Which tv would you get?

[priester68]

2 year old has no spare parts available, 100,000 hours before the set reaches half brightness, unless you get a fluke, Now I'm gonna be sick. Might ought to just buy 2 small tvs in case one breaks.

[Bogy]

Go to the store. Look at the tvs. pick out the one that has the picture you like best. Make sure it has the connections you need. Buy it. Bring it home. Enjoy it. Don't let all the "experts" ruin your Christmas by telling you that you got the wrong tv.

By the way, if you are going to buy at Wal-Mart, check a couple of them if you can, and make sure you are getting the best price. I just bought a 32" and my local Wal-Mart wanted $400, while the Super Wal-Mart that my son works at, 30 miles away, had the exact same model for $300.

[jlhugh]

my walmart has the 55" Vizio for $1,475.

[priester68]

Thanks man. We have a super WM here so that's what I'll do. Is there a brand to absolutely stay away from?

[--sexy-warlock--]

Go to the store. Look at the tvs. pick out the one that has the picture you like best. Make sure it has the connections you need. Buy it. Bring it home. Enjoy it. Don't let all the "experts" ruin your Christmas by telling you that you got the wrong tv.

By the way, if you are going to buy at Wal-Mart, check a couple of them if you can, and make sure you are getting the best price. I just bought a 32" and my local Wal-Mart wanted $400, while the Super Wal-Mart that my son works at, 30 miles away, had the exact same model for $300.

Don't go by the in store displays. Most of the time they have specific "store mode" settings to make them very bright and vibrant in the heavy store lighting. They will look nothing like that once you get one home. Not to mention the displays are playing material that is more than likely far from HD.

[wetz73]

They tend to come in "store mode" straight out of the box too. So when you get it home and turn it on, you think a nuclear explosion just went off because of the brightness. You'll play with the settings constantly to get it to where you like it. My current TV is 2 years old and I play with the settings at least once a week. Not to mention the settings are different for Dish, for the PS3, etc. Usually you can look up your TV online and somebody has posted what they like for settings. Sometimes, it's easier to adjust off of those than the default settings.

[priester68]

so how do you decide on what to get? I read that I need a response time of 5 milliseconds or less, and a 30,000:1 or higher contrast ratio. What else?

[priester68]

Also what's with the 240Hz or the 120Hz? I would assume the 240 is better but don't know why.

[--sexy-warlock--]

30,000:1 contrast ratio is a good starting point for an excellent picture. Don't be fooled by a TV that has a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, but a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Also you might want to try your local Best Buy or similar store to see if they have a light controlled display room with multiple TV's set in normal home environment settings. 60hz is fine, but you can go to a 120 if you like the motion effects it has. 240 is overkill, and expensive, imo.

But the best thing to do is to read professional reviews online after you get several tv's in mind. And whatever you do, don't go by what looks best under heavy fluorescent lighting, unless that's what you have in your house.

[wetz73]

Don't get hung up on contrast ratio. Unless you are watching TV in a completely dark room in which there is no ambient light (including the light of the TV, which is impossible while watching it!!!!), numbers above 1,000:1 are barely perceivable to the human eye. Black cannot be truly black with a light on. As far as response time, remember this--it takes roughly 200 milliseconds to blink and you blink 12 times per minute, so how much of your day is perceived as missed because of blinking? 8 ms vs. 5 ms is not going to be perceivable unless you are specifically looking for it.