40"/42" LCD

rumanuu

Hi boardies. Looking for advice about which 40" or 42" LCD to buy. Will be mainly used for Sky+HD, PS3 gaming and Blue Ray.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Zonda999

Any idea on budget? That would be useful!

Its getting more and more difficult to buy a dedicated quality lcd for gaming, at the moment. Input lag is becoming a huge obstacle as at the time being, all the best sets all have input lag issues...

rumanuu

looking to spend between 800- 1100. was reading reviews and looks like the plasma performs better for sports and gaming. I think i've narrowed it down to three.
Panasonic 42" G10 plasma
Phillips 42" 8404 lcd
Sony 40" W5500 lcd

What would be your choice?
Thanks for the help.

Zonda999

rumanuu wrote: »

looking to spend between 800- 1100. was reading reviews and looks like the plasma performs better for sports and gaming. I think i've narrowed it down to three.
Panasonic 42" G10 plasma
Phillips 42" 8404 lcd
Sony 40" W5500 lcd

What would be your choice?
Thanks for the help.

I would go for the plasma if you like plasma sets, if you go to a shop and see that you prefer LCD(Like i do), also have a look at the Samsung 40B650, probably better than the w5500, a thread has appeared recently on boards regarding input lag on the 8404, probably a decent set but couldnt see it matching the sony or samsung for black level

rumanuu

thanks for the help zonda. will take a look at the samsung. have not ruled any set out yet but swaying towards the panasonic plasma purely down to lag on lcds when it comes to gaming/sports on HD.
having said that I could walk into the shop and change my mind completely when I see them up close.
Thanks again.

cubix

Zonda, when you say you prefer LCD's is it down to looks/build etc. Another words if you have a plasma & lcd which are the same size/price would you always pick lcd?

Zonda999

cubix wrote: »

Zonda, when you say you prefer LCD's is it down to looks/build etc. Another words if you have a plasma & lcd which are the same size/price would you always pick lcd?

Its kinda hard to explain really but i guess i just prefer the vibrancy of lcd compared to plasma. About a year ago when i was looking for a tv around 40", i was convinced to go for a plasma after reading a load on how plasma is better from a picture quality/motion/black level point of view. I was set on a panasonic 42pz80, the best plasma in my price range at the time, i went to see it in a shop and i just didnt like it compared to Samsung or Sony lcd, i know you hear a lot on black level but its like for that black level you're giving up some of the vibrance of the colour which i simply preferred on lcd, so i just decided to go for a lcd with a decent black level, which is why in the end i went for a 6 series Samsung. according to HDTVTest, it has the same black level as the panasonic so i cant complain!

I would do it again tbh, i saw a NeoPDP panasonic plasma recently expecting to be finally convinced by the superior black level and the 600Hz, but i just was'nt, i still prefer lcd! The only plasma i've been truly wowed by, was the last generation Pioneer Kuro, the finest mass production plasma ever, but was and is out fo my range!

Would i always pick lcd, right now, yes!

cubix

Thank in you;), if you had to pick a 40-42" lcd at the moment what would it be. Had be looking at getting a panny G10 42" which I think was round the €1000 mark.

Zonda999

cubix wrote: »

Thank in you;), if you had to pick a 40-42" lcd at the moment what would it be. Had be looking at getting a panny G10 42" which I think was round the €1000 mark.

If you like plasma, around the €1000 seems fairly decent value for a set as highly rated as that one, although a few boardsies here have mentioned around here gettin it for about 900€

If i had to get a lcd, it'd probably be the Samsung 40B8000 or the Philips 42pfl9664, the Samsung being LED backlit giving better blacks, and the philips better in probably nearly all other area's, both around 1500€. Still though i think compared to those two, the Samsung 40B650 or Sony 40W5500 would give picture quality very close to them, for about half the price! Would get the Samsung over the sony though, very close really, just that would be my preference.

There are also very new philips LED sets, not a lot known about them but a decent 40" one would be about 2 grand..

barry181091

Im getting the Samsung 40B650, which will be here on Wednesday (hopefully!).

I will post my reactions and any screenshots if you want.

Anyway, You don't need my input, it seems the 40B650 is very popular with there being many many threads about it on Avforums.com

If you are very picky about tv performance, just watch about the B650 series as they suffer from 'panel lottery'. Samsung use three manufacturers to make the panel, themselves being one. The other two manufactuers panels, according to some posters, give problems and don't look as good as the Samsung manufactured one.

The B650 also has moderate input lag. You have to put it into Game Mode (No post processing) otherwise the lag is too high (30ms vs 70+ms). Some people say it doesnt affect the gameplay but some say it does so this is another variable. If you play games like Guitar Hero or fast fps's online like Modern Warfare 2, this panel could give you trouble. But as Zonda said, alot of today's LCD's have pretty high input lag.

I took all these points into consideration but I still decided to get it. It was a great deal (Got mine for approx.730 euro incl delivery) and no other panel in my price range could beat it. Plus, It plays most video (Including HD) and music files though its USB port which is a big plus for me.

Hope you chhose the right tv

B.

I'm not exactly a TV or gaming expert, but I would like to just throw into this thread, that whether you intend to use the TV in a bright or dark room should affect your decision on LCD VS Plasma.


In my experience with both, Plasma isn't that great in a bright room, and tends to have a visible reflection on it if the room is too bright. Also suffers if there is a light pointing towards it.

My brother has a plasma and he doesn't seem to notice/care about that, but I see it every time.

I use an LCD TV myself, and I always use it in a very brightly lit room (not a big fan of watching TV/Playing games in the dark). The TV rarely (never?) has any issues with reflection or light being a problem. The window in my room is a few feet away, to the side of the TV, and if there is direct sunlight shining in the window on top of it, you will notice it. My room has those thin, vertical window blind things, these here:

http://www.1blindsforless.com/vert.h5.gif


and if i close them then the sun isn't an issue. The only game I really ever play is GTA, though i do watch a lot of TV Shows on it.

So yeah, I just thought I'd throw this post in here, in case it helps anyone out at all. (I'd assume your PC monitor is LCD, so hat should give you an idea of what i mean as to how it's grand to look at in a bright room and doesnt suffer much from reflections, etc.)

Blazer

I jsut got the LG 42LH4300 at Curry's for €599. (42 inch 1080p)
Unbelievable bargain...great picture and looks good as well.
What's even better is you can hack the tv (using your symbian phone) to unlock the usb port on it and enable it for divx/avi/mkv support on both FAT and NTFS usb drivers or hard drives. It also supports DTS over it as well.
For this time it's an absolute steal considering Harvey Bloody Norman's are selling the exact same one for €775.

rumanuu

Wow Berkut, You got a great deal there.
I'm still none the wiser really as far as what to buy.
Although there are some great deals out there at the moment.
Will keep looking. :P

Blazer

Just to let you know I've did the LG hack and my HD movies are playing perfectly
I was wrong about DTS support though...LG don't support it..at least not on this range of TVs anyway.