# New TV



## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

I am planning on purchasing a new tv in the future and needing some help deciding. How important are name brands? I believe I will be looking for a 1080p LCD tv. In the 50-55 inch range

The hz rating on the tvs what is that relatd to? it will be mainly used for blu ray movie watching, watching tv and occasional gaming.


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

Brand names are important. Stay away from names like Dynex, Element, etc. 

Regarding the hz ratings, I suppose you are seeing ratings posted that say 60hz, 120hz, or 240hz. That refers to what is known as "motion blur". That is, how fast does the tv react to fast moving scenes, such as might be seen in sports. The 60hz is the slowest, 120hz is much better, and 240hz is supposed to be the best, but from what I've read, the 240hz does not offer a big enough increase in performance to offset the higher cost over the 120hz. BTW, plasma is faster than LCD.


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## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

Ok after doing some reading I notice there are
Plasma
LCD
LED-LCD 
and now
3-D

I currently have a plasma, and have had experience with an LCD TV. Is the LED-LCD worth the price difference?


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

LED-LCDs worth it? It depends... there are a couple types of LED technology. One just substitutes the traditional backlight bulb with a LED array. Makes for a thinner TV but not much else. The other has "local dimming" that purports to dim the LED backlight elements in small groups to enhance black levels. With the regular LCDs and the first type of LED-LCDs the entire backlight is on all the time so the black level depends on how dark or opaque the LCD crystals get. They are never totally opaque. With local dimming the backlight is dimmed behind black parts of the picture so there is no light to leak through, supposedly enhancing contrast. Having said all that I have never myself done a critical comparison to see if the higher advertised contrast is worth the cost.


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## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

Plasma vs LCD which is better?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

lcd's are cheaper to run

plasma has deeper colours and are a lot cheaper to buy

i have a samsung 55 inch led,with the white leds and the picture is A1

the newer samsung leds are different colour leds which is supposed to improve it even more i have not seen one so don't know how much improvement it makes


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## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

Saw a 55'' Vizio today VF551XVT is the model number. Looked really nice and reasonably priced i thought. Any word on the Vizio brand


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

i do not know it
we have a large number of brands here people buy from the factory cheap
have their own name put on as the brand and then are able to sell cheap online because they have no overheads

it has forced the shop prices down

the panels from these cheap brands usually come from the big manufacturers


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

Another thing to consider is how the TV operates, like how fast it changes channels. For instance my Samasung 52" LCD changes channels very rapidly. I can hold the channel button down and the tuner will rapidly go up or down, without waiting for the picture to appear. This is great if you want to scrolll to a channel up or down 5 or 10 places but don't want to enter the number directly. Then there is my Panasonic LCD in the workshop.... it will only change one channel at a time and it waits for the picture to come up and stabilize. So scrolling up a few channels is agonizingly slow. If you can, try the ones you are considering out in a store.


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Visio's are good TV's. 

Dai is correct. They started out buying panels from other mfgr's but now have grown so large that they are telling the mfgr's what to make. (Still don't make them but that's not really a concern. Most brands do not mfgr their panels either.)


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## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

Now considering between a

Sharp LC-52LE810UN 52-inch 1080p 120Hz LED Edge-lit LCD HDTV
vs
VIZIO VF551XVT 55-Inch XVT-Series TruLED 240 Hz SPS HDTV

both comparable in price the Sharp runs a bit more expensive. I would prefer to buy it in person and currently only have found it online.

I personally saw a Vizio in Costco and thought it looked great. I feel I go a little better impression of it because Costco was only running TVs and only 10 nothing else unlike best buy who runs tons. I also was able to see the individual HD cords to each. I actually haven't seen a Sharp Aquos in person so really don't know if it is to be fully considered. Should there be another brand/model I should consider.


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

Look at Samsung. They are probably more expensive. 

Keep in mind, in a store the sets will be turned up to "torch" mode to compensate for the light in the store. The pic will be different when you set it up at home.

Do a search for "top tier tv" and see if anything come up.


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Also check out the warranty differences. If you add the price of the BB extended warranty - off times necessary to match Costco - you're usually better at Costco. (BTW: I don't usually buy an extended warranty - rip off price wise and difficult to exercise. If electronics is going to break its going to happen in the first few months. I did buy it for my DLP TV because I knew I'd get my $ back on bulb replacement.)


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## OutlawFirebird (May 14, 2010)

oh thats a tough call to make, both are great tvs. the sharp has a higher contrast ratio, while the vizio has a higer hz. both would be great tv's. 2000000:1 for the vizio, while the sharp has 4000000:1. which seems like now there are always making newer models with higher contrast ratio and higer hz. like the infinia lg with 10,000,000:1 and 480hz. In a way it kind of sucks, not that long ago, I bought me a 47lcd. then a year or so later these tv's start to roll out.

Out of those two tv's. I would have to go with the sharp. but not by much.


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

Comparing contrast ratios is useless. The reason being is because there is no uniform standard. TV manufacturers can claim just about anything they want when it comes to contrast ratios.


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## ukbsktbll (Oct 9, 2003)

So saw a Sharp Aquos the other day. It looked good, but hard to tell which I like more because the big name electronic stores don't seem to carry Vizio so I can't see them together. I know most of the employees in these stores are biased, and often enough not too knowledgeable so hard to trust them. Why have I only seen Vizios in stores such as costco, target, and walmart?


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## BuckeyeSeabee (Jun 10, 2010)

I just recently bought the new Samsung 55" 3D LED, and I won't get to see it until December at the earliest. I'm in Kuwait, but my old projector died on my girlfriend, and I'd planned on upgrading when I got home anyway...

...anyway, I went with the LED because I have it in a room with windows, otherwise I'd have gone with a plasma mostly because of the much faster refresh rate. I like plasma a lot, prefer it even...but only in a very dark room, like a bar or a basement. In a room with even one window there's just way too much glare on a plasma screen. Had it not been for the LED coming out, I'd have bought an LCD over the plasma.

My girlfriend and my family are very impressed with my new TV, which is just under 1" thick, even on non HD channels they say its like looking through a window, the characters stand out into the room and the picture has intense depth. I feel confident I made the right decision. I also eBay'd it from a dealer for almost a grand off the sticker price, new in box.

If you have a spare room of about 2000 cubic feet (not square feet, cubic feet is smaller) that has no windows or you can board the windows up and want to make a theater, get the biggest 3D 1080p HD plasma you can find, a 3D Blu-ray player, and a THX Select2 Plus Certified 7.1 channel receiver and speakers, and prepare to be blown away. And if you're living on my budget you may have some money left over for some bean-bag chairs.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Naw, if I was builging a home theater I'd go with a projector. MUCH bigger picture.


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