- Jul 10, 2007
- 12,041
- 3
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so my gf wants an hdtv so i took her to best buy to compare some models.
a typical girl, she knows nothing about lcd's other than how the tv itself looks (the bezel, not the picture), and she was attracted by the samsung touch of red panel (650 series) that she saw online.
i'm no videophile, but i know a little bit about what features are important to look for other than the plastic bezel. but at the same i'm so out of the loop myself on all the latest models so i thought this would be a nice comparison.
my random observations-
1. sony's had the darkest blacks among all LCD tv's consistently throughout their entire line of lcd's, from their highest model all the way down to their lowest.
she agreed after a side by side comparison to a 650 series samsung.
2. lots of recommendations for samsung lcd's on the web so i was expecting a lot from their displays. imo it was half warranted.
the good: vibrant colors, 120hz well implemented
the bad: black levels disappointing compared to sony's - looking at the top/bottom black bars, there was noticeable purplish/grayish hue.
i thought sony/samsung was sharing panels, or was it sharp?
interestingly enough, the 5 series was better than the 6 series in this regard.
3. pioneer kuro elite, there's a reason they cost so much. enough said.
4. panasonic plasmas are a very good substitute for kuros at a significant discount.
my they've gotten cheap since i bought my 42" px60 series 2 years ago.
5. jaw dropper of the day- sharp special edition 65" monster was absolutely gorgeous, but at the price of $5999 it better be.
i read a lot about sharp's banding, but this unit did not suffer from that defect.
there was a commercial looping with plenty of blacks and whites- the blacks were pitch black and the image was crystal clear. of course being in the special magnolia section, meaning darkest rooms, and probably being calibrated properly had something to do with it.
i think just the sheer size of the display and how crisp the image was just made it more stunning.
after seeing them in action in person, she is leaning towards a sony 40" W series.
a typical girl, she knows nothing about lcd's other than how the tv itself looks (the bezel, not the picture), and she was attracted by the samsung touch of red panel (650 series) that she saw online.
i'm no videophile, but i know a little bit about what features are important to look for other than the plastic bezel. but at the same i'm so out of the loop myself on all the latest models so i thought this would be a nice comparison.
my random observations-
1. sony's had the darkest blacks among all LCD tv's consistently throughout their entire line of lcd's, from their highest model all the way down to their lowest.
she agreed after a side by side comparison to a 650 series samsung.
2. lots of recommendations for samsung lcd's on the web so i was expecting a lot from their displays. imo it was half warranted.
the good: vibrant colors, 120hz well implemented
the bad: black levels disappointing compared to sony's - looking at the top/bottom black bars, there was noticeable purplish/grayish hue.
i thought sony/samsung was sharing panels, or was it sharp?
interestingly enough, the 5 series was better than the 6 series in this regard.
3. pioneer kuro elite, there's a reason they cost so much. enough said.
4. panasonic plasmas are a very good substitute for kuros at a significant discount.
my they've gotten cheap since i bought my 42" px60 series 2 years ago.
5. jaw dropper of the day- sharp special edition 65" monster was absolutely gorgeous, but at the price of $5999 it better be.
i read a lot about sharp's banding, but this unit did not suffer from that defect.
there was a commercial looping with plenty of blacks and whites- the blacks were pitch black and the image was crystal clear. of course being in the special magnolia section, meaning darkest rooms, and probably being calibrated properly had something to do with it.
i think just the sheer size of the display and how crisp the image was just made it more stunning.
after seeing them in action in person, she is leaning towards a sony 40" W series.