Best TV Right now?

Shizelbs

Alright you HT nuts. I don't know diddly about video, so I'll ask you.

What is the best (not plasma) 60 inch or more TV on the market right now? I will be buying a TV around Xmas time, and I like to start looking and watching early.

What is the best TV out there right now?

tecmo04

cant go wrong with samsung or sony...

Emlyn

Shizelbs wrote:

What is the best TV out there right now?

The ones that will be available a year from now?

I've been looking myself, and haven't been impressed enough with anything in the 60 inch range yet to replace my Pioneer CRT based RPTV (533HD5) which I've had for five years. The Sony picture and build quality of the SXRD's look the best to me, but with the XBR2's coming out next month, I'm waiting to see how they look. I haven't been impressed with either Mitsubishi or Samsung DLP displays in a couple of stores. Something just doesn't look right to me with the displays. The picture on the new JVC's look just as good as the Sony's to me, but their cabinets look junky. The only thing bothering me with my current display is the lack of an HDMI input for accepting an upsampled standard DVD signal. The sound quality from the old RPTV's speakers is way better than anything on the market now.

The prices should be able to come down a lot on what's available right now by the end of the year. There's a lot of competition in the market now.

bobman1235

60 inches... yowza.

pearsall001

Stay away from Mitsubishi's. My buddy just returned his 62" RPTV to Tweeter after having two service calls on it. It kept getting dust balls on the inside of the screen. For some reason the fan motor sucks in dirt & it gathers into dust balls. The service tech was quite familiar w/ the problem & said that Mit did not have a fix for it. My buddy even called Mit & they actually said they were aware of the problem but he pretty much had to live with it. Talk about being pisssssed off!!!! Tweeter gave him no problem at all taking it back. It wasn't the first one they took back because of the problem. He went with a new Sony 60" RPTV & couldn't be happier.

Early B.

A slight hijack here....

Isn't shopping for a TV similar to shopping for speakers? Most store setups for speakers sound horrible. The only way to know how good they'll sound is by hooking the speakers up to your own gear in your own room. Likewise, store setups for TVs are designed to be ultra bright and they're quite often not set up properly anyway, so comparing one TV against another one in the store or in different stores is really the wrong approach to buying a TV, isn't it? Besides, if you want your TV to look its best, you gotta get it calibrated anyway, right? In addition, once you buy a TV, you won't know if you purchased the best one in your price range once you get it home because you can't conduct a side-by-side comparison to any other TV you considered, so what's the point?

Perhaps the buying decision should be based more on technology, features, price, etc., instead of focusing almost exclusively on picture quality. I dunno -- just thinking out loud here...

Lsi9

Since last year's Sony SXRD was given the Award as best product of the year in numerous publications I would go with the new SXRDs.
I highly recommend them,

sickicw

Lsi9 wrote:

Since last year's Sony SXRD was given the Award as best product of the year in numerous publications I would go with the new SXRDs.
I highly recommend them,

The sony sxrd tvs have major color uniformity issues. take a look over at avsforums . After a few months they have this green glob on them. ive seen it at many best buys and circuit citys. not sure what type of tv i would buy in the 60 inch range. probably a samsung dlp. If you could live with a smaller tv, consider the new sony 1080p lcds and the new sammy 1080p lcds. I think they go up to 52"

Shizelbs

There is a pretty big distance between where the TV will sit and where my **** will sit. So, 60 inches is pretty much a necessity.

To my eyes, at the moment, from the limited sets I've seen, the current 1080p Samsung DLP is the best. I think it tops out at 67"

Emlyn

Early B. wrote:

Isn't shopping for a TV similar to shopping for speakers?

This is true to an extent. A display will never look its optimum in most stores because stores don't do much of any calibration, don't run the best source signal to show off their displays, and have brightness and contrast turned up to compensate for being shown under fluorescent lights. However, there are far more variables at play with speakers than with TV's. It's also easier to "see" differences in video displays than it is to "see" differences in how speakers sound for most people. I try to view displays in more than a couple of locations to get a general idea of what they are like side by side. Some stores do have the ability to do better demonstrations of TV's than others, but it's best to go to them outside of peak business times.

I'd take what goes on at AVSforum with a hefty grain of salt because it's gotten way out of control there the last couple of years. Much of what's posted there is unfiltered, exaggerated garbage. Trust your own eyes folks. The color wheel DLP technology looks great to some, not so great to others. I have a Toshiba LCD display as well, which I think is fantastic for what it does well, but I wouldn't want a projection version of an LCD display (which is what would be necessary to get as large a screen size as SXRD or DLP) because of the drawbacks of the technology.

I think there's a DLP display up to 71 inches now.

Shizelbs

I have seen a Toshiba DLP at 70 inches, but I have yet to actually see it in person. I saw it listed online.

Shizelbs

Per usual, I am wrong. Its a 72 incher.

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions/product.asp?model=72mx195

peteran

I would also check out Hitachi or Westinghous(46" and less)

Shizelbs

No chance in hell I will go that small (46")

Emlyn

bobman1235 wrote:

60 inches... yowza.

Hey, the bigger the display, the more bearable the high-def reruns of "Knight Rider" become. :eek:

okiepolkie

The new sxrd's aren't supposed to be as good as last year, but they are probably still one of the top ones. You might look at the JVC DILA's as well.

Shizelbs

So, what I am getting here is that there is no general consensus about what is clearly the best big **** TV to get right now. Rad.

Early B.

Shizelbs wrote:

So, what I am getting here is that there is no general consensus about what is clearly the best big **** TV to get right now. Rad.

Yep -- just like a "what kind of speakers should I get" thread.

Shizelbs

Buying speakers is far more subjective than TVs, not to mention the range of prices for TVs is a little more consistent, thus taking that component out of consideration.

BlueMDPicker

Go to CC or BB, find the best big **** TV in your opinion, and buy the demo set.

We weren't looking for a big **** TV, just something to replace a fried 32" CRT set. I found for what I wanted it for (DVDs and HDTV), the Sony Grand Wega KDF-E42A10 was in the price range I was shopping in <$1500, was being discounted to $1200 at model year close-out, and I asked what they wanted for the floor demo. $950. I was through shopping, back home, and watching it in less than 90 minutes.

I picked-up a spare lamp already, authentic Sony NIB, for $145. So, I'm good to go (realizing the original lamp had 7 months +/- on it.)

Just go find one you like and buy it.

Early B.

BlueMDPicker wrote:

Just go find one you like and buy it.

Agreed.

I had a similar big screen buying experience a few months ago. I bought a Sony Grand Wega 50" demo set from Sears that was priced at $650 less than the same TV at Sam's Club NIB. No brainer. Hold back about $350 and get it professionally calibrated.

wingnut4772

My samsung HLS6187 61" DLP 1080P set has a stellar HD picture. HD DVDs look terrific also.

Holydoc

Early B. wrote:

Yep -- just like a "what kind of speakers should I get" thread.

Uggh! Don't you hate it when you type of a super long response to a thread and then hit the wrong button and it all goes away? :mad:

Any way, I totally disagree that purchasing a TV is anything like purchasing a speaker. No one can tell you how good a speaker sounds. You have to hear it for yourself since everyone's ears are pleased by different frequencies. Just like how everyone's tastebuds are pleased differently by different foods. Getting a review from someone about their speaker is like getting a review from a wine taster about a wine. Just because that wine taster says it is the best tasting wine to him does not mean it will be the best tasting to you.

TV's on the other hand are a completely different animal. Each one has different features, each has their own service record, they come in different resolutions, aspects, and sizes. They have identifiable issues (not subjective like a harsh sound or a warm sound) such as blurring, shadowing, macroblocking, pixeling, etc. TV's have compatibility issues, different connection options, and future expandibility. You have to make considerations like do you want built in PIP, TV Guides, HD capability, surround around speaker system, HDMI hookups, etc.

My advice to you is to do your homework and research what you want. Start by narrowing down the field of TVs by features, size, and aspect. Then research their track record, service issues, picture issues, and warranties. Once you narrow it down to those few that are left, THEN go look at them and decide by aesthetics.

If you are happy after doing the above research, then you will be happy with your TV.

I wish I could say that about speakers. Researching features of a speaker is useless. Their only feature is to produce sound and that cannot be quantified in words. The only sure way to pick the right speaker for you is for you to listen to it in your environment. And even then, I have seen people on this forum (and many others) decide that this perfect speaker was not so perfect after several months and either put back their old speakers or upgrade to another.

You do your research right for your TV and you will not have to follow the path of the audiophile in our endless search.

univera

For what its worth: http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6531_7-6509125.html?tag=dir

http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6531_7-6509133.html?tag=txt


Being that I just bought a new Sony, my advice is forget aspect ratio's, etc. Your eyes are the best tool you have. I never paid any attention to that and my friend at Tweeter who sees all the sets said as much. You've already narrowed the field by ruling out plasma. I personally also ruled out any off brands. As a senior member on this site says, "Go big or go home." I would spend as much as you can budget and get the best, which is what you seem to want to do. If I thought another set had a better picture at the time of purchase, it would drive me nuts. This isn't like an audio piece you might keep a few years and sell. You WILL take a hit on value no matter what you do with a new set and you are likely to own it for many years, so get the best.

I found that Samsungs and Sony LCD's were VERY close in color, sharpness, but the Sony hands down had more DETAIL in black and dark areas. That was a huge thing to me as it was the difference between seeing the buttons on a tufted couch and just seeing a blob. That was also based on the older XBR1's, and my set is an improvement on those. SD actually looks better than originally as I had it on a vivid program which made the poor detail looker worse.

Tim said that he had personally tweeked all the sets to maximize the pictures in an honest fashion. Assuming that the Sony 60XBR2 is as good and probably better than the 40 (since it is bigger and therefore can maximize the higher 1080p display), that is the best picture, IMO. The Samsung was good, but the color wasn't as accurate, IMO. Plus, the new XBR2's are pieces of art. The XBR3 is the same set only it comes with a standard black frame which is a $300 upgrade on the XBR2 (which also has brown, red, etc.) I don't know about the 60, but the 40 doesn't have PIP. Would like to have it, but not at the expense of picture quality.

As far as reliability is concerned, Consumer Reports in the early part of the year said all the name brand LCD's had good reliability thus far (over a year's time), but at the time, there wasn't enough long term data.

Lastly, the guy who is installing my set said that while he does calibrations, he finds that many people actually liked their set better before the calibration. People get used to a certain vivid setup or Sony color or whatever. I am very pleased with my HD channels without making a single adjustment or change of settings whatsoever. I look forward to an even better picture. And, I just received my Vans Evers line conditioner but I haven't had time to do A/B comparisons. Conditioners are for the most part seen to improve video quality.

wingnut4772

I will say this about the Samsung..OOTB is pretty crappy. You have to disable DNIE and calibrate it. After that mine looks Mahvelous dahlink. I can't wait to see how good it looks after a professional calibration. The only reason I bought it is because Eliab from Avical said it is the best television available out there after calibration.

univera

I knew you would chime back on the calibration. I am in no way not interested in checking into it myself. I am just laying out all the info I have or have been advised. May not mean ****....;) Quite honestly, I haven't even read the books yet. I just want to enjoy it a bit before I starting messing with it. I know, blasphemy to some folks on this site:)


By the way, I bought my set from gear4less on Ebay. As cheap as anyone and the owner opened the box, packed extra styrofoam inside, and mailed it. He said it would never make it via UPS otherwise. It also had straps on top that I assume were added as well since he had to open the box and reseal it. I paid via credit card and had a tracking number the next day and got it a few days after.

Watch out for sellers who add "insurance" on the back end. The insurance from one company I nearly went with was $168.00? Seems like B.S. to me. That made a company advertising as having the lowest delivered price MORE expensive than some others. And, gear4less has the items in stock and is out of Tennesee, not NY which can be sketchy. The other company was having it come from Sony. My box was addressed from TN.

Fireman32

Just my .02 cents but i love my mits 62in DLP. i've had it for over a year and have not had a single problem with it. The PQ is awsome and as far as dust balls i haven't heard of it. When i went shopping for my tv i spent a week solid going to all of the stores and looking at all of the models and i kept going back to the mits for the picture. I have also heard great things about the samsung's as well. Good luck with your purchase

EricBurg

I just bought a Sony SXRD 60a2000 2 months ago and I love the picture. I have been following the threads over at AVS forums since the release of the TV and have to agree that most of what is said is totally exaggerated. I think most of the time people just go on those boards to complain and start trouble or argue about which display is "better".

I have no green blobs or any "unusual" uniformity issues. Whenever you get rear projection displays this big, there will be some slight variations in color and brightness that are dependent on where your eyes are in relation to the center of the screen, but nothing that I find as being a problem.

To my eyes, I felt the Sonys and the Samsungs had the best pictures. It was just a choice of preference between the 2, the sony was more "filmlike" and a bit softer, while the Samsung was more vibrant and almost "cartoonish" with its colors and sharpness.

Eric

Shizelbs

Projection is a no go because the room it would be in lets in far too much light during the day. No plasma due to the price to size ratio.

univera

Lots of light is an even better reason not to go with plasma due to the reflective nature of the plasma screen under normal conditions. I also agree with Fireman that the Mits have an awesome picture. Even though I wasn't shopping for them, they looked damn good. I also agree that video is far less subjective in terms of "unscientific" testing by lay persons. I believe most people will see the same things or at least see them after someone pointing them out from one set to the next. Samsungs also seemed to be "cartoonish" in color to me as well as stated above. They have a very bright picture but that isn't everything. Initially I was drawn to that but then I started more in depth analysis and found detail in the blacks was more important. Samsung, at least in LCD's, has very nice blacks, but the detail on the last models just wasn't up to par compared to Sony. One other thought on the XBR's is a cool feature that allows you to turn off the screen and still have volume so that you can listen in another room. I don't know if other models have that, but it is nice to know you can save picture life and power costs if you just want to listen while doing other stuff.

Shizelbs

When we were looking last year, I thought Mits had the best looking DLPs. Also, they had a nice feature whereby there was a reflective covering protecting the screen, but if glare was an issue you could remove it. Of course the sacrifice was the screen was no longer protected.