LG TV Buyers Guide

No, I simply had to look for 2 TVs myself and I bought the TVs...initially I gave people on here my opinions while I waited for people to reply to my posts, then I didn't need to post anymore, but I carried on giving people my opinion, I've just picked stuff up and searched around in the depths of the town/surrounding towns here and seek out these TVs...I'm a bit wierd but have somehow retained my previous life :D

To be honest I feel like I should take it somewhere at times, I wont reveal my 'life situation' though...it might damage my reputation (can I call it that? :rolleyes:) ;):rotfl::rolleyes:

I'll just think of you as an enthusiast then.
And one who likes to help others.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Though it hasn;t helped my indecision, I now have more of an idea of what the tv I'll be buying is like / and the ones I turned down too (gosh, i sound lorra like Cilla Black)
 
Just a small update, the 200Hz description was a bit confusing and not quite right, so I fixed that, I also added a link to the official FAQ section on this forum :thumbsup:
 
I've now also corrected the LH4000 specs, the 32" model is different, which is confusing! (not 100Hz, lower contrast ratio, the LH5000 'takes it's usual place' in 32")
 
Great Guide, helped a lot :thumbsup:
 
"However, in dimmer (not dark) lighting, typical of evening viewing in most
homes, black levels will be noticeably better, this results in deeper colours and
greater depth of the overall picture."


I noticed this yesterday when i was watching Akira (bluray) on my PS3000. The black levels were suddenly better because i wasnt watching in complete darkness (the black level do look a little too grey for my taste in complete darkness). Interesting.

I really recommend Akira btw, the many neon colors in this movie looks _stunning_ on this TV! The picture looked very 3D in some scenes too, very cool.
 
The only systems suited to complete darkness are projectors, too many people expect black levels to be the best in complete darkness, this is where bleed becomes more noticeable though
 
Thanks for the good feedback, as I've said before, if there are any suggestions for improvement, or any mistakes (including spelling/grammar) then let me know (either post on here or PM) and I'll make the change :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the guide. I am trying to decide whether it is worth the £290 extra for the 50PS8000 or just limp in for the 50PS3000. Is the extra money for THX, a few extra colour options, bluetooth worth it? Is the basic 50 inch display technology the same on both? I can get the 50PS3000 for £660 and the 50PS8000 for £950.
 
With the PS8000 you also get more greyscale calibration controls, so if you plan to calibrate the TV then you can get better results on the PS8000, fairly significantly as well (good results on the PS3000 though). Obviously if you don't plan on calibrating it then that's pointless, but makes the THX mode even more significant! Most people have said it's a bit dull for day to day viewing, but gives a very good picture for movies. You also get better sound on the PS8000, bluetooth is probably a nice feature if you use it
 
This is an excellent guide for anyone considering buying any TV. I'm going to read through this thing at work - it's answered some problems I've just seen on plasmas.
 
Well, I went to Curry's last night and the plasma LG 50PS3000 (£699) looked a bit dim compared with the LCD next to it. I didn't ask them to mess with the brightness to see if that could be improved, but the best display I saw was from a Samsung LED backlit TV, a 46 inch Series 7 UE46B7000 which was about £1500. Having looked at the reviews from this TV, the picture is excellent but the sound is rubbish, so would need an extra £250 for speakers. However, the 55 inch LED TV didn't look that great so the store settings may not be that good for that TV. Still haven't a clue what to buy.
 
Currys is the worst place to go to look at TVs, I explain it briefly in the guide, but basically most of the TVs will be on max settings all round, plasmas aren't always because shops like Currys don't put as much effort into selling them (they're harder to sell because of the many myths surrounding the technology). Anyway, the PS3000 is dimmer than the rest of the LCDs, it's a feature of plasma TVs, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I describe in te guide. You will turn the settings down from what they are in the shop and if you watch it in dimmer lighting then an LCD can be too bright, if you watch the TV in a very brightly lit room then an LCD will probably be better suited. The contrast on the plasmas will also look washed out due to the way the technology works and how it's effected by bright lights like those in Currys, it's all explained in the guide though.

As for the Samsung LED edgelit TV (it's not an LED backlit TV, that's in the 8500 and 9000 series, which might not come to the UK) Currys is the perfect place for it, and it will look amazing there. Basically they can produce very high brightness levels and very bright colours, but again, you will turn the settings down when you take it home and with the lower lighting levels the flaws with the technology will become more apparent. You will be more likely to get severe backlight bleed or clouding as that seems to be a serious issue on the Samsung models due to the edgelit technology, this is hidden in the bright lights in stores, but in lower lighting can be very clear. You could also suffer from the auto dimming technology, in lower lit conditions it can often become apparent and you get a flickering effect in dark areas, this can be particularly problematic with movies because this is not only when the light levels are often low, but there are black bars which makes the flickering most visible. Other than that though you will find that the LED edgelit TVs are very similar to the standard LCD TVs, viewing angles still suffer, motion problems still exist, but they do produce high brightness (which can be good or bad) and have a sharp image (no extra detail though).

You need to be very careful when comparing TVs in Currys though, the ones Currys want to sell will look the best
 
Thanks very much for such an in-depth reply Monarch08.

Well, after reading your reply, I went back into Currys to look again, and the assistant went into great depth to convince me that the LG plasma was by far the best option, explaining in great detail the different technologies, and why the Plasma colour is more natural. I can honestly say that I never expected such an intelligent and enthusiastic sales person in Currys (and no, I don't work there).

I have now decided on the 50PS3000 with the sub £700 price tag.

He also convinced me to buy the PS3 instead of a standard Bluray as the price difference of £50 gives the 120GB hard drive and DNLA streaming.
 
You obviously stumbled across a rarity with a helpful Currys worker :D They do appear from time to time. Anyway, as I said, plasmas are better suited to dimmer lighting, it doesn't have to be dark (in fact all TVs start to falter in darkness), but the shop lighting really does favour LCD TVs as this is where they perform best. Obviously different people will find either LCD or plasma to be better depending on when they watch TV, what they use it for etc...but plasmas still generally display more natural images, black levels will be better than most, although some of the high end Samsung and Sony LCDs come in around the same levels as the LG and some Panasonic plasmas, the LED set being one of them. Brightness isn't as great but motion handling is significantly better.

Anyway, enjoy the TV if you do end up with it :thumbsup:

EDIT: The PS3 is a good blu-ray player and I would recommend buying one if you wanted to use the extra stuff on it, or use it for games but you can get equal quality from some of the cheaper players (around £150) and HD sound which I don't think the PS3 supports
 
EDIT: The PS3 is a good blu-ray player and I would recommend buying one if you wanted to use the extra stuff on it, or use it for games but you can get equal quality from some of the cheaper players (around £150) and HD sound which I don't think the PS3 supports
you can still get 7.1 out, I use an HDMI out to my amp to get linear 7.1 :)
 
Just warning for an update, once of the SL8000 and SL9000 are out and prices are confirmed I'll add them onto the list, I'll also add a bit about LED edgelighting technology, so that should be along soon-ish
 
you can still get 7.1 out, I use an HDMI out to my amp to get linear 7.1 :)

Just to add more to the answer, all earlier PS3 models (pre slim) are able to output PCM, Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio as decoded pcm over HDMI, as Hyperboy mentioned. They lack the hardware to send the HD codecs Bitstream over HDMI which some prefer as this allows the amp to decode the sound.
The new slim model now houses a new chip that allows the passing of HD sound over HDMI as bitstream. Whether sending sound as bitstream or pcm makes any difference is up for much debate, but with bitstream you'll notice all the pretty HD lights on your amp come to life:D
 
Thanks from me as well - very useful research.:smashin:

You might mention the service menu - it seems older models could enter this by pressing and holding both menu or OK buttons on TV and remote. But on the latest firmware this no longer works.

It seems that those can tweak more settings and display things like hours run so far among others.

Another suggestion - and a broadcast request for info and experience, what do you get from registering your product with LG?

Is it worth it?

They mention "exclusive service benefits" as well as the obvious security record - but frankly I can (and have) recorded the serial number elsewhere anyway.

I don't suppose they enable the service menus for you ;)


:)lesson: Useful tip - take photos of your valuables, serial numbers etc and mail them to yourself - if you have a gmail or yahoo mail account you can keep these forever and access them easily if you are robbed.)
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll add something about the service menus and strange goings on when I add the info on the SL8000/9000 and LED technology.

I would add something about registering the products but I don't know! I'll have to look that up
 
UPDATE: I've updated the guide, the new borderless models are now listed, and I've added some information on the LED technology, I've also added a bit on the service menus and a picture on the front :D (SL8000).

I haven't added anything on registering the TVs yet, I will when I find out exactly what you get out of it :thumbsup:
 

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