Help me choose a 52"+ LCD

[SlowSpyder]

The wife and I are in the market to finally go HD (yea, we've waited it out this long ). We have a 60" rear projection TV that we use now as our main viewing television. It's certainly showing it's age these days (I bought it around 2000). So, because we're used to a larger TV I think we want to stay with a larger LCD. I have a few questions.

How do cheaper brands compare? I've seen 55" Olevia for ~$1600, everything by the bigger brands (Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.) is in the $3K+ range. Any thoughts?

It seems that bang for the buck drops off considerably after 52". I can find 52" name brand TV's for $1400ish. The next sizes up (55"-58") are considerably more, closer to $3500+. Is it really worth twice the price for that bit of screen realistate? I just don't want to sell myself short so that in a year I'll wish we went bigger. Thoughts?

The way our living room is set up is that the TV will be about 15' from our couch, I think the room is 17' long. Seating will be at the opposite end of that space from the TV. The room is narrow and long, but we want to use the longer arrangement of the room we have now the TV-where we sit.

I appreciate any help, thanks.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
It seems that bang for the buck drops off considerably after 52". I can find 52" name brand TV's for $1400ish. The next sizes up (55"-58") are considerably more, closer to $3500+. Is it really worth twice the price for that bit of screen realistate? I just don't want to sell myself short so that in a year I'll wish we went bigger. Thoughts?

Unless you go front projection

A 52" TV would look very small to me 15 feet away.


http://myhometheater.homestead...istancecalculator.html
http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

 

[Jugernot]

DLP might be good, if you can't mount a front projector. I have a 98" screen at home coming from a 720p projector.... looks great from around 14 feet.

Jugs

 

[bigdog1218]

Are you 100% decided on LCD? I bought a Panasonic 58PZ800u a month ago when Amazon had it on sale for $2300. Great TV, and one of the best pictures you can get. I was stuck between the Pioneer 50" kuro and the 58" Panny and I'm 100% glad I went with the Panny, the extra screen size definitely makes a difference. I sit between 9-12ft away.

 

[s44]

Front projection or 67" Samsung LED DLP...

 

[SlowSpyder]

It was somewhat of a tossup between LCD and DLP. My big concern with plasma is burn in. I know burn in problems have come a long way, but this TV will see static images for a long time as I will game on it for sure.

I like DLP, and actually was leaning towards that as the screen size to cost ratio once you get into the upper fifty inch range is much better then LCD, but every DLP I looked at, there just wasn't the same color vibrance as the LCD. I know DLP has come a long was since it's beginnings with LED lamps and multi color processors (no rainbow effect, etc.) but they still just do not seem to have the same 'crispness' as LCD to me. That's why I am leaning towards LCD out of the three technologies.

I certainly could be swayed a different way, but I think LCD has what I'm looking for up to 52", after that it has everything I want except costs a lot more.

 

[s44]

You'll want to put the LCD out of torch mode anyway -- not only is it wildly inaccurate, but it gets fatiguing.

I could understand preferring LCD for viewing angle or screen geometry issues, but the color accuracy of DLP has long been excellent.

 

[Kanalua]

I purchased the Samsung 52" 750 Series LCD ( http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...0p-Touch/dp/B001418WF4 )

Truly an amazing TV, picture quality is much better than DLP (go to BestBuy and compare). It is a little more expensive than your Vizio or other entry level LCDs, but the extra is worth it!

I researched for about six months before deciding on this piece of electronic mastery.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: s44
You'll want to put the LCD out of torch mode anyway -- not only is it wildly inaccurate, but it gets fatiguing.

I could understand preferring LCD for viewing angle or screen geometry issues, but the color accuracy of DLP has long been excellent.

I do understand that at the stores typically the TV's are cranked to try and make them really stand out, but even taking that into consideration there is just a liveliness in the colors that I see in LCD that I don't see in DLP. Of course, if I go to Best Buy I can only find two or three DLP's, but they seem to have at least 100 LCD's. Maybe if I saw more DLP's I'd agree more with you. But, from what I have seen, to me, DLP just lacks a bit of crispness compared to LCD. It's just a trade off I'd have to consider, size vs. what I subjectively consider better colors.

What is the thickness of modern DLP's these days? I know they can't go on a wall, but aren't they getting pretty thin...? Like 8" thin? My current TV stands has to be 24-30" at it's thickest point (rear projection) so I have a feeling a thinish TV will almost make the room feel a bit bigger.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Kanalua
I purchased the Samsung 52" 750 Series LCD ( http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...0p-Touch/dp/B001418WF4 )

Truly an amazing TV, picture quality is much better than DLP (go to BestBuy and compare). It is a little more expensive than your Vizio or other entry level LCDs, but the extra is worth it!

I researched for about six months before deciding on this piece of electronic mastery.

Looking at some reviews now... thanks.

What is Touch of Color? Just a bit of color in the frame?

*edit - Pretty cool, the built in movie viewer. Can you tell me more about this? Does it play .mpg/.avi files? This TV certainly sounds pretty good, but this is the first one I've looked at in depth, so more research to do. But so far this one shows promise! Thanks again!

 

[Kanalua]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: Kanalua
I purchased the Samsung 52" 750 Series LCD ( http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...0p-Touch/dp/B001418WF4 )

Truly an amazing TV, picture quality is much better than DLP (go to BestBuy and compare). It is a little more expensive than your Vizio or other entry level LCDs, but the extra is worth it!

I researched for about six months before deciding on this piece of electronic mastery.

Looking at some reviews now... thanks.

What is Touch of Color? Just a bit of color in the frame?

*edit - Pretty cool, the built in movie viewer. Can you tell me more about this? Does it play .mpg/.avi files? This TV certainly sounds pretty good, but this is the first one I've looked at in depth, so more research to do. But so far this one shows promise! Thanks again!

Touch of color is a tint of color on the rim of the tv panel. Subtle and hardly noticeable, but there at the same time...

the movie viewer is great if you don't have a PS3/XB360 or Computer near your computer. Plays Divx/Xvid files direct from a USB stick or off the network.

Though, the best thing bout this TV is the picture quality...simply amazing! Plasma quality with LCD brightness (and resistance to burn-in)...

 

[rdp6]

I'm very, very happy with last year's sammy 5271F, which is probably more like the A750 than any other of this years LCDs. Colors are fantastic, and blacks are great, too. I do change the backlight intensity depending on the viewing conditions and source material. It is looks great at zero for a completely darkened room, and up to seven for mid-day viewing with all the shades wide open. Not to say that 8-10 are useless, just that I haven't seen need for them yet.

As for blacks, I can see all the shades of black and all the whites on these pages: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ and it passes all other the other tests there nicely. Got my TV settings from the calibration thread at AVSforum.

I'd only hesitate to recommend the new sammy (or any other 52" for that matter) due to your viewing distance: http://www.engadgethd.com/2006...stance-to-screen-size/

I have seen a 65" Panasonic (?) LCD at Costco, it had a really noisy picture (despite HDMI input) compared to some of the others playing an animated BD. Definitely a disappointment for the cost.

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
The wife and I are in the market to finally go HD (yea, we've waited it out this long ). We have a 60" rear projection TV that we use now as our main viewing television. It's certainly showing it's age these days (I bought it around 2000). So, because we're used to a larger TV I think we want to stay with a larger LCD. I have a few questions.

How do cheaper brands compare? I've seen 55" Olevia for ~$1600, everything by the bigger brands (Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.) is in the $3K+ range. Any thoughts?

It seems that bang for the buck drops off considerably after 52". I can find 52" name brand TV's for $1400ish. The next sizes up (55"-58") are considerably more, closer to $3500+. Is it really worth twice the price for that bit of screen realistate? I just don't want to sell myself short so that in a year I'll wish we went bigger. Thoughts?

The way our living room is set up is that the TV will be about 15' from our couch, I think the room is 17' long. Seating will be at the opposite end of that space from the TV. The room is narrow and long, but we want to use the longer arrangement of the room we have now the TV-where we sit.

I appreciate any help, thanks.

I bought the Samsung LN52a630 (matte screen) after looking at several Toshibas. The Samsung was clearly superior to the Toshiba in the same price range. And, the LNA6x0 series has near universal praise from Consumer Reports and most reviews. BTW, check out the depth of the Tosh, the one I was looking at was 6" (vs. 4 or less for the Sammys).
Several friends have SONYs and while they are fine, the PQ is just a notch below the Sammy.

Read my sig for Olevia or other death brands.

 

[skulkingghost]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16889248031

I have a friend that has this tv, damn good deal imho

 

[skulkingghost]

I also hear good things about this tv:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16889102204

And this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16889102201

 

[Kanalua]

Both of those Samsung's are good tv's, you will not be disappointed...the DLP...really compare the two TV technologies (Samsung LCD vs. any standard DLP).

You will not regret buying the 550 or 650 series 52" Samsung....

I would personally recommend a 750 series or higher (video playback over network/usb stick)...if that's not needed, then get the 650 of 550...

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Kanalua

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: Kanalua
I purchased the Samsung 52" 750 Series LCD ( http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...0p-Touch/dp/B001418WF4 )

Truly an amazing TV, picture quality is much better than DLP (go to BestBuy and compare). It is a little more expensive than your Vizio or other entry level LCDs, but the extra is worth it!

I researched for about six months before deciding on this piece of electronic mastery.

Looking at some reviews now... thanks.

What is Touch of Color? Just a bit of color in the frame?

*edit - Pretty cool, the built in movie viewer. Can you tell me more about this? Does it play .mpg/.avi files? This TV certainly sounds pretty good, but this is the first one I've looked at in depth, so more research to do. But so far this one shows promise! Thanks again!

Touch of color is a tint of color on the rim of the tv panel. Subtle and hardly noticeable, but there at the same time...

the movie viewer is great if you don't have a PS3/XB360 or Computer near your computer. Plays Divx/Xvid files direct from a USB stick or off the network.

Though, the best thing bout this TV is the picture quality...simply amazing! Plasma quality with LCD brightness (and resistance to burn-in)...

Ok, I like what I'm reading about the 750. I'm planning on going and looking at it today as well as take another look at the DLP's (I just can't get over the price for the big screen. ). I'm looking around right now, but I see there is a 650, 750 (the one you have), and 850, and a 950. I'm doing some research on my own, but since you mentioned that you researched for six months I figured you may know what the big differences are between the models. I see the 950 has a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, it has dynamic LED backlight technology. That's pretty cool sounding on paper, but I'd have to see it in action. But, I can't really tell what the differences are between the 850, 750, and 650. Any idea?

*edit - The big deal about the 850 is that it's only 1.9" thick I think. Also has a built in subwoofer. I'm guessing that's about it, but Samsungs site doesn't allow you to select different models at once to compare features. Since I'd be using a home theater set up the built in speakers don't really matter. The thickness of the set isn't importatnt to me either, if the 850 is 1.9" and the 750 is something like 4" that's not a big deal to me at all. So, assuming those are the big differences I personally won't be paying more for the 850. But the 950 still intrigues me. And I'm trying to find what I can on the 650.

Thanks again for the replies everyone, I appreciate it.

*edit 2 - Looks like the 650 doesn't have the ethernet network stuff?

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: Kanalua

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: Kanalua
I purchased the Samsung 52" 750 Series LCD ( http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...0p-Touch/dp/B001418WF4 )

Truly an amazing TV, picture quality is much better than DLP (go to BestBuy and compare). It is a little more expensive than your Vizio or other entry level LCDs, but the extra is worth it!

I researched for about six months before deciding on this piece of electronic mastery.

Looking at some reviews now... thanks.

What is Touch of Color? Just a bit of color in the frame?

*edit - Pretty cool, the built in movie viewer. Can you tell me more about this? Does it play .mpg/.avi files? This TV certainly sounds pretty good, but this is the first one I've looked at in depth, so more research to do. But so far this one shows promise! Thanks again!

Touch of color is a tint of color on the rim of the tv panel. Subtle and hardly noticeable, but there at the same time...

the movie viewer is great if you don't have a PS3/XB360 or Computer near your computer. Plays Divx/Xvid files direct from a USB stick or off the network.

Though, the best thing bout this TV is the picture quality...simply amazing! Plasma quality with LCD brightness (and resistance to burn-in)...

Ok, I like what I'm reading about the 750. I'm planning on going and looking at it today as well as take another look at the DLP's (I just can't get over the price for the big screen. ). I'm looking around right now, but I see there is a 650, 750 (the one you have), and 850, and a 950. I'm doing some research on my own, but since you mentioned that you researched for six months I figured you may know what the big differences are between the models. I see the 950 has a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, it has dynamic LED backlight technology. That's pretty cool sounding on paper, but I'd have to see it in action. But, I can't really tell what the differences are between the 850, 750, and 650. Any idea?

*edit - The big deal about the 850 is that it's only 1.9" thick I think. Also has a built in subwoofer. I'm guessing that's about it, but Samsungs site doesn't allow you to select different models at once to compare features. Since I'd be using a home theater set up the built in speakers don't really matter. The thickness of the set isn't importatnt to me either, if the 850 is 1.9" and the 750 is something like 4" that's not a big deal to me at all. So, assuming those are the big differences I personally won't be paying more for the 850. But the 950 still intrigues me. And I'm trying to find what I can on the 650.

Thanks again for the replies everyone, I appreciate it.

*edit 2 - Looks like the 650 doesn't have the ethernet network stuff?

The 650 does have the ethernet jack - the 630 does not. I own the 630 - do you care about glare? Is the TV near windows? The 650 has a shiny screen and looks like a mirror when off - or with dark screens - my wife and I tried it, and we hated seeing ourselves on the couch when dark scenes came on - hold the comments - For me - losing the e-net jack was worth the cost savings ($200 when I bought - oh, the 630 also has one less HDMI input). But...I put the $200 toward an HTPC.

Oh- The TOC on my 630 is non-existent. I saw it side by side to a 650 and couldn't believe they still put TOC on the box because it is simply not there.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Thanks Greg04. I don't really know what the difference between the 650 and 750 is then?

Our TV will be in a bright room, so shiney is less desirable I would think. But the sun only comes into this room from the side really. Right now we have very thin white curtains, we are planning on doing some painting and changing the curtains to a darker color and something that better stops the light. Also, we're getting blinds for the window that is opposite the TV (even though the sun doesn't directly shine through that one we get some glare from it on my current TV). So, I guess as I ramble this reply here shiney wouldn't be a killer, but matte would probably be better.

So the 650 or 750 looks good, but I'm still a bit lost on the 650 vs. 750 features. I'll pay a few bucks extra for the ethernet stuff, it looks pretty cool to me, and it's something I think I'd use.

I think I'd have some speakers like these with the TV. I'm starting to get excited thinking about my new TV and speakers in our redecorated/painted room.

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Thanks Greg04. I don't really know what the difference between the 650 and 750 is then?

Our TV will be in a bright room, so shiney is less desirable I would think. But the sun only comes into this room from the side really. Right now we have very thin white curtains, we are planning on doing some painting and changing the curtains to a darker color and something that better stops the light. Also, we're getting blinds for the window that is opposite the TV (even though the sun doesn't directly shine through that one we get some glare from it on my current TV). So, I guess as I ramble this reply here shiney wouldn't be a killer, but matte would probably be better.

So the 650 or 750 looks good, but I'm still a bit lost on the 650 vs. 750 features. I'll pay a few bucks extra for the ethernet stuff, it looks pretty cool to me, and it's something I think I'd use.

I think I'd have some speakers like these with the TV. I'm starting to get excited thinking about my new TV and speakers in our redecorated/painted room.

comparison from sammy

CNET writeup

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Greg04

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Thanks Greg04. I don't really know what the difference between the 650 and 750 is then?

Our TV will be in a bright room, so shiney is less desirable I would think. But the sun only comes into this room from the side really. Right now we have very thin white curtains, we are planning on doing some painting and changing the curtains to a darker color and something that better stops the light. Also, we're getting blinds for the window that is opposite the TV (even though the sun doesn't directly shine through that one we get some glare from it on my current TV). So, I guess as I ramble this reply here shiney wouldn't be a killer, but matte would probably be better.

So the 650 or 750 looks good, but I'm still a bit lost on the 650 vs. 750 features. I'll pay a few bucks extra for the ethernet stuff, it looks pretty cool to me, and it's something I think I'd use.

I think I'd have some speakers like these with the TV. I'm starting to get excited thinking about my new TV and speakers in our redecorated/painted room.

comparison from sammy

CNET writeup

DOH! Thanks. For whatever reason I couldn't seem to find the comparrisons. That'll help. Thanks again.

 

[Muadib]

Here is a review on the 750. It touches on some of the differences between it and the 650.

 

[dud]

OP, your real issue here is viewing distance. If you are actually sitting 15' from the TV AND you are moving down from a 60" you have a problem. At a distance of 15" you will be hard-pressed to see the diff between a 720p and a 1080p display. You will have a hard time finding a QUALITY display in any size approaching 55" for less then $2,500.

If I were you (and I am not) I would consider investing in a good HD projector. Depending upon how your viewing room is lit I would get one that really pumps out the lumens, with at least two intensity level. I have an SVGA projector that puts out 1,100 and 2,200 lumens, depending upon the lighting conditions. It's not HD but watching the Super Bowl on a 12" screen (sitting only 14' away) is awesome.

If you prefer not to go the way of the projector AND your budget is below $2,000 then consider getting the largest 720p plasma or LCD you can afford. My point is this: at 15' you will not be able to see the difference.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: bigdog1218
Are you 100% decided on LCD? I bought a Panasonic 58PZ800u a month ago when Amazon had it on sale for $2300. Great TV, and one of the best pictures you can get. I was stuck between the Pioneer 50" kuro and the 58" Panny and I'm 100% glad I went with the Panny, the extra screen size definitely makes a difference. I sit between 9-12ft away.

With the Kuro 50", I am 100% happy with mine.

That being said.... I kinda wish I had gotten that Panny for $2300.... 8" more of screen would be stunningly beautiful

 

[Crucial]

I have the A750 52" and I think it's a great tv. I have some slight clouding starting to form but it's only noticeable on an all black screen. I haven't decided whether or not to pursue replacement for it.