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Let's talk TV's

In the market for a new TV. Pretty sure I'll be going the LCD route, and 40-42 size. What I'm insure of is the Hz refresh thing. I know fast is good, if you watch fast sports, movies, etc. That said, I watch lots of auto racing, hockey, and tennis. Do I need to go with the 240hz or will the 120hz suffice?

Think I'm leaning towards a Sharp or LG. There is currently an LG 42" on sale for $999 at Best Buy. It's a little more pricey than I'd like, but I think I'm in love.

Of course this purchase will incur additional costs, digital cable, pvr, etc.

Any TV recommendations and/or comments on the 120 vs 240 appreciated.

Comments

  • I have a Samsung 46" LCd that is 120 and I love it. I shopped around for a while before deciding. The faster refresh rate is nice for really fast action, but for Nascar and football mine is fine. The extra cost was not worth it to me. My B&M has a 50" Plasma in the man cave, but where mine is wall mounted we have afternoon sun to deal with. LCD's dont have as much glare as plasmas. In the end it is a personal choice, as long as you are pleased.
  • firetruckguyfiretruckguy Posts: 2,522 ✭✭✭
    I have the SONY 46" LCD that is a 120 also. and like jacketsrule, I love mine also. Im sitting here watching the Olympics in Hi Def and its stunning. I love the deep rich color SONY has. I got mine at a Sam's club where they had 30 of them lined up and all to the same program. You could easly pick out the picture that was right for you. Good luck!
  • ScottUScottU Posts: 194
    I have a 58 inch samsung plasma, samsung it the only display I would own...
  • LukoLuko Posts: 2,003 ✭✭
    I just picked up a Samsung 40" LCD 120hz...haven't even taken it out of the box yet, though.
  • Sandman1amSandman1am Posts: 2,567
    Luko:
    I just picked up a Samsung 40" LCD 120hz...haven't even taken it out of the box yet, though.
    What are you waiting for Luko? That TV isn't going to set up and watch itself! J/K I've got a 46 Samsung LCD 120 and I love it.
  • One2gofstOne2gofst Posts: 583
    My suggestion is to go look at them in person before falling in love with any. When you look at them make sure to look at them from a lot of different angles, as a lot of lower end televisions get really dark if you are not in a narrow range of angles. The better TVs will look good further past 90%. I have had bad experiences with a number of LG products. IMO, if I were going to go cheap, I'd go cheaper than an LG and if I were going to go nice, I'd go for something more high quality than an LG. But then again, you know what they say about opinions. My grandmother has a Samsung (42" I believe) that is excellent. You can tell a difference with 240 vs 120, but unless they are side by side and if they are both high quality, it will not detract from your enjoyment of the unit. Good luck with your search. I am jealous. I have a 67" RCA. It is nice because it is big, but it is also about 8 years old and the newer TVs blow it away.
  • clearlysuspectclearlysuspect Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭✭
    We have a 42" Panasonic plasma and we love our television. When we made the purchase, it was a $1500 television, but my wife got a great deal while she was working for Circuit City and we payed $600 for it!
  • TheShaunTheShaun Posts: 425
    Well I did it! LG 42LH40 is sitting in my living room :)
  • LukoLuko Posts: 2,003 ✭✭
    Sandman1am:
    Luko:
    I just picked up a Samsung 40" LCD 120hz...haven't even taken it out of the box yet, though.
    What are you waiting for Luko? That TV isn't going to set up and watch itself! J/K I've got a 46 Samsung LCD 120 and I love it.
    I gots no room for it...we have a tiny little house and the 35 inch sony I have is really all I have room for. I'm gonna use the new TV as an excuse to get a new house.
  • LasabarLasabar Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    60hz is a Refresh rate = Picture is redrawn 60 times a second
    Tube TVs would literally strobe the picture 60x a second and cause eye strain but it worked
    LCD and Plasmas don't RE-Draw the entire image each time, they just have the ABILITY to change color 60/120/240/600 times a second. If a color isn't changing (like in a football score) the TVs pixels don't change at all, only when there is motion.

    NOW, here's where it get's tricky and where math is involved.
    Camera that record right now only RECORD in 60hz.. (or some movies actually record in 24hz for a dramatic effect) So essentially if you have a 120hz screen all the TV is essentially doing is redrawing each image twice to give your brain a chance to contemplate what is going on making the picture seem fuller, but the source is still at 60hz. NOW, some manufacturers (read:Samsung) like to ADD to the 120hz or 240hz by a formula to take Image 1 and Image 2 and meld them together to make a NEW image and totally create a completely fabricated image but that fills in more to give the allusion of more data and a more fluid picture. Unfortunately to do this in slow moving objects is easy, but you get a lot of "Judder" or pixelation when the TV gets it wrong for fast moving action... (Again, this is an EXTRA feature and you can turn it off if you don't like it, but Samsung's still have very good TVs with that "True Motion Plus" turned off)

    Some Tvs do a FAKE 240hz and some TVs do 240hz with that "Motion Plus" and there is more chance to get it wrong
    the FAKE 240hz is where the tv will be 120hz and then Strobe a black or white screen every third image. This creates the illusion of 240hz for your brain is good at completing the motion it sees, but when it sees the stark white or black screen it knows to shut off the part of the brain that "Finishes" the motion thus the whole movie/show looks more stark and fast because it's eseentially refreshing your brain and making it focus on the NEXT image instead of figuring out the last one. There are 240hz TVs that can literally do the 240hz just Toshiba is the biggest proponent of the FAKE 240.

    Now plasmas can do 600hz and none of them do the FAKE stuff but just redraw images 10x each to really make the picture full and Samsung plasma use the 600hz to stem Color Banding (Think of a picture of a white sphere, most TVs can't display every single shade of black to to white to make a smooth transition so you see bands of greys and blacks to create the image)What the Samsungs do is take the color bands and offset them a little and when it displays the image 600x your eyes blend in the colors to make the sphere one nice smooth transition.



    God my fingers hurt


    Now, Sony claims they have the best 240hz for they say most of the Hz that other do are just measured in the vertical ways and Sony says that they can do 240 in both horizontal and vertical (I honestly don't really know why this is important but my money is if you want the BEST 240hz TVs than go with a top end Sony XBR... but that only their TOP end, Samsung and Sony have MANY different model numbers in the same size (I.e. Sony has a 40" L, M, S, W, V, Z and XBR series)
    Samsung is the most well designed TV and is the thinnest, brightest, and prettiest TV.


    My recommendation is to see what deals you can get on a Samsung or Sony THIS SONY is a Brand NEW model and is a good TV that is middle of the road around your price range... and keep in mind that this TV is at full price in your range, I'd say shop around or wait for a sale and you could save at least another $100 or so. Sony's are the first to the gun but there are NEW Samsungs coming out soon as well
    If you REALLY like the LG than I'd say that is the better choice over the Sharp. LG is the Number one PARTS manufacturer in all of TV world. That means a lot of LG's parts are in other TVs and LG does slap their name on a few of their own TVs.

    Hope this helps!
  • RedtailhawkozRedtailhawkoz Posts: 2,915
    TheShaun:
    In the market for a new TV. Pretty sure I'll be going the LCD route, and 40-42 size. What I'm insure of is the Hz refresh thing. I know fast is good, if you watch fast sports, movies, etc. That said, I watch lots of auto racing, hockey, and tennis. Do I need to go with the 240hz or will the 120hz suffice?

    Think I'm leaning towards a Sharp or LG. There is currently an LG 42" on sale for $999 at Best Buy. It's a little more pricey than I'd like, but I think I'm in love.

    Of course this purchase will incur additional costs, digital cable, pvr, etc.

    Any TV recommendations and/or comments on the 120 vs 240 appreciated.
    Ive got a vizio, 42 HD... had it for 3 years ITS AWESOME...... My Brother has a Sony Bravia he paid about 1000 more then me and its not as good as My Vizio. Have you checked tiger Direct Best Deals ANYWHERE! http://www.tigerdirect.com/
  • TheShaunTheShaun Posts: 425
    Lasabar:
    60hz is a Refresh rate = Picture is redrawn 60 times a second
    Tube TVs would literally strobe the picture 60x a second and cause eye strain but it worked
    LCD and Plasmas don't RE-Draw the entire image each time, they just have the ABILITY to change color 60/120/240/600 times a second. If a color isn't changing (like in a football score) the TVs pixels don't change at all, only when there is motion.

    NOW, here's where it get's tricky and where math is involved.
    Camera that record right now only RECORD in 60hz.. (or some movies actually record in 24hz for a dramatic effect) So essentially if you have a 120hz screen all the TV is essentially doing is redrawing each image twice to give your brain a chance to contemplate what is going on making the picture seem fuller, but the source is still at 60hz. NOW, some manufacturers (read:Samsung) like to ADD to the 120hz or 240hz by a formula to take Image 1 and Image 2 and meld them together to make a NEW image and totally create a completely fabricated image but that fills in more to give the allusion of more data and a more fluid picture. Unfortunately to do this in slow moving objects is easy, but you get a lot of "Judder" or pixelation when the TV gets it wrong for fast moving action... (Again, this is an EXTRA feature and you can turn it off if you don't like it, but Samsung's still have very good TVs with that "True Motion Plus" turned off)

    Some Tvs do a FAKE 240hz and some TVs do 240hz with that "Motion Plus" and there is more chance to get it wrong
    the FAKE 240hz is where the tv will be 120hz and then Strobe a black or white screen every third image. This creates the illusion of 240hz for your brain is good at completing the motion it sees, but when it sees the stark white or black screen it knows to shut off the part of the brain that "Finishes" the motion thus the whole movie/show looks more stark and fast because it's eseentially refreshing your brain and making it focus on the NEXT image instead of figuring out the last one. There are 240hz TVs that can literally do the 240hz just Toshiba is the biggest proponent of the FAKE 240.

    Now plasmas can do 600hz and none of them do the FAKE stuff but just redraw images 10x each to really make the picture full and Samsung plasma use the 600hz to stem Color Banding (Think of a picture of a white sphere, most TVs can't display every single shade of black to to white to make a smooth transition so you see bands of greys and blacks to create the image)What the Samsungs do is take the color bands and offset them a little and when it displays the image 600x your eyes blend in the colors to make the sphere one nice smooth transition.



    God my fingers hurt


    Now, Sony claims they have the best 240hz for they say most of the Hz that other do are just measured in the vertical ways and Sony says that they can do 240 in both horizontal and vertical (I honestly don't really know why this is important but my money is if you want the BEST 240hz TVs than go with a top end Sony XBR... but that only their TOP end, Samsung and Sony have MANY different model numbers in the same size (I.e. Sony has a 40" L, M, S, W, V, Z and XBR series)
    Samsung is the most well designed TV and is the thinnest, brightest, and prettiest TV.


    My recommendation is to see what deals you can get on a Samsung or Sony THIS SONY is a Brand NEW model and is a good TV that is middle of the road around your price range... and keep in mind that this TV is at full price in your range, I'd say shop around or wait for a sale and you could save at least another $100 or so. Sony's are the first to the gun but there are NEW Samsungs coming out soon as well
    If you REALLY like the LG than I'd say that is the better choice over the Sharp. LG is the Number one PARTS manufacturer in all of TV world. That means a lot of LG's parts are in other TVs and LG does slap their name on a few of their own TVs.

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks for the thorough reply! So far I;m happy with my choice of the LG. It really came down to the samsung and the LG, two things made me pick the LG over the samsung. 1- the physical quality of the display. the sales guy knocked on the screen of each with his knuckles, and the LG showed little to no distortion, and the samsung showed a lot of distortion. 2- the samsung has a glossy screen, while the LG's is matte. My living room has huge windows with lots of light. the glossy would have been a mirror. Saturday is when the cable guy shows up to hook up the HD!
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