I'm buying my parents a gift for moving into a new home. 46" or 46"+ LCD or newer LED flat screen.

My parents are old and do not need any cool features or options. Image quality is the most important aspect. Hookups, USBs and what not are not needed.

Please recommend.

Thanks guys

9/30/2011 2:14:37 PM

love my sony 40" led.

9/30/2011 2:20:07 PM

avoid 3d tv's if you put image quality in high regards. LG, Sony, Toshiba and Vizio makes damn good products.

9/30/2011 2:35:19 PM

save the money and go with a vizio. save even more and try to find a year old model at that.

9/30/2011 2:39:42 PM

Nevermind... misread the OP.

[Edited on September 30, 2011 at 4:00 PM. Reason : .]

9/30/2011 3:59:53 PM

probably could save a lot of $$ and get a better picture by going with a 50" plasma

9/30/2011 5:26:16 PM

Quote :

"Image quality is the most important aspect"

Then you should buy a plasma.

9/30/2011 5:48:19 PM

^ I personally prefer LCD -- I know plasma is more accurate, but it's just not as crisp as LED IMO. LED has more 'pop'. I had a Panasonic G10 in my old apartment with some roommates (which was supposed to be great) and I recently moved out and bought a Sony HX800, which I love way more than I ever did the Panasonic.

One thing to consider is whether you like the soap opera effect -- youll get it with LED (more hz = more soap opera, though there are settings to increase/decrease it) and will get more of a cinema picture with plasma.

Speaking of LED, CNET loves some 55" Vizio LED that came out maybe a year ago. Apparently has fantastic bang for the buck.

[Edited on September 30, 2011 at 7:23 PM. Reason : ]

9/30/2011 7:23:12 PM

Ok, so it looks like Vizio, no 3D. Any specific model #?

10/2/2011 9:47:34 PM

Quote :

"Then you should buy a plasma."

2nd. the blacks are darker, colors are better, & i hatehatehate the soap opera effect mentioned earlier. idk how people watch tv like that. my parents' sony lcd is horrible for it. maybe theirs is worse than others, idk, but it's awful & weird.

10/2/2011 11:36:50 PM

how many people posting in this thread actually calibrated their tv with glasses and such? i'm betting 0, 2 max. i wouldn't go with led unless you plan to spring for local dimming. a quality lcd is going to have a better picture than an lcd in the same price range. plasma doesn't really exceed lcd until you start dropping a lot of cash

10/3/2011 12:14:41 AM

The dark levels on my LED vizio is pretty damn good, basically true blacks. Plasma's gamma is usually higher, but its really hard to tell, specially if you calibrate the color of your tv correctly. But yeah, I can't stand the "soap opera" effect. I turn that shit off manually unless watching a sports game.

10/3/2011 2:29:55 AM

Quote :

"plasma doesn't really exceed lcd until you start dropping a lot of cash"

itt smoothcrim has another opinion I don't agree with in the slightest.

10/3/2011 10:09:39 AM

Quote :

"love my sony 4048" led."

10/3/2011 10:59:02 AM

Quote :

"love my sonysamsung 404855" 3d led."

10/3/2011 11:07:06 AM

Quote :

"love my sonysamsung Sharp 40485580" 3d led."

[Edited on October 3, 2011 at 12:31 PM. Reason : ]

10/3/2011 12:30:59 PM

Quote :

"love my sony samsung sharp Panasonic 40485596" 3d led."

10/3/2011 1:12:56 PM

Quote :

"plasma doesn't really exceed lcd until you start dropping a lot of cash"

Completely wrong.

10/3/2011 1:59:58 PM

I, too, am in the market for a new TV. Doesn't have to be LCD, can be plasma, LED, 3D, whatever. I'm looking to spend less than a 1000 on it if possible. I really liked this Vizio: http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-E3D420VX-Class-Theater-Internet/dp/B004U5T2OG but am obviously open to other recommendations. The price point, reviews, size are all great to me, so something better/comparable would be nice.

10/3/2011 2:58:15 PM

"soap opera effect" has nothing to do with the tv being plasma or LCD or LED LCD or even a projection tv, it is a result of the smoothing function combined with the high refresh rate (120hz and more). Generally these TVs will have a way to turn the smoothing off, and it will look like a regular TV.

I have not shopped for TVs for a while, but about a year ago Sony Bravias consistently had the most natural picture in every store i have visited, meaning they work well right out of the box (natural skin tones, natural color saturation, lack of artifacts)

10/3/2011 4:28:03 PM

OK, to clarify the soap opera effect is due to motion interpolation, it has NOTHING to do with Hertz. Manufacturer's "relate" it to Hertz by saying it's "like" 120Hz, or "like" 240Hz, but it's motion interpolation. because if by definition it was based on Hertz, plasma would be the worst at the equivalent of 600Hz. And 9 times out of 10 you can turn motion interpolation OFF. So it's really a non-issue, whether you love or hate it.

Edit: Basically what Igor said... thanks.

If you want the BEST image quality for LCD's right now it's Samsung and LG. Vizio is a good budget option, the color reproduction isn't great, but is high-contrast

[Edited on October 3, 2011 at 4:51 PM. Reason : .]

10/3/2011 4:49:20 PM

plasma picture quality is not very good under $2000, especially in comparison to some of the lcd's available at the 1200-1500 price point. honestly I haven't seen a stellar plasma picture since pioneer. im sure it could exist somewhere, but not in stores I frequent (walmart, best buy, sears, etc). I hear good things about panasonic plasma and they do have pretty great contrast and blacks but the de-interlacing kinda sucked and the red phosphors looked kinda whack on the ones I've seen.

10/3/2011 6:33:19 PM

^ really? tired of people even mentioning the kuro. todays plasmas have a laundry of advantages over the kuro (cheaper, larger, more efficient,new w/warranty) black levels are to the point where the differences are barely noticeable with a REAL contrast test. i may have a marginally better picture but you sacrifice basically everything else you look for in a tv. off topic but relevant to tv discussion.

[Edited on October 6, 2011 at 10:42 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2011 10:38:45 PM

I have a Kuro in my office at work.

It was a really nice TV when it was made, almost without a doubt the best of it's kind

... 3+ years ago.

I see no major difference between it and the current generation plasma in my house.

10/7/2011 12:16:49 AM

I can still see the pixels in plasmas. Not so much with the LCDs. Therefore in anything other than a pitch black room, LCD wins in my book because the difference in black levels are negligible.

10/7/2011 4:36:02 PM

i can tell by the pixels

10/7/2011 4:36:33 PM

10/7/2011 4:38:34 PM

Quote :

"I can still see the pixels in plasmas."

have you tried taking a step back ? i can't see the pixels on my 58" until i'm 3 feet away

10/8/2011 4:20:34 PM

My son was playing the Wii today without the bracelet he was supposed to have on. I'm laying in my bed downstairs and hear a loud BANG! A few minutes later, I hear him crying telling my wife something. After that, she comes in and tells me that when he swung his Wiimote, he let it go and it smashed into my TV. He was crying because he was afraid I was going to kill him.

It's a 42" Sharp Aquos 1080p 60Hz LCD.

Thankfully, I just had back surgery and am on Flexeril and Percocet and don't care much. I looked at the screen, and it's cracked and broken. No fixing.

Except now we don't have a TV downstairs (where everything is hooked up).

Anyway, I've been doing a little research since I heard about the TV and am now in the market.

I'm looking for a non-3d TV with at least 120Hz, 1080p, LED. The reviews I've read have steered me towards the 55" Samsung SmartTV 1080p 120Hz LED LCD.

I'm finding it available for $1499 at Sears locally, and not much cheaper than that online.

Since I haven't been in the market for a TV for a while, I'd like to know if this is a good TV. I don't want to spend the Mega$ for something like the Samsung D8000's, especially when I won't be using the 3D much.

12/11/2011 4:01:07 PM

Fuck that, I'd be in the market for a new kid.

Make him learn how to dig a hole.

12/11/2011 4:14:49 PM

So does anyone have any helpful advice?

12/12/2011 3:37:18 AM

Or the LG 55LW5600/47LW5600.

12/12/2011 4:58:13 AM

Look into the LG Passive 3-D TVs. They're about the same price, but have the 3D capability. My parents got the 47inch one on Black Friday for like 800 dollars (it's now ~1k for 47 and ~1300 for 55 inch). The picture is fantastic on them in my opinion, and the passive 3D is cool, but not expensive to maintain.

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Infinia-55LW5600-55-Inch-LED-LCD/dp/B004OOVIHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323710564&sr=8-1 is the 55inch and as you can see it gets pretty solid reviews. I'm debating getting one, but because I plan on moving in a few months, no point in getting something that could break in the move.

I would say if your kid is going to play wii, require the wrist strap to be on, or else he's going to have to do mad chores to offset having to buy another TV.

12/12/2011 12:24:43 PM

Yeah, I think I may go with the LG 55".

When he broke the TV, I was in my recovery room with the in-home nurse and my wife going over some things. We heard a bang, but thought nothing of it. My wife walked in the living room a few minutes later and found my son crying. She asked what was wrong, and he told her that he broke the TV. When asked why he was crying, he responded it was because he was afraid to tell me about it. He was literally shaking.

Again, being doped up I didn't care much. I was more concerned that he was playing the game without the strap (disobeying the house rules).

The videos on the amazon link you posted are pretty helpful.

12/12/2011 12:50:09 PM

I think its pretty crazy you can get a 70" lcd tv for like 2 grand.

12/12/2011 1:04:28 PM

I bought a Sharp 60 LED at hhgregg for $899 on black Friday. I would rather have a plasma so I am taking it back. It's $1400 now.

If you want it you can buy it before i take it back lol.

12/12/2011 1:24:46 PM

I can get the 55" LG with 10 pair of passive 3D glasses (4 adult pair, 2 children pair, 2 clip-on) for $1,377.94 from Amazon and it'll be here before Christmas.

Right now we are using my old 32" Dynex LCD downstairs (we took it from my bedroom).

12/12/2011 1:27:46 PM

Purchased.

Probably shouldn't have done this while on Percocet, but ah well.

12/12/2011 1:29:11 PM

Let me know how the 55 inch is. I hope it works out well for you, the only issue I hear with it is the sound is not great, I didn't think this was the case on my parents as I think people were demanding too much from an LED/LCD TV. I was very impressed with the picture on the TV when I saw it in action and is one I've wanted. Good luck with it! I know it's 3D, but passive is in my opinion better for a family as it's cheaper to get everyone the shades instead of equivalently buying 2 TVs because you needed 5 pairs of glasses on the Active.

12/12/2011 2:10:23 PM

I just read a full review of the LG 55LW5600 from hometheater.com (http://www.hometheater.com/content/lg-55lw5600-3d-lcd-hdtv) and am pretty excited to get the TV. They have full sets of 2D and 3D picture settings to use to maximize its capabilities, so you don't have to go poking around much to "calibrate" the TV.

12/12/2011 8:51:56 PM

TTT

Need to buy a new TV. Will be for sports and movies. Seating distance will be <12', maybe closer to 6'-7', depending on where the couch goes. Definitely 1080p.

60Hz or 120Hz?
Upper 40"s to mid 50"s?
Panel type? I'm assuming Samsung is still the go to for LED/LCD; Panasonic for Plasma?
Probably don't need 3D (no plans for 3D movies/channels)
Web access/Smart TVs worth it?
Energy Star worth it?

I was hoping to stay <$1,000 and I'll get a discount at Sears, ranging from 10%-30%, depending on the brand (not sure of details yet).

9/18/2012 10:08:06 AM

240hz imo

9/18/2012 11:59:47 AM

Really? Any reason why? Only thing I've read about rates >60Hz is artificial/unnatural looking movements; and no real differences from 120 to 240


ugh. the more you read the more opposite answers you get.

[Edited on September 18, 2012 at 12:55 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2012 12:44:08 PM

my personal experience has been 120hz has unnatural fast motion but the people who can see it I'd say are 2 in 5 (If I have it turned on with my family, me and my sister are the only ones who notice). On my dad's newer 240hz, it is much smoother than the 120hz. Look at all 3, if you see no difference, go for 60hz

9/18/2012 1:46:24 PM

thanks. turns out that most, if not all, of the TVs I was interested in are 120 or 240 anyways.

I still can't decide on a size. I was thinking 50 or 51; though 46/47 would probably be fine and more economical. 55 would be awesome.

9/18/2012 2:24:10 PM

60hz will look a lot more unnatural than 120hz or 240hz. IMO, as long as it's divisible by 24 (the vast majority of source footage is shot at 24fps), you'll be fine unless you have mutant eyes.

with 60hz, the TV will use 2:3 pulldown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3:2_pulldown#23pulldown) to make it work, essentially a variable number of duplicate frames. Some people are more sensitive to this than others, and the judder is obvious.

With 120hz and 240hz sets, it's an evenly divisible number, so the frame duplication is constant. There is still *some* judder, but the vast majority of people don't notice it-- i definitely don't.

[Edited on September 18, 2012 at 2:29 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2012 2:29:02 PM

Relevant:
message_topic.aspx?topic=630779

I keep my Samsung 55" at 24hz. 3:2 looks all jittery. For 30p it bumps to 60hz for 2:2.

The only advantage to 120hz is the TV doesn't have to switch between refresh rates for 24p and 30p content. It uses 5:5 for 24p and 4:4 for 30p.

Now when Hobbit is released on Bluray that's going to mess things up. A lot of TVs can't do 48 or 96 so some type of pull down will be required (or 240hz).

You really don't need anything higher than 60hz unless you either A. want a multiple of both 24 and 30 so your TV isn't switching or B. want to interpolate frames for a smooth motion effect (mainly for sports).

[Edited on September 18, 2012 at 5:37 PM. Reason : Or if you want 3D.]

9/18/2012 5:31:24 PM

so it sounds like 60, 240, or plasma?

[Edited on September 19, 2012 at 9:06 AM. Reason : .]

9/19/2012 9:05:48 AM

im thinking about a 70" or 80" but for the price of a 70" led/lcd is I can get 93" DLP

9/19/2012 4:42:38 PM

You can also set that money on fire.

It'd be an equally good decision to buying a 93" DLP.

9/19/2012 5:44:58 PM