So, my TV is really old (albeit still big) but my dad decided to get a new one. I know absolutely nothing about TVs, so it would be great if I could get some help from fellow humpers.
Basically my requirements are:
50+ inches
LCD or LED, I don't know what is the best ATM
the price doesn't matter that much
I have an edge lit LED, basically the same as LCD, but just much thinner (<2,5cm) and it consumes less energy it just does not get a bit warm! Picture quality is amazing at 1080p,47" . Use it as my main computer monitor too.
So... I'd recommend something from LG But most important thing, go out to any big electronic store and look at the TVs for yourself. I found some full-backlit LED TVs from philips nice too. What did not impress me at all -> Samsung. And not even sony. My uncle has a 50" 3D TV from sony and I think it looks ugly
Have you experienced the "burns" that LED have? I mean if you watch a certain channel for a long time, the logo of the channel gets "burned in" and is visible on other channels?
No there is nothing like that on my tv. I'm using it for windows usage and when you work productive, you'll have a lot of text or symbols at the same position. And sometimes I actually fell asleep and the TV was on for several hours and there is nothing like that
BTW it were the old plasma that had the burning problems... even newer plasmas need up to 400W while mine doesn't even need the half of that at full brightness! And it can be REAL bright
+ my lg has a really nice matt surface, you won't see any sucky reflections
Basically the cheapest LED 47" from LG. You might want to get a "better" one if you want stuff like dlna
Btw it's very good for gaming too, it has a PC mode and there is practically no lag. And there is a mode that increases the fps of movies and makes a real nice, VERY smooth and fluid image. Very good for FullHD porn
+ you can attach any usb drive and put your 1080p mkv on there, the tv itself will play em some 3 or 4 hdmi and vga and other nice stuff too
I bought it for 840€ I think, then the prices went up on amazon to 950€ (it cost more than 1199-1299€ in stores!) and now the price dropped to 799€! I'd say a steal
Have you experienced the "burns" that LED have? I mean if you watch a certain channel for a long time, the logo of the channel gets "burned in" and is visible on other channels?
If money is not an issue, a LED back-lit TV would be a better choice (as opposed to a edge-lit, or CCFL). It should have local dimming and no clouding issues providing for a better picture. Burn in hasn't been an issue for LCDs for a long time now, I have left my TV on for hours, sometimes, with the same background... still nothing there after couple of years of use.
If you are interested in 3D, upcoming LG models might be interesting. They are using passive tech, instead of the active, that other TVs use. This means no expensive active shutter glasses, almost no crosstalk issues and no impact on lighting when viewing 3D content. It will, however, work only at the half of the resolution in 3D - meaning no full HD 3D. These LG TVs also have local dimming feature, which LG has enhanced to get rid of the banding issues that their current (LX9500, LE8500...) sets have. No info on how well they managed to deal with it in practice though. In general, LG LCDs are considered more responsive and better suited for gaming.
Previous Samsung models supposedly suffered from some input lag issues, making them not that great for gaming. These year's TVs, however, seem to be faring better. But there are no consistent reports on both accounts.
Plasmas overall have better picture quality in terms of color and contrast. They are also generally more responsive and have very low input lag, if at all. 3D is also much better on plasma TVs. However they do come with their own issues, and unlike LCDs can suffer from burn in. Also, power consumption is much higher in comparison with the LED TVs. For PC use, I stick with LCDs for now.
All in all, most manufacturers have just released, or are about to release, their new line-ups, so it's a good time to buy a new TV with latest features, or buy the previous ones with discounts.
As far as LCDs go, I normally look only at Sony, LG or Samsung. Plasmas: Panasonic (seems to be a consistent leader in the charts), LG or Samsung. This is not to say, everything else is crap, but these seem to be the main contenders most of the time.
Same problem exists with TVs as with monitors: panel juggling. The Sharp TVs I've seen all looked great, but some of Sony's Bravia series are also quite good (got one, would have to look up the actual type ). Panasonic can be fiddly, Samsung are typically decent (albeit weak on black levels). Again though, reviews.
Also, I don't know why my inner tech nazi didn't pop up a year ago, you don't choose between a "LED" or "LCD" TV, it's an LCD in both cases
MinderMast explained the differences between the different types of TVs quite nicely above.
I've got a Sony Bravia 40EX503 and I'm very happy with it, pretty darn cheap too, I sometimes even use it as a PC monitor sometimes when I wanna kick back and just frag and do whatever.
It really is an amazing TV, not only does it support mkv/mp4/avi + sub/srt/txt when you plug the USB in it, but it also supports wifi. Just today I watched Bourne Supremacy when I just shared a 1080p version with eng subtitles on my PC, and watched it on the TV with no FPS drops or worse quality. The screen is pretty decent too
It really is an amazing TV, not only does it support mkv/mp4/avi + sub/srt/txt when you plug the USB in it, but it also supports wifi. Just today I watched Bourne Supremacy when I just shared a 1080p version with eng subtitles on my PC, and watched it on the TV with no FPS drops or worse quality. The screen is pretty decent too
does Samsung still use those crappy MVA panels are what they are called? they have some of the worst response times for dark colors. in movies people's hair and eyes get all blurred, looks horrible. in games even worse...
There is no visible motion blur on today's LCD-screens (nor LED screens).
I know this is old, but yes there is.
There even is a great difference between two current plasmas (Panasonic 50STW50 vs. PS51E6500). Verified with pixperan where the difference became ridiculously huge
On some (surely not top of the line) rather new Samsung LCD I also tested scrolling text and the worst problem was not the response time, but simply the Hold-Type-Effect. The moment i fixated my eyes on a spot the text became clear.
Using the motionblur-reduction feature the text got clear, but was now colored. Perhaps from LCD-Overdrive?
I did not activate "dejudder"-option which should have introduced Motion interpolation. But what does motionblur-reduction do? Perhaps it also introduces backlight-blinking/scanning?
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But most important thing, go out to any big electronic store and look at the TVs for yourself. I found some full-backlit LED TVs from philips nice too. What did not impress me at all -> Samsung. And not even sony. My uncle has a 50" 3D TV from sony and I think it looks ugly 
). Panasonic can be fiddly, Samsung are typically decent (albeit weak on black levels). Again though, reviews.
