How do I read the specs on LCD T.V.s?

jolo

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying an LCD TV probably a 32 inch maybe a 37inch. I was browsing in Limerick on Saturday and the one that particularly took my fancy was a Samsung LE32R73BD in Dixons for 1149 euros. I liked the look, it was on a neat little swivel stand, it's black, the price is around what I'm prepared to pay and the picture seemed particularly Wow. On closer inspection it has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 which is significantly higher than most of the others around. Today I checked www.technikdirekt.de for pricing - they're charging 1102 so the price is good.
However while searching for this model on their website I found loads of other 32 inch samsung lcds with varying price tags. One of them LE32R53B is 1238 euros and only has a contrast ratio of 800:1 (To me that seems alower spec with a higher price tag) , another LE32R71W is 986 euros - it has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 also but it is white.
Is there anyway to tell from the model no. what the spec is? Which has a higher spec or what are the important things in the spec to take into consideration?
Feeling out of my depth again and I'd love to be enlightened.

As an aside Dixons told me that Samsung don't do 37 inch, they go from 26 to 32 to 40 but there seem to be plenty of Samsung 37 inch on the technikdirekt website.

Thanks,
Jo

8T8

There are quite a lot of Samsung models too many to keep track off but one thing certain is that they are all incremental improvement's over the same core display that first showed in the panels about a year or so ago.

Only the very latest top of the line Samsung TV's in the 40" range have a new generation panel but the exiting ones are still very good.

The contrast ratio's wild figure is a marketing bluff the manufactures re-interpret how you measure the contrast ratio to inflate it giving the false impression that it is ZOMG better!

In reality it is probably only a marginal improvement over the other displays.

Samsung's website can be a bit of a maze in general the German Samsung site is the one with the most comprehensive listings of Samsung displays. Also certain models will not be available in certain countries which is why you got the 37" remark though as you can see Komplett sells them.

The difference between the LE-32R73BD & LE-32R71W is very minor both use the same panel but the R73BD comes with a DVB-T tuner for digital terrestrial television built in.

The LE-32R53B is based on the slightly previous gen panel were talking very minor tweak here that improved contrast a little bit and was given a new casing and a new code name.

Anyway hope that clears things up

jolo

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. It was very clear and concise and did clear things up considerably.
You seem to know your t.v.s. What would you recommend in either 32 or 37 inch, in brand or model?
Why is there so much confusion about whether lcd or plasma is better. These boards seem to swing both ways and the sales guys in the shops all seem to be pro-lcd although they are probably not always the best sources. I would be interested in your view.
Thanks again.
jo.

dancin

A general rule of thumb is that you should be sitting s distance approx 7 times the heigh to the display area. So lets say you have a 32 inch screen, and the screen dimensions are (a guess here) 26 * 18 inches, then you should be sitting approx 10 feet away to get the best from the screen.

It's only a rule of thumb, and your mileage will vary. But it's something to work from.

Getting the larger screen will not actually make your image any better as the 32" and 37" Samsungs have the same resolution (1366*768). So if you get the bigger screen and are sitting too close you will notice that the image looks a little 'blocky'.

LCD vs Plasma is a sort of Mac Versus Windows type thing. There are technical pro's and cons for each, and everyone has their opinion's. You really have to try for yourself.

In my experience, I prefer LCD's. 2 om my mates have plasma screens (42 inch monsters), and to mee the image is 'blocky'. I'm sure that I can make out the individual Plasma cells making up the image. To me an LCD image looks smoother.
Now this could just be the make and model of plasma's I've seen in their houses.
You really need to check it out for yourself.

Here's a tip. Find a shop which sells the model of screens you're interested in. Pick a DVD to test with (the Matrix is always a good bet), and see if they will hook up a DVD player to each TV, and play the same sceen from the film on each TV...