46/47" HDTV to buy this Diwali, which one?

[Vandal]

gsmd, about LG reviews, the only ones I've seen have been of the LD650. Also, regards the 32" SS being good for gamers, I've actually tested an LG 42-inch and found it good for gaming, while the 47" version wasn't. Not that I don't appreciate the effort to help me, it's just that unless it's a review of the identical same panel, it's not 100% representative.

Why aren't you recommending the C750? Or is the 3D thing overrated?

If I were looking to include a good 50" plasma panel in my search, any models I should be looking at? LG or Samsung?
This looks interesting: Samsung PS50C6500, PS50C550 - what's the difference between the two in terms of performance?

Also a small note that might not be important. The TV will be on a stand, about 2-3 feet off the ground. Sometimes I like to chill by simply sitting on the floor and watching TV. Which among LED/LCD/plasma would give me best vertical viewing angles?

 

[adder]

Well regarding the LG i wouldn't pay the premium for the LD650 over the lower end model LD460 just for the tru motion.
The samsung C650 is a good tv and i would pick that over the LD650.

3d is overated,these are all first gen 3d tv,still have lot of issues.

If the tv is kept at 2 to 3 feet you will be looking straight on at axis,so you won't see any difference in viewing angle in lcds the IPS based and the Sony EX700 and above have good viewing angles i.e a bit better then the SPVA based.

 

[Vandal]

So even as a 2D TV, you wouldn't rate the 750C panel above the 650C one? For gaming? I'd hardly use the 3D feature, it's just that I want a good panel...

 

[gsmd]

I am actually getting a C750. But I am still not recommending it for you!

There are a few reasons

1. I am in the tech business so for me the C750 is almost a product experiment.
So my case is different. I actually don't watch much TV, in fact have not had a TV
at home for nearly a decade. I follow the standard dictum of anyone selling addictive products - never get hooked on to your stuff !

2. The offer of BD player and glasses are good but 3D viewing is painful after a while.
Both are first gen, so if you really want 3D next years models will be a better bet.
So you have to discount the 3D utility.

3. When buying CE products price creep is a danger. You have to make a budget and stick to it. In your case, you can get an LD650 with a BD player at about 78k.
A C650 is probably around 88k and you may get a dealer to throw in a BD player.
A C750 on the other hand is north of IL. See what I mean !

Given your mix of usage an LD650 with a PS3 (if you do not have one) still keeps
you with IL but will be of far greater utility. Or spend on a decent audio system with
the extra cash, something really needed to bring out the potential of a good system
(audio on all the above are nothing home to write about). A cheap but good
Class D amp setup with a decent speaker setup will work wonders (head over to the
audio section).

And if you can live with a Plasma and its attendant issues, check out the Panny V or the equivalent Samsung.

Got to have discipline when buying toys ....

 

[Vandal]

Thanks gismo (thanked in post).
I read about plasmas, the burn in, the whole precautions thingy, and the reflective display, and have decided to avoid. My room will be have ambient lighting, sure I have shades on the windows, but I want to avoid a glossy panel as much as possible.

Isn't the SS C650 also glossy compared to the LG LD650? Can you say that the LG will be markedly better at games, due to lack of input lag? Have a basic sound system planned somewhere down the line next year, but I'll probably go for powered bookshelves and maybe use a preamp so that I can provide 2 inputs - one for the TV, one for my PC.

 

[gsmd]

1. Samsung is a little glossy compared to the LG.

2. Gaming lag with LD650 needs to be checked out. The C6x is bad and there
have been enough reports on that. Go a shop with a PS2/3 and try
out the LG. The LG really is much better VFM. Take a MI2 or 3 BD and see
both. Check the action scenes, a few dark scenes and flesh tomes. You should
be able to make a call in 10 min. Set both sets to Movie mode.

3. I do suggest a better setup than teh audio yiu are talking about. E-Zone has a 5 channel Onkyo setup on sale for 15 or 16k. Should be lower elsewhere.

 

[adder]

So even as a 2D TV, you wouldn't rate the 750C panel above the 650C one? For gaming? I'd hardly use the 3D feature, it's just that I want a good panel...

NO they have the same panel,for gaming its best to turn OFF all the motion enhancing processing.

Thanks gismo (thanked in post).
I read about plasmas, the burn in, the whole precautions thingy, and the reflective display, and have decided to avoid. My room will be have ambient lighting, sure I have shades on the windows, but I want to avoid a glossy panel as much as possible.

Isn't the SS C650 also glossy compared to the LG LD650? Can you say that the LG will be markedly better at games, due to lack of input lag? Have a basic sound system planned somewhere down the line next year, but I'll probably go for powered bookshelves and maybe use a preamp so that I can provide 2 inputs - one for the TV, one for my PC.

Well Samsung lcd tvs have one of the best glossy screens even the midrange C5xx ,C6xx,the only other glossy tv that can rival it is the high end Sony HX and LX ,one of the worst are the Sony NX range and some LG models.

Input lag in todays tv is based on the image processing,since the panels themself are quite fast.

Lastly the samsung C6xx is overall a better tv with requard to PQ then the LG LD650.

 

[Vandal]

@ gsmd thanks, some good advice. One thing, about the audio system, I plan on a Wharfedale SW150 with powered bookshelves or if I decide to spend more, a Polk audio 12" woofer along with the bookshelves. Might be Tannoy for BS, or if I can't afford, Audio Engine A5. But that's for later first I need to choose the TV!

Am planning on checking out both TVs tomorrow with some HD and DVD content. Why movie mode? Why not just set everything to custom and then watch? Like colour, contrast etc to 50%.

 

[gsmd]

Wharfedale 150s are great for the price. Stick to them.

Powered bookshelves - which one ?

I suggested Movie mode since you may not have time to do custom setting and
Movie mode is not a bad compromise. And you can go wrong with a quick and dirty custom setting in a shop environment. Just a suggestion to reduce errors in your experiment.

 

[Vandal]

No idea about the bookshelves, but as I said, that's for later. And I have hifivision and you to bug once again, before buying them lol

Yes, I plan to take a notebook, with a DVD movie, blu-ray clips @ 720p and 1080p, and one game.

 

[Vandal]

OK first visit to LG showroom done.

Demoed the LD460 and LD650 side by side. In HD, not a lot of difference, maybe if I was in a room where the lighting was more controlled, I'd see more of a difference. The blackness level of the LD650 might be slightly better, and the lighter colours slightly more neutral. This is while viewing from 5-6 feet away.
From 10 feet away, there was very little difference. It's obvious that showroom guys tweak these models to make the LEDs look better.
Saw the new LED Jazz, as well as the LED 5500 (not sure of the model no), didn't notice uneven backlighting, but contrast seemed mediocre, and picture seemed grainer perhaps.

Saw the new LX9500 series - these are really beautiful, and the 47" was going at 1.5 lakhs (I bargained a bit ) Very neutral colours, no contrast issues, great visibility etc. But I find the glossy displays a bit distracting, even though in my hall, the light source is actually above the TV, and another 90 degrees (perpendicular to it).

Now I need to visit both showrooms with a notebook with some movies and possibly a game, I'm thinking Warcraft 3, because I seem to be sensitive to input lag on it, as it's a fast RTS game. I have DVD files (VOB), 1 DivX, 2 720p clips, and 3 1080p clips.

Any last minute tips before I go to the showrooms (LG & SS)?

 

[csczero]

i wish could test counter strike on those panel to clearly make out the lag

but seriously i m looking forward to your finding on those panels vandal ... will keep looking for ur post

 

[Vandal]

Actually in WC3, there's a lot of rapid mouse movement, selecting units individually, giving them move orders, scrolling while using special powers etc - I don't play CS, but I know WC3 is a pretty good indicator. Can't use the newer games, cause the notebook's GPU isn't too good

 

[csczero]

yea .. lets see .. will be booking my tv in 3-5 days

 

[csczero]

talking about input lag

here is some conversation about response time

What's the slowest "acceptable" LCD response time for gaming - CNET Buzz Out Loud Lounge Forums

 

[wingsoffires]

OK first visit to LG showroom done.

Demoed the LD460 and LD650 side by side. In HD, not a lot of difference, maybe if I was in a room where the lighting was more controlled, I'd see more of a difference. The blackness level of the LD650 might be slightly better, and the lighter colours slightly more neutral. This is while viewing from 5-6 feet away.
From 10 feet away, there was very little difference. It's obvious that showroom guys tweak these models to make the LEDs look better.
Saw the new LED Jazz, as well as the LED 5500 (not sure of the model no), didn't notice uneven backlighting, but contrast seemed mediocre, and picture seemed grainer perhaps.

Saw the new LX9500 series - these are really beautiful, and the 47" was going at 1.5 lakhs (I bargained a bit ) Very neutral colours, no contrast issues, great visibility etc. But I find the glossy displays a bit distracting, even though in my hall, the light source is actually above the TV, and another 90 degrees (perpendicular to it).

Now I need to visit both showrooms with a notebook with some movies and possibly a game, I'm thinking Warcraft 3, because I seem to be sensitive to input lag on it, as it's a fast RTS game. I have DVD files (VOB), 1 DivX, 2 720p clips, and 3 1080p clips.

Any last minute tips before I go to the showrooms (LG & SS)?

Friend even I saw the LD650 and the new Jazz LED LG LE4700. I agree with you. It somehow seemed grainier than the 650. I saw the 650 in 47 inch size whereas the 4700 was in 42 inch size. Also that just maybe the 650 lcd seemed brighter than the LED. Maybe the settings had been tweaked by the dealer. Anyways the best quote I got for the 47 LED was 78.5k.

 

[Vandal]

i wish could test counter strike on those panel to clearly make out the lag

but seriously i m looking forward to your finding on those panels vandal ... will keep looking for ur post

I would rather trust my own eyes and perception than any formula, or even references. Because this is one subject that is highly perceptive.
Will post my findings/perceptions though

 

[adder]

OK first visit to LG showroom done.

Demoed the LD460 and LD650 side by side. In HD, not a lot of difference, maybe if I was in a room where the lighting was more controlled, I'd see more of a difference. The blackness level of the LD650 might be slightly better, and the lighter colours slightly more neutral. This is while viewing from 5-6 feet away.
From 10 feet away, there was very little difference. It's obvious that showroom guys tweak these models to make the LEDs look better.
Saw the new LED Jazz, as well as the LED 5500 (not sure of the model no), didn't notice uneven backlighting, but contrast seemed mediocre, and picture seemed grainer perhaps.

Saw the new LX9500 series - these are really beautiful, and the 47" was going at 1.5 lakhs (I bargained a bit ) Very neutral colours, no contrast issues, great visibility etc. But I find the glossy displays a bit distracting, even though in my hall, the light source is actually above the TV, and another 90 degrees (perpendicular to it).

Now I need to visit both showrooms with a notebook with some movies and possibly a game, I'm thinking Warcraft 3, because I seem to be sensitive to input lag on it, as it's a fast RTS game. I have DVD files (VOB), 1 DivX, 2 720p clips, and 3 1080p clips.

Any last minute tips before I go to the showrooms (LG & SS)?

The LX9500 has issues with the LED local dimming ,which is inferior to the older LH90.
You can also add the 46" HX800 natively has better contrast+ aided by limited local dimming and has lesser reflections,it comes with freebies such as 3d blu ray player and 9 Blu ray discs a pair of 3d glasses and a virtual surround speakers worth close to 60k making the effective price of the tv at 93k.

 

[gsmd]

The LX9500 has issues with the LED local dimming ,which is inferior to the older LH90.
You can also add the 46" HX800 natively has better contrast+ aided by limited local dimming and has lesser reflections,it comes with freebies such as 3d blu ray player and 9 Blu ray discs a pair of 3d glasses and a virtual surround speakers worth close to 60k making the effective price of the tv at 93k.

LX9500 had some reported backlight irregularity issues but nothing that should
be of concern. But it certainly has a full array LED with local dimming, so it certainly does not suffer from any "technology inferiority" compared to the LH90.

W.r.t 3D, it seems more effective on 50 in and above. Not very "immersive" on 46 in.
of course projectors are best when it comes to 3D !

 

[Vandal]

WTF happened to my post????
Anyways, update.
Visited showrooms, saw SS, LG and Sony 46/47" side by side. Sony wasn't calibrated properly, SS had slightly more detail in shadows and blacks. LG had better upscaling (SD seemed to look better. LG also had better quality in fast action scenes, the SS looked noisy somewhat.

Then visited PS showroom. Saw the full HD V20 and X20 and liked them a lot. Prob is V20 50" is 1.18L and X20 is 91K. Decided not to spend too much after chatting with 2-3 members on this forum, and have decided not to let my budget creep. Couldn't check quality of Panny with SD content, but HD looks really nice, good blacks, nice contrast. From 5 feet away, I can notice pixels seeming to swim, or giving the appearance of moving with some irregularity. There was a scene with swirling smoke.

42" V20 is 61K. Pretty decent, except that I want 46/47", if not 50". Need to find out the price of the X20 46".

Might consider plasma too, but have a few queries. Please answer them pointwise, if possible. Will be a big help to me, and to newbies looking deciding between LCD and plasma.

1) Is plasma a dead technology? Is LCD the future?
2) Do plasma TVs heat up a lot, requiring AC in summer? Can my TV get damaged if I use it without an AC in the Delhi summer? Checked back of TV in the showroom, was quite warm.
3) Are plasmas better at SD content than LCD/LED?
4) Which is better for gaming - plasma or LCD? - Lag, pixel response, fast action scenes?
5) Do plasmas have long life? Panny quotes 1 lakh hours. For LCDs it is 60K hours.
6) How is Panny service in India? I know they have a 3 yr warranty, but how is the service?
7) How much of a hassle is a plasma - burn in, break in of the panel, other stuff? I know LCDs aren't plagued with this. I mean, there seem to be a lot of minus points - what am I buying into?