For almost 7 years, the sole TV in the house was a AKAI 21". I don't even remember the model. It was an ordinary TV, as we are ordinary TV viewers, and gave decent picture quality on cable.
But the age was showing. Remote went kaput and we sourced a "National market special" for around 150rs so.
Recently the tuner went bad, and we were limited to just DVDs. Watching regular TV was a pain, as the TV would not remember the settings and the tuning would go a little haywire always.
There was the option of repair, but the decision was taken to get a new TV.
This path had 2 routes. Get a 29" or get a LCD. Diwali dhamaka offerings in the market pushed the decision towards the latter, and soon we were in the market.
The decision was tough. It was a 40K question, and after lot of searching on the web, and looking on walls of home town and electronics bazaar etc., came to the conclusion that response time was an important criteria, and it was best to trust own eyes rather than specs.
In the end it boiled down to these choices
The panasonic option was bang for buck. But nothing is life is free, and soon we discovered that the reason for the offer was that panasonic had introduced newer models in the market
So off we went to the other choices. After looking at the demos etc., the only thing we figured out that in the 32" space all good brands give equally good performance.
So it was a matter of finding the best deal.
So came home the LC7R. It had the best deal
Since the past month I have been enjoying the TV, and here is my review.
First lets come to the bad points of LCD TV. This TV also has that slight time lag problem which I saw on samsung and sony both. The problem comes only in special cases, i.e. when you have high speed horizontal scrolling letters of white color on a black background. It feels something is not right.
The second problem is that the remote is a little complicated. Things like setting favorite channel etc., are not very intutive.
The third problem is no headphone jack.
Thankfully these are the only negative points, and now we go with positives
Cable usage
This is the normal cable. And frankly speaking if normal cable is all you want, you will not enjoy the full benefits. The picture is great, and it looks good, but you need to go back to enjoy it fully. That said, it definitely beats the 21". But its like driving a ferrari to commute from Thippasandra to Indiranagar on the thippasandra main road.
That said, reviewing normal cable on a LCD TV is a little pointless. I do not have access to STB(I will get that soon) and then the true fun will start
DVD viewing
There are 2 ways of viewing a DVD. First through the standard AV cable(Yellow carries video). This gives good quality and you enjoy it.
The second way is using a component cable. A MX Audio component cable costs 550rs and is well worth the investment. I have stopped using the AV cable and DVDs are watched through component cable connected to my philips DVD player. I have watched DIVx videos too, and its simply awesome. Great picture quality.
I watched a few action movies, including those involving car racing, and nowhere I thought that action was a drawback. 5ms response time is definitely a good thing!
The picture is so crisp and real. Everything "pops". I can already hear plasma owners grumbling that plasma pops more, but guys this is 32" space. Here you won't find any advantage for plasma. Today the pinnacle of LCD tech lies in 32" space. Go higher and plasma may rule, but over here there is not much to chose!
That said, you are still driving your ferrari on the DND expressway, when what you need is a 6 lane expressway or an autobahn.
The HD test
Now this is what LCD TVs were made for. Currently in the 32" space the highest resolution available without needing to rob the bank is 720p. Of course these machines will take in 1080p, but they will internally downgrade to 720p.
I think only sharp makes a 1920×1080 resolution TV, and its frightfully expensive.
The next question arises is how to get 720p. I do not have a HD DVD player. But I do have a laptop. The laptop had a video out(for connecting to projectors and external monitors). So thats what I did.
I watched a 720p HD video using VLC player. All I can say is wooo.
I always used to wonder whats all this HD about. Now I understand. HD is Heavenly Definition. This is how a LCD TV should be used.
For all those with 40" LCD, you have 1080p native. Get those HD-DVDs! for the 32", if you are not watching HD, you are missing a lot.
Action is so smooth, the colors really pop, and you have a feeling that you are in the scene, and not watching it externally. This is so real so vivid!
I give it thumbs up! :hap2:
The conclusion
This may not be the best. Some may say Sony does better colors, or samsung is a better looker blah blah. But the fact remains it unbeatable VFM. Little playing around with brightness contrast and color, and I am sure you will find all the 32" LCDs from top guys look the same. As for action, I found this better than samsung and sony, but then it could be the fault of the DVD that was playing blah blah.
I am happy with my purchase and would surely recommend this to anybody who asked!
But the age was showing. Remote went kaput and we sourced a "National market special" for around 150rs so.
Recently the tuner went bad, and we were limited to just DVDs. Watching regular TV was a pain, as the TV would not remember the settings and the tuning would go a little haywire always.
There was the option of repair, but the decision was taken to get a new TV.
This path had 2 routes. Get a 29" or get a LCD. Diwali dhamaka offerings in the market pushed the decision towards the latter, and soon we were in the market.
The decision was tough. It was a 40K question, and after lot of searching on the web, and looking on walls of home town and electronics bazaar etc., came to the conclusion that response time was an important criteria, and it was best to trust own eyes rather than specs.
In the end it boiled down to these choices
- Panasonic model for 49,990(XBOX basic free)
- Sony Bravia
- Samsung Bordeaux
- LG 32LC7R
The panasonic option was bang for buck. But nothing is life is free, and soon we discovered that the reason for the offer was that panasonic had introduced newer models in the market
So off we went to the other choices. After looking at the demos etc., the only thing we figured out that in the 32" space all good brands give equally good performance.
So it was a matter of finding the best deal.
So came home the LC7R. It had the best deal
[*]True 100% interest free finance
[*]42500 price.
Since the past month I have been enjoying the TV, and here is my review.
First lets come to the bad points of LCD TV. This TV also has that slight time lag problem which I saw on samsung and sony both. The problem comes only in special cases, i.e. when you have high speed horizontal scrolling letters of white color on a black background. It feels something is not right.
The second problem is that the remote is a little complicated. Things like setting favorite channel etc., are not very intutive.
The third problem is no headphone jack.
Thankfully these are the only negative points, and now we go with positives
Cable usage
This is the normal cable. And frankly speaking if normal cable is all you want, you will not enjoy the full benefits. The picture is great, and it looks good, but you need to go back to enjoy it fully. That said, it definitely beats the 21". But its like driving a ferrari to commute from Thippasandra to Indiranagar on the thippasandra main road.
That said, reviewing normal cable on a LCD TV is a little pointless. I do not have access to STB(I will get that soon) and then the true fun will start
DVD viewing
There are 2 ways of viewing a DVD. First through the standard AV cable(Yellow carries video). This gives good quality and you enjoy it.
The second way is using a component cable. A MX Audio component cable costs 550rs and is well worth the investment. I have stopped using the AV cable and DVDs are watched through component cable connected to my philips DVD player. I have watched DIVx videos too, and its simply awesome. Great picture quality.
I watched a few action movies, including those involving car racing, and nowhere I thought that action was a drawback. 5ms response time is definitely a good thing!
The picture is so crisp and real. Everything "pops". I can already hear plasma owners grumbling that plasma pops more, but guys this is 32" space. Here you won't find any advantage for plasma. Today the pinnacle of LCD tech lies in 32" space. Go higher and plasma may rule, but over here there is not much to chose!
That said, you are still driving your ferrari on the DND expressway, when what you need is a 6 lane expressway or an autobahn.
The HD test
Now this is what LCD TVs were made for. Currently in the 32" space the highest resolution available without needing to rob the bank is 720p. Of course these machines will take in 1080p, but they will internally downgrade to 720p.
I think only sharp makes a 1920×1080 resolution TV, and its frightfully expensive.
The next question arises is how to get 720p. I do not have a HD DVD player. But I do have a laptop. The laptop had a video out(for connecting to projectors and external monitors). So thats what I did.
I watched a 720p HD video using VLC player. All I can say is wooo.
I always used to wonder whats all this HD about. Now I understand. HD is Heavenly Definition. This is how a LCD TV should be used.
For all those with 40" LCD, you have 1080p native. Get those HD-DVDs! for the 32", if you are not watching HD, you are missing a lot.
Action is so smooth, the colors really pop, and you have a feeling that you are in the scene, and not watching it externally. This is so real so vivid!
I give it thumbs up! :hap2:
The conclusion
This may not be the best. Some may say Sony does better colors, or samsung is a better looker blah blah. But the fact remains it unbeatable VFM. Little playing around with brightness contrast and color, and I am sure you will find all the 32" LCDs from top guys look the same. As for action, I found this better than samsung and sony, but then it could be the fault of the DVD that was playing blah blah.
I am happy with my purchase and would surely recommend this to anybody who asked!
.
hey, any ideas on how much the 26" LCD's cost in the gray market? I'm looking to pick up a 26" LCD myself. are they any good?
hyeah:
I mean, going from a boxy 21" to heavenly 32" LCD is freakin' big leap!