Suggest 42"/46"/47" LCD or LED LCD FHD TV

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sagar.sdm

sagar.sdm

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Please suggest options for buying a 42"/46"/47" or larger FHD LED or LED LCD TV.

Info:
  • Budget INR 70,000 +/-
  • 3D feature not required
  • Smart TV not a necessity, if present in-built WiFi will be a plus
  • At least 2 HDMI & 2 USB ports
  • Decent PQ - for both SD & HD - a must; Use Videocon DTH HD as cable source via HDMI
  • Audio quality not a concern - will be using F&D A520 for TV audio.
  • Viewing distance ~8+ ft
  • NTFS USB support & playback support to all common video/audio formats will be a plus
  • True Refrest Rate of 100/120 Hz at least
    • (confused here, my earlier TV had 120Hz, how much does this matter against a panel with 50/60Hz in terms of PQ? I would be happy if there in less to no blur in fast moving scenes)
  • PC input (VGA) will be a plus
  • Headphone jack will be a plus
  • 42"/46"/47" - whichever fits my budget. PQ takes precedence to size. However, having had a 42" before it would be hard to settle for a 40" now.
  • Based in Bangalore
  • Will consider buying from grey only if the cost benifit is very lucrative. Although, will have to do my reasearch to find a well-known shop known for genuinity.
Background:

I owned a LG 42LW5700 earlier. This one had amazing PQ. Almost everytime I saw a HD video on this, I use to awe. Viewing angles were great. Although 3D feature was good, never used it beyond demoing it ourselves and to the visitors.

But, 3 months in to the ownership the panel showed 8-10 dead pixels in the left half. I got the panel replaced under warranty. Checking the original panel model with the replaced one, I found out that the replaced panel was inferior. It was also apparent from the considerable decrease in PQ of the replaced panel. I fought with LG, wrote a mail to them, they agreed to my plea but could not find the original panel as its manufacturing was discontinued, after much persuasion I obtained a full refund for the TV today; after close to 6 months. Phew.

The LG personnel will be taking back the TV today, and frankly it is disheartening to let go of this TV; given how good its PQ was on its original panel. This brings me to hunt for a new TV that is at least on par with my ex-TV, if not better.

Options I'm considering based on my research so far -

1. Samsung ES5600R Series - only concern is that it's a 50Hz panel, and how good its PQ is. I am aware of panel lottery system. If I am to buy this will make sure to get one having SPVA, negotiating with the dealer. Yet to demo.

2. LG LM6410/6700 Series - 120Hz. Presuming PQ on this must be comparable with my ex-TV. Does not have a headphone jack. Yet to demo.

3. Your suggestions.

I am sure some of you would suggest Sony 46EX650, one of my relative has 40EX650, and somehow I don't seem to appreciate its PQ. His TV was bought from grey market though. I need to demo one in a Sony showroom to check if it is any better.

TIA.
 
In the grey market you can get a 40" samsung series 6 LED or you can get a slightly better Sony HX750 its quite expensive even in grey market but should be around your budget. If you want a 46" tv you will have to settle with a series 5 LED or Sony EX650 .

If your older tv had 120hz it means that it has some kind of motion interpolation tech like Tru-motion where it uses backlight scanning to increase the perceived motion resolution.

The Sony and samsung models won't have the wide viewing angle of LG but they do have quite a lot more contrast.
 
If PQ is your priority, why not a plasma like the Panny P42ST50D. Infibeam has it listed for about 77K.
Whatever contrast figures the Sony and Samsung PVA panels have, it will be easily trumped by a plasma.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
If PQ is your priority, why not a plasma like the Panny P42ST50D. Infibeam has it listed for about 77K.
Whatever contrast figures the Sony and Samsung PVA panels have, it will be easily trumped by a plasma.
Click to expand...
Contrast is the ratio of both blacks and white so its not always the case,but the real world perceived contrast of plasma is in most cases lower then that of VA lcds since in daytime the plasma will wash out and lose significant amount of contrast due to the nature of their screens.
Agreed in night time viewing one can notice and appreciate those deep blacks of plasmas like the panasonic ST50.
 
^^Even I did opt for a Plasma; not just for the black levels, but also for the colour reporoduction. If the TV will not be placed directly in front of a daylight source - window/balcony etc., plasma is a better option.
 
I will third the recommendation for a plasma. I was in the market last year and after a ton of looking around picked up a P42St30 and I couldnt be happier with it.

My usage is BluRay and games (PS3/360) and everything looks utterly stunning in it. The 3D is a nice little bonus.
 
I would also recommend a Plasma. I own a Panasonic and the color quality and overall picture quality is much better than the LCD I owned. The second advantage is its cost advantage as you go higher up in screen size. You might get a good deal with higher end models.
 
Few months back bought a Panasonic Viera ET5 series 47" 3D full hd Led. Had kept a option for plasma before buying since it had 3 years of warranty. But decided on Led since plasma's tend to generate more heat and are more power consuming than Led's. An even Led is a later technology.
But if u have no issues with heat generation and power consumption then u might opt for the plasma. Also the cost of Panasonic Plasma are much cheaper than LED's but provide too awesome quality and viewing angles. This is the reason at every Airport Plasma's are used as display's instead of LED's.
 
^^High power consupmtion was true for older Plasmas; the newer models are much more effcient. Its true LEDs consume less power compared to Plasmas; but are you buying a large screen TV with the aim of saving power or viewing pleasure? Atleast till the time OLEDs become affordable, I dont think you can have your cake and eat it too!
 
rdbbond said:
An even Led is a later technology.
Click to expand...
LEDs are only used as the backlight. LED backlit panels are mostly edge-lit, including the ET5. The edge-lit design is a step back, and probably won't be as good as an older CCFL backlit panel. A direct-lit/full array LED backlit panel would be worth calling later technology. But there are very few full array panels in the Indian market, and quite expensive. Manufacturers seem content pushing the cheaper edge lit panels, and profit margins look higher since people are happy paying the premium for anything with an "LED" without realising they're buying edge lit panels :p

adder said:
Contrast is the ratio of both blacks and white so its not always the case,but the real world perceived contrast of plasma is in most cases lower then that of VA lcds since in daytime the plasma will wash out and lose significant amount of contrast due to the nature of their screens.
Click to expand...
Turn up the brightness? Draw the curtains? Yes they're not brighter than LCDs, but I doubt anyone uses an LCD beyond 50% brightness. A plasma should be able to match that. I've seen a PV7 in a normal living room with open windows and haven't noticed a lack of brightness, and this is a G10 panel (I think). The ST50 is a G15 panel and is noticeably more brighter than an ST30. The ST50 is the lowest model with an AR filter as well which although not as good as an LCDs matte finish, is still better than nothing. In either case you shouldn't place any type of TV with it facing a light source.
 
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Crazy_Eddy said:
LEDs are only used as the backlight. LED backlit panels are mostly edge-lit, including the ET5. The edge-lit design is a step back, and probably won't be as good as an older CCFL backlit panel. A direct-lit/full array LED backlit panel would be worth calling later technology. But there are very few full array panels in the Indian market, and quite expensive. Manufacturers seem content pushing the cheaper edge lit panels, and profit margins look higher since people are happy paying the premium for anything with an "LED" without realising they're buying edge lit panels :p
Click to expand...
samsung EH5xxx series and Sony EX430 are el cheapo models in the LED lineup and these two series have LED backlight and for some reason are cheaper then edge LED models so these should be as good as CCFL model interms of backlight uniformity.

Crazy_Eddy said:
Turn up the brightness? Draw the curtains? Yes they're not brighter than LCDs, but I doubt anyone uses an LCD beyond 50% brightness. A plasma should be able to match that. I've seen a PV7 in a normal living room with open windows and haven't noticed a lack of brightness, and this is a G10 panel (I think). The ST50 is a G15 panel and is noticeably more brighter than an ST30. The ST50 is the lowest model with an AR filter as well which although not as good as an LCDs matte finish, is still better than nothing. In either case you shouldn't place any type of TV with it facing a light source.
Click to expand...
Well if you know my living room i have windows facing east and west with large area of glass for maximum natural light.A plasma tv just won't fit the bill not only is it more reflective but more importantly its wash out they are also not bright enough to defeat glare.
Even my matte screen lcd tv still reflects and the light sensor in the tv cranks up the backlight to around 40% to compensate for the sunlight.
 
Time for an update, albeit delayed.

Thanks for the suggestions. With all the recommendations for Plasma panels, I made it a point to demo them too, along with other LED-LCD ones.

However, during my hunt for the ex-TV, I had ruled out Plasmas for the reasons that it generates more heat, consumes more power, static burn-in due to channel logos etc. I was also under an impression that Plasma TVs cost much lower to the equivalent specced LED-LCD TVs - but came to know that it is not true anymore.

I was out last Saturday to demo a set of Panasonic & LG TVs. I use HD rip of 'Life Cycles', and a set of some short HD videos off my drive for demoing. Here are my opinions on some TVs that I demoed (Picture menu was reset, and standard mode selected prior to demo) -

1. Panasonic Plasma - TH-P42UT50D - The contrast ratios perceived on this was not any better than other LED TVs, and brightness was poor - probably beacuase the showroom was brightly lit. The color reproduction was fine, but the fast moving scenes were jittery - a minus for my liking. This one is a lower end Plasma, and costs close to 42ET5 LED LCD. I guess GT series being the higher end could be better - but it is expensive.

2. Panasonic LED LCD - TH-L42ET5D - This blew me in terms of PQ. Color reproduction, brightness, jittery free playback - all good. I did not like how the USB Playback UI mixes up folders, sub-folders and root files - it also uses same icons for all. But it can be lived with. Plays .flv, .mkv and most other formats too. + Passive 3D technology, did not demo 3D playback though. This TV goes in as one of the options to consider.

3. LG LED LCD - 42LM6200 - Very good PQ, comes close to that on my ex LG TV 42LW5700. Color reproduction, brightness, jittery free playback - all good. All 2012 LG TV have a revamped UI that looks much cooler, browsing files on the USB drive is snappy & faster, and format support has been improved by leaps. Also, LG TVs offer more configurations under Picture menu. I could make out the difference in playback of fast moving scenes - jittery to not jittery - by changing Trumotion levels. Passive 3D - decent 3D playback. Decent in looks dept. +1 option to consider.

4. LG LED LCD - 42LM6410 - All same as LM6200. Additionally, has in-built WiFi. But I could make out that it was less brighter than the lower end LM6200 for some reason, albeit costing higher. I would rather pick LM6200 than picking this.

5. LG LED LCD - 42LM6700/7600 - Slightly better PQ than LM6200, if not same. But these two have frame-less design, hence look better. These have in-built WiFi, and have better Motion Clarity Indexes - but as said earlier, no significant improvement was observed, albeit costing higher. Only significant improvement observed was in 2D to 3D conversion - not important for me. I would rather pick LM6200.

All above were demoed in the exclusive brand showrooms. Panasonic has no paid extended warranty available, LG does - Rs ~2500 for an year, and Rs ~4000 for two.

I am yet to demo Samsung Series 5 (ES5600), Series 6 (ES6200), Sony EX650, and others. This must hopefully happen the coming weekend. I will post the updates here.

Options as of now -
1. Panasonic TH-L42ET5D
2. LG 42LM6200

Further inputs are welcome!
 
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If you have made up your mind for LED TVs then I would suggest you also check out a demo of the Sharp LED tv. I definitely liked the color output of that.
Hence for LEDs you can think between Panasonic, Sony or Sharp.
 
@sagar.sdm thanks for your updates. please do post your feedback once you check out the Sammys and Sonys. This would be helpful for a number of folks here.
 
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