32" High Def TV...But Which

[richman]

Hey All,

Iam after some help selecting a High Def television.

I would like to be able to connect my Mac Mini up to it and also a DVD player and satilite box.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Rich

[Bluecube]

The Samsungs are reputed to be the best and most reliable of the LCD TVs and you can pick them up for around £800 these days. However I do know there are a few non name brands that are flocking around for £500 that the audio/TV philes over on AV forums are going ape about so it may be worth your while doing a bit of research over there. Linky

[darrensen]

I've got the Samsung 32R with it hooked up to my iMac. It's the best bang for buck screen out there.

I looked at the Sony as well but thought the samsung had the better screen!

[Bluecube]

AFAIK Sony are still using Samsung screens...

[darrensen]

Originally Posted by Bluecube

AFAIK Sony are still using Samsung screens...

Same hardware but running different software.

[Pazza]

I would suggest you wait a short while until HD LCD's with true HiDef resolution are readily available but to get true hidef (1920x1080) you will probably have to start at 37" see the Acer AT3705 MGW 37" LCD-TV for an example. Sony also have just released true hidef LCD's.

Otherwise, have you seen Acer's new AT3205-DTV 32-inch LCD?

[Slothy]

For PC connectivity, I also recommend the Samsung series of TVs. Excellent picture from VGA or DVI. Large threads on these tellies on avforums.com

[Nick F]

Originally Posted by Slothy

For PC connectivity, I also recommend the Samsung series of TVs. Excellent picture from VGA or DVI. Large threads on these tellies on avforums.com

Gotta agree with you on this one, I have the 40" Samsung R7 series and it can connect to my Mac Mini which is great if I wanted to run front row for example. They are under a grand now as well from AJ Electronics.

[Odc]

I have the Samsung LE32R41BDX (32") and it's great for connecting a PC to. The image quality is excellent. I got mine from dabs.com in Febuary for about £800

[plexman]

If you on a budget you could also have a look at the hyundai q321 and a321 which are around the £600 mark.

They have been getting some good feedback on the avforums

[Speedo]

Toshiba 32WLT66 has rave reviews all over the place, and can be found for ~£705 + shipping if you shop around. Fantastic bargain, i'm still struggling with excuses to stop myself buying one (I don't need one, I don't, really.. I don't! *stares at credit card* nooo!)

[villarule]

The samsung LE32R74BD is a really nice screen and a good picture. Samsung and Phillips are my favourite make of tvs atm, they are both making some top notch screens. I like toshiba and sharp too, they make some good quality ones. LG are a good, but bad one. Their Tvs are a bit cheeper than the other brands and the design of them is sleek, they tend to have good features and the picture quality is great, but they do seem to be a bit unreliable and can go faulty alot more than alot of the other screen makes.

[nytr0x]

I'm in the same boat, looking for a 32 inch LCD.

I'm after one with full HD 1080p 1920x1080 resolution because I'm not impressed with the quality of std def TV picture on 1366x768. I've heard somewhere that part of the reason standard def TV looks poorer on LCD/Plasma TVs is that the picture doesn't scale well to WXGA, 1366x768. A PAL TV signal is made of 576 interlaced image lines, although only 540 are normally used on a CRT, 540 scales perfectly to 1080 so requires much less image processing by the TV, therefore ought to present a better picture. Can anyone confirm this?

When choosing an LCD I've also heard there are four different types, the following quote is long but v.interesting, I'm afraid I forget where I copied it from but have included the authors sig so hope they don't mind:

Don't confuse 1080i with 1080p. Sets that don't natively support 1080p will show very little difference between 1080i and 720p, and in fact will look better to sensitive viewers in 720p because of the lack of interlace motion artifacts. Most HD sets natively support 1366x768 resolution, which scales 1280x720p perfectly. Ignore those that tell you scaling is bad. In the realm of PCs it certainly is, sharpness is what you want. In the realm of HD sets it helps prevent aliasing (jaggies) and provide a smoother image.

LCD will be the winner in the non projection arena for years to come. Plasmas are already outdates and suffer from several shortcomings. In no particular order they are burn in, extreme weight, short life span, yellowing or browning of the screen over time (as little as 2-3 years), larger pixels, and more pronounced image matrix (screen effect).

LCDs offer lighter weight, brighter images, MUCH longer life, and image quality that stays consistent, and matches or outperforms plasmas by now. viewing angles have been remedied by the latest LCD technologies (see below), and cost has come down considerably (45" Sharp was $6000 a year ago, now it ios $2500).

For size, Plasma will have the advantage...LCDs are EXPENSIVE over 45" (57" is $12,000 and 65" will run about $16000!)

Now, which LCD is best? Up to you, but the following helps. There are 4 major LCD panel types (each with variants). the cheapest is TN. This is the one that suffers from poor viewing angles. Only small, and cheap sets use these still. They are cheap, and find a home in PC monitors, Cell phones, PDA's, etc. They only offer 16 bit color.

Next we have MVA/PVA and their variants. These offer wiewing angles of 176degrees up and down (and who wants to watch from 180 degrees?) and superb 24 bit color. Their weakness is that shadow areas get slightly brighter off axis. They have the darkest blacks on axis though, and extremely fast response times. Samsung is the big maker of these types of panels now.

The next type is IPS. These are made by LG/Phillips and have the same high viewing angles as the MVA/PVA panels. Their weaknesses are slow respons time, and blacks that turn purple as viewing angle increases (for those who like to sit 180 degrees off axis!). Their blacks are also among the lightest, but tgheir colors are brightest and truest (making them good for prof. video and photo editing).

The last is technology that is exclusive to Sharp, and is my personal favorite. It is calle ASV, and Sharp does not sell it to any other brand. You can only get it in a Sharp set. Viewing angle is almost a full 180 degrees, so axis is not an issue. Blacks are very dark, but not quite as dark as MVA/PVA panels...although response time is equal (and tied for fastest) and color reproduction is superb. These are my favorite because the tonal range matches that of a CRT most closely IMO. The Samsungs would be my second choice, but their super blacks crush shadow detail, and tend to blow out in the hilights way too soon. In a store, the Samsungs can certainly catch your eye the best, but watching them at home might give you a headache. ASV panels are among the more expensive though.

Also, TN panels can have bad pixels of white, black, or any conbination of components. IPS, MVA, and ASV panels typically only show black pixels when a cell malfunctions. This is far less noticable.

I now have 3 Sharps (ASV) with no dead pixels. I also have had an HP and a Proview that were both terrible, and both had a few bad pixels. I have 5 Dell LCD panels and 1 Sony. the Sony is the only one with a bad pixel. Of the Dells, 1 is IPS and one is PVA. The PVA is much better for movies, and television. the IPS is the only choice for photo work (most accurate color).

Of them all, the ASV panles really stand out. Sharp is going to be to LCD technology what Sony once was to CRTs.

Sorry for the long post. Hopefully you will find some value in it. Sorry for my typos too...I constantly wrestle with my laptop's keyboard.
__________________
Shane Bushman - 3D-VIP
Treehouse Productions
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

[Bluecube]

You'll pay through the nose for 1080p just now. Hope you're rich or a patient man!

[JimLad]

You don't buy an HDTV to make standard def tv look good . It looks like crud on 720p or 1080p screens compared to HD content

I have the Samsung LE32R41BD and am running a 360 with it via VGA. Looks killer

[5lab]

1080p screens are incredably expensive - the only one i'm aware of (correct if wrong) is made by phillips and costs ~£4000.. they'll drop in future, but not yet..

one comment about sammys (and i love them - i have a 26" version in my bedroom) - they CANT do native res through dvi - they can only run 1280x720 (or whatever 720p is) - you can do native res (1366x768) through vga.. this is also the case for a lot of other screens.