I thought buying a New TV would be a joyful experience. It used to be anyhow but after a few weeks research my head feels like its going to explode now.
I have decided on an LCD TV and sit firmly on that side of the Plasma Vs LCD debate for now after weighing up all the pros and cons for both.
As for Size then its either a 46" or 52" for me but i would like to know if there is any difference in PQ or issues at all between the different sizes of the same model.
The TV is for my main viewing in the front room and i will expect it to have a life of about 5 years at least before thinking about changing again.
I plan to use the TV in equal amounts for Blu-ray, PS3 Gaming and Satellite TV in that order or priority on Picture Quality.
Whatever Panel i get i will be using the best quality cables and will be pushing sound out through a good quality 5.1 amp and speaker set up so the panel will effectively be a dumb monitor so Picture Quality is only priority.
The concerns that i have read about the most are Issues with Gaming lag (can someone explain what this actually is and how it effects your gaming experience) and screen clouding/backlight bleed which i guess effects the overall quality of the picture you are watching with blacks looking washed out and grey.
In an Ideal world i would like to get a TV with the Deepest Blacks possible for an LCD but with no noticeable compromise on Gaming quality experience if that's not too much to ask.
Brand Loyalty pushes me towards Sony as my current 32" CRT Sony has served me exceptionally well but as we are talking completely different technology i have an open mind on other makes and especially like the aesthetic look of the Samsungs.
With all that in mind unless i have completely missed a make and model of LCD out there that does everything i want it to do then my search so far has narrowed the Field to the following models.
Sony Series W4000, W4500, X4500 and Z4500
Samsung Series 6,7,8 & 9
What i am looking for is practical advice from people that use these panels and how much of a problem the different issues each of them have are for them in real life terms.
As an example does the issues with gaming (Input lag??) that are talked about on the LED backlit sets really cause enough of a problem to make using the sets for Gaming unrealistic. This would be unfortunate as i do really like the Sony X4500 and Samsung Series 9 models.
Or are the Clouding/Backlight Bleed issues so much of a problem that my viewing experience on Blu-ray will be greatly reduced.
In an Ideal world i guess i would probably be better off actually buying two sets for two different rooms. One for Pure Blu-ray and another for Pure Gaming with Standard TV the 2nd option on both but i find it hard to believe that with so much technology out there in this day and age i cant get one that does the whole lot really well.
I have trolled all the shops over the past couple of weeks looking at so many different sets but to be honest i think you can only really judge the Aesthetic look properly here as i don't believe Showrooms give you a true idea of the picture quality you will get when your viewing at home so i will value any advise given from actual users on here.
For one shops don't always have the screens configured correctly and also they have a variety of different cables used that you cant compare different models like for like anyhow.
I paid a visit to John Lewis in Oxford Street this week and was amazed at the variety of different cables that were being used all over the place. How can you compare the best attributes of two different models when one is showing SD TV on a composite cable next to one that is playing a Blu-ray through an HDMI. They actually had the top of the range expensive set hooked up with composite cables and cheaper end models running through HDMI! Oh and not a gaming console in sight for you to see how that performs.
Lastly i would like to say Thanks in advance for reading my post and for any thoughts that you are willing to share with me.
I have decided on an LCD TV and sit firmly on that side of the Plasma Vs LCD debate for now after weighing up all the pros and cons for both.
As for Size then its either a 46" or 52" for me but i would like to know if there is any difference in PQ or issues at all between the different sizes of the same model.
The TV is for my main viewing in the front room and i will expect it to have a life of about 5 years at least before thinking about changing again.
I plan to use the TV in equal amounts for Blu-ray, PS3 Gaming and Satellite TV in that order or priority on Picture Quality.
Whatever Panel i get i will be using the best quality cables and will be pushing sound out through a good quality 5.1 amp and speaker set up so the panel will effectively be a dumb monitor so Picture Quality is only priority.
The concerns that i have read about the most are Issues with Gaming lag (can someone explain what this actually is and how it effects your gaming experience) and screen clouding/backlight bleed which i guess effects the overall quality of the picture you are watching with blacks looking washed out and grey.
In an Ideal world i would like to get a TV with the Deepest Blacks possible for an LCD but with no noticeable compromise on Gaming quality experience if that's not too much to ask.
Brand Loyalty pushes me towards Sony as my current 32" CRT Sony has served me exceptionally well but as we are talking completely different technology i have an open mind on other makes and especially like the aesthetic look of the Samsungs.
With all that in mind unless i have completely missed a make and model of LCD out there that does everything i want it to do then my search so far has narrowed the Field to the following models.
Sony Series W4000, W4500, X4500 and Z4500
Samsung Series 6,7,8 & 9
What i am looking for is practical advice from people that use these panels and how much of a problem the different issues each of them have are for them in real life terms.
As an example does the issues with gaming (Input lag??) that are talked about on the LED backlit sets really cause enough of a problem to make using the sets for Gaming unrealistic. This would be unfortunate as i do really like the Sony X4500 and Samsung Series 9 models.
Or are the Clouding/Backlight Bleed issues so much of a problem that my viewing experience on Blu-ray will be greatly reduced.
In an Ideal world i guess i would probably be better off actually buying two sets for two different rooms. One for Pure Blu-ray and another for Pure Gaming with Standard TV the 2nd option on both but i find it hard to believe that with so much technology out there in this day and age i cant get one that does the whole lot really well.
I have trolled all the shops over the past couple of weeks looking at so many different sets but to be honest i think you can only really judge the Aesthetic look properly here as i don't believe Showrooms give you a true idea of the picture quality you will get when your viewing at home so i will value any advise given from actual users on here.
For one shops don't always have the screens configured correctly and also they have a variety of different cables used that you cant compare different models like for like anyhow.
I paid a visit to John Lewis in Oxford Street this week and was amazed at the variety of different cables that were being used all over the place. How can you compare the best attributes of two different models when one is showing SD TV on a composite cable next to one that is playing a Blu-ray through an HDMI. They actually had the top of the range expensive set hooked up with composite cables and cheaper end models running through HDMI! Oh and not a gaming console in sight for you to see how that performs.
Lastly i would like to say Thanks in advance for reading my post and for any thoughts that you are willing to share with me.