Tv advice

I hope there isn't already a thread that I could have asked this in. But I'm looking into investing in a new tv to go with the PS3 I have on layby. I only want something smallish, I don't have the space for some monsterous plasma. What smaller tvs can you guys recommend? It'll be for watchig tv and playing the PS3 obviously, and I prefer car games which involve lots of fast moment. Is LED better than LCD? Does LCD lag? Is brand name important? Thanks in advice for any help and advice you can offer.

I got a new computer monitor about 8 months ago, it's an led backlit lcd.
in my opinion some of the better tech, it's lighter, and potentially brighter. lower power consumption, thinner. as for brand I got a samsung but I'm not happy with the stand, it's fixed and has a slight lean in it which is quite irritating.

I'd go led lcd over plasma personally. there seems to be a new tech on the horizon, I don't know much about it, it's oled but I haven't looked into it at all and couldn't' really tell you much.

Yeah when we bought our TV, the guys at Harvey Norman also recommended LCD over Plasma as LCD is more power-saving efficient as well.

LCD is the way to go.

I've found that the larger the size you are after, the better off you are buying the pricier brands. (I'm talking about the 80+ size screens here).

If you are after anything in teh 40-50cm range, the Samsung, Sanyo and Panasonic branded tv's are worth the slightly higher prices, as opposed to getting the "generic" brands like AWA, which my aunt and uncle have gone through 3 of in less than 6 months.

And always look for the HD capable tv's. no point getting anything else. :D

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Originally Posted by jena

I hope there isn't already a thread that I could have asked this in. But I'm looking into investing in a new tv to go with the PS3 I have on layby. I only want something smallish, I don't have the space for some monsterous plasma. What smaller tvs can you guys recommend? It'll be for watchig tv and playing the PS3 obviously, and I prefer car games which involve lots of fast moment. Is LED better than LCD? Does LCD lag? Is brand name important? Thanks in advice for any help and advice you can offer.

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Depends how big you want to go, but I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 32" - I guess it all depends on your lounge room size and how far back you are sitting from the TV.

Most people go with 40" these days (which is what I recently purchased for my bedroom), whereas some people go with 52" and above if it's their main TV in the living room (like moi), so I guess it's all dependent upon what you classify as "monsterous"

To fully utilize the PS3's gaming and Blu Ray movie capabilities, get something that displays Full HD (1080p i.e.1920x1080 resolution) with a high contrast ratio (for better levels of black).

LCD consumes less power than Plasma and the units themselves generally weigh less, but they do tend to blur slightly when compared side by side with a plasma (for fast moving objects), but it's generally acceptable and fine.

LED is simply an LCD with Light Emitting Diode back lighting - great if you want better contrast since smaller individual areas of the display are lit as opposed to a larger area, but you certainly will pay a premium for the additional technology.

I'd personally recommend going with a reputable brand (Samsung, Sony, Sharp, etc) and perhaps compare the factory warranty that comes with each unit (some offer only 12mths, whereas some offer up to 5yrs).

Best thing to do is to figure out a budget of what you want to spend, do some research online to see what you can get for your money and then go into a store and view their image quality side by side.

Hope that helps.

My rules are:

Lcd/led get a sumsung.
Plasma get a Panasonic.

Interested in a model? Check out the cnet review.

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Originally Posted by Vector Prime

Depends how big you want to go, but I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 32" - I guess it all depends on your lounge room size and how far back you are sitting from the TV.

Most people go with 40" these days (which is what I recently purchased for my bedroom), whereas some people go with 52" and above if it's their main TV in the living room (like moi), so I guess it's all dependent upon what you classify as "monsterous"

To fully utilize the PS3's gaming and Blu Ray movie capabilities, get something that displays Full HD (1080p i.e.1920x1080 resolution) with a high contrast ratio (for better levels of black).

LCD consumes less power than Plasma and the units themselves generally weigh less, but they do tend to blur slightly when compared side by side with a plasma (for fast moving objects), but it's generally acceptable and fine.

LED is simply an LCD with Light Emitting Diode back lighting - great if you want better contrast since smaller individual areas of the display are lit as opposed to a larger area, but you certainly will pay a premium for the additional technology.

I'd personally recommend going with a reputable brand (Samsung, Sony, Sharp, etc) and perhaps compare the factory warranty that comes with each unit (some offer only 12mths, whereas some offer up to 5yrs).

Best thing to do is to figure out a budget of what you want to spend, do some research online to see what you can get for your money and then go into a store and view their image quality side by side.

Hope that helps.

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Thanks for all that info! The tv is for my bedroom which is why it only needs to be small. I looked at a nice looking white Samsung 22" today and it seemed like a good enough size, but it's hard to judge when it's in a store. I used to use my 20" iMac to watch tv and it was fairly good.

The girl at Harvey Norman today said I wouldn't really notice any blur on a small screen anyway - is that true?

I can take all that info above into account when I go back to have another look on the weekend.

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Originally Posted by jena

Thanks for all that info! The tv is for my bedroom which is why it only needs to be small. I looked at a nice looking white Samsung 22" today and it seemed like a good enough size, but it's hard to judge when it's in a store. I used to use my 20" iMac to watch tv and it was fairly good.

The girl at Harvey Norman today said I wouldn't really notice any blur on a small screen anyway - is that true?

I can take all that info above into account when I go back to have another look on the weekend.

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Wait-wait-wait! Dude, don't go near Harvey Norman! :eek:
I'm honestly not terribly helpful on this subject as I'm still using my old CRT TV :o, but I know for sure that the last thing you want to do is go anywhere near Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne as they're all the same store and their staff will tell you anything to make a sale.

My advice, hit up the Good Guys or JB Hi-fi as you'll get vastly better value for money and for what it's worth; I'd go for something between 24" & 32" inches in LED flavour, LED TVs from what I've seen have the superior picture to LCD and are less Power Hungry and Temperature Raising than a Plasma. ;):)

Just to echo Hurst, Harvey Norman bad, almost anything else better :)

Simple.

I just looked at the Good Guys website and they have the same tv as the one I looked at today at Harvey Norman and they have it $50 cheaper. I was planning on checking out the Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi over the weekend. This is why I asked you fine people first :D