chugs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Hi All. After 3 weeks of searching (very exhausting and time consuming) i've come to three possible displays. My inital criterion were: Plasma, 1080p, at least 42inch, HDMI inputs, good contrast ratio's/colours and for the LCDs a good response time. I didn't want a LCD really but can't afford a current generation 1080p plasma'(and its looks like at least another 12 months before they hit the sub $5k mark) Anyway I was hoping for any comments on the choices. Although price is always going to be the main criteria I am currently leaning towards the Samsung just for its picture alone (and its price is pretty darn good) Samsung True HD 1920 x 1080P LCD Displays 40" LA40F71BX - $3,181 (shop in Melb - Entiquei-store.com.au Sony Bravia KDL46X2000 - about $5100-5500 online traders Sharp 106cm Aquos LC42GD7X - $4700 Bing Lee Samsung. Good: Bright colours, clean and sharp picture, good contrast (good blacks). Shows 1080p. Is in price range ($3k). Didn't notice any pixalisation/noise. Bad: Only 40inch and don't like the stand. Its a LCD. Haven't seen it do SD material. Sony. Good: Top of the line. Good picture. Nice aesthetic. Right size. HDMI, Bad: Expensive, Picture seemed a little washed out. Did not look as detailed as the Samsung (on HD material). haven't seen it with SD material. its a LCD. Sharp Good: right size, a little pricy. Has had very good reviews. Bad: haven't seen it apart from pictures. looks nice, about $1k too much. Uses & Enviroment Viewing distance 3-2 metres (depending on how i feel). Lighting (from very dark to quite bright). Uses: PS3, PC, DVDs, Foxtel etc So yeah any comments. Anyone using the Samsung. Good things, bad things to say about it? What prices did you pay for these sets. I plan to haggle, haggle, haggle and haggle a little bit more. Very surprised that a retailer in Melbourne can sell the Samsung for $3k when i've seen it in the shops for $4500k. My other main concern is playing games on a LCD. With those three displays they are all sitting around 8-6ms response times. Will this cause noticable blurring?
pgdownload Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 About my only comment would be to query the 1080p? Its at a very high premium at the moment and basically nothing broadcasts using it. Foxtel never will & FTA digital HD never will. I only mention it because price seems to be a definate factor in your choice and you could probably half your bill for very little difference in viewing experience? I'll let others comment on the TVs themselves. Regards Peter Gillespie
MikeAusDTV Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 JBHiFi are selling the Hitachi 60" for $5495 - I'm pretty sure this one is 1920x1080 Mike
Anthony123 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Mike... no way would it be Full HD.... i'd go check out the Sharp's... they are best 1080p LCD on the market now!... very nice and look great... im thinking of one too but the 46inch... dont think 1080p at 42inch is worth it.... would make a bigger difference on the bigger panels
attilathepun Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 What about the 46 inch version of the Samsung? RRP is about $5k from memory, so would be low 4's I imagine. I bought a 46X because I preferred the picture on it. The samsung really struggled with anything other than a full HD signal. On FTA TV, it looked awful IMO. Don't forget that the X has a built in tuner, the Sammy doesnt. I think the sharp does? Sony only accepts 1080p over HDMI - what is your desire for 1080p based on? (PS3?)
jonesy01 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I bought the 40" samsung from JBhfi last week for $2850 and I am very happy with it. not so good with a SD signal but it looks great when using eyetv.
offshore Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 How long before that Anti Sharp guy pops into this thread I reckon before 8pm tonight.
chugs Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 About my only comment would be to query the 1080p? Its at a very high premium at the moment and basically nothing broadcasts using it. Foxtel never will & FTA digital HD never will. I only mention it because price seems to be a definite factor in your choice and you could probably half your bill for very little difference in viewing experience? Yeah its annoying but there is hardly anything out there that can actually accept a 1080p signal (the input them self), or if it does its almost impossible to determine for the lack of a proper spec/manual. it seems to me that they only bother allow a set to receive a 1080p signal if its capable of displaying it. I don't mind though with the cash (to certain extent). I dipped my feet with a 42 SD Panasonic Plasma and have really noticed the different with 1080p displays. (secondly there is a heap of content on the PS3 - on top of that technically speaking television/film is actually done in 1080p)....
chugs Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 I bought the 40" samsung from JBhfi last week for $2850 and I am very happy with it. not so good with a SD signal but it looks great when using eyetv. is that the 1080p one?
agent86 Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 I am also looking at purchasing a 40-42" LCD TV. Went to Big Picture People, JB HiFi, Harvey Norman, Clive Peters, DSE, etc. and looked at Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Phillips and Schaub Lorenz. I am considering getting the 1080p models. I have an Xbox 360, but I play games casually. I like the look of the Sony, but considering the other posts about warranty issues I am reluctant. The Samsung and Schaub Lorenz looks good as well. Phillips looks really good but is expensive. Sharp models I find OK. Spending around $4000-5000 for a TV is a bit much, also considering if the TV has issues that is not covered by warranty. I have a 5.1 surround system setup, with a Yamaha RX-V420 ,which does not have optical input. I am considering upgrading to the new RX-V661 around the same time. I was told by a sales person that you can use the coaxial input to get 5.1 surround sound from the Xbox 360, but I think that is wrong. My speakers are rated at 100W RMS. My questions are: 1. Is going for Sth Korea manufactured models good? Do these TVs perform well or they start having issues before end of warranty or just after end of warranty? 2. Upgrade the Yamaha receiver to RX-V661 to get optical input / HDMI? Should I also get a HDMI cabled DVD player?
Owen Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 How long before that Anti Sharp guy pops into this thread I reckon before 8pm tonight. If you are referring to me, I’m a day late, sorry. I have nothing at all against Sharp and have no brand loyally. I happen to have a Sony display at the moment, only the second Sony product I have purchased in 47 years by the way, and in the 7 years previous I have owned TV’s by Hitachi, Toshiba and Rank Arena. You wont find me saying anything complimentary about Sony LCD’s or any brand of LCD for that matter, as its LCD’s I have an issue with , not Sharp. In fact I have been waiting for a digital display without digital issues for 7 years and I’m still waiting. The wheels of progress turn slowly.
PanaSung Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 Mike... no way would it be Full HD.... i'd go check out the Sharp's... they are best 1080p LCD on the market now!... very nice and look great... im thinking of one too but the 46inch... dont think 1080p at 42inch is worth it.... would make a bigger difference on the bigger panels No offense, but I would leave it to individuals to audtion bluray playback on the new 42, and then make their decision. The unit I saw at WOW was awesome{42 1080}, and the 32{which was amongst all the other 32's,37, 40's} had the best PQ, but not the most impact{obviously}.
Owen Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 The 1080 resolution will not be the reason for the perceived quality unless you set really close, like under 2 meters for a 42”. Other aspects of performance will dominate at greater distances, especially if your eyes are going and you cant see screen door on an SD plasma at 2.5 meters.
GTO Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 The 1080 resolution will not be the reason for the perceived quality unless you set really close, like under 2 meters for a 42”.Other aspects of performance will dominate at greater distances, especially if your eyes are going and you cant see screen door on an SD plasma at 2.5 meters. What about the 47" Toshiba LCD with inbuilt STB --47wltt I think it is-I've seen it--looks pretty good to me. Cheers. GTO.
Owen Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 A 50” 1080 display is good to about 2.1 meters, so with a 47” you will need to be a little closer. Even a 70” only gives you about 3 meters to play with.
lukeo2 Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 Hello, this is my first post and I am sorry if it is off topic. Has anyone seen or know about LUBEK 46" LCD TV's. They are on ebay for about $2400 the specs look okay but I'm a bit suspicious of no name brands it claims a Sony panel blah blah it is a lot of screen for the money here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-46-117cm-EMP-46...1QQcmdZViewItem
chugs Posted March 25, 2007 Author Posted March 25, 2007 A 50” 1080 display is good to about 2.1 meters, so with a 47” you will need to be a little closer.Even a 70” only gives you about 3 meters to play with. I've stood 3+metres from the Samsung, comparing it to the other HD stuff i was watching on lesser resolution screens and i could still see a noticeable difference. and yes i'll be under 2 metres at times. but any comments on the prices (have you gotten it cheaper - either of the three sets). any comments on the their pro's & con's (apart from 1080p being useless unless your viewing under 2metres I wonder if i can put a poll into this thread.
Owen Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 All displays look different to one another for various reasons, but on a display of 50” or less you won’t be able to see a deference due to display resolution alone between a 1080 and a 768 display at 3 meters. This is not my opinion but is based on the human visual acuity model, however I have tested my eye sight, which is normal, and it conforms very closely to the model limits. I can only just make out a 1920x1080 alternating line test pattern in my 70” 1080p display at 3 meters, just as the model predicts. I have done similar tests using PC monitors and the results are always the same. People often confuse sharpness for resolution, but they are only vaguely related. A 1080 resolution display can easily look less sharp then a lower res display. Sharpness is all about relative pixel contrast, not resolution. A digital sharpening filter will make an image look much sharper without affecting resolution at all.
chugs Posted March 26, 2007 Author Posted March 26, 2007 All displays look different to one another for various reasons, but on a display of 50” or less you won’t be able to see a deference due to display resolution alone between a 1080 and a 768 display at 3 meters.This is not my opinion but is based on the human visual acuity model, however I have tested my eye sight, which is normal, and it conforms very closely to the model limits. I can only just make out a 1920x1080 alternating line test pattern in my 70” 1080p display at 3 meters, just as the model predicts. I have done similar tests using PC monitors and the results are always the same. People often confuse sharpness for resolution, but they are only vaguely related. A 1080 resolution display can easily look less sharp then a lower res display. Sharpness is all about relative pixel contrast, not resolution. A digital sharpening filter will make an image look much sharper without affecting resolution at all. man i don't think your the anti-sharp guy but the anti-1080p guy. thank you for your posts but i can see the difference in detail. If anything i don't like the contrast on a LCD. its very noticable vs that of a plasma (hence why i really want a 1080p plasma) - but more to the point any comments on the quality of the three choices? also a slight correction. The samsung isn't $4500 at Dicksmith but rather $3500. Anyone else get it for less?
Skiller Posted March 27, 2007 Posted March 27, 2007 The LC42PD7X Sharp Aquos is great for PC input, it will accept a 1920x1080 resolution over DVI and is crystal clear with 1:1 mapping . I'll probably be getting one soon , JB said they could probably do it for around $4260. For more info on the Sharps check out this thread: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=46516
garfs Posted June 11, 2007 Posted June 11, 2007 Need some help please!!!! In the market for a 42" plasma, went to buy the pana 600a today but everywhere sold out. Had a look at the toshiba pd960 - great unit but no digital audio output for my 5.1 system. Not keen on the pana 70a - looks like the fake display TV's at Ikea.... would prefer a swivel stand as well. Any advice please????
wollow Posted June 11, 2007 Posted June 11, 2007 Samsung Q9 or C9? Possible LG DG model, no swivel though. Hitachi with power swivel? That should rock your boat .
garfs Posted June 11, 2007 Posted June 11, 2007 Samsung Q9 or C9? Possible LG DG model, no swivel though. Hitachi with power swivel? That should rock your boat . Thanks for your reply.... would love the Hitachi but has no digital audio output. Haven't given the Samsung much thought, I know someone who has a Samsung LCD and the sound is crap. Whats the pic on it like though? I know it's the same res as the pana but lower than hitachi? I'm considering the old pana with a seperate STB, any opinions on that?
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