[GSurge]

Hi there,

As I am the only tech-savvy person in the household, I have been tasked with finding a new TV.

Here are the criteria:
<$500
<30" (for portability)
Good audio/high volume
Looks good with both cable and video game systems.

Other than the buzzwords surrounding LCD TVs, I know nothing about them. I don't even watch TV. Can anyone tell me what specs or brands I should be looking for? What should be avoided? Thanks.

 

[WaxMan]

My girlfriend and I just bought a new 32 inch lcd. It was on sale at Best Buy during their fathers day sale. We paid about fifteen bucks shy of five hundred. It is a Dynex. Resolution is 780p, it has two HDMI inputs. We compared the picture to a Sony Bravia 32" and we couldn't discern any noticeable difference. A lot of people are going to tell you that you need 1080p but 780p is just fine, the human eye can only see so much. I mean if the picture looks good to you than you can be sure that it's good. I would make sure you have at least two HDMI inputs, one for cable, and one for a dvd player. Other than that there really isn't much else to it. It's all subjective when it comes down to it. A good site to check out would be CNET.COM, they have a lot of good reviews, and information to educate you before you buy. Anyway good luck, and enjoy your new tv!

 

[intoflatlines]

1080p/720p won't make that much of a difference with that size screen anyway. If you were to go bigger (42"+), I would recommend 1080p. Read reviews online and stay away from models that are reported to have dead pixels.

 

[ZepFloyd]

someone on this site has this one...uofmtiger i think? is this a pretty good brand/tv? Home Theater: Westinghouse LVM-42w2 LCD HD Monitor

 

[c8h8r8i8s8]

I work at Best Buy. Get a Samsung. They have higher contrast ratios (better color), and more inputs/features than any other tv on the market in that size. Check CNet or Consumer Reports, they will tell you same thing.

They make some Sonys that have just as good of a picture, but you pay a lot more for the Sony name. Check out reviews on Amazon, CNet, and Consumer Reports. In your price range you are probably going to be looking at the Samsung 4-series, more notably, the A450. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Not that I am pushing Samsung on you or anything, I just believe that they make the best TV in this size (trust me, I look at them all day).

 

[intoflatlines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by c8h8r8i8s8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I work at Best Buy. Get a Samsung. They have higher contrast ratios (better color), and more inputs/features than any other tv on the market in that size. Check CNet or Consumer Reports, they will tell you same thing. They make some Sonys that have just as good of a picture, but you pay a lot more for the Sony name. Check out reviews on Amazon, CNet, and Consumer Reports. In your price range you are probably going to be looking at the Samsung 4-series, more notably, the A450. Feel free to PM me with any questions. Not that I am pushing Samsung on you or anything, I just believe that they make the best TV in this size (trust me, I look at them all day).

High contrast ratio doesn't mean better color. You rely too much on that e-learning crap they feed you.. Contrast ratio is actually a measure of the difference between the brightest and darkest color that the set is able to produce. Lots of manufacturers brag about huge contrast ratios, but the fact is that contrast ratio testing is not standardized so you really have no idea how they came up with their figure. Also, it is known that some manufacturers use the value of the TV when off for their black level, which is very misleading. Some even call their dynamic contrast ratio their true contrast ratio.. A high contrast ratio only means that the difference between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks is large but it doesn't mean it has good color.

Since you work at Best Buy, you should know that all of the TVs you guys have set up are on their brightest (vivid, etc.) setting which results in really really bright images with lots and lots of saturation. Of course you would think that Sony or Samsung look the best, they have some of the brightest factory settings! The truth is, when you take it home it will look absolutely ridiculous and oversaturated. If I were to take my calibrated plasma and put it on display at an electronics store next to all the other plasmas, everyone that saw it would probably be thinking "what's wrong with this TV?". But, if you brought one of the display sets to your living room and tried to watch a movie with the stock settings it would look terrible. The factory settings for TVs are designed to be bright and colorful to catch your eye. They are very poor for actual use though.

I'm not trying to put you down or anything, but how can you seriously start your recommendation with "I work at Best Buy."?

In all seriousness, Samsung TVs are great, but not because they are the brightest and most vibrant and have the highest advertised contrast ratio of the TVs at Best Buy.

 

[mrarroyo]

intoflatlines, how did you go about calibrating your unit? Thanks.

 

[leftnose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif intoflatlines, how did you go about calibrating your unit? Thanks.

I know you didn't ask me but I went to:

Display Devices - AVS Forum

and found the thread on my TV series (Samsung LNxxA650) and followed the suggested settings. Very easy!

I love how when I went into Best Buy the salesman insisted that I needed an $80 HDMI cable to get 1080p video. While this is somewhat true (protected content from a Blu-Ray for example), HDMI is really only truly necessary for the new HD audio codecs. Nope, this salesman had "been to training" and knew "for a fact" that I couldn't get 1080p at all from component cables. My receiver doesn't support HDMI and I run two-channel in this room so I can't even use HDMI. Telling him that wouldn't even make him back down!