Looking for a HD tv but not sure where to look

[tongue_of_colicab]

Hi,

I'm looking into buying a HD tv but i'm pretty clueless on where to start looking. I'm mainly looking at 32'' models, maybe one of the cheaper 37'' models. Bigger just doesnt make any sense for me. Sure it looks nice but in my current student room bigger is total overkill and my parents still have a old 60cm or so crt tv and I always though that is more than big enough. So even with just 32'' it will already be far bigger.

However, I dont have a clue what I should look for when buying. I never really kept track of HD tv tech and options. Things like 24p, 120+hz, edge lit or ccfll, screen brightness etc, the different imago optimization engines etc all mean nothing for me. My biggest problem is that whenever I look for a model withing my pricerange all google and others give me are those damn comparison sites but no actual review sites so I'm having a bit of trouble researching my options.

Does anyone knows a good place to look for reviews? Or maybe know a good model? I don't want to spend more than 450 euro's. I don't have much must haves but it must be full hd, 24p also seemed like a must to be, and maybe internall surround but I dont know how usefull that is plus I want to buy a cheaper home theater set anyway so maybe its better to not care about that. I dont have a HD console (got a wii!) but might get one someday so it also should be good at gaming. Ghosting is a real no no for me. I dont think i'm a IQ junkie but I do want things to look good.

A couple of models I found so far are:
Sony Bravia KDL-32EX402 - seems to offer everything I want but with 440 euro's its near the limit of my budget. Also I dont really like the design.
LG 32LH3300 - Seems to offer the same as the sony, just no internal surround sound. But at 370 euro's its not expensive but my biggest worry is quality. To me LG is a company making cd burners, not good tv's.
LG 37LF2500 - same as above. Though this one is 37'' but still within my budget.
Samsung LE32B550 - I like samsung stuff. I got a samsung 22'' for my pc and bought a 24'' one for my brother and I always like their design and the IQ seems good too to me. But at 450 euro's its expensive and I read there is the chance of not getting a samsung panel but a cheap slovak one.
Samsung LE32B530 - A little brother of the model above? Seems to pretty much offer the same things as the others. Its 380 euro's so not that expensive and I like the design. Looks like a bigger version of the computer screen I advised to my friend last year.

Edit: Just remember, one thing that is important is a good scaler. I don't have HDtv on cable so I would like it to be atleast watch good IQ normal tv otherwise buying a HD tv would only be a step back. When I'm not watching movies from my htpc ofcourse.

 

[Captain Chickenpants]

The place to get some feedback would be AVForums.com, search the forums there for user reviews etc.

The sony one. I have seen a few reviews for it that look pretty good, there is one review that pops up a few places from one guy who seems to be having issues, but other than him they generally are good reviews. I am currently in the process of trying to buy the 46inch version of this one.

LG, I know what you mean about not being sure of the name, but to be honest they are a huge company and are generally putting out good products. Perhaps not as polished as Sony et al, but good value for money.

Samsung are pretty nice as well, I was looking at a few and they do tend to look quite nice.

Regardless of what reviews say, the important thing is how it looks to you. I would recommend taking some sample content to a shop and asking to see it played on the TV's you are interested in. Ask if you can play around with the remote so you can get a feel for the user interface as well.

Link to a fairly indepth review of the Sony one,
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/sony-kdl32ex403-kdl32ex403u-20100418346.htm

CC

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Thanks. I now also found a review of the samsung though it was the 40'' version. But I read somewhere on avforum that the panel is the same as in de 32'' 550 and de 530 also has that panel but only less input ports. If that is true, I wonder why you have to pay 70 euro's extra just for some extra hdmi ports.

But how is lagg? The sony review mentions some lagg and also the samsung one mentioned some. MS seems to be somewhere between 30 a 50ms for most modern lcd tv's? Is that really a issue?

 

[Davros]

I have nothing put praise for sony's warranty service

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I have nothing put praise for sony's warranty service

Well... thats nice but not very usefull unfortuneatly. Especially as Dutch consumer law protects consumers pretty well.

 

[Captain Chickenpants]

Thanks. I now also found a review of the samsung though it was the 40'' version. But I read somewhere on avforum that the panel is the same as in de 32'' 550 and de 530 also has that panel but only less input ports. If that is true, I wonder why you have to pay 70 euro's extra just for some extra hdmi ports.

But how is lagg? The sony review mentions some lagg and also the samsung one mentioned some. MS seems to be somewhere between 30 a 50ms for most modern lcd tv's? Is that really a issue?

It depends on if you intend to do much gaming. If you do then you probably need to incorporate lag into your requirements, if not then I wouldn't worry about it.

CC

 

[Sxotty]

It still seems strange to be getting such a small TV, how far away will you be from it? A 1080p might be pointless depending on where you are sitting, and if you are close you could just buy a 30" computer monitor, but I guess that would be more expensive.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

At the moment I will be very close to it. Not even 2 meters I think. But when I change rooms after I come back from my internship next year I will have more space. 32''' will be more than big enough for any place I will be living in the next couple of years. The biggest tv I'm used to look at is my parents 60cm tv and a 32'' will be 21cm larger than that so as small as 32'' might seems its more than enough for me.

 

[V3]

32" is useful for less than 1 m. If you're less than 2 m get something between 40-50". Less than 3m you'll want 65". Further and you'll be looking at projector. As long as your space can fit the TV, I say go for something larger.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

hehe guys dont forget i'm from Europe. Not the US. Bigger isnt always better less than 3 meters and 65''? thats crazy! I bet you cant even see the whole screen at the same time. 32'' is enough for me from what i've seen and what i'm used to. Besides that I dont have HD, or even digital tv so normal tv will look poop on such a large screen.

As for HD tv lagg. It is different from ghosting? I keep reading that people notice lagg when pressing buttons so that is not the same as the ghosting I had on those old lcd monitors from 10 years ago or so. I don't play any real fast paced console games but if input lagg is always there that will be a deal breaker. Its a shame because the samsung tv seems like a good deal to me but it seems it also has the most lagg of all. How much will you notice something like a 40 - 50ms lagg?

 

[V3]

You only said that because you haven't experience larger screen yet. It's hard to go back to something small.

Ghosting is the after image you'll see if object moves across the screen or camera pan like cheap motion blur in games. You do not want screen with heavy ghosting. Lag is entirely different thing from ghosting. If you play music games like Guitar Heroes on laggy screen, you'll understand what lag is. But with some games, you'll just adjust to it even Guitar Heroes. So 40-50 ms lag maybe fine on certain games and unplayable with others, and this also differ from person to person. Some people can adjust and compensate and some just can't.

Lag shouldn't be a deal breaker like ghosting. Look for picture quality first. It was me I would pick the right size first than PQ. Lag is low on my list. Most TV have game/text mode anyway, so it can sort of be fixed by turning that option on.

 

[Captain Chickenpants]

Just to say I picked up the 46" Sony EX403 yesterday, and I am quite happy with it. Watched some content from BBC HD and it looked really nice, will find out how it plays with my media center this evening.

 

[homerdog]

As for HD tv lagg. It is different from ghosting? I keep reading that people notice lagg when pressing buttons so that is not the same as the ghosting I had on those old lcd monitors from 10 years ago or so. I don't play any real fast paced console games but if input lagg is always there that will be a deal breaker. Its a shame because the samsung tv seems like a good deal to me but it seems it also has the most lagg of all. How much will you notice something like a 40 - 50ms lagg?

Ghosting shouldn't be too much of an issue on modern LCDs.

Input lag is far and away the most important factor for gaming. My friend still uses his ~6 year old Westinghouse 27" LCD for CoD. It has terrible picture quality and ghosting problems but virtually no input lag, which trumps all other factors for any sort of competitive gaming. Also Rock Band is more frustrating than fun on sets with >~50ms of lag in my experience.

I've noticed that some sets have less input lag over the component inputs compared to HDMI. Go figure.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I dont really play any fast paced games but I can see how for me even in a game like mario input lagg would still be a issue for me.Than again, the wii remote IR also has a noticable lagg when you pay attention to it but that never botherd me... Unfortunatly you cant really test for input lagg in stores. The samsung screen is supposed to have something like 30+ms lagg even in game mode. That sounds too bad as otherwise it seems like a good screen with great IQ, even more considering the price, and just a overall good product.

 

[V3]

30+ ms from when ? button press to display ? If so that's alright, that's your typical 30fps lag.

 

[homerdog]

30+ ms from when ? button press to display ? If so that's alright, that's your typical 30fps lag.

So you're doubling your typical 30fps lag. It adds up.

 

[V3]

Even if it double it's still very low though. That's still less than a tenth of a second. As long as the lag stays consistent, most people can adjust and still have fun. Beside most games today are far away from twitch gaming anyway.

 

[homerdog]

I recommend this article
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2803/1

I was wrong, there is much more than 30ms of lag in a 30Hz game; 30ms is only the time it takes the GPU to do it's job. So adding another 30ms is not doubling the typical 30fps lag.

But it has been my experience that Samsung LCDs have a noticeable amount of lag even in game mode, at least compared to a CRT. Matter of fact, the only LCD TV I've come across that didn't have any noticeable lag was my friends aforementioned 6 year old 27" Westinghouse.

 

[MfA]

If you want 100 Hz LG4000 is just about the cheapest I think, but the 32" model doesn't have 100 Hz ... only the larger ones.