How to get Eye Popping HD ?
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It's your business what you like and if it's high-contrast, "eye-pop" you like, then go for it. If after a while you want to change it, then come back here and we'll give you thirty-eleven opinions about that too.
And if he ends up with burn-in on his $4K plasma because of his "high-contrast, "eye-pop" settings he shouldn't count on finding much sympathy here either.
NightRyder
It's your business what you like and if it's high-contrast, "eye-pop" you like, then go for it. If after a while you want to change it, then come back here and we'll give you thirty-eleven opinions about that too.
And if he ends up with permanent burn-in on his $4K plasma because of his "high-contrast, "eye-pop" settings he probably won't find much sympathy here either.
NightRyder
And there are ignorant people all over the Internet posting on Forums, who think that they understand digital video technology, because they had 3rd grade arithmetic and know that 1920 is bigger than 1440. But since they are not video engineers, they can't understand that in some cases, 1440 looks better than 1920.
Probably the only place to compare HD TV's would be a high-end audio/video store in an expensive suburb of a large metropolitan area. Then hope they have a few sub-$3,000 sets for "kids bedrooms", and due to the standards there, even those will be calibrated properly...
Otherwise, find reliable reviews, like Audioholics.com and Consumer Reports.
I wouldn't trust consumer reports too much when it comes to electronics.
Their reviews make me laugh.
Their reviews make me laugh.
Unfortunately I have done research and you get conflicting reports on just about everything. As someone stated the question(s) still haven't been answered. If I follow the logic to the other answers I am getting, it's the lighting and they tweaked the tv's etc... than all or most of the tv's in best buy should look pretty much the same, i.e. same lighting etc... it seems as though it is a dirty word to say/admit that there is a difference in HD and no one wants to speak it. I remember a few years back they did one west wing episode where the picture was the sharpest clearest picture that anyone had ever seen on network tv, how it was done someone explained in the filming of it etc, . The boards were lit up about it and many purists dismissed it as being "too clear." I.E. no artistic value, no movie type little fuzzy dot things (brain fart as to what their called). Maybe it is just me but I can't understand why anytime clarity of a nice HD picture is brought up people seem to dismiss it. I thought that is what we were all looking for, the best, clearest, sharpest, life like, pristine picture we could find. I thought this was the so called "holy grail!?."
The "Holy Grail" of HD, if there is such a thing, doesn't exist in a particular brand, display resolution or contrast ratio. An exceptional HD experience is dependent on the room, lighting, display technology, calibration and content source and may even vary from one individual to another. If that sounds complex, that's because it is. All the elements I listed interact with each other and the viewer. The sets you viewed at Best Buy may indeed be a better than the ones at Sam's Club, but there are too many other factors to account for besides contrast ratio.
Yes there are differences in HD sets and content, but you have to know what your comparing and take into account variables like lighting and calibration etc. It's a sure bet that some of the display models at Best Buy have been tweaked, and even possible that some sets have been made to look worse next to the models they are currently pushing, also the lighting at Best Buy is more likely to be viewer friendly. I also think it's a sure bet that none of the models at Sam's Club have been tweaked and that zero consideration has been given to the lighting or even viewing angle and hight which can also greatly effect the viewing experience.
Finally, we are not trying to dismiss your comparison/revelation, just trying to make you aware that there is often more than meets the eye.
In answer to your questions:
1. Maybe.
2. Not necessarily.
I would find a set I liked, thats received good reviews and then buy from a retailer that will allow returns/exchanges. If you still like the set after a week or two, great. If not take it back and try another one.
NightRyder
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Seems like most things I've read about achieving the best picture quality have a few things in common, 1) Turn the sharpness all the way down as it just adds artificial edges that aren't really there, and 2) Turn off all those 'special affects', that is everything other than your basics like color, tint, contrast, brightness, etc.
Most seem to indicate if you have a 'temperature' setting, set it to the warmest setting, then adjust the other things (color, tint, contrast, brightness) from there.
I don't know how these were calibrated or by whom, but they seem to follow the above mentioned steps I've read elsewhere, and I've tried these setting on my own TV, which really look great in my opinion (as others have noted, at first it was so different it took a bit of getting used to, but after a day or two I realized how much better it was). But look at these sites, most of the TV's reviewed, they give the calibrated settings. You might want to mimic those for starters (just find your TV in the reviews section, and in the review they usually give the calibrated settings):
LCD TV Buying Guide: LCD TV Reviews and Buying Advice, Find the Best LCD Television
DLP TV Review: Read DLP Television Reviews, Rear Projection HDTV and Projection TV Reviews
Plasma TV Buying Guide: Offers Plasma Television, DLP TV and LCD TV Buying Tips
Now I know every TV is different in every different condition. But not knowing where to start, this might be a good place.
Most seem to indicate if you have a 'temperature' setting, set it to the warmest setting, then adjust the other things (color, tint, contrast, brightness) from there.
I don't know how these were calibrated or by whom, but they seem to follow the above mentioned steps I've read elsewhere, and I've tried these setting on my own TV, which really look great in my opinion (as others have noted, at first it was so different it took a bit of getting used to, but after a day or two I realized how much better it was). But look at these sites, most of the TV's reviewed, they give the calibrated settings. You might want to mimic those for starters (just find your TV in the reviews section, and in the review they usually give the calibrated settings):
LCD TV Buying Guide: LCD TV Reviews and Buying Advice, Find the Best LCD Television
DLP TV Review: Read DLP Television Reviews, Rear Projection HDTV and Projection TV Reviews
Plasma TV Buying Guide: Offers Plasma Television, DLP TV and LCD TV Buying Tips
Now I know every TV is different in every different condition. But not knowing where to start, this might be a good place.
Products always look better in the store, especially when the store isn't the lowest of the lowest of chains! HELLO, you are talking about Walmart, AKA Sam's club. The store inside looks like my garage compared to Bestbuy, the way a store should LOOK.
To try to throw in my 2 cents... I purchased a Sony at Sears last year before superbowl (55" lcd to replace a 42" rp) In the store it looked ok but not great but having seen a friends hooked up I purchased it and it works and looks phenomenal. Two things to keep in mind are:
1 - If a tv is properly calibrated at a store like best buy, it is usually the most expensive one so they can talk you out of the cheaper ones... the $3000 samsung will look much better than the $1800 toshiba even though, if both are properly calibrated, they may produce the same picture.
2 - It also depends on the individual. The speakers that a lot of people purchased that were reviewed on this site (the 5.1 nonames) were praised and my buddy came in and bashed them because they weren't mirage or sonus despite my loving how they sound. Not every person will like the same thing and unless you're going to go spend $5000 for a tv, $2000 for a receiver, and $3000 each speaker to have what the pros say is the top of the line it will depend on you and what you are looking for. So what you may think is eyepopping HD some may think looks awful... read any of the thousand of threads about HDLite on this forum to see conflicting opinions.
1 - If a tv is properly calibrated at a store like best buy, it is usually the most expensive one so they can talk you out of the cheaper ones... the $3000 samsung will look much better than the $1800 toshiba even though, if both are properly calibrated, they may produce the same picture.
2 - It also depends on the individual. The speakers that a lot of people purchased that were reviewed on this site (the 5.1 nonames) were praised and my buddy came in and bashed them because they weren't mirage or sonus despite my loving how they sound. Not every person will like the same thing and unless you're going to go spend $5000 for a tv, $2000 for a receiver, and $3000 each speaker to have what the pros say is the top of the line it will depend on you and what you are looking for. So what you may think is eyepopping HD some may think looks awful... read any of the thousand of threads about HDLite on this forum to see conflicting opinions.
Two factors that helped your eye popping experience are contrast ratio (you want a higher contrast ratio for best picture) and Sony. Sony never fails to look great in the home, also.
All HDTV's will give you a "WOW" experience when set up and calibrated correctly.
Do's & Don'ts
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Reading this thread is the most fun I've had sober in months!
But as long as there is already a good sized pile of pennies in the pot here are my two:
Wild claim 1: Once you back away from a Plasma or LCD screen a sufficient distance *Visual Acuity* is THE limiting factor in "sharpness" of image so unless comparisons are done at a predetermined distance they aren't any more objective than a claim of which blond actress is the finest looking this year.
Wild claim B: Room illumination and background wall color can have a *huge* effect on apparent brightness and contrast so unless these variables are uniform comparisons are only somewhat informatory.
Wild claim III: "Perfect" video from the "best" TV camera will look "best" with TV settings that are not the same as those where cine conversions look "best". The TV adjusted for the perfect Superbowl game would yield a "better" picture if differently adjusted than if the TV was for peaked for the "best" movie picture.
But, hey, don't let me stop the fun! My TV *really is* better than yours!!!
And by the way, five guys told this guy he posted in the wrong forum but wouldn't let him know what the right forum is. Where should he have posted? I'd like to know so I don't make the same mistake.
A VIP722: $300.00.
A Saturday afternoon in a Satelliteguys forum:; Priceless!
But as long as there is already a good sized pile of pennies in the pot here are my two:
Wild claim 1: Once you back away from a Plasma or LCD screen a sufficient distance *Visual Acuity* is THE limiting factor in "sharpness" of image so unless comparisons are done at a predetermined distance they aren't any more objective than a claim of which blond actress is the finest looking this year.
Wild claim B: Room illumination and background wall color can have a *huge* effect on apparent brightness and contrast so unless these variables are uniform comparisons are only somewhat informatory.
Wild claim III: "Perfect" video from the "best" TV camera will look "best" with TV settings that are not the same as those where cine conversions look "best". The TV adjusted for the perfect Superbowl game would yield a "better" picture if differently adjusted than if the TV was for peaked for the "best" movie picture.
But, hey, don't let me stop the fun! My TV *really is* better than yours!!!
And by the way, five guys told this guy he posted in the wrong forum but wouldn't let him know what the right forum is. Where should he have posted? I'd like to know so I don't make the same mistake.
A VIP722: $300.00.
A Saturday afternoon in a Satelliteguys forum:; Priceless!
Well as long as you are having fun, that's all that matters. However, you should do a little more homework because those claims are not as wild as you think. If you can't explain why those claims are made and provide the evidence that can refute them, just stick to enjoying spending your saturdays reading Internet forum threads!
Oops! When sarcasm fails it fails big. My "wild claims" are the ones I think are the best set of facts to guide anybodys choice of TVs. I used "wild claims" as a snipe at a lot of poster's claims and to downplay mine.
I apologize for being a lot snarkyer than was called for. But sometimes you just read something that starts a flood of things burning to get said. Next time I'll have two fingers of bourbon before I start typing. I'm always in a better mood then.
You got me!
Good thing we're the only two on here this weekend!
Thanks for the patient reply!
No. I was over the top and an English teacher would have given me a C- (if I was lucky).
There's a great expression I've heard used in several BBC dramas: "He was too clever by half." and I think I illustrated that concept pretty well.
On American cable TV the line is "An uncalled for smart-ass remark!"
There's a great expression I've heard used in several BBC dramas: "He was too clever by half." and I think I illustrated that concept pretty well.
On American cable TV the line is "An uncalled for smart-ass remark!"
The Blu-ray and HD-DVD dispays setup at Best Buy are ISF calibrated if the market provides the ISF calibration service to customers. Look for tags on the TVs that say "This TV has been calibrated" Having a TV ISF calibrated is more important than what brand it is (SONY, LG, SAMSUNG, ect,) what display technology it is(lcd, plasma, dlp...), or alot of times even the source. I'm ISF certified and viewing/calibrating hundreds of TVs has really opened my eyes to just how great a picture can get. Contrast ratios on TVs can't be trusted from a retail store. They test it by pumping white at high contrast, measuring, then they turn the display off, and measure again. Very misleading. Have your tv calibrated, if you're in D/FW metroplex, look me up, I'll help you out.
Ben Bassinger ISF
Ben Bassinger ISF
You're too far to personally do me any good but what price range do services like yours go for in southern California?
And someone said they thought Consumer Reports reviews of TVs weren't any good. To me they were the one place where scientists and engineers did the work '"by the numbers" and the truth was never compromised. Have you read any of their stuff on HD? Do you think it was accurate? Do you know of *ANY* source of accurate reviews of HDTVs/Monitors?
I have never believed the web page reviews I see simply because so many of their statements display their complete lack of objectivity.
