HDTV buying advice template

[blackheart]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

hey guys i compared the KDL-40EX520 with some higher end models and found out that it does not have the MotionFlow XR 200 feature. Is this a very important feature how much difference does it make to the overall picture quality?

also had some questions like

which panels are used.

what is the refresh rate

also i have heard of some HDTVs which use Dynamic LED backlights which offer a better picture quality and less power consumption than the normal LED backlight ne ideas which models use this and there price

Thanks

guys after some reading i have come to the conclusion that the samsung UA40D5500RR and the Sony Bravia KDL-40EX520 are the 2 most preferred models if you are having a budget upto 50-60k

But both of this models have a 60hz panel .......... is that a concern if when watching sports , or action movies ? i really need some expert advise on this ............. do we really need a 120hz panel for a 40" HDTV

I am inclining towards samsung because of its ability to detect hardisk and play more movie formats. Picture quality wise i think there wont be much difference between the two

If there are ne other models worth considering please let me knwo.

any idea about the current price in mumbai (official as well as grey)

Thanks

 

[otherneo]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Picture quality wise i think there wont be much difference between the two

You are mistaken here... I am bet my yearly salary that samsung cannot even come close to SONY... If you have a chance, go to a show-room and see the difference yourself....

To see the difference, tune the TVs to same channel and VIVID picture mode, and then look for the white color (preferably in Channel LOGO)... Samsung would be yellow / pale white and SONY will be WHITE...

I presume that the Samsung model you are mentioning is a Series 4 model, but even a Series 7 Samsung model will fail miserably in front of Sony NX520 series...

 

[artikle]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

You are mistaken here... I am bet my yearly salary that samsung cannot even come close to SONY... If you have a chance, go to a show-room and see the difference yourself....

To see the difference, tune the TVs to same channel and VIVID picture mode, and then look for the white color (preferably in Channel LOGO)... Samsung would be yellow / pale white and SONY will be WHITE...

I presume that the Samsung model you are mentioning is a Series 4 model, but even a Series 7 Samsung model will fail miserably in front of Sony NX520 series...

Hmm.. Thats not the way you compare two TVs. What the Vivid mode does to the picture is completely dependent on the TV's processing. You need to calibrate both the SONY and the Samsung for perfect reproduction. And even in the vivid mode you mentioned the greens in the samsung are lot better than the ones in sony. But that is not a problem too as you can and should correct it if you need proper colours. And samsungs are on par if not better than any sony in a similar price range. I dont to start a brand war but just please take my advice as a friend and dont bet your yearly salary on it

 

[otherneo]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Hmm.. Thats not the way you compare two TVs. What the Vivid mode does to the picture is completely dependent on the TV's processing. You need to calibrate both the SONY and the Samsung for perfect reproduction. And even in the vivid mode you mentioned the greens in the samsung are lot better than the ones in sony. But that is not a problem too as you can and should correct it if you need proper colours. And samsungs are on par if not better than any sony in a similar price range. I dont to start a brand war but just please take my advice as a friend and dont bet your yearly salary on it

The test that I mentioned was a quick and easy test that can be done by anybody instantly and the white color gives the the complete picture...

The price and picture quality aspect in Sony and Samsung might have been true a month ago... but now Sony has drastically reduced the price in this festive season... so things might change....

And I am confident about SONY.... I started with Sony around 20 years ago, during which I have changed nearly 8 televisions.... Every time I start with the conviction that I will try a different brand, but after the full evaluation, I end up buying SONY...

 

[jhononweed]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

hi all !!

I am in need of 32 Inch TV for my dinning room and second 40 Inch for living hall.Need both of them within this month or so...i have a flight to operate later this month to Thai - Malaysia and was thinking of getting 2 sets from either Bangkok or KL.

I need value for money TV sets that can last at least 3 years and i can take 2 same size sets also so size actually does'nt matters till its at 32 or above.Heard about Sony CX520 for both 32/40 inch is good as well as Samsung's Series 5/6 sets....i am open for grey market purchase and will almost buy from grey market so need a choice that will last more than 1 year ( 3 years will be bang on value ) as i heard Samsung 5 series have developed some problems lately along with the lottery system on their panels.....

Kindly provide me some inputs as i am totally confused & please quote the price of those panel - Grey market & local price will be very helpful.

1. Budget : 1200 $( 50-55 K) for 40 Inch TV.

800 $ ( 38-40K) for 32 Inch TV.

( Total : 2000 $ or around 90 K for both TV's - Less the total cost, more i will be happy ).Would ideally prefer with in a range of 80K for both.

2. Viewing distance. 8-12 Feet ( Max 20 Feet ) for Dinning room and 18-20 Feet fixed for Living room.

3. Sources/inputs such as HD DTH/consoles/stand-alone media players etc. : Airtel DTH HD / Local Cable connection(SD) / External HDD( FAT 32 - NTFS ) / HTPC

4. Preference for plasma TV/LCD TV/LED-LCD TV : LCD TV / LED-LCD TV / PLASMA

5. Preference for brands. : Sony / Samsung / LG / Panasonic

6. Willing to purchase it from the grey market? : Yes ( From New Delhi Grey Market or Bangkok or KL )

7. Ambient lighting conditions of the room. :

For 40 Inch - Living room :Open Cylindrical Door on the west side of wall and normal lighting in east side of wall with lamp on the top of TV wall position.

For 32 Inch - Dinning room : Simple lighting with lamps on either side of wall where TV is to be mounted and kitchen door on opposite side of wall for TV.

8. Any other feature you are looking for such as 3D support on the HDTV, DLNA capabilities etc. It should support 1080p mkv/ rest normal .mp3/4 files and HD rip's...any other inputs that i should look for will be appreciated as both TV's will not be upgraded for at least 3 years.... so need future proof and value for money.

Thanks in advance and MOD's kindly expedite my query.

 

[pranut]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

From what I saw at various showrooms through my media drive, that Samsung PQ= Sony's, If not slightly better.

 

[adder]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

hi all !!

I am in need of 32 Inch TV for my dinning room and second 40 Inch for living hall.Need both of them within this month or so...i have a flight to operate later this month to Thai - Malaysia and was thinking of getting 2 sets from either Bangkok or KL.
I need value for money TV sets that can last at least 3 years and i can take 2 same size sets also so size actually does'nt matters till its at 32 or above.Heard about Sony CX520 for both 32/40 inch is good as well as Samsung's Series 5/6 sets....i am open for grey market purchase and will almost buy from grey market so need a choice that will last more than 1 year ( 3 years will be bang on value ) as i heard Samsung 5 series have developed some problems lately along with the lottery system on their panels.....

Kindly provide me some inputs as i am totally confused & please quote the price of those panel - Grey market & local price will be very helpful.

1. Budget : 1200 $( 50-55 K) for 40 Inch TV.
800 $ ( 38-40K) for 32 Inch TV.
( Total : 2000 $ or around 90 K for both TV's - Less the total cost, more i will be happy ).Would ideally prefer with in a range of 80K for both.

2. Viewing distance. 8-12 Feet ( Max 20 Feet ) for Dinning room and 18-20 Feet fixed for Living room.

3. Sources/inputs such as HD DTH/consoles/stand-alone media players etc. : Airtel DTH HD / Local Cable connection(SD) / External HDD( FAT 32 - NTFS ) / HTPC

4. Preference for plasma TV/LCD TV/LED-LCD TV : LCD TV / LED-LCD TV / PLASMA

5. Preference for brands. : Sony / Samsung / LG / Panasonic

6. Willing to purchase it from the grey market? : Yes ( From New Delhi Grey Market or Bangkok or KL )

7. Ambient lighting conditions of the room. :

For 40 Inch - Living room :Open Cylindrical Door on the west side of wall and normal lighting in east side of wall with lamp on the top of TV wall position.
For 32 Inch - Dinning room : Simple lighting with lamps on either side of wall where TV is to be mounted and kitchen door on opposite side of wall for TV.

8. Any other feature you are looking for such as 3D support on the HDTV, DLNA capabilities etc. It should support 1080p mkv/ rest normal .mp3/4 files and HD rip's...any other inputs that i should look for will be appreciated as both TV's will not be upgraded for at least 3 years.... so need future proof and value for money.

Thanks in advance and MOD's kindly expedite my query.

If you want tv that plays all formats via USB ,you can get a samsung series 5 LED ,if you don't mind the lack of mkv or NTFS you can go with the sony EX520 for both 40" and 32".
You can easily get both the samsung or sony in bangkok within your budget.

 

[jhononweed]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Thanks Pranut and Adder !

I don't mind getting Samsung or Sony or even LG either what i need is solid TV which can last as both of them will be used on daily usage.I can even take a back seat on PQ as no one in family will get in such details...they want good set which should last long.You can see why i am saying last long is that i dont have time to run after company service center guys and most probably if this Tv's gonna die on me then they will most probably die after 1 year warranty service as i have faced such problems many times which ended by getting new items, that's why i am going for grey market route...

Now what i have query is :

LG tv's come with IPS and my mom will mostly use to see from distance and with angles so is it better to go for LG with IPS panel?

Samsung 5 series Tv's have some panel issues.....not many but i have searched this thread and found few posts regarding series 5.Plus they have lottery system....so no do not know what i will end up.

If i get a Sony set that means i wont be able to play .mkv and files from NTFS....what if i use only a special purpose FAT32 external disk for that.....at least i will get the panel that i saw initially ?

Panasonic have perfect Plasma's ,so can i get any of those if budget allows me?

Kindly give me some options minus 3D's ...i have no 3 D content nor i intend to do so in future.

 

[R0H!T]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

I bought LG 32LE5500 few months ago. I was happy with the PQ, SQ and format support of it. But since a month ago, the screen started showing a vertical dotted line - like whole vertical line had alternate dead pixels. The line used to appear randomly and used to disappear randomly. After few mails/phone calls with LG CC rep, they have agreed to replace it with 32LV2130 or full refund. The replacement model suggested by them lacks some features compared to my original model so I have asked for refund.
Now I have again started looking for 32/40/42" model. Today I went to a showroom and checked available LED models (LG) vs LCD models (Samsung series 5, Sony, LG) on display and there was noticable difference between LED and LCD. Now I know that the TVs were not caliberated and hence I cannot decide PQ based on that.
Then the guy in showroom had a pendrive with different files. And to my surprise, LG's LCD and LED models had the most comprehensive codec cupport. Even Samsung's Series 5 TVs couldn't detect some mkv's which LG's played e.a.s.i.l.y.

So now I am gravitating towards LG 42LV3500. My budget is around 50k and I want a 40/42" LED/LCD TV. Is there any other option from Samsung / Sony in similar price range? I don't care codec support. PQ is of prime importance. And are LEDs that much better than LCDs?
btw, do Samsung Series 5 TV have confirm IPS panel? or is it dependant on panel lottary?

PS: LG is not my favorite company or anything. This was my first major LG purchase. Actually in that sense Samsung is my favorite company when it comes to TVs

 

[sunny27]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

I just bought a Samsung Series 4 LCD tv 32 inches (LA32D403E2) for Rs.22,000 from Croma(Ahmedabad) with 1 year warranty as a tv for my parents. Croma had a Dassera offer. I bought it on Dassera (06/10/2011) and took delivery of the tv on the very same day. The sound and picture quality are good. I use it currently with an Airtel DTH connection and will be moving to a Tata Sky/Airtel/Dish tv HD DH connection shortly. The TV came with a Samsung DVD player bundled free with it.

 

[blackheart]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

You are mistaken here... I am bet my yearly salary that samsung cannot even come close to SONY... If you have a chance, go to a show-room and see the difference yourself....

To see the difference, tune the TVs to same channel and VIVID picture mode, and then look for the white color (preferably in Channel LOGO)... Samsung would be yellow / pale white and SONY will be WHITE...

I presume that the Samsung model you are mentioning is a Series 4 model, but even a Series 7 Samsung model will fail miserably in front of Sony NX520 series...

The only reason i m tilting toward samsung is because it can play mkv files and support a NTFS hardrive .....

I am still confused if we really need an 120 hz panel and how much difference will it make on the picture quality...

How is the Picture quality as compared to the Panasonic plasmas .....

folks who had recently purchsed tvs might be able to put some light on this.

Thanks.

 

[pranut]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Thanks Pranut and Adder !

I don't mind getting Samsung or Sony or even LG either what i need is solid TV which can last as both of them will be used on daily usage.I can even take a back seat on PQ as no one in family will get in such details...they want good set which should last long.You can see why i am saying last long is that i dont have time to run after company service center guys and most probably if this Tv's gonna die on me then they will most probably die after 1 year warranty service as i have faced such problems many times which ended by getting new items, that's why i am going for grey market route...

Now what i have query is :

LG tv's come with IPS and my mom will mostly use to see from distance and with angles so is it better to go for LG with IPS panel?

Samsung 5 series Tv's have some panel issues.....not many but i have searched this thread and found few posts regarding series 5.Plus they have lottery system....so no do not know what i will end up.

If i get a Sony set that means i wont be able to play .mkv and files from NTFS....what if i use only a special purpose FAT32 external disk for that.....at least i will get the panel that i saw initially ?

Panasonic have perfect Plasma's ,so can i get any of those if budget allows me?

Kindly give me some options minus 3D's ...i have no 3 D content nor i intend to do so in future.

I agree with u, my Samsung LCD TV died after 1 year, the month warranty got over, had to replace its panel, costed 10k

The new panel died again after 1 year :no:

So while I was making a choice to buy a new TV, I was hesitant to buy Samsung again, But for me Samsung seemed the best choice in LED TV, So went for it again but this time got E/W of 2 years from The Electronics Store. So total warranty comes out to be 3 years.

If u buy from Croma etc. U can available this scheme, Its Worth it IMO rather than risking money by buying from Grey Market.

 

[terence_fdes]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

This is just general advice based on my 9 month's experience with LG 47" LED TV. I am totally satisfied. The PQ & Sound is simply awesome. I too did my round of R&D for over 6 months before settling for LG - simply because it's 100% VFM. Samsung & Sony imho are over-hyped.

Now just to correct some common misconceptions:-

1] NO LED/LCD TV will offer smooth playback of "mkv" or Full HD movies [after 25-30 mins there will be a AV delay; they will at times even stagger/stutter]. Quite simply because there is no sufficient onboard hardware decoding & playback support. Thus for playback of HD content [1920x1080] it is imperative to either have an external media player or route it through a blu-ray player or an AVR.

2] Distances: standard TV signals will look awful at distances < 5 feet on screens starting from 40". However, for watching Full HD content a min distance of 5 feet suffices to give you the theater feel even on a 47" screen.

Lastly avoid buying from Croma as they are the highest priced. If one decides on LG, then go to an LG-Shoppe and BARGAIN - you will be surprised how big a savings it would be from the MRP [which Croma sticks to].

Hope this helps.

 

[Chaos]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

This is just general advice based on my 9 month's experience with LG 47" LED TV. I am totally satisfied. The PQ & Sound is simply awesome. I too did my round of R&D for over 6 months before settling for LG - simply because it's 100% VFM. Samsung & Sony imho are over-hyped.

Now just to correct some common misconceptions:-
1] NO LED/LCD TV will offer smooth playback of "mkv" or Full HD movies [after 25-30 mins there will be a AV delay; they will at times even stagger/stutter]. Quite simply because there is no sufficient onboard hardware decoding & playback support. Thus for playback of HD content [1920x1080] it is imperative to either have an external media player or route it through a blu-ray player or an AVR.

2] Distances: standard TV signals will look awful at distances < 5 feet on screens starting from 40". However, for watching Full HD content a min distance of 5 feet suffices to give you the theater feel even on a 47" screen.

Lastly avoid buying from Croma as they are the highest priced. If one decides on LG, then go to an LG-Shoppe and BARGAIN - you will be surprised how big a savings it would be from the MRP [which Croma sticks to].

Hope this helps.

Depends again! Sometimes croma gives fantastic deals. I got my 9 series philips for 56k from croma when everywhere else it was selling for 85k+ - that too if you were lucky.

 

[terence_fdes]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Depends again! Sometimes croma gives fantastic deals. I got my 9 series philips for 56k from croma when everywhere else it was selling for 85k+ - that too if you were lucky.

That is rare. Usually "DEALS" offered by megastores are on
1] Least selling models/brands
2] About to be phased out models
3] Clearing Stocks that have been maintained for too long without selling sufficient volumes

As the festive season starts soon "Diwali" expect many such deals - However kindly research sufficiently before you fall for the sales-pitch. Croma is also known to have their special Diwali Offer's each year [the only time of the year where they reduce prices from the MRP's] or also bundle off other products along [freebies].

 

[adder]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Thanks Pranut and Adder !
Now what i have query is :

LG tv's come with IPS and my mom will mostly use to see from distance and with angles so is it better to go for LG with IPS panel?

Samsung 5 series Tv's have some panel issues.....not many but i have searched this thread and found few posts regarding series 5.Plus they have lottery system....so no do not know what i will end up.

If i get a Sony set that means i wont be able to play .mkv and files from NTFS....what if i use only a special purpose FAT32 external disk for that.....at least i will get the panel that i saw initially ?

Panasonic have perfect Plasma's ,so can i get any of those if budget allows me?

Kindly give me some options minus 3D's ...i have no 3 D content nor i intend to do so in future.

1 As you sit further from the screen the variation in contrast across the screen will decrease.For 32" and 40" sizes lcd viewing angle won't make much impact at recommend distance of around 6 to 10 feet respectively.

2 Yes the problem with samsung is the panel lottery ,if you want a tv with higher contrast then IPS panel and won't to play all formats via USB then the only choice is samsung.

3 You can use FAT32 but it will still won't play MKV files.But you do get a SPVA panel which is the top rated VA panel.There is also sony models that play MKV and support NTFS ,2011 models which have BE3 engine supports them like CX420.

4 Plasma will work if you have a darker room(low end plasma have really poor contrast ,washed out picture with ambient light hitting them on the screen),if you aren't going to use it with a PC for long hrs.If your place has frequent power cuts and if you use a inverter/UPS a plasma 2 to 3x higher power consumption vs lcd/led won't help either.

 

[R0H!T]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Can somebody explain me the logical reason why everyone normally says Samsung TVs are better than LG TVs? Say for example I am considering following two models - Samsung UA40D5000 and LG 42LV3500? Why I should go for Samsung when LG is cheaper?

 

[terence_fdes]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

Can somebody explain me the logical reason why everyone normally says Samsung TVs are better than LG TVs? Say for example I am considering following two models - Samsung UA40D5000 and LG 42LV3500? Why I should go for Samsung when LG is cheaper?

There are really no "logical" reasons why A is chosen over B. Sometimes there are a few technical parameters that give an advantage to A over B or vice-versa. In the end you have to make that choice. In the above 2 cases one of the differences is that LG has only 3 HDMI ports whereas Sammy has 4. There may be other's differences too. Note imho one needs at least 4 hdmi ports [if you do not have an AVR] - to connect an HDTV satellite Receiver; a media player; a blu-ray player; any other HD device like camera's/high end cell phones via HDMI>mini-hdmi OR your CPU out. So think accordingly.

Price wise it's easier to knock off 10-20% off the MRP on LG whereas only 5-7% on Samsung. Wait till Diwali, there are sure to be offer's [like throwing in a Blu-Ray Player etc].

I picked my LG 47" LED in Jan this year for 66.5K [after heavy bargaining at Lg Shoppe at Santacruz/Mumbai & refusing their Blu-ray player - not region free; and exchanging my old 29" CRT TV]

 

[mohit1981]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

^^ Which LED model you have? I am also planning to go in for LG42LW5700 if I can get good deal in Delhi..else will go for non 3D

 

[terence_fdes]

Re: HDTV buying advice thread

^^ Which LED model you have? I am also planning to go in for LG42LW5700 if I can get good deal in Delhi..else will go for non 3D

Check my signature. And sigh.... you are interested in 3D - then the LG42LW5700 is fine since it features "passive eyeglass" [unlike many other TV's/brands which have "active" glasses].

My area of work also includes creating 3D stereoscopic work for the past 2 years [We have a Hyundai 46" LCD 3D TV & a projector too]. However it is my personal opinion that 3D is still nascent in India. Do not ever go for "active glasses" - apart from being very expensive, they need to be charged. Now if you are watching a movie and mid-way the glasses lose their power....then everything gets screwed. Apart from this active glasses are range bound in their signal reception.... I am running out of time to list all the possible headaches. Google between "active & passive 3D glasses".

Lastly I do not think that a large screen "glasses free 3D TV" has been launched in India. I have yet to view any such thing.

If you are in Mumbai - on Oct 20-22, Visit NSE, Goregaon for the "Broadcast India" Exhibition. I am sure there would be many 3D monitors [but of course all "professional" level].