Good LCD tv's?

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Zake202

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Jan 19, 2008
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Not sure if this really applies to these forums but I'm in the search for a new TV.

My Budget is about $900, I'd like a known brand, around 40-42" and a contrast ratio of around 30,000 Digital.

Any suggestions? I saw a nice Samsung 40" on amazon for 930$ but I'm not sure how good it is or what other deals would compare.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40A...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233188996&sr=8-1

I recently missed a nice 42" Philips off of woot for 650. bummed about that but searching for an alternative.

Any suggestions?
 
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Suggest looking for professional reviews and at avsforum.com...
 
Which samsung?

The specific one I linked is $930 with free shipping.

I'm not sure what stats to look for as far as TV's.

I know when I bought my LCD monitor a few years back I mainly looked at resolution, contrast ratio and MS.
 
Choose plasma, unless you have a specific reason to go LCD...

(I use an LCD, because this TV is employed primarily as a computer monitor and I had lingering concerns regarding burn in. If this was primarily a TV, would have gone plasma, no question...)
 
Plan to use it for my xbox etc, we also leave our tv on a lot, not sure if that matters.
 
If you intend on watching TV/films as well as computer/console use, check out the Panasonic PZ80, PZ85 and PZ800 plasma series.
You should be able to get a 42" in your price range and the pq is amazing.
To get similar quality from an LCD you need spend a lot more and even then you will likely not reach the same pq.

I've been running my 42PZ80B for 8 months now and its unbelievable value for money!
UK TV specs here (you should be able to find the US specs).
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...ml?p=TH-42PZ85B&p=TH-42PZ800B&p=TH-42PZ80B&p=

I use my TV for PC 50% and TV/Movies 50%.
Zero burn in problems, they are very hardy now.
Just go careful during the run in period as you will find advised all over the internet.
 
I'll second the plasma suggestion if it's strictly for TV use, and little to no PC use, unfortunately i'm not current on the very newest plasma models.

But as suggested prior, if you want to know about certain model numbers then head straight over to the AVS forums.

Here's their Plasma forum, and their LCD TV forum.

And if you're still debating on whether to choose Plasma or LCD then here's their general flat panel forum.
 
To be honest, thinking about it now I doubt I'd use the TV for my PC. I have a 19inch LCD and it's plenty for me atm.

Me and my girlfriend mainly watch TV, movies and play console games.
 
Don't go with a plasma if you watch any News channels for extended periods. I was watching Fox news one morning for about 4 hours and had image retention for 3 days afterwards.
 
I tend to leave it on one channel for long periods of time, not news but, things like FOX etc.

What I mainly plan to use the TV for is TV, Movies and Xbox/Wii.

From the sounds of it, people looking for a TV at or under 42" should go with LCD, but anything over should go with plasma.
 
Zepher said:
Don't go with a plasma if you watch any News channels for extended periods. I was watching Fox news one morning for about 4 hours and had image retention for 3 days afterwards.
Click to expand...

How long have you had the set? During the run in period, that can happen.
After 1000hrs, mine seems truly bulletproof.
I honestly havent given a damn how I use for over 4 months now and not suffered at all.

Mine gets left on all night on news channels and all sorts (if I fall asleep on the sofa).
I also now use my PC on it for up to 16hrs in one sitting and it is still like new.
No issues at all ever, nada!
 
Yea, it would be except it's $1500 and my raneg is 800-900.

After reading reviews on the Panasonic plasma's I'm leaning towards them.

The majority of my use goes into regular viewing which is where plasma's seem to shine, also movies.
 
LCD TV's are pointless now that Plasma TV's have basically matured fully. They have better motion handling, better blacks, better for input lag, pretty much better for everything. I bought the Panasonic 42pz80 because it was the best I could find for the money.

Only downfall is they require nuclear power to operate.

Panasonic and Pioneer are very resistant to burn in unlike the other plasma brands also.

The panasonic doesn't look right out of the box. I've spent days getting my settings right:

Cinema mode: change brightness to 53, color 42, color mgmt On, Color Temp Normal, rest default

if you want brighter picture:

Standard mode: 84picture, 43brightness, 45color, color mgmt On, rest default
 
Nenu said:
How long have you had the set? During the run in period, that can happen.
After 1000hrs, mine seems truly bulletproof.
I honestly havent given a damn how I use for over 4 months now and not suffered at all.

Mine gets left on all night on news channels and all sorts (if I fall asleep on the sofa).
I also now use my PC on it for up to 16hrs in one sitting and it is still like new.
No issues at all ever, nada!
Click to expand...

I've had it for almost 4 months now. I have probably close to 1000 hours on it now.
 
Thinking of getting the Panasonic 42" Z80u or Z85u, they are both $900.

I don't understand the differences completely. I know when you turn C.A.T.S off with the Z85(which shouldn't be kept on anyway) it has the same contrast ratio as the Z80u.

It seems the only difference is where the speakers are, and that the 85 has a vga port.
 
Zepher said:
CR is 20K on the 80 and 30K on the 85, isn't?
Click to expand...
They are actually the same panel but the Z85 TV has a built in light sensor that can raise the brightness when the room is light.
This allows them to quote a higher contrast ratio but in reality, you cannot use it in a dark room as the CR will be 20,000 again so theres not a lot of point to it.
If calibrating the set, you dont want auto light functions changing how it looks so you may prefer to turn it off anyway.
 
They are both $900. Just not sure which to go with. I wouldn't use the Cat feature on the
85u.

Any suggestions besides these 2 sets?

They seem like the best bang for the buck.
 
I'd get the z85 cos the 3rd HDMI port is on the side not on the front like the z80.
 
I was about the get the 85.

I had it in my cart at tigerdirect and then realized shipping was $120 so I decided to go with the Z80 from vanns. Free shipping same $900 cost.

I did look at both of these tv's at bestbuy today.

I didn't notice a difference in picture quality but, the Z85 had a camcorder hooked up to it showing people instead of actual tv or blueray so it was hard to tell.

To be honest I liked the Z80's looks a bit more.

It is annoying that the 3rd HDMI is in the front but, I don't think I will have more than 2 things hooked up through hdmi.

Just want to confirm, the contrast ratio of the 80 and 85 is the same right? I know people will say the obvious, that the 85 has 10,000 more contrast but from what I've read that's due to C.A.T.S. being on and automatically changing your brightness etc.
 
Zake202 said:
Just want to confirm, the contrast ratio of the 80 and 85 is the same right? I know people will say the obvious, that the 85 has 10,000 more contrast but from what I've read that's due to C.A.T.S. being on and automatically changing your brightness etc.
Click to expand...

see 3 posts above your post
 
Thanks.

Wish it was lower than $900 but that's already low compared to LCD's of the same specs.
 
go to hhgreg and deal with a salesman. If the first one doesn't work for you go in another day. We got a lg 47 inch for $1000 but added a 5 year warranty for a total of $1300. The sale price was $1250 and he was gona throw in a free stand but they didn't have the one we wanted so they lowered the price to $1000
 
Kinda off topic, but how do plasmas actually display the images and stuff? If their really better in all aspects compared to LCDs how many people are still buying LCD HDTVs.. a 32" samsung LCD HDTV is 900$, a 42" plasma is the same price and better in all aspects? It just doesn't sound right :S, gotto be some kind of catch here
 
itachi183 said:
If their really better in all aspects compared to LCDs how many people are still buying LCD HDTVs.. a 32" samsung LCD HDTV is 900$, a 42" plasma is the same price and better in all aspects? It just doesn't sound right :S, gotto be some kind of catch here
Click to expand...
I'll take a stab at it.

Assuming you've molded this perception based upon what you've read on PC forums. For one, Plasmas till recently were slightly more tricky to setup with a PC (rectangular pixels, overscan etc etc). 2) Up until a few years ago Plasmas were always in danger of burn-in from static images. 3) Plasmas use more energy and heat up like portable space heaters. 4) Plasmas do not come in popular monitor sizes 22" 24" 26" etc so that helped create a familiarity with LCD's.

Those are just a few reasons, i'm sure others here could list a dozen more :p

Plasmas excel with video, especially scenes that call for lots of black/grey detail and motion.
 
Other Plasma advantages:

Deeper blacks, hence higher contrast ratio.
Uniform brightness on dark screens (ie no backlight leakage)
Ability to control individual pixel brightness, so the whole screen or a screen area doesnt have to change brightness to match 1 pixels desired setting.
Plasmas have a very wide viewing angle and are great for viewing from any angle, up/down or left/right.
No colour shift when viewed from an angle.
Colour accuracy is better than most LCDs although good calibration can still help both TV types.
Motion looks a lot better (ie sports) due to the the almost zero pixel response time and thus no image bleed occurs from one frame to the next.
Plasma panels have a half life of 100,000hrs! LCD up to approx 40,000hrs but usually less.

Theres more but I just woke up.
must.. have.. coffee...
 
For a TV. I agree, plasma is better. But I bought a 37" 1080p LCD because it was cheap, light, durable and draws little power. (Important when my living room including AC is all on one circuit).

If you are thinking of Samsung LCD, beware the panel lottery. Look at the version number. Only "S" versions have actual Samsung panels. The "A" panels are AUO panels, the "C" panels are CMO panels.

I have an "A" Panel Samsung LCD, black level is not very impressive. Viewing angle is pretty bad.
 
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