Help with new TV!

[Deltatri3]

I bought a new lcd tv today and it seems to have a serious problem playing games. This is a problem with the darkness of the screen, its stupidly dark and none of the setting adjustments seem to make any difference.

When im playing halo for example, it is horribly dark to the extent i cant see where im going when in a dark area where the screen is mostly black.

Ive tried both the standard cables and an rgb one. The rgb had more success but it was still very dark.

is this a general problem with lcd tvs?

[Lyris]

Shouldn't be, unless you bought one on the cheap (with technology that's still improving like LCD, it's well wroth spending the extra moolah). What make and model?

Do you have any "Auto Contrast" features enabled?

[Deltatri3]

well it was pretty cheap, but its a LG one so i thought that would be alright, im looking for an auto contrast now.

[Lyris]

What size? And if you have the exact model number to hand, that'd help.

[Deltatri3]

LG RZ20LA70 20" lcd 4:9.

[Lyris]

Comet's site (which isn't all that reliable) says this has a contrast ratio of 350:1 (lowest I've heard of, the TV I have is 500:1), which might explain why it's having difficulty showing up a full range of more subtle shades in darker scenes. It could be something else, but it doesn't sound like something you can do too much about.

[Deltatri3]

its strange because usual tv reception is fine and on that i can turn the brightness right up but its just on av etc that its a problem.

[Lyris]

Have you tried any other consoles on it? Or a DVD player connected through RGB?

BTW: another source says the contrast ratio is actually 500:1, so it looks like Comet was spouting bull**** again.

[Deltatri3]

tried both my ps2 and a dvd player, both got same problems.

[007]

I'll have a look in Comet tomorrow for you.

[Deltatri3]

cheers, think im going to take it back to richer sounds tomorrow morning, comet has another one simillar priced so ill prob go have a look at it. (goodmans i think) as ?400 was my maximum budget.

[Lyris]

I think with 400 pounds you should instead buy a good quality CRT. Resist the urge for the nice flat design... 400 pounds for LCD which is still a developing technology will probably give very shakey results.

[?pint]

Are you using a cheap scart block thing? Where you plug a load of scart cables into it, then plug the block into the TV. Made the brightness shocking when I had one (and promptly returned it).

[Deltatri3]

no scart block unfortunetly, just straight plugged into the tv. Ill defo take it back tomorrow and try another make of lcd tv. If that is crap quality also ill just get a CRT- the problem I have is space in my room so a flat tv is much preferable.

thanks for everybodys help!