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The LED, UHD, Plasma, LCD Debate

60 Hz was chosen here because it was the power line frequency. A lot of people, myself included, liked the multi-frequency computer CRTs that came out, back in the day.

The early TV pioneers were absolute geniuses. The studies that they did were comprehensive and the problems they solved with analog equipment were, in some cases, nearly astonishing.
 
I cant comment on LEDs, but LCD's, Samsungs look better than a lot of other TV's. Samsung make their own LCD panels and by jove, they are good panels. There arent many LCD manufacturers, so its worth bearing this in mind.

Contrast ratio may make a difference in LCD's as black is not true black with LCD. So I always pay attention to this ratio with LCD panels. It is not completely irrelevant.
 
If price isn't an object, download the manuals for the Insignia and the Samsung, NightAngel, and compare from there.

I can't speak for the other, but the Samsung provides a wealth of adjustments so you can dial in the best color and picture.

There's no substitute for a professional calibration, but you can do pretty well with a calibration disk, time, patience and your Mark 1 eyeballs.

PS - the factors that influence details on moving pictures are color, contrast, saturated and finally (believe it or not) resolution.

So contrast is indeed important. Look to good independent reviewers for proper measurements, and if you can't find any, check avsforums.com as some of their members are pros, and provide trustworthy measurements.

The manufacturer specs are nonsense.

And last I checked, the top of the line Samsungs had the fastest LC response times. Personally, I recommend Samsung and Sharp for best color in an LCD.
 
Yeah the LG Plasma I advised my mother-in-law to buy had a fantastic calibration tool built in. Much like what you would see on a calibration disk.

I'm rather jealous. My TV is a few years old now. Though it still does all it needs to do.

I'd love it to be bigger, but given that whole screen size:distance from screen thing, its apparently "too big". Its only 46" but I'm close to it
 
There are a lot of differences in LCD technologies. This article used to be fair but incomplete. It has since been attacked by author(s) who seem to be IPS freaks.

TFT LCD - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

At one time, Sony got their panels from Samsung via their SLCD venture, but they have since invested in Sharp, so I don't know which Sony models are getting which panels now.

Fun fact, only in the world of Android blogs did SLCD ever stand for Super LCD. There never was or has been any such thing, but lots of variants have locked on to Super prefix. HTC gave up and actually put on their website that their phones use Super LCD displays.

Hold out for Super Duper, I always say.

BTW - rather than saying LCD/CCFL and LCD/LED, I simply refer to either as an LCD. (For those joining late.)
 
Gmash said:
Is it still (or was it ever) true that LCD lasts longer than plasma?
Click to expand...

The technologies advance so quickly that by the time consumers get mean time between failure (MTBF) data for whole sets, the next generation comes along and you can extrapolate only a little. The LED backlight for LCDs definitely last far longer than CCFL (fluorescent) does.

I think anymore that the panel MTBF for either plasmas or LCDs is so high that you're likely to see a failure elsewhere first.

Protect your HDTV's power supply - put it on a surge protector.
 
I got a Samsung 46in LCD TV last year and I am happy with it. Might not be the best out there but gets the job done. I can't watch plasma TV as it gives me a killer headache.

It comes down to personal preferences. No matter who you ask be it us or the sales people. We all will tell you what we like. There is no right or wrong answer to this. Just go to different stores and play with them. Plus my TV couldnt pass up as I got it for like $500 or $600 and was new in the box.
 
Gmash said:
Is it still (or was it ever) true that LCD lasts longer than plasma?
Click to expand...

I read that you could leave your plasma on 24/7 and it would still last about 22 years.
Plasma's still have a bad reputation based on the way things were and old myths.
There are still people that believe you have to recharge plasma tv's.

It is true that plasmas aren't as energy efficient as lcd but they have improved very much.
 
Plasmas are a good alternative to LCD now. I would definitely consider one over an LCD, whereas previously I would not.
 
Hey NA... if the Insignia and Sammy have your attention, check out the specs and reviews on each to make sure they meet your minimum requirements. Go online and check out the manuals for each as EM has further suggested. If the model in question has horrible online reviews then it might be prudent to look elsewhere.

Once you have identified some specific choices, go to BB and look at the screens in question. Assuming all else is equal, base your final decision on how the TV image looks to you. Find the viewing angles and, if possible, hop into the menu and see if all of the features you want are there and easy to use.

As EM said, what looks good to someone else may or may not look good to you...

I was in Sam's Club the other day looking for a replacement monitor for my desktop PC. I almost bought a 27-inch Samsung LED monitor. Just before I was about to leave I walked past a 26-inch Vizio TV. It was $100 cheaper and had a nicer screen. I'm not a big Vizio fan but the fact that I liked the screen image better than the more expensive Samsung made it all the better for me. Specs are nice but it fit my needs and was less painful at the cash register. I score that a win in my book...
 
All good responses here. Definintely go with what appeals to you, not necessarily the advise of "techy-friends" or responses of "xxxx sucks, go with xxxx" and no reasoning/data to support it. My personal experience has been very positive with a Samsung 58" plasma TV that spousal unit and I bought in September of 2009. Unlimited viewing angles, crystal-clear picture, deep blacks, true colors, etc. It also doesn't have that "funny" look to it that most LCD TVs have due to the refresh rate.

The only adjustment I made to the TV was plug it in, turn the brightness up a tick, and that's it. I haven't touched the settings otherwise. Again, use what works for you, but I much-prefer plasma to LCD. As in, if the TV died (shhh, don't hear me!), I'd buy another plasma without thinking about it. I've seen enough LCDs to know that, in my opinion, they still aren't close enough to plasma for viewing angles, picture clarity, etc., for me to consider purchasing one.

Finally, don't believe the hype that "plasma is dead". Hardly. "Experts" have been saying that for years. While plasma may not have the market share that LCD does, they apparently still do well enough that most major manufaturers still consider it profitable to produce one.
 
WOW. Thank you all for your input. I'm gonna go with the plasma 43 inch 3d I had my eyes on. I will use it mostly for gaming and sports. It's gonna be in my bedroom which isn't all that big and it will be my first "new age" tv
 
starstress said:
WOW. Thank you all for your input. I'm gonna go with the plasma 43 inch 3d I had my eyes on. I will use it mostly for gaming and sports. It's gonna be in my bedroom which isn't all that big and it will be my first "new age" tv
Click to expand...

New age? It's not going to paint its face and dance around an open fire naked ;)
 
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Reactions: B2L
Tough room, not me.

Congrats starstress, let us know how much you'll enjoy it! :)

There's nothing like a new HDTV, you're going to watch some of your favorite movies and see things you never noticed.

I don't have to mention this, but my final advice is to always buy from a trusted source. ;)

PS to Lucky Armpit or those fearing that funny look on LCDs - that's an over-adjusted frame rate processing, easily set to normal, and not a constant affliction.
 
NightAngel79 said:
Thank you for the awesome explanation Early. I'll be saving that:D.

So the reason I asked is that I saw this very inexpensive Insignia (bestbuy brand) 55 LED for like 800 (i think). Said on it that it was 4,000 - 1 Contrast Ratio or 40,000 Dynamic Contrast Ratio.... the slightly more expensive Vizio's are any where from 10,000 to 1 up to and around 100,000 to 1... the top money samsungs are anywhere from 1,000,000 (and on up) to 1..... These numbers are the only difference I can see between the Insignia and the Samsung.

I will say the more expensive ones looked better but that of course is subjective. Not too mention I'm not above saying that I most likely saw the HUGE difference in the contrast ratio and fooled myself into thinking the sammy's looked better
Click to expand...

Just thought I would add a little input on Insignia TV's. I currently have the 42 LED, and must say I absolutely love it. I was actually quite impressed by the picture quality, and always have friends commenting on how good it looks. If you're looking into buying something that
won't break your wallet, i would definitely recommend it. But if you can afford to go with
something on the higher end I would say go with Samsung. (although, you may end up spending 2-3 times more.)
 
EarlyMon said:
Tough room, not me.

Congrats starstress, let us know how much you'll enjoy it! :)

There's nothing like a new HDTV, you're going to watch some of your favorite movies and see things you never noticed.

I don't have to mention this, but my final advice is to always buy from a trusted source. ;)

PS to Lucky Armpit or those fearing that funny look on LCDs - that's an over-adjusted frame rate processing, easily set to normal, and not a constant affliction.
Click to expand...

That's good info EarlyMon, thanks. I'll have to pass that along to friends with LCD TVs to see if that helps them. Was wondering (other than manufacturing differences) why some LCD TVs look so much better than others.
 
Lucky Armpit said:
That's good info EarlyMon, thanks. I'll have to pass that along to friends with LCD TVs to see if that helps them. Was wondering (other than manufacturing differences) why some LCD TVs look so much better than others.
Click to expand...

All LCDs are not created equally, for sure, but the majority of the bad pictures out there are adjustment related.

Unlike your plasma, most LCDs are shipped in what we like to call Torch Mode. Every feature cranked to the max to burn the eyeballs of a normal viewer. Exciting, dramatic and fake. California actually drafted legislation to not allow that in showrooms because they calculated a huge, useless power drain statewide for it. Every little bit adds up. Don't recall if they passed it or not. Anyway, along with over saturated color, they way over do the frame rate processing. Different-looking sells, I guess.

I have a mid/low LCD also by Sammy in my bedroom. Surprisingly, brightness and contrast are switched and I was not able to adjust color properly until I found that out.

For my high end living room LCD, plasma owning friends still believe I'm lying and I have a plasma. It's a fast panel, doesn't black crush but does get acceptably close to black and the color is pretty close to dead on. Frame rate processing is subtly adjusted.

With a decent TV set and a good calibration, the technology goes away and you get movies, sports and shows.
 
B2L said:
Just thought I would add a little input on Insignia TV's. I currently have the 42 LED, and must say I absolutely love it. I was actually quite impressed by the picture quality, and always have friends commenting on how good it looks. If you're looking into buying something that
won't break your wallet, i would definitely recommend it. But if you can afford to go with
something on the higher end I would say go with Samsung. (although, you may end up spending 2-3 times more.)
Click to expand...

I feel ya bro, I actually have a 42 LCD from Insignia and have NOTHING but good things to say about it. It blows my 51 out the park, though that is a slightly older DLP.

the Insignia looked really nice, trying to make it back to BB so that I can play around with it

EarlyMon said:
All LCDs are not created equally, for sure, but the majority of the bad pictures out there are adjustment related.

Unlike your plasma, most LCDs are shipped in what we like to call Torch Mode. Every feature cranked to the max to burn the eyeballs of a normal viewer. Exciting, dramatic and fake. California actually drafted legislation to not allow that in showrooms because they calculated a huge, useless power drain statewide for it. Every little bit adds up. Don't recall if they passed it or not. Anyway, along with over saturated color, they way over do the frame rate processing. Different-looking sells, I guess.

I have a mid/low LCD also by Sammy in my bedroom. Surprisingly, brightness and contrast are switched and I was not able to adjust color properly until I found that out.

For my high end living room LCD, plasma owning friends still believe I'm lying and I have a plasma. It's a fast panel, doesn't black crush but does get acceptably close to black and the color is pretty close to dead on. Frame rate processing is subtly adjusted.

With a decent TV set and a good calibration, the technology goes away and you get movies, sports and shows.
Click to expand...

I usually leave everything on default settins.... or use whatever 'preset' looks the best. I am slightly color blind so subtle variations are completely lost on me:D

So frame rate is the setting i should look for and play with?
 
The frame rate setting goes by many brand names, and you'll find it on 120/240 Hz models.

Look for expressions like Auto Motion (or anything with motion) or interpolation in a setting name.

Definitely play with it. Too high and you get a stark picture where everything looks like a bad soap opera, or like everyone is standing next to a harsh, naked light bulb. On that option, less is usually more. A lot of folks just turn it off. It's pretty personal.

Not everyone has the same sensitivity or preferences to color, I hear you. But look for an overall mode setting - usual choices are dynamic, standard, natural or movie. Try different ones, they make a big overall difference in color balance and you may be surprised to find one you really like.
 
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