[Hawkeye_a]

Alright, the time has come my friends for Hawkeye to enter the wondrous shiny new world of this thing called "High Definition" ooohhhh ahhh...yeah enough of that....

Disclaimer: (I'm pretty tech savvy, so dont hold back...)

Here goes...

Looking into getting a HDTV first of all.... my personal requirements/preferences are as follows:
-1080p
-decent blacks
-HDMI, Composite, Component (and DVI is possible...need to be able to hook up my MacBook)
-minimalistic design and bezel

-When it comes to refresh rates, i'd prefer an optimal for watching BR-DVD content, i know there isnt a silver bullet here as we're dealing with multiples of numbers that dont line up (24, 50, 60, 100, 120, etc). So i assume the higher the better for the best possible viewing experience.

-I think a 32-incher should suffice well (price performance)

-I do want to keep the price down, as this HDTV will eventually become a secondary TV in the mid-long term.

I've narrowed my search down to the Sony KDL32W5500 and the Samsung LE32B650, but am open to any suggestions.

Which one would you guys recommend ?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

32?

IMO 1080p isn't necessary at 32 inches. 40 or above.

greg

[wallinbl]

I have a 50" that does 1080p. I sit 14' away from the TV. 50" was the maximum size that would fit, given where the TV goes in this room. You know what sucks? From 14', it's really hard to tell the difference between DVD and Blu Ray. Get to inside of 10' and you can start to see the difference. When I was buying the TV, I was certain I wanted a TV that did 720p, 1080i and 1080p since those were the common formats associated with channels I received and with Blu Ray. I even paid around $150 more to get 1080p over a step down (same size/line) that didn't do 1080p. I'm pretty sure that given the distance I watch from, there's no way I could tell the difference. However, if I go stand near the TV, Blu Ray looks awesome.

[mattyb]

My TV (CRT) is going through the final stages of life. I asked the same stuff around the office the other day.

First question people asked : distance from your sofa to the TV - determines the size that you should get. Apparently this is a quite an important issue. A guy at work got a huge screen and was 2.5m away - he traded it in for a smaller screen. He said that he and his family got tired trying to watch stuff.

First tech spec that people recommended : get LED

Company that 90% of people recommended : Samsung

A lot of people said that getting 200MHz wasn't too expensive, I don't know the price differences in the US for 100MHz and 200MHz TVs.

I'm aiming for the SAMSUNG UE40B7000, the 8000 being just that bit too expensive for me.

[RAILhead]

I have the Samsung LN52A850 and LOVE IT. Freaking awesome TV. Speakers could be better, but no one should be using HD gear and using stock speakers anyway.

I would recommend you reconsider the size. My wife fought tooth and nail against 52" because she was afraid it would take over the room. So, we got some poster board and made templates of the size of the TV — this let her get a better perspective on size.

THAN, we went back down to Best Buy and looked at the TVs again after she had realized bigger was okay.

[msuper69]

I've got three Sony Bravias (37, 52 and 60) and they are great.

I sit/lay/collapse about 8-10 feet to view them and I've got no complaints.

Must be me but I can most definitely tell the difference between Blu-ray and DVD.

Blu-ray is far superior to any DVD, upscaled or not.

Also, broadcast and cable HDTV is great also. The compression used for this method of programming is not a factor. It just looks fantastic!

[Hawkeye_a]

Hmmm..... i do see some logic that the size of screen needs to be somewhat proportional to the resolution. But it's just my nature to make sure i get the best possible picture within the specified requirements. While i'm sure i could get by with a 768p(or whatever) display, the fact that i wont be getting the best out of my HD content(which will probably be BR-DVD) will nag at me. And this is going to be a medium term investment (im probably not going to get rid of it when i do get a 'premium' model)

While i'd love a LED, 42" 1080p 200Hz TV, i dont think the price would be justified (where i am), so that product category is ruled out as far as i'm concerned. Like i said, the price of the 32" is around what(if not a bit higher) im willing to spend on a TV, and considering im only going to be watching DVDs/BR-DVDs(i gave up on broadcast a longgg time ago) i think that for now, it should suffice. And like i said, it will probably become a secondary TV a couple of years down the line, and when that time comes i dont want to think i should have gotten the 1080p model

As far as the refresh rates.... ive noted people telling me that the difference between 60Hz and 100Hz is very noticeable, but from 100 to 200 its much less noticeable (diminishing returns cause the time spans we're talking about get that much smaller), so i'd rather go 1080p 100Hz for now (why havent they standardized the frame rates and refresh rates instead of just pushing the numbers higher, cause no matter what they do, if the numbers are not multiples of each other you will always have the playback and panel out of sync...it's like the hotdogs and hotdog buns packaging quantity problem.)

Most of my friends who have LCD displays have Samsungs and they love em (and they're not too bad to look at either, except for that one which has that red tint about it...creeps me out), but i've always regarded SONY TVs highly(brand recognition), and they look very decent as well.

I moseyed by the Sony showroom, and had a look at the 32" screens and as far as size they're about right, so I will be sticking with the 32" size, cause that way i can get the resolution & picture quality i want (at any price point, i weigh picture quality higher than screen size) and ive never needed a TV bigger than 24" anyway.

So yeah i had a look at the Samsung model i mentioned and the price difference is negligible, SONY is offering a free-3year-warranty, so .... yeah. I'm looking to pick one up this weekend, but until then im all ears. Is there anything else i should bear in mind while shopping around ? (return policy, possible defects, etc?)

Cheers

[The Final Dakar]

I managed to pick up this sucker at $500 for the bedroom a few weeks ago, and I've been quite impressed by it.

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I don't know the price differences in the US for 100MHz and 200MHz TVs.

Where i am right now, the prices are ~50% higher than what they are in the U.S. (including taxes, exchange rates, etc).....which is ridiculous.

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

I managed to pick up this sucker at $500 for the bedroom a few weeks ago, and I've been quite impressed by it.

Thats the one with the red tint in the bezel, right ? is it as prominent as in the pictures ? i liked the older white/blue samsung light...the red is too ... HAL. A friend has a Samsung with identical specs, and i could easily get by with it.... but that resolution just bugs me.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

Thats the one with the red tint in the bezel, right ? is it as prominent as in the pictures ? i liked the older white/blue samsung light...the red is too ... HAL. A friend has a Samsung with identical specs, and i could easily get by with it....

I didn't notice the bezel when I was shopping (online), but I definitely noticed it when I set it up. But my bedroom is very rarely well lit, so I don't notice it. In a well lit room I imagine it'll be visible.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

but that resolution just bugs me.

You're worrying over nothing. It's 32".



You'd have to be sitting within 5 ft. of the TV for 1080p to be worth it.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

Most of my friends who have LCD displays have Samsungs and they love em (and they're not too bad to look at either, except for that one which has that red tint about it...creeps me out), but i've always regarded SONY TVs highly(brand recognition), and they look very decent as well.

I moseyed by the Sony showroom, and had a look at the 32" screens and as far as size they're about right, so I will be sticking with the 32" size, cause that way i can get the resolution & picture quality i want (at any price point, i weigh picture quality higher than screen size) and ive never needed a TV bigger than 24" anyway.

So yeah i had a look at the Samsung model i mentioned and the price difference is negligible, SONY is offering a free-3year-warranty, so .... yeah. I'm looking to pick one up this weekend, but until then im all ears. Is there anything else i should bear in mind while shopping around ? (return policy, possible defects, etc?)

Can't really go wrong with either Samsung or Sony.

I have a 56" DLP rear-projection TV from Samsung that I bought a little over two years ago. It does 1080p. At the time I bought it, LCD TVs weren't so great in the black level area, and I didn't want to get a plasma screen. The whole "it has to be thin!" mentality didn't matter to me either. The TV is thin enough for me. Replacement lamps aren't too expensive ($160 or so). I love it. It really is a great TV and my brother has an older 50 inch Samsung DLP that goes up to 720p and he likes his a lot as well.

My parents have a 37 inch Sony Bravia LCD TV that does 720p, and they love theirs as well. It has a great picture as well.

So, I'd say you won't be disappointed with either company.

I will make one suggestion. Get this Digital Video Essentials, Blu-Ray edition to calibrate the colors of your display. TONS cheaper than having a professional do it, and the results are almost as good. TVs out of the box come configured with levels turned up high so they look good in the store. I got such good results I carted my Blu-Ray Player to my brother's house and to my parents' house and calibrated their TVs too with similar improvement in picture quality.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

You'd have to be sitting within 5 ft. of the TV for 1080p to be worth it.

Exactly. Unless you're crowded in an extraordinarily small room, getting 1080p in a 32" TV seems pointless to me....

greg

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

You'd have to be sitting within 5 ft. of the TV for 1080p to be worth it.

I hear you (and some others who have mentioned the same thing to me).... let me put it this way.... if i watch Plant Earth(BluRay) on said displays, will i notice the difference ? (and by 'i', i mean most people with OCD )

5ft you say..... if that means sitting 3ft away from the TV and having a *truly* front-row theatrical experience...then so be it

That red tint in that Samsung series really turns me off. i know its completely superficial, but it's listed in the 'cons' column for me. (maybe its psychological, but i associate red with 'errors'/'danger', if it was blue it'd be cool)

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

That red tint in that Samsung series really turns me off. i know its completely superficial, but it's listed in the 'cons' column for me. (maybe its psychological, but i associate red with 'errors'/'danger', if it was blue it'd be cool)

To me, this objection about a TV makes way more sense than your 720p on a 32" objection.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

That red tint in that Samsung series really turns me off. i know its completely superficial, but it's listed in the 'cons' column for me. (maybe its psychological, but i associate red with 'errors'/'danger', if it was blue it'd be cool)

See my note re: color calibration, above.

Again, the manufacturers mess with the color balance of their displays because they're trying to compete against other TVs from other manufacturers doing the same thing in the store. Many will turn up the reds to make the colors look "warmer" in-store. Not to mention that the screen brightness is turned way up to overcome the fluorescent lighting in most stores.

You can see it when looking at the color controls on screen. The Red slider will be way up compared to the blue and the green. Ask in the store if you can fiddle with the screen controls a bit to see if the red tint can be adjusted out before making a desicion.

My brother's Samsung TV had a red tint to it until I calibrated it with that disc I mentioned above. Mine had the same until I calibrated it, too. Red tint is gone now from both TVs. At the time I bought the calibration disc, it was $30. Now it's a little more than half that at Amazon.

[The Final Dakar]

He's talking about the physical stand.

[mattyb]

Do you plan on playing your Wii on it?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Exactly. Unless you're crowded in an extraordinarily small room, getting 1080p in a 32" TV seems pointless to me....

greg

Unless you're hooking a computer up to it, then you'll appreciate the resolution.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

He's talking about the physical stand.

ok, I see now what he's talking about.

Does it light up? Is that what replaced the blue-tinted light that surrounds the power button on my Samsung? If it is, if that TV is anything like mine, that light can be set to be turned off.

I turned the blue light around my power button off in the settings. It was too distracting when watching movies with the lights off (and besides, do you *really* need that light to tell you that the TV is on?)

[The Final Dakar]

It's not a light, its a tint that occurs where the plastic transitions from black to transparent.

[dav]

we have the samsung ln55a950. no red tint in the frame, so perhaps check different models by samsung. really happy with the picture.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by wallinbl 

You know what sucks? From 14', it's really hard to tell the difference between DVD and Blu Ray. Get to inside of 10' and you can start to see the difference.

Yup. We just went through this again over the weekend, after being 1080p now for about 4 years. Upconverting is nice for regular DVDs, but some really show the strain. BluRay only really looks wonderful at about 10 feet (or under) regardless of the TV. X360 same thing.

We've had good luck with Samsung LCDs, but we purposely didn't get a 120 or 240 because of the price differential -- we scoured around to find what 60hz were left in stock and got a 52". The quality difference with regular DVDs is negligible IMO.

If you're going to start a BluRay collection and watch only that, then a higher freq would probably be better for you.

Also, if you play games that require precise timing (Guitar Hero being a really really good example) game mode on a TV is essential. I had my synch issues worked out on the Wii and GH3 in about 2 minutes.

[olePigeon]

If you plan on hooking a computer up to your TV at any point, here's what I found out (copied from an older thread:)

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

This kinda weird. I took my laptop to Best Buy and tested the different 32" TVs. No one had posted comments past the Westinghouse suggestion before I left, and it just so happens I walked out of the store with the 720p Sharp LCD HDTV. So I'd support SVass' suggestion.

The Sharp was in the middle for price. It was $50 more than the Toshiba, but $100 less than the Samsung and the Sony. The Magnolia Hifi guy told me the Samsung was the best model, it gets the best reviews, but this is what I (well, actually both me and the sales guy) found out about some of the LCDs I tested:

The Toshiba 32AV500U is flawed and broken. I tested 3 different Toshiba TVs, 2 I bought from the store, and the 1 my friend had. We tried Macs, PCs, Windows, OS X, different cables, everything, and they all had the same scanning problem in the top right corner when using the VGA port. They all had the video/audio sync problem over DVI-to-HDMI. I don't know how it is for watching movies from a DVD player, but it's probably the worst HDTV to use for a computer based media center.

Here's what I found out about the expensive Samsung and Sony models: While they didn't display any major glitches like the Toshiba and the audio/video was synced, the pixels were staggered/interpolated when displayed over VGA. Where there should be straight horizontal lines, it was more like a 2-pixel checkered board.

'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'

Vertical lines were normal.

The Sharp seemed great all around except the color seems a little more washed than the others, but, I got a pretty good picture by adjusting the settings. The audi/video is in perfect sync over the DVI-to-HDMI cable AND over the VGA port. No artifacts of any sort. So I'm happy with the Sharp LCD HDTV.

[phantomdragonz]

I have no affiliation with this company but hdmi cables ate such a racket that I will reccomend this company...


MONOPRICE.com has realistic prices for hdmi cables.


I have perchased a few cables and they have all preformed perfectly!!


-Zach

[olePigeon]

I concur. Monoprice is awesome. They're equally good for computer cables. Easily 1/3 the price of Apple for video adapters, AND the cables are better made.

Newegg + Monoprice = Best prices

[RAILhead]

You won't notice the red after about 5 minutes.

[downinflames68]

My friend picked up a 1080 HD projector, with a 55" screen, for $350 on craigslist.

Think about this.... I don't see the point in TV's anymore.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

My friend picked up a 1080 HD projector, with a 55" screen, for $350 on craigslist.

Think about this.... I don't see the point in TV's anymore.

He's going to be spending $350/year on bulbs. TVs have a purpose.

[downinflames68]

Not really. Bulbs are $150, and they last quite a long time, unless you're a huge TV addict. It's only used for movies, and videogames.

[Hawkeye_a]

Thanks for your suggestions/opinions/help guys. i really appreciate it.

In the end it seems as though the Samsungs and Sony are neck-n-neck in features and quality, so the deciding factor had to be price/extras.

i had some free time today and went back to Sony and they offered me a great deal for the Bravia (32", 1080p, 100/120hz) with a 5yr warranty. (for comparison the Samsung would have been ~15-20% more without the extended warranty)

I guess in the end when it comes down to two products this close in quality(i think) and specs, the trick is to find the best deal for each and then go with the better bargain.

Cheers

PS>>For now im going to hook up my Wii(component) to the TV, and lets just say i wont be surprised if i'm disappointed. Apart from that ill be watching movies off my Mac on it for now, and i'll be saving up for a PS3.

[ghporter]

Samsung LN55B7000 here. LED panel with a 3,000,000:1 dynamic range for REALLY black blacks. It's a 55" panel and I sit about 10 feet from it. It is AWESOME with HD content-I spent a good bit of time the other evening just watching a few HD items like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and I'm blown away. I could have spent more money and gotten the 8000 series, with 5milliion:1 dynamic contrast, but I looked at the two versions side-by-side and couldn't see the difference (with the demo content). It was not cheap-on sale it was about $2.5k. But I'm VERY happy with it.

[Hawkeye_a]

An update:
-Set up the TV yesterday. And it's a nice looking set. it's got a very minimalistic, almost industrial look to it (classic Sony). The Samsungs have a nice smooth curvy design which i like as well.
-On default settings, the vibrancy, brightness and black levels all look VERY good. im particularly impressed with the black levels.
-The menu system is the same as the PS3/PSP, which i think was a great decision by Sony to standardize it across their products. And the general look of the menu system is pleasing with subtle glows and an almost Aqua like feel.
-The Wii doesnt look all together horrible(but maybe thats cause i havent hooked up aHD console). in fact the Wii looks just fine.... i was expecting the 1080p resolution of the screen to bring out some major jaggies, but it's no more than on a normal SD tv. i get the fact that it is a 32" screen helps.

Now scouring the net to find a mini-display-port(MDP) connector to HDMI, and im shocked that Apple hasnt manufactured one already. But even more disturbing is the fact that the MB(unibody 2008 at least) does not even support audio over MDP...... What's the best way to hook up a MDP mac to one of these HDTV ?

Cheers

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

Now scouring the net to find a mini-display-port(MDP) connector to HDMI, and im shocked that Apple hasnt manufactured one already. But even more disturbing is the fact that the MB(unibody 2008 at least) does not even support audio over MDP...... What's the best way to hook up a MDP mac to one of these HDTV ?

This should do it for MDP to HDMI.

As for audio, I believe you can just use a mini-plug/Toslink optical cable to a receiver, or just a standard stereo mini-jack to RCA or whatever input on the TV.

Sounds like you got a great TV!

[ghporter]

Not having sound-over-HDMI through the MDP is not a big deal if you also have an amp with other inputs, as CRASH points out. While the speakers in my new TV are really nice, I run the optical audio out of it into my amp. Being digital audio, it automatically configures the amp appropriately and the sound comes out NICE! But in any case, this is still a relatively minor issue.

I was thrilled to learn that every Pixar DVD includes a THX calibration chapter (it's in the "setup" section on Wall-E, in "options" on some others). Using this I tweaked the image size, contrast and brightness, and even found out that I'd accidentally swapped my front left and right speaker wires at the amp... On my Samsung, calibration such as this is on a by-input basis, so I haven't been able to use Wall-E to configure my off-air settings, but for movies, it's GREAT.

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

This should do it for MDP to HDMI.

As for audio, I believe you can just use a mini-plug/Toslink optical cable to a receiver, or just a standard stereo mini-jack to RCA or whatever input on the TV.

Sounds like you got a great TV!

Cheers for the info. i browsed to their support page and saw this "Sorry, No International Credit Card except Canadian customer.", which means im flat out of luck at the moment. damn. i guess ill get one off Amazon, and while im at it a HDMI cable. is there anything i need to keep in mind regarding HDMI cables ?

Also, thanks for the info on the sound.... ill just hook up the mac using a 3.5m for now. i'm close to ignorant about audio interfaces in home electronics...ill have to start reading up on it when i plan on getting a surround sound setup.

Cheers