is pretty decent, but not nearly as good as my previous Bravia XBR4 TV set. Black levels aren't nearly as deep and the color quality is just more electronic looking than natural. But that's what you get with an entry level HDTV set.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-11-2010 01:03 PM                        Samsung offers both edge-lit and back-lit LED models. Their 8500 series for example is back-lit.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-11-2010 02:06 PM                     Plasma - still the best, but not terribly energy efficient according to some. Others would argue differently. They usually cost a lot more and put off more heat. LCD - Tend to suffer from poor contrast when compared to plasmas. Color can be uneven at times, especially on less expensive or store brand models. Beware of contrast ratios that look to good to be true. Manufactures are cheating by "inking out" black pixels, a technique that works well for still images, but not for video. LED - Basically, its still an LCD tv, but the method used to light the lcd panel is different. As Bobby mentioned, not all are equal. Look for local dimming, a feature which selectively dims or turns off LEDs located in a region of black or dark picture. This feature will dramatically improve contrast, as the light behind a black pixel can be turned completely off. Some reviewers say that the experience can be comparable to plasma. If I were in the market to buy today, I would choose the high end Samsung LED. Personally, I'm holding out until 3D for the home calms down a little. Right now, I don't want to be stuck with something that requires active glasses, as all the sets currently on the market do. This is the model I'm drooling over at the moment..  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-11-2010 05:01 PM                        Local dimming can greatly improve blacks but it has its own issues. There are only a very small number of locally dimmable LEDs relative to the number of screen pixels. Basically local dimming is done in zones on the screen. From what I've read, this can cause a "blooming" effect around certain images, like white text on a black background. It'll look like the letters have halos around them. I think Vizio claims ~900 dimmable zones on their local dimming sets.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 02-12-2010 04:17 PM                        Local dimming can also cause a problem where the sensitivity of when a particular area should be dimmed can be questionable. Take any scenes of a starry night. Some sets will remove the stars from the image because there is so little light in that part of the image, the circuitry believes that it is completely dark and therefore decides to dim that area too greatly, resulting in no stars. I bought a 40" Sony 40V5100 for ~$900 back in August and it's not perfect, but since it was for a living room TV setup and not my primary movie-watching location, additional cost for more performance wasn't necessary. It took me some time to dial in the settings to a point where I was happy with the picture quality, but I'm happy enough with it for the purpose it serves. If I were looking for a primary movie watching display, I'd be more selective. The higher-end plasmas would definitely be worth looking at, but then you're talking $2000-$3000 for a 50+ inch set, which isn't pocket change. Watch out for the Panasonic Viera sets that are elevating black levels by design after so many hours of use: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1167339  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-14-2010 12:32 AM                  I find it interesting that older film prints lose the blues and greens and turn red, while older CRT TVs lose the reds and the pic dims and turns blue/green. I have a 10-year-old Panasonic 34-inch, 16x9 HD CRT-type TV that I LUV. It's provided me great trouble-free service and many hours of enjoyment. However, in the last 2 months, the picture has dimmed so much that it's now unwatchable even in a darkened room. I've checked around and the Panasonic service centers want a little over $2000 to install a new picture tube...YIKES! So, the Panasonic is headed to the recycling center and I bought a LG 42" 120Hz conventional LCD flat screen and a Sharp AQUOS 40" LED/LCD flat screen. The LG is on my bedroom wall opposite my bed, and the Sharp is mounted on the ceiling over my bed...Ummm for "artistic" entertainment... Totally happy with both!  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-14-2010 08:02 PM                        quote: Scott Jentsch Watch out for the Panasonic Viera sets that are elevating black levels by design after so many hours of use I have a Panasonic TC-P54V10, aka Viera. It has floating black levels or ABL as some refer to it. The TV can do some things extremely well but the floating black level is a really a major distraction.  |  IP: Logged

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