Re: 46" LCD recommendations please

On Feb 13, 2:47 pm, "The Polish Bicycle Ride" <jhg...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
"James" <wimpyVO2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1171308385.111916.236420@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Feb 11, 11:53 am, "Jane" <googlemail2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We have decided we want an LCD HDTV. 46" is the best size for us.

Price is not nearly as important as picture quality. We want
something very sharp, with good contrast and great color. I know we
want to get 1080p. We would like something reliable although I
realize this technology is so new that there isn't any long term data
yet.

Well, if price is truly not an issue, then the best set on the market
is probably the Pioneer 50-inch 1080p Elite ProFHD1 plasma. Pixel for
pixel plasma still beats LCD for picture quality. $6000.

Of course, that's bigger than 46". It is gorgeous, and in a dark room with
no bright light sources is the best I've seen.

No one delivers 1080p. 1080i and 720p are the standards for HD on cable and
satellite.



LCD has improved and is the "affordable" way to get 1920 x 1080
pixels. The Sony 46XBR3 and the Samsung LNS-4695D are popular because
in the showrooms they have sharpest, snappiest images with the
brightest colors among the LCDs. Side by side it's hard to tell much
difference in picture quality -- there's a reason for that. Both the
Sony and the Samsung are made at the same factory with the same panels
(seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-LCD)! Even though the two models
are nearly identical the Samsung is usually priced several hundred
dollars less than the Sony. Strictly my own opinion but I think the
higher price is Sony taking advantage of the fact that Sony people buy
Sony regardless of price.

The Sony 46XBR2-XBR3 models are gorgeous. Only difference is the color of
the bezel, otherwsie exactly the same (with the XBR2 being a few hundred
cheaper). I like the Sony features better, and think it does a superior job
on converting and displaying SDTV images than the Samsung, but both are very
good options. In a normal living room with windows these are a better
option than any plasma I've seen.

Viewing angle is not an issue whatsoever with the newer high end LCDs,
they're great out to virtually 180 degrees.



I think the Samsung LNS-4695D is the best value out here unless Sony
comes to its senses and drops its prices.

Actually we looked at the the XBR2 and loved it but when I did some
research I found that about 1/3 of the buyers of both the 2 and 3 had
problems with cloudiness or MURA and were extremely unhappy about it.
I'm just afraid we'd get a set with this problem.

.