LCD HDTV Time.. What do you have/reccomend?

[TrueTrials]

Right I've got the week off work and I've been putting off getting a LCD HDTV for long enough now so I've decided to have a look and find out what the best options would be for me

I've had a look around review sites and the like and there seems to be soo many options its hard to even try and narrow a choice down, I went to my local TV place and had a chat with the guy there and he helped me out with a few things that I wanted to know beforehand too.

Things I'd like to know from a gamers perspective are:

Brightness: 500 cd/2 - What's good or bad about brightness levels for gaming?
Dynamic Contrast: Yes (5000:1) - Whats this actually mean, I read higher = better?
Response Time: 8ms - Is this like refresh rate? Lower = better?
Resolution/HD Standard - I read that I probably wont need 1080p for a good few years or maybe some PS3 games..

The TV is for my bedroom where I currently have a 28" Widescreen CRT, the room isn't very big at all so my options are 32" or 37" maybe 40" at a push.

I dont actually have and TV channels on my TV as I have no house ariel or cable in my room so the TV's pretty much for gaming only and the odd DVD (not many) I never had the sound up very high so I'm not going to be needed too fancy sound stuff on the tele either.

So.. which brand's are good or to be avoided, which TV's are reliable or prone to problems etc..

I guess thing main things I'm looking for in a TV are: Picture Quality, Style of the Set and Reliability.

Any help would be much appreiciated (I've looked through the older TV threads and stuff and found some helpful stuff there too)

Also feel free to add pictures of your current TV and opinions etc in the thread too

Cheers Olly.

EDIT: Currently looking at this as a nice set: Samsung

 

[Lastblade]

This topic pops up every other day.

Go for the Sony SXRD, they are very nice, or a nice DLP. Heck, even the JVC HDiLA are pretty awesome for a RPTV. Otherwise, get a flatpanel LCD.

 

[PUNJABEE]

Mitsubishi 62" DLP.

I make love to it every night.

 

[TrueTrials]

This topic pops up every other day.

Go for the Sony SXRD, they are very nice, or a nice DLP. Heck, even the JVC HDiLA are pretty awesome for a RPTV. Otherwise, get a flatpanel LCD.

Yea I relalise the topic gets posted alot but I wanted some specific questions answered from gamers like the repsonse times and stuff.

I'm primarily looking to get a flat panel LCD as thats what I feel safest with, I've seen my friends 50" Sony Rear Projection TV and its pretty nice but I still prefer the look and size of LCD TV's.

So yea Brightness, Dynamic Contrast, Response Time, Resolution etc is what I need to know about.

Cheers Olly

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

this has been posted so many times, and it always ends up as a flame war between smokehouse and thirdkind vs. hdtv noobs, stop being a fucking noob yourself and USE THE SEARCH FEATURE.

Or try google, if you aren't a complete shit for brains.

Damn, seriously you sound like JHendrix.

 

[Lastblade]

I don't know the exact details, but I played 360 on my friend's Sony Bravia (40") and it is very very nice. But he has his contrast set way too high.

 

[TrueTrials]

(I've looked through the older TV threads and stuff and found some helpful stuff there too)

stop being a fucking noob yourself and USE THE SEARCH FEATURE.

Or try google, if you aren't a complete shit for brains.

Erm.. I already said I used the search feature and found a few threads which I looked through but they didn't answer the question's I just posted about..

I also said I've been through google and theres obviously hundreds of things on there but its hard to make comparrason's when I dont know whats good/bad on tech specs.

 

[JHendrix]

Brightness: 500 cd/2 - What's good or bad about brightness levels for gaming?
Dynamic Contrast: Yes (5000:1) - Whats this actually mean, I read higher = better?
Response Time: 8ms - Is this like refresh rate? Lower = better?
Resolution/HD Standard - I read that I probably wont need 1080p for a good few years or maybe some PS3 games..

You want high brightness levels, 500 seems the norm for sets under $2k, but you really can't put quality to numbers without really seeing the set in the store.

Contrast, the higher the levels the better. LCD's, 5000:1 is very good, but again go to the store and check it out. Just set the contrast levels on the TV to the middle setting and check the picture out then. Be careful since stores tend to set contrast levels way too high for display - if you're comparing LCD sets ask to set the contrast level to compare pictures.

Response time - 8ms is really good. You can sort of get away with 16ms, but lower is always better.

Resolution, 1080p is huge resolution wise. The problem I'd be afraid of with 1080p sets is viewing non 1080p content on it as it may not look very good at all. I'd highly reccomend going to the store and checking out what a normal TV signal would look like on the set. Most sets you're going to see in store are 720p sets and look best at that resolution.

For good reccomendations on LCD TV's check out avsforum.com and just read stuff there.

Oh and don't listen to DashK, he's still pissy about being so crappy at fighters, especially 3S.

 

[Phoenix Down]

Just ignore DashK, he's got so much sand in his vagina he could open a beach.


Anyway, I've had a Sharp Aquos 32" for about a year now and it works well for pretty much everything.

And yes, avsforum.com has more information on this than you could ever possibly need.

 

[thirdkind]

"Dynamic contrast" is a total lie. It involves processing that perceptually increases contrast levels, but the native contrast of the panel is still lower than other technologies. LCD manufacturers started doing that because they're getting slaughtered by plasma and DLP in terms of raw contrast ratio.

That said, LCDs are bright, and peak contrast ratio becomes meaningless if you do any appreciable amount of gaming during the day or with lights on. Response times have gotten much better and the latest LCDs are nice displays.

The Sony Bravia XBR models are probably your best bet. Excellent processing with very nice colors thanks to the new type of backlight. Recent model Sharps are another excellent choice.

 

[Baseley09]

The UK models are different arent they?

Best rated in its price range atm is the Bravia V series afaik, the 32".

Samsungs are pretty high street cause they are cheap so lots of gamers bought them for 360.......the Sonys do use Samsung panels i think but the tech is superior behind.

 

[NeoDragoN]

Just bought this, its coming Saturday can't wait!

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/index~modelcode~JVC-LT40DS7B.htm

 

[TrueTrials]

The UK models are different arent they?

Best rated in its price range atm is the Bravia V series afaik, the 32".

Samsungs are pretty high street cause they are cheap so lots of gamers bought them for 360.......the Sonys do use Samsung panels i think but the tech is superior behind.

Yea I can't find XBR's anywhere in the UK and the ones you mentioned seem to be the equivalent model over here, but the less stylish S series is meant to be alot better technology and cheaper to make no so they cost less..

I've read up a bit more about the samsung and your right about the 5000:1 contrast thing, its apparently meant to be divided by 5 so about 1000:1 like other TV's..

JVC's seem to have the same resolution but 6ms response time so they look like a good choice too as mentioned.

Cheers for them help guys, its helping know whats what a bit better here..

 

[steve11]

response time for LCD is pixel change time, idealy in grey to grey, but some companies (cough sony cough samsung cough) cheat like crazy on it.

Think of it as an 8ms ping in an online server. Hardly an issue in most situations, but frustrating as fuck in an FPS/Fighter where you depend on frame to frame data and get "wtf was that" moments.

 

[Asmoday]

This topic pops up every other day.

Go for the Sony SXRD, they are very nice, or a nice DLP. Heck, even the JVC HDiLA are pretty awesome for a RPTV. Otherwise, get a flatpanel LCD.

Last I saw the SXRD sets started at 50" so thats a bit bigger than he was looking for. I do like the Bravias though. I also would look into Hitachi. I didn't read too much into them when I was looking for a new set last year since I pretty much decided on a SXRD or DLP, but the few Ultravisions I saw in stores were nice looking. Only down side I saw first hand was the screen looked like it might be rather reflective in a bright room with uncovered windows. Other than that they looked really nice.

 

[TrueTrials]

Last I saw the SXRD sets started at 50" so thats a bit bigger than he was looking for. I do like the Bravias though. I also would look into Hitachi. I didn't read too much into them when I was looking for a new set last year since I pretty much decided on a SXRD or DLP, but the few Ultravisions I saw in stores were nice looking. Only down side I saw first hand was the screen looked like it might be rather reflective in a bright room with uncovered windows. Other than that they looked really nice.

Yea the sizes are way too big on both the SXRD and the JVC ones..

I'm currently looking for the equivalent Sony Bravia XBR series in the UK the thing is I way prefer the look to Sony's V series to the S series but the S series is newer, uses better components and cheaper?

I also read some good reviews about Dell TV's theres a very nice looking 37" one over here for £999 delivered thats an option for me too, my Dell 17" LCD Moniter is really nice and stylish already.

Link: Here