Make me buy an LCD

[the id]

Opinions needed.
Which is the best hd LCD tv under £2000

Not confused, just so many choices. I would like to narrow my field of view!

 

[David Mackenzie]

What size are you looking for for that price?

 

[jayjayw]

For that kind of money why not consider a decent plasma, new Pioneer or new Panasonic out soon for around £2k.

 

[the id]

37 or 42 inch.

I have had conflicting advice regarding which is better LCD/Plasma!
I class myself a Movie Buff and Games Junkie.

Thanks for the reply Lyris & jayjayw

 

[Sniper_007]

For movies Plasma.. for games LCD.

LCD has the edge for games due to no risk of screen burn, and less latency caused by picture processing which Plasmas can tend to have.. which is obviously detrimental to gameplay!!

Plasma on the other hand have far better blacks, and just give a smoother, more lifelike and filmic picture than current LCDs can offer!! Oh and are bigger too

 

[the id]

You just gave me a curve ball, which is the better compromise?

 

[Flashman]

I have a 42" Toshiba, the 42WLT58. Bought for £1500 from Freemans..

Personally, I think DVDs look great on it and I also play a lot of FP shooters, MOH, Call of Duty 2 etc and it's fantastic on such a large screen, with no risk of screen burn.

Copes very well with fast moving action as well, would highly recommend it.

 

[the id]

Great!! Only 1500 how? the Tosh will now go on my shortlist to Demo.
Which so far contains one LCD tv.

 

[Sniper_007]

You just gave me a curve ball, which is the better compromise?

That is a good question..... I've heard a few saying that the 37PV500 Panny Plasma is a very good set for games (with particular resistance to screen burn compared to previous Plasmas), but I couldn't resist the Philips 32PF9830 LCD, although I realise this is not quite big enough for what you want!! (to be delivered Thursday!!)

To be honest I'm not sure which is the best to get... if it wasn't for the screen burn issue I'd be the proud owner of a (totally overpowering!!) Pioneer PDP-436XDE right now, but I felt I just couldn't risk it... and so settled for the smaller, but very impressively specced Philips.

You'll get a lot of differing opinions on these forums, which probably indicates that either option is good enough - but I would definitely advise LCD for games over Plasma, but why not see if you can get down to a local home cinema store and check them out??

 

[the porter]

hi try this 40 inch lcd 1200 quid online inc delivery www.pricerunner.co.uk i love the look and everything looks cool on it hd ready and all for 1200 quid!!

i love

 

[the id]

Friends working in the A/V sector keep waving the Plasma Flag.

You are correct with your recommendations, the only obstacle stopping me purchasing a Plasma is the obvious screen burn issue. inherent in the technology.....no way around this problem.



The scales seem to be tipping towards LCD. not really that bad!
There seems to be no Definitive answer?

 

[Argee1977]

With LCDs you'll be more than happy with a 2k screen for games and DVDs, and with HD coming along soon they'll be just as good with TV as well, at the moment TV seems to depend on the quality of signal.

For 2k you'd get a great 40" screen from the likes of Sony, Samsung (M61), etc, with the likes of sharp and toshiba coming out with new models soon, might be worth going around the shops and seeing them in action.

As for your dilemna, i had the exact same thing, i was all set to buy a Panasonic PV500 but was put off with all the running in and threat of screen burn, i went for a sony bravia 40" and its good so far, only problem seems to be some of the sky channels having rubbish broadcasts.

Another thing is that will a 40" be too big, for this type of size you really need to be at least 10 foot away from the screen for TV, although with PS2 or XBOX360 games you can get closer, but i wouldn't like to get closer than 7 foot away when playing these games with this size of screen.

 

[the id]

I have recieved good and constructive advise.

My shortlist to Demo so far:

1. Toshiba 37/42wlt58
2. Sony Bravia Range
3. Philips 32PF9830
4. Samsung M61

I will look into Plasma screens(Ha,Ha-that was unintentional )....but the more recommendations from yourselves the better.

I will definately be the owner of a new LCD or Plasma within the next two weeks....optimistic I know!

 

[jimbob72]

I had the same dilemma, and spent about four months trying to decide. Ended up with an LCD for the following reasons:

1) No screen burn
2) Lower power consumption (my contribution to global cooling)
3) Less bulky/heavy
4) Less fragile
5) Better screen response
6) Better PC monitor
7) Will supercede plasma in a couple of years or so (not that that really affects a current purchase)
8) Higher native resolution - i.e. better detail
9) Something about LCD that just feels right

On the downside:

1) No real black levels - just varying levels of grey
2) Shows up poor quality signals more than plasma
3) Is more expensive for a similar quality screen

I heartily recommend the 40" Samsung M61. It has been a joy to use thus far and having played PS2, GameCube, DVDs, SD, Sky+ and PC VGA through it, I have yet to be disappointed.

Good luck.

Ps. I narrowed it down to the M61 and the Sony Bravia. Very glad I went with the Sammy.

 

[David Mackenzie]

I'd love to see a properly set up Plasma - but even still from looking in stores, it hasn't wowed me. The picture looks very dry and I honestly have never seen one with more convincing blacks than my Sony LCD on power saving mode. The blacks look very green-tinted to me. Perhaps seeing one in a dark room would tip the balance?

And if the screen burn thing is still true, there's no way in hell I'd buy a screen that expensive and feel worried any time I watched something that wasn't exactly 16:9 ratio because of the burn in. Stretching 4:3 or 2.35:1 movies wouldn't really seem like the AV product of choice for me! (BTW Porter: you know the picture's distorted on your TV, right?)

Also, they're only available in big sizes which don't suit me.

 

[polygon99]

I was looking on-line to buy the Sony KLV S32A10. A Google search took me to an on-line shop "FutureproofDirect". They had the tv on offer for £705 while most other sites were around the £1,000 mark.

I ordered on-line on Monday (27th Feb) and it took me through the credit card process etc and I got the usual e-mail confirmation of both order and payment.

Today I thought I would check how delivery was progressing so went back to the site but found the 'delivery' link didn't reach anything and the phone number wasn't answered.

I eventually followed a link to the web site design company and found that the whole site was just a test for a client who was setting up soon. I got the phone number for the client who told me that all the content was dummy data and the payment was through a dummy account and wouldn't actually be processed. If anyone wants a look go to www.futureproofdirect.co.uk/store/comersus_index.asp

 

[the porter]

hi i think it was either the zoom feature on the tv ,and my old canon ixus v3 is on its last legs and the tv was paused ,well i hope so anyway!!

 

[andrewfee]

If you play games, it seems like a very bad decision to buy Plasma, in my opinion. I would not spend over £1k on a screen that I could permanently damage just from playing games or watching the same channel for a while. (channel logos will also burn in)

Many plasma owners claim that they only suffer from "image retention" and not burn-in anymore, but this can last weeks, if not months, depending on the severity. (it took a friend about 3 months to completely get rid of "image retention" on his Sony plasma a while ago, after playing some games on it)

If blacks are a concern, and you only plan to use it as a television (no VGA connection for a PC) then the Sony BRAVIAs are the ones to go for. With the Power Saving mode on, and any kind of light in the room, blacks are better than I've seen on any display. They are very convincing, and it produces a great image. The problem with CRT/Plasma is that if there's any light on in the room, you get loads of reflections which makes the picture look crap.

In a fully dark room, CRT is capable of producing blacker blacks, but with the four CRTs we've got here, the LCD was darker when showing shadow detail. (if you make blacks truly black on all CRTs I've seen, you get no detail in the shadows at all)

I don't know how plasma compares, but I was very impressed with the black level of my Sony KDLV26A12U after three other LCDs that failed to impress in this regard.

 

[the id]

Dilemma Sony kdls40 or kdlv40.

Is it really worth paying 300 to 400 pounds more for the 'v'.
Are the differences that great to warrant the extra outlay?

Also are they obviously different picture wise from the Toshiba 37/42wlt58's

If you have a Sony Bravia or Toshiba wlt58 your views would be appreciated.

This would probably help other members with making a decision before that final purchase!

 

[andrewfee]

I have not spent a lot of time with the S series, but yes, the extra is definitely worth it. The V uses S-PVA panels, which improve black levels, response times, viewing angles and white-point accuracy.

 

[Woodywizz]

If you really wany a 40" LCD, then I would go with the Sony Bravia - great styling and very good PQ. On the subject of black levels, I have the Panny LXD500 - 32" LCD, and I can honestly say that the blacks are....well....black. If you can live with a 32" then I would wait for the new Panny LXD600 - should be released in next couple of months: if it is half as good as the 500 then it will be brilliant. As per other posts, if gaming is important to you then stick with LCD.

 

[leemo1234]

I have had my Toshiba 42WLT58 for 9 days and I am absolutley delighted. I was on the verge of splashing out £2500 on the Panasonic 42inch plasma (I do not play games Just use it for SKY and DVD's).

I was able to view a variety of Screens in a variey of Shops with various feeds. I was able to see the panasonic plasma side by side with a sony LCD. The panasonic IMO was a superior picture. I was then able to see the 42 inch panasonic plasma next to the 42 inch tosh. The feed was the same (non HD) and to me the picture of the tosh was superior (which surprised me, but then again I dont like a picture with a high colour saturation). As a consequence of viewing the TOSH in a variety of enviroments, including with an HD feed I went for the tosh, saving several hundred pounds in the process. I have no regretts or complaints over this set. It is fantastic. However, it is all about personal prefernce so you will need to go and look at the sets yourself before spending a large amount of cash.

 

[g852]

You need to go and look yourself with a variety of sources. I think the best compromise is LCD. You don't get screen burn, you don't need to worry about leaving it on with channel logos, you can play games for days on end...LCD's are very, very good these days, colours vibrant and very sharp. With any large screen (plasma or LCD) and poor quality broadcasts, the poor quality shows up. Forget the plasma vs LCD hype, they're both very good, its down to what YOU want to do with it. Sizes are getting bigger, prices coming down and once you have it, there's a 99.999999% chance you'll be over the moon with it and all the niggling worries about blacks, pq etc will die away. The more you read here, the more difficult it could become. So use your own eyes and wallet (!) as the judge.

 

[Woodywizz]

You need to go and look yourself with a variety of sources. I think the best compromise is LCD. You don't get screen burn, you don't need to worry about leaving it on with channel logos, you can play games for days on end...LCD's are very, very good these days, colours vibrant and very sharp. With any large screen (plasma or LCD) and poor quality broadcasts, the poor quality shows up. Forget the plasma vs LCD hype, they're both very good, its down to what YOU want to do with it. Sizes are getting bigger, prices coming down and once you have it, there's a 99.999999% chance you'll be over the moon with it and all the niggling worries about blacks, pq etc will die away. The more you read here, the more difficult it could become. So use your own eyes and wallet (!) as the judge.

Excellent post I think that sometimes we, as members of an AV forum, can become overly critical of our own and other peoples' choices re format choice. The forum offers a great difference of opinion on many matters and - for new members - this choice can seem confusing and adds to the initial indecision. At the end of day, the best advice is always to demo the respective panels with the sources which are important to you, couple this with budget, and - if you are happy with the PQ and the price - then buy that panel. If you keep reading the countless posts on lcd/plasma/crt/dlp then you will never make your mind up and will never buy a panel that you will be proud of.

 

[the id]

To be completely honest I knew the 'see for yourself scenario' would be the eventual outcome. All the points raised buy everyone have helped greatly in confirming a number of concerns before making that final decision.

After all in the end it is the individuals choice and money.
The eye is subjective.
For peace of mind and the intelligent option LCD is the one for me.

I will demo the Toshiba 42wlt58 & Sony Bravia kdlv40.

And then see who gives the better deal!

Reciever : Denon 3805 :dts: DVD : Denon 2900 :r0: DVD Recorder : Toshiba DR1 :r0: Sub : Rel Strata 5 :uk: Speakers : Kef 7.1 System
Console : PS2 Screen ?