Which 40"+ LCD?

[Franco B]

I'm looking to purchase a 40"+ LCD soon and now seems to be a good time with the current offers.

The TV will mainly be used for SDTV and 360 gaming although I will most likely get a Blue Ray player before too long.

I've narrowed my choices down to three at present:

[SONY KDL40W4500 40" 100Hz LCD TV] £849 delivered or £849 with a 5-year warranty if picked up from the store. (www.digitalempireonline.co.uk based in Coventry)



Analogue with Freeview
Smartext with EPG
Nicam
100hz Scan
24p ( Frames Per Second)
1920x1080 Resolution
50,000:1 Contrast Ratio
PC compatible
Full Hd Ready 1080p
Hdmi x3

[www.hdtvtest.co.uk Sony KDL40W4500 Review]

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[SAMSUNG LE46A556P (Series 5) 46" HD Ready 1080p digital LCD TV] £698.30 delivered from Dixons using the codes SALE25 and DELTV

HD Ready 1080P
Built In Digital TV Tuner
50Hz
30000 : 1 Dynamic Contrast
DNIe + Image Technology
SRS Trusurround 

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[Samsung LE40A656A 40" 100Hz LCD TV] £699.07 delivered from Dixons using the codes SALE25 and DELTV

HD ready 1080P
Built In Digital TV Tuner
100Hz
50000 : 1 Dynamic Contrast
DNIe Pro Image Technology
SRS Trusurround 

[www.hdtvtest.co.uk Samsung LE40A656A Review]

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The 46" Samsung is attractive due to its size but the fact that it is 50hz is putting me off along with the lower contrast. I can't find an official review for it either.

The two 40"s both seemed to score well. The main difference seems to be that the Sony is better than the Samsung for gaming due to the lower response time. It is however £150 more but the free 5 year warranty makes it more appealing.

What would you guys do? I'm open to other suggestions too.

[ChadTower]

The 40" look like better TVs... so unless you specifically want those extra 6" get one of the smaller ones.

[shardian]

Do you realize that 'HD Ready' means the TV does not have any tuners at all? It is only a monitor.

And Sony is overpriced for what you get. Granted they do have a few good models, but most of their models don't look any better than a Visio.
Sony also has about the worst Customer Service you will ever experience.

[RayB]

Get one of the newer models with 120 hz horizontal scanning. It makes scrolling/moving imagery look WAY smoother with no blur. If you can't afford that feature now, then wait. It's really worth it.

[shardian]

Get one of the newer models with 120 hz horizontal scanning. It makes scrolling/moving imagery look WAY smoother with no blur. If you can't afford that feature now, then wait. It's really worth it.

If I had the money, I would have definitely went with that feature. NFL games look brilliant when noone is moving, but the stutter is obvious during full speed plays. 120 hz eliminates that most of the stutter during fast motion.

[Franco B]

Thanks for the input guys.

The 120hz TVs do look nice but they are way out of my price range, it may be a year or so until I can afford one and I need a TV soon.

Yeah I know Sony customer service sucks. I had problems with my last 28" CRT (slight high pitched whining only I could hear). It took ages for them to sort out a replacement. They did however forget to pick up the faulty TV which I then sold to my sister

Im going to go to a few shops at the weekend and see the TVs for real, I think thats the best way to judge them.

BTW Sharidan, all the TVs I listed have digital tuners in them.

[shardian]

Maybe it's a language thing between countries or something. Every one of the TV's you listed has the specific phrase "HD Ready 1080P TV". Here in the US, the phrase "HD Ready" in a TV description means the TV has the right amount of pixels to diplay HD content, but has no tuners on board.

[Loafmeister]

I think that's a moot point anyway. Most people I know use some kind of external tuner (cable/Satellite) to view an HD broadcast anyway.  Of course, for those who want to get their HD via airwaves it's important, I'm just stating I think a lot of people are making a big thing about nothing.

To clarify with an example:  2 of my friends went looking for a TV and turned down good deals on the basis of "it's only HD ready". What did they do? They both got a Hi-def PVR HD tuner, which negated their whole point.


edit: added example.

[ChadTower]

Both of my TVs are "HD Ready" and have no tuners in them.  They're just monitors.

[polaris]

Maybe it's a language thing between countries or something. Every one of the TV's you listed has the specific phrase "HD Ready 1080P TV". Here in the US, the phrase "HD Ready" in a TV description means the TV has the right amount of pixels to diplay HD content, but has no tuners on board.

HD ready is a sort of marketing buzz phrase in the UK at the moment, i don't think it denotes any particular features the tv may have apart from the obvious one.

[shardian]

Most of the people I know use the ATSC tuner to get network HD, which cable/satellite charges extra for. And most people who pay for HD thru their cable provider prefer to have a TV with a QAM tuner. That way they don't have to rent a cable box from the company.

[polaris]

in the uk , its basically two choices.
most people have a digibox about £20 ,which you need a tv licence to use
then sky for subscription channels/on demand with free receiver or sometimes free hard drive recorder called SKY+ , both have HD output as i understand, the BBC have HD so i assume its through a digibox
there's cable too which works like sky does but through a cable not a dish

[Blanka]

The two samsungs have great image quality. They also support native 24p display. In my opinion more important than 100/120hz.

[HairyDVD]

Why don;t you go on some retail websites and read reviews from customer.

I have a samsung 26" and it is a cracking unit, but the only thing I dont like is that turning chanels on digital tv can be really slow.  If you are spending that amount of money get more info or demo in a store like currys etc...

[Samstag]

Why don;t you go on some retail websites and read reviews from customer.

I have a samsung 26" and it is a cracking unit, but the only thing I dont like is that turning chanels on digital tv can be really slow.  If you are spending that amount of money get more info or demo in a store like currys etc...

I have a Samsung LN40A650 (basically identical to the 656 model above) and it tunes fast.  It also looks amazing.  I highly recommend any Samsung 100/120Hz model.  They cost a little extra but really are worth it.

I looked at the Sonys and while they're nice, they're not worth spending more than an equivalent Samsung.

[boykster]

The two samsungs have great image quality. They also support native 24p display. In my opinion more important than 100/120hz.

Bingo...we have a winner.  Another feature to confirm is that it will ACCEPT 1080P input - not just 1080i.  Many "value" displays with older chipsets may have 1080p native res, but don't actually accept 1080p as an input resolution. 

LG had a ton of units on special just after xmas...I bought a 24" display, but the same shop I bought from had a 40" model for $800US and a 46" for $900....

[RayB]

I have a samsung 26" and it is a cracking unit, but the only thing I dont like is that turning chanels on digital tv can be really slow. 

I see that problem even with regular tvs, with digital tv tuner boxes (I've tried 4 different cable providers)

[Hoopz]

They did however forget to pick up the faulty TV which I then sold to my sister

That's hilarious.  Siblings!!!   

[Franco B]

Ha ha yeah, result eh? 

Thanks for all your help guys.

After reading your replies and taking advice from other forums, online reviews and user reviews im going to go for the 40" Samsung (LE40A656A).

It seems to be a little lacking on the sound front but I have a surround sound system anyway.

Feels like Xmas again! 

Thanks again.