LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[Btang84]

Sorry for the "double down" post, but the tv listed at richer sounds is the Sony KDL40W4000U rather than theSony KDL40W4000 does anyone know what the difference is?

I'll help you out on this one mate, since I've been trawling through AV Forums to decide what telly to buy.

The bit at the end makes no difference, it just indicates the region the TV was made for. In this case, U probably stands for UK. I think I'm almost dead set on getting the 32 inch W4000 as well, the reviews are positive everywhere. They mention that lag is "CRT-like" and after noticing the input lag on my mates Samsung on Everybody's Golf, I think I'll get the best I can for my money.

[Psyduck]

yep, seconded - the U makes no difference.

Also agree that AVforums is a good place to look - you'll see that the W4000 (and higher models, X4000, Z, 4500), and the pioneer kuro (£1200+) are the only models without some kind of serious problem with at least a large proportion of the sets - loud buzzing, lag, artifacts on movement, crap SD...

[Lyris]

That gets asked all the time, and yeah, the U is for UK. There's no real difference.

[Briareos]

Thanks for the clarification guys!

[Mayhem]

I've just bought a 32w4000 after well over a year of looking out for an HDTV with some kind of big fault. Dead happy with it frankly. For gaming I think you want to avoid 100hz, as it will cause lag.

Parents have just bought this TV so I've had to chance to properly check it out. Was, like Briareos, looking at the 40" version of this for the living room... might be deffo set on it now

[honeymustard]

I'm contemplating getting a 22" TV in my Uni room as I'm playing my games on this PC monitor and it's pretty crappy and I don't like switching everything over... so does this look like a good bet? Seems to have what I need and at a decent price.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151470

[Lyris]

That LCD TV is actually closer to an LCD monitor than you'd think.

The small size and the resolution of the panel is a giveaway: 1680x1050 isn't a common video resolution. That's not a huge issue on its own, BUT... you'll likely find that the LCD panel itself (which will decide things like black level, viewing angle washout) isn't any better than your monitor.

[wod]

honey mustard, you might be better with something like a dell 24inch monitor due to it having or will accept 1080p and have a range of input connections dvi/vga/hdmi and component

does it need to have a tv tuner in it ?

[honeymustard]

Not really no, just VGA, HDMI and component I think.

Any links to some decent monitors then? I can only find a couple.

[Friction]

Hi guys I'm having some trouble getting my TV settings sorted properly. It's alright for the most part, but some games are just so dark I can't see what's going on. I know it sounds like its a brightness thing, but I've already got it set quite high. Literally I have to go into the in game gamma and often knock it up full to see stuff - even then it's dark

Sorry it's a bit vague! I've even copied settings off the AV forums for my screen and it doesn't seem to make much difference!

Are there any decent online calibration things I could use?

[Lyris]

You need to get a test pattern and adjust using that to get the correct brightness.

The problem is, video games will use the full 0-255 range whereas video should be set for 16-235. In other words - they both need a different Brightness setting to look their best!

What TV is this, and with what console, and how's it connected?

[Friction]

Hi Lyris.

I just realised that I never actually bothered to read the AV forums properly (lol) I didn't realise that people have been using different settings for TV and Consoles - I'd used posted TV settings and didn't realise to tweak for console gaming DOH! And (for some reason) I thought that Brighness of 70 odd (which is what games look loads better with) was somewhat high!

All I could find test wise was a THX optimizer thingy on a DVD which I ran to get an idea of things with - on one test you were supposed to see 7 boxes, and I could only see 4 Up in brightness sorted it.

My screen is a Sony KDL46D3500. I'm using both a PS3 and 360 via HDMI.

I've never been very good at adjusting these kind of things!

[Lyris]

I just realised that I never actually bothered to read the AV forums properly (lol) I didn't realise that people have been using different settings for TV and Consoles - I'd used posted TV settings and didn't realise to tweak for console gaming DOH! And (for some reason) I thought that Brighness of 70 odd (which is what games look loads better with) was somewhat high!

Most people won't be, in fact many of the settings on AV Forums are less than optimal.

But the best settings you can use depend on your individual setup, and sometimes even your room lighting if you're going full-haul. So it's not as easy as copying the best ones.

This isn't an exact way, but get a screen showing that you know for a fact is fully black. Adjust the TV's Brightness control upwards until the black turns grey. Then click it down one by one until it keeps getting blacker. There will come a point where the blacks don't get any blacker, but dark details begin to disappear. What you want to do is set the black level as low as it can go BEFORE it stops making a visible difference on the black screen; if that makes sense.

If the picture is still too dark, even with the Brightness set correctly, then adjust the Backlight (and Gamma, if the TV has one) control.

[Friction]

I think I get you - it sounds like what the THX thingy was getting me to do - ramp up the brightness, then knock it down till certain things vanished on screen. If I took it down anymore than that, things I should be able to see started going too.

I guess it's just a case of trial and error to an extent and finding what works best for me

Is it possible to have the brightness too high and potentially damage the set though? Or am I concerned for no reason?!

Thanks for the tips and advice

[Lyris]

No, with an LCD it's basically impossible to damage with the user settings. Almost all of the video settings are software adjustments. The only ones that aren't are the ones that relate to the Backlight.