Best LCD TV as monitor for me

[Imrahn]

Am thinking of getting a Full HD LCD TV(no PLASMAS plz..) as monitor when festive offers start for Xmas/NewYear next month.My budget is 55k but stretchable to 60k max if its worth it.The things that will be going into this TV/monitor are :

1)PC
2)Reliance BigTV
3)PS3
4)X360

As such,I want to have plenty of connectivity options for all the above stuff to be connected at one go.

I won't be using the TV speakers at all since i will be hooking up all the above to my Z5500, or in short,the audio aspects like virtual surround and whatnot of the TV doesn't excite me a bit.

Am purely looking for the best picture quality within my budget of 55k-60k.and naturally,being a human, the bigger the screensize,the better is my motto.

Will be doing lots of HD Gaming as well as HD Movie playbacks and hence, deep blacks and enhanced contrast are very very important to me.

And,last but not the least, am more inclined to Sony/Samsung just for the Brand value as saying "Hey,its an LG/Philips/Sharp TV man!!!" doesn't cut it for me anymore.

Plz help me get the best deal for my money mates.....

 

[adder]

well the samsung 40B530 fits in perfectly,deep blacks,good DE-interlacer if u connect a BIG tv via component IN.btw i to have big tv.

the drawbacks is that it has only one single input which serves as dual use for component in/composite in .
so lets say u connect ur big tv via component or composite,ur XBOX 360 will have to be connected only VIA VGA or HDMI.so u havt to disconnect the component/composite in order to connect another device which has analog out.

the sony s and V are out of ur budget.

 

[Imrahn]

Hey thanx adder....i think i can fit in a Sony W 32incher for the price, but the question is if its quality is worth the size downgrade?

 

[adder]

Hey thanx adder....i think i can fit in a Sony W 32incher for the price, but the question is if its quality is worth the size downgrade?

well since u are primarly going to game the W series doesn't make sense,reason being the 100hz system will add input lag.when u set to game mode by default its disabled.
frankly at 60k the 32W series is just too expensive.
the W however has the extra contrast compared to the 32 V series even though u may find the specs as same.the black levels in W is just blacker more shadow detail.
purely for HD and gaming the older 32W400A is better then the current 32V550A,since the older 32W400A has a noticable contrast edge and due to the older BE2 u get mouth watering low input lag,it was priced as low as 42k 2 months ago.

 

[Imrahn]

Oh k.so how abt the 42B550 from Samsung?

 

[adder]

Oh k.so how abt the 42B550 from Samsung?

well u mean 40b550a well its the same as B530A with the addition of better aesthectics and input connections.

 

[thexfactor]

+1 for the Sammy B530, cause I got one too

found it to be a very good option for a budget of around 50k, the 550 does have a few extra features but nothing over the 530 in terms of PQ.

The Sony W series is good too, but seriously overpriced.

From what I've experienced so far, as long as the difference between the PQ is not too much, always go for the one with larger size. Once you've seen a 40" in action, a 32" would appear minuscule .... however, since you are supposed to be using this as a monitor I hope you'll be sitting atleast 4 ft away, else it could really strain your eyes.

About the connectivity part, it's got 2Xcomponent, 2Xcomposite, 1xVGA and 3xHDMI input, I guess that should be enough for your needs

Recently tried PC and PS3 gaming on it and it was awesome.

That's my 2 cents, good luck with your purchase

 

[blr_p]

Once you've seen a 40" in action, a 32" would appear minuscule .... however, since you are supposed to be using this as a monitor I hope you'll be sitting atleast 4 ft away, else it could really strain your eyes.

There's no eye strain with LCD but distance matters depending on the kind of resolution watched.

For a 40"
SD - 3 - 6 screen widths away so no closer than 8ft and upto a max of 17ft
720p - 2.7 screen widths so no further than 8ft
1080p - 1.8 screen widths so no further than 5ft

 

[adder]

+
About the connectivity part, it's got 2Xcomponent, 2Xcomposite, 1xVGA and 3xHDMI input, I guess that should be enough for your needs

my bad ,it does have analog connections,only the LED lcds have a common use composite and component.

 

[thexfactor]

There's no eye strain with LCD but distance matters depending on the kind of resolution watched.

For a 40"
SD - 3 - 6 screen widths away so no closer than 8ft and upto a max of 17ft
720p - 2.7 screen widths so no further than 8ft
1080p - 1.8 screen widths so no further than 5ft

Obviously there is eye strain, much lower than CRT's, but still there

and if you sit with the display right in your face then obviously you'll feel it, that why I suggested minimum distance of about 4ft

 

[blr_p]

So if this was a 32" or smaller screen what would your minimum distance be then ?

The eye strain i understand is lower because there isn't the flicker that you get with CRTs.

 

[thexfactor]

I think it would be around 3ft minimum distance ... i.e at the distance where you wont have to move your neck to look from one end of the screen to the other horizontally
(although more like 4-6ft recommended)

Yep lower strain because of no flicker with LCD's, but the strain can also be caused because of the backlighting, that's what I was talking about.

the figures you've mentioned seem to specify the distance beyond which the difference between HD and SD content is not much evident.

 

[blr_p]

I think it would be around 3ft minimum distance ... i.e at the distance where you wont have to move your neck to look from one end of the screen to the other horizontally
(although more like 4-6ft recommended)

For a 32"
SD - 3 - 6 screen widths away so no closer than 7ft and upto a max of 14ft
720p - 2.7 screen widths so no further than 6ft
1080p - 1.8 screen widths so no further than 4ft

The distances mentioned are not scientific laws, just guidelines based on how well the eye can distinguish differences between neighbouring pixelsand and assume a 16:9 aspect ratio. The distances for HD are max distances and much closer so you don't miss out on the detail.

Yep lower strain because of no flicker with LCD's, but the strain can also be caused because of the backlighting, that's what I was talking about.

Only two types i'm aware of LED & CFL. How is eyestrain affected in either case ?

the figures you've mentioned seem to specify the distance beyond which the difference between HD and SD content is not much evident.

Correct, in the case of HD, the distances are max distances so sitting further away would detract from the HD experience.

 

[thexfactor]

well the eyestrain I'm talking about is the kind of strain you get when you sit in front of a bright object too close for too long, has nothing to go with the image resolution or display type.

I think that's enough of OT on this thread, should wait for the OP to get the thread back on track

 

[adder]

well the eyestrain I'm talking about is the kind of strain you get when you sit in front of a bright object too close for too long, has nothing to go with the image resolution or display type.

well i get eye strain from a 32" as low as from 4 feet distance when used as a monitor,particularly when reading text or surfing.
as far as CRT its not just due to flickering but because of the excessive brightness when showing small portion of whites here is a picture to illustrate although this image is from a plasma and a lcd,notice the menu and the guys shirt they are bright in the plasma,which causes eye strain for many,the image of the lcd is more easy on the eyes .

 

[blr_p]

But couldn't you just turn down brightness to a level you were comfortable with ?

...regardless of whether its was plasma, LCD or CRT. I agree too bright is more strain.

You seem to imply thats not possible with a plasma.

 

[adder]

But couldn't you just turn down brightness to a level you were comfortable with ?

...regardless of whether its was plasma, LCD or CRT. I agree too bright is more strain.

You seem to imply thats not possible with a plasma.

no i didn't say that way,i said it effects only some people.
u can turn down the brightness,but when u have lots of white or when more then 35% of screen area is showing white, the plasma will start to dim .when 100% of screen is showing white it will be really dim ,about 1/3rd the brightness when the whites shown was at 35% or below.
so now u try to jack up the brigtness to make the tv bright,now what will happen is that when only small portion of whites is displayed it will be really bright.

so it all comes down to tvs circuitry which detects the amount of whites or bright images is shown,which in turn controls the ABL or automatic brightness limiter which is present in all plasma to limit the brightness ,otherwise the plasma can show those really bright whites at full screen after which it will be die or even explode,the power supply will be dead and ur MCB will trip or blown fuse.

secondly ABL is also used to control the power consumption of plasma,if it has to meet the new energy efficiency norms.because as the amount of whites displayed increases the power consumption increases.

again it varies from plasma to plasma.some manufactures may limit their plasma brightness to a certain point,i.e such way that the brightness will remain constant irrespective of the amount of whites being shown,but the only way they do that is making their set to look really dim.

 

[Imrahn]

Yesterday, I visited a Sony showroom and was blown away by the difference between 40V(400 not 550)and 40s picture quality....both were being played a Sony Demo from a Bluray player and the 40V was much much sharper and vibrant than the S counterpart which was carrying a 5k lower pricetag.

In another showroom, they were carrying a 40V550 and was quoted a good 15k higher than the V400.As they were closing down, their expert demo men had left and the remaining had no clue on the advantages of the V550 over V400.

The most disappointing part was checking out the Samsung 40B550 which was deliberately being played crappy DVD content which they claimed to be a specially designed Samsung demo and that it was being played through a special Samsung settop box(?????)....I cannot explain how jagged, how overbright and how washed down that demo was.They were particularly keen on making me consider the LG and Onida ones rather than the Sony or Samsung, but i swear by my balls, i disappointed them much.

So, i hope i will have to visit more shops and get good first hand impressions.

PS:The price quotes i got without any sorta bargaining:

Sony 40S - 63k

Sony 40V400 - 68k

Samsung 40B550 - 70k

Sony 40V550 - 85k

 

[adder]

Yesterday, I visited a Sony showroom and was blown away by the difference between 40V(400 not 550)and 40s picture quality....both were being played a Sony Demo from a Bluray player and the 40V was much much sharper and vibrant than the S counterpart which was carrying a 5k lower pricetag.

In another showroom, they were carrying a 40V550 and was quoted a good 15k higher than the V400.As they were closing down, their expert demo men had left and the remaining had no clue on the advantages of the V550 over V400.

The most disappointing part was checking out the Samsung 40B550 which was deliberately being played crappy DVD content which they claimed to be a specially designed Samsung demo and that it was being played through a special Samsung settop box(?????)....I cannot explain how jagged, how overbright and how washed down that demo was.They were particularly keen on making me consider the LG and Onida ones rather than the Sony or Samsung, but i swear by my balls, i disappointed them much.

So, i hope i will have to visit more shops and get good first hand impressions.

PS:The price quotes i got without any sorta bargaining:

Sony 40S - 63k
Sony 40V400 - 68k
Samsung 40B550 - 70k
Sony 40V550 - 85k

well demo discs of one brand will look best in their brand,but in the case of sony and samsung they look good in both of them.since natively they use a similar panel.
but every tv will look their best at some videos.
always adjust the picture settings,i bet the backlight settings on most tvs will be in factory defaults,which is mostly in torch mode or set to max,with all kinds of noise filters/processing on.
the quoted prices of samsung 40B550 is high i mean 70k is a lot,should be around 55k to 60k
the V550A again is again costlier,true price should be around 65 to 70k.

 

[blr_p]

They were particularly keen on making me consider the LG and Onida ones rather than the Sony or Samsung, but i swear by my balls, i disappointed them much.

This is the challenge with picking the best LCD

I'm discovering there is quite a learning curve with LCD compared to the good old days of CRT.

You now are better armed when you go to the next showroom and as adder said you have to switch off all the extra processing to get a true idea of what each set can or cannot do. many times they will say the guy who knows this is not there so unless you can do it yourself you won't get an accurate impression, Maybe picka few series from a cpl of brands say sony & samsung, get the manuals off the web and figure out how to reset the various levels and then do the comparison. You want to take your time with this till you are pretty certain with what to go for then haggle the price to death

I was quite convinced that plasmas would be the better buy, but then with this ABL i think LCD would win out overall. Some plasmas might be better than others but it clearly shows that this is an area where they will improve in the future, but the LCD is already there today.