Topic: Tell me about LCD televisions

[gpw11]

I'm looking to buy one.  Probably in the 40" range because everything else is kind of too big for where it's going to go.  1080p is important, but having looked at some demos of 120Hz, I think I can pass on it.  What should I know/think about?

I was considering Samsung, but someone mentioned that they have the same panel problem.  Then I remembered how much I worried about that with my monitor and now have no way of knowing if it's the good panel or the bad one, leading me to believe I probably wouldn't notice.

[iPPi]

1080p at 40" is negligible.  If you want to be able to experience 1080p at its best, probably 46"+ would be better.  Otherwise you can probably make do with 720p and not notice any difference.

60Hz vs 120Hz -- it's noticeable, but it's not a BIG difference.  A nice to have, if you can justify the extra cost.  When I picked up my 52" LCD last year, the price difference between a 60Hz and a 120Hz screen was about 750-1000 dollars more.  I passed and picked up the 60Hz. 

I have a Samsung and it works fine.  I did get a lemon though; the first one I got ended up have a column of pixels stuck in green after about 2 weeks of use.  Went back to the store and picked up a replacement.  It was a minor hassle.

The new Toshiba and Samsung screens are quite amazing.  I was at Future Shop a couple weeks ago and took a look at their new panels and was amazed and how good they looked, with a great viewing angle and stuff.  Plus, prices are very reasonable nowadays.  I think you can pick up a 46" Toshiba for like $1700 or less if you look around.

[gpw11]

1080p at 40" is negligible.  If you want to be able to experience 1080p at its best, probably 46"+ would be better.  Otherwise you can probably make do with 720p and not notice any difference.

60Hz vs 120Hz -- it's noticeable, but it's not a BIG difference.  A nice to have, if you can justify the extra cost.  When I picked up my 52" LCD last year, the price difference between a 60Hz and a 120Hz screen was about 750-1000 dollars more.  I passed and picked up the 60Hz. 

I have a Samsung and it works fine.  I did get a lemon though; the first one I got ended up have a column of pixels stuck in green after about 2 weeks of use.  Went back to the store and picked up a replacement.  It was a minor hassle.

The new Toshiba and Samsung screens are quite amazing.  I was at Future Shop a couple weeks ago and took a look at their new panels and was amazed and how good they looked, with a great viewing angle and stuff.  Plus, prices are very reasonable nowadays.  I think you can pick up a 46" Toshiba for like $1700 or less if you look around.

Really?  I thought that 40" was getting large enough that a difference would certainly be noticeable. The size thing isn't really linked to price for me, but more linked to the fact that a year from now I have no idea what sort of situation I might be living in, and 40" is basically the largest I think you could possibly fit in a non-entertainment room should that be filled by someone else's massive 52". I'm also not a huge TV person and would almost rather have it in my bedroom. This could end up in a kitchen/second tv room or bedroom.  I'll have to look into this since 720p is hella cheap.

How long has 120Hz been out?  I imagine it's good for sports and gaming, which would most likely be the primary uses and I'd almost want to get it just for future proofing purposes.  Also, I can realistically go a while before making this purchase.  I plan on getting it around the same time as a PS3, and that's something I probably shouldn't get into until after next semester at least. These things drop in price pretty often?  When do 2009 models usually hit? 

[Cobra951]

I'm sorry to disagree, but resolution is resolution.  Do you think the difference between a 1024x768 LCD monitor and a 1680x1050 LCD monitor matters?  The second one is 22" diagonally.  Shouldn't even 1280x800 be overkill on it then?  Of course not.  It all depends on how good your eyesight is and how far you sit from the screen.  Granted, people normally sit further way from TVs than PC monitors.  Should you give up the choice to sit closer and see more detail?  I would not.

There's one very easy way to see if a TV has a crappy TN panel.  Get your head below the screen and look up at it.  Did the colors go completely to shit?  Don't buy it.

Be sure to learn what the native resolution of the LCD panel is.  Many TVs are advertised as 1080p compatible, but they have panels with a resolution like 1366x768.  They scale whatever is fed into them to that resolution.

[gpw11]

Check on the last part.  To clarify on the first, you're saying that it does indeed matter on a screen of that size?

As for the TN panel, I think the problem with it being a lottery is I'd really have no way of knowing until I got it home and opened it up.

[Cobra951]

Yes.  Absolutely it matters, and will matter more in the future.  An average viewer may not care.  Are you an average viewer?  Be honest with yourself.  It may save you money. 

Yeah, buying TVs unseen online is risky.  I'll grant you that.  Maybe you can make the finality of your purchase contingent on a good flat panel.  I do prefer to buy locally, but the price difference is usually high enough to warrant a risk.  I ended up buying this 23" Samsung I'm staring at online.

[gpw11]

Oh, I'll probably buy it locally, but I didn't even think opening a box and plugging it in was an option.  I don't know why it didn't cross my mind, but they'll probably do it.  As for whether or not I'd notice, it's hard to say.  I very well might not, but if I know there is a difference I'll probably even trick myself into thinking I can see it.

[Cobra951]

Obviously, source material matters a great deal in evaluating your perception of 1920x1080 vs 1280x720.  You need 1080p content, or any test would be meaningless.  Most good new TVs allow use as a PC monitor.  There's a way to know for sure what res you're looking at.

You should at least be able to examine the floor sample at length.  If the performance of what you take home is inferior, take it back and show them why.

[gpw11]

That's a good point.  I have no problem complaining, returning, and bitching about something that's different than the display model.  And if both are the shitty version, at least I can judge it from there. I'm not necessarily worried about it because I don't think I could get the problem resolved one way or another, If it's a low quality panel, different from the display model, and I'm not happy with it they'll take it back...eventually.  I'm more worried about it because it'd just be more of a bitch to deal with than anything else.   

[Pugnate]

If you are buying a 40'' LCD, then can you get Samsung. TN panels are terrible, and you can easily avoid one at that size.

[Quemaqua]

I don't know about LCD, because I decided that plasma was the way to go.  I have absolutely zero regrets with this decision, as for my money it's the better option.  So while I can't comment on anything LCD exactly, I can say one thing with certainty: Cobra is right, and also wrong.  Yes, I think you can detect a difference between 720p and 1080p on a 40" screen (mine's 720p and 42"), but the difference is almost entirely negligible during normal use.  Meaning that while you can detect it, it doesn't really matter.  On a screen that size it just doesn't make a striking effect one way or the other.  I'll tell you that 720p on my TV looks absolutely stunning and doesn't appear like it could get any better, be it a Blu-ray movie or game.  It's crystal-fucking-clear and I've seen 1080p screens of the same size running stuff, and I can't imagine paying the price difference.  I got a great deal on this TV and the money saved was far and away worth more than the barely-perceptible difference.  Popular opinion is that 1080p is completely unnecessary unless you're going over 50", or at least that was popular opinion when I was researching TVs (and this was the opinion of total home theater whores, not just your average folks -- a few people had the dissenting opinion that you could really appreciate the difference, but these people were few and far between).  Having done a whole ton of comparison shopping, all I can say is that while the difference can be noted, you have to really strain yourself if you're going to find it.  You aren't sitting as close to a TV as to a monitor for your PC, and I actually sit much closer to it than many people.  Everyone that came out here for the OWmeet had to sit twice the distance from my new TV as me or they felt sick.  So I think the whole argument against 1080p at that size stands well enough.

[Pugnate]

The thing with a monitor is that since you are sitting so close, the difference in resolutions is far easier to tell. While I don't find it negligible at all, I also don't think it matters as much.