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LCD flat screen tv question

nemesis

nemesis

New member
my 12 years old sony tv had heart attack last night! there's no picture on the screen only sound came out. i think it's the picture tubing. instead of fixing it i think i'm getting new tv. went to walmart today and i was looking at the 32" philip and samsung. my question are: the higher the contrast ratio # does that mean the picture will better? what are the spec i need to look for when buying flat screen other than brand name?
 


Check the number of inputs if you plan on hooking alot of stuff up to it. (DVD, VCR, Blu-Ray, Game Consoles) Just compare the TVs side by side and see what picture you like the best for your price range.

You might want to check out LG and Toshiba TV's. They are both good quality and well priced. I work in an Appliance and Electronics store and I am not on the sales floor but I notice what goes out of the door and those two are our biggest sellers and we don't have that many of them come back in for repair.

I would look at going to a smaller "hometown" store. Even if you have to pay a bit more it is worth it for the service you get. At Walmart you will have to send in your tv to get it fixed and you will be out of a TV for a while. The smaller stores usually have a service center and they will be able to get it fixed much quicker.
 
look for these "qualities"
1. 1080p display provides the highest quality progressive-scan picture possible from a high-definition source
2. DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine) dramatically improves picture by enhancing contrast, detail and white balance
 
i'm not planning to hook any other stuff on, maybe a dvd player and that's about it. i was looking at a 19" toshiba and the price and pic quality was not bad at all. it's under $500 comparing to $700 for the other 32". i'll probably end up with toshiba.
 
the philips has a bit better picture (sammy finishes last among the major lcd's for picture quality) philips is one of 2 companies making the whole lcd set (sharp is the only other all others use one of their panels, and some like sony just rebadge the whole set) toshiba is another very good brand, avoid the korean based companies they have lower quality (lg is a pos on the best day) I have been selling and repairing lcd sets for a long time now (we sold them before they were really for home use)
 


In Truth LG is actually the used to be largest LCD and Plasma Panel maker. In which they do supply philips for there panels. They were surpassed by samsung on the lcd side.

Hitachi, Samsung, LG, Pioneer make there own panels.

Not to say in a crunch some places will buy external.

And as far as samsung coming in last....what ratings are you reading buddy.
 
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You could go on all day about which are better, but basically it comes down to 2 things.

1. What are you going to use it for? (If your not going to watch HD programing, why buy an HDTV?)

2. What can you afford. You can spend thousands on a top of the line set, but if you dont have the equipment to support it, or dont plan to upgrade, then its pointless.

Vizio is the set that I bought for the bedroom and it has a nice picture, but I dont use it HD programing and dont plan to, but DVD's look great on it and the quality is very good.

For the price, you cant beat Vizio if all your going to do is replace a tube TV. If you have thousands into a home entertainment system, then I would go with the Samsung.

Best HDTVs (32 inches or less) - CNET Reviews

webracin
 
archemedes said:
avoid the korean based companies they have lower quality (lg is a pos on the best day)
Click to expand...

LG used to be pretty bad but they have gotten much better in the past couple years. Our repair numbers on the LG is more then any other brand but we also sell about three times more sets then any other brand. I would say that out LG sale/repair ratio is much lower then the other brands. We get TV's in from 10+ stores for repair and if you look at the number that we sell to the number we get back it is pretty low.

If you are looking for a cheap but still good quality TV check out the LG's.
 
webracin said:
You could go on all day about which are better, but basically it comes down to 2 things.

1. What are you going to use it for? (If your not going to watch HD programing, why buy an HDTV?)

2. What can you afford. You can spend thousands on a top of the line set, but if you dont have the equipment to support it, or dont plan to upgrade, then its pointless.

Vizio is the set that I bought for the bedroom and it has a nice picture, but I dont use it HD programing and dont plan to, but DVD's look great on it and the quality is very good.

For the price, you cant beat Vizio if all your going to do is replace a tube TV. If you have thousands into a home entertainment system, then I would go with the Samsung.

Best HDTVs (32 inches or less) - CNET Reviews

webracin
Click to expand...

well, like i said i'm not planning to spend over $700 for a flat screen. when i was at walmart the phillip caught my eyes cause of the silver frame and the screen had built in swivel (the screen can be adjust to different position), but was little pricey. the samsung wasn't bad price $698. the vizio contrast ratio # was too low compare to the samsung and phillip. the picture was little lighter for my liking. i think i'm getting 19" toshiba from curcuit city. it's cheaper than all the ^^^. $497. it has all the bell and whistle as the above, but little smaller screen.
 


TCO said:
LG used to be pretty bad but they have gotten much better in the past couple years. Our repair numbers on the LG is more then any other brand but we also sell about three times more sets then any other brand. I would say that out LG sale/repair ratio is much lower then the other brands. We get TV's in from 10+ stores for repair and if you look at the number that we sell to the number we get back it is pretty low.

If you are looking for a cheap but still good quality TV check out the LG's.
Click to expand...

they still have high sales to repair rates, I no longer carry them after last year with a 100% failure rate (and not the same issue)
 
Toofastgs said:
In Truth LG is actually the used to be largest LCD and Plasma Panel maker. In which they do supply philips for there panels. They were surpassed by samsung on the lcd side.

Hitachi, Samsung, LG, Pioneer make there own panels.

Not to say in a crunch some places will buy external.

And as far as samsung coming in last....what ratings are you reading buddy.
Click to expand...

Philips and LG had a partnership (was called LG/philips) and was a philips factory, samsung sources the panel from philips (according to trade papers) samsung did poorly in a few magazines although they were going against higher end sets (Pioneer has plasma not lcd totally different things)
 
To answer the original poster... Contrast ratio is mostly marketing fluff. It describes the ratio of the brightest pixel it can display compared against the darkest... The problem is, that it doesn't describe the ratio of the two pixels when displayed at the same time. (At least that's what I read when I read all about LCD/DLP projectors when I put together my home theatre system)

Best advice, is to just go and look at the picture yourself and judge what you think is better. Numbers can be made to say anything :)
 


My two cents, if it means anything.

Just for some history, remember the company Goldstar? Made lowend electronics? That's the "G" in LG. Just saying. I'm very happy with my LG washer and dryer.

I also had one of the first Samsung products back in the early 80s when the first started selling in the US. It was a boom box and worked really well.

I have a Mitsubishi Rear Projection, HP Plasma, and Olevia LCD. I've helped my parents purchase a Samsung DLP, and I've seen Mitsubishi DLPs as well. Olevias are sold at Office Depot and Target, and price comparable to Vizio. One thing you might want to look for as well is one with a headphone jack. The Olevia is in my bed room. It's easy to block the picture out, but I can't cover my ears else I wouldn't hear my alarm clock.

It comes down to what you're going to watch and what you'll connect. I'd say you want at least 2 HDMIs and 2 RGB connections. If you just watch TV and connect a DVD player, this will cover it. But never say never - I thought the 1 DVI and 3 component connections I have would be enough on one of my TVs, but I wish I had one more to add Blu Ray in the future.
 
well, i didn't get the flat screen as i planned, but my father picked up a nice 40" sony bravia HD tv. yeah he definitly need new tv stand!!! oh well i save money tho he gave me his old flat screen samsung. man this samsung weight like a ton.



IMG_3235.jpg

IMG_3233.jpg


my new tv
IMG_3236.jpg

IMG_3237.jpg
 
Try moving a Rear Projection TV - THAT weighs a ton. Just got a new 65" DLP today, and I moved it myself from the box to the TV stand. I was amazed at how light it is. Heck, the TV stand probably weighs twice as much as the TV!
 
I have found out that Sony tube TV's weigh a ton. I don't know why but they are alot more then regular tube TV's. People are pretty surprised when I tell them that their 47 inch TV weighs under a hundred pounds.
 
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