LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[Brats]

Yes. Samsung LE40B550. I'm not going to link to the review I did on AVForums out of respect for NTSC-UK (I think I've posted enough links there lately!) but you can go and find it if you want it.

It's a very good display for a very good price (Costco had them for 450ish, but they go up to 550ish).

I've just bought a new TV to go on the wall of our new extension, and I bought this TV and am very pleased with it. It's 'only' 50/60hz, but the quality of the image is excellent for a 'cheap' TV.

If you have to pay ?550, get it from John Lewis for the free 5 year guarantee.

[charlesr]

I have a Panasonic plasma monitor 9 series (42"). Does anyone know what I'm supposed to do in the service mode? I'm scared! Also, it's called "CAT (Computer Aided Test) Mode" - ??? Is there some calibration application I can run through it?

[KIT786]

Thanks Lyris. How easy would it be to change to a dual LNB? Would I need to do any realignment or is it as simple as swap an LNB over, plug in another cable and you're good to go?

[Lyris]

I've just bought a new TV to go on the wall of our new extension, and I bought this TV and am very pleased with it. It's 'only' 50/60hz, but the quality of the image is excellent for a 'cheap' TV.

Forget 100/200hz on an LCD... it's a band-aid that often causes its own problems (interpolation artefacts, input lag, etc).

The quality of the LE**B550's Greyscale, Gamma and Colour accuracy after full calibration is nearly the same as the Pioneer KURO plasmas. Not bad for a cheap TV!

CharlesR: no idear about service mode on the commercial Plasmas. What's in there that you want to find?

Kit: no idea how easy swapping LNBs is. You may have a dual one already without knowing it?

[Brats]

Forget 100/200hz on an LCD... it's a band-aid that often causes its own problems (interpolation artefacts, input lag, etc).

Yeah I know. Generally I tend to agree with the school of thought that less messing around with the image, the better.

[ince]

thanks ill check out the Samsung LE40B550.

ps what is the difference between that and Samsung LE40B551A at Dixons

[Lyris]

Probably just the style of the bezel.

[charlesr]

The quality of the LE**B550's Greyscale, Gamma and Colour accuracy after full calibration is nearly the same as the Pioneer KURO plasmas. Not bad for a cheap TV!

CharlesR: no idear about service mode on the commercial Plasmas. What's in there that you want to find?

How do you measure the accuracy?

No idea what I want to find - apparantly you can turn off different colours for calibration purposes. Just want to play. No idea how to calibrate either - I just go with what looks right to me.

[Lyris]

How do you measure the accuracy?

With an i1Pro spectroradiometer hooked up to Calman Professional software. It measures all the colour values and plots nice charts so we can see exactly what the controls do, and what needs fixing.

[Brats]

what is the difference between that and Samsung LE40B551A at Dixons

Yeah, the version Currys group sells has a slight red tinge to the bezel and stand. I personally didn't like it, but if you have red accent colurs in your room it could work.

The one at Comet is slightly different in another way. It has the normal black bezel, but the rear of the unit is a blocky affair rather than the curvier standard unit.

[Lyris]

The reason they do almost identical TVs with tiny changes is to stop you pricematching them against cheaper retailers. Although it's basically the same thing, they can still claim it's a different model.

[charlesr]

PC World are the masters of this: "You won't find this deal cheaper anywhere else!"
erm, that's because you can't find that overpriced laptop anywhere else....

[jassi singh]

Finally deciding to jump in and get a HD set.

Initially I want to buy one for my folk's living room, but I would still want it to be a good and decent TV that can I can play games, blue rays etc on it with no problems.

Too many deals going on, loads of tech speak I don't understand. Also realised reading this thread that 50hz is better then 100/200hz tvs for gaming makes me feel I've been looking out for the wrong stuff! Are games still playable on the 100\200hz? Lag for music games or just everything?

Theres a deal in the Sony Centre near us, sorry I don't have the model number but it was advertised in this weeks Metro quite heavily. 40 inch TV, blu ray player and stand for about £800 with trade in.

My basic requirements are that it needs to be 40inch +, good for gaming and reliability.

Sorry for all the questions, i'll edit in the model number soon as I find the damn paper.

[Brad]

Well, firstly 50Hz sets are not inherently not better for Gaming. 100 / 200 Hz sets are 'able' to add extra frames between the real frames. Not the word 'able'. They can be told not to do this and many have a gaming mode that switches all the effects off. 100Hz modes are useful for some movies. Blu-rays run at 24fps so when you're watching something like PLanet Earth or Baraka, with slow sweeping vistas then having extra frames inserted improves the picture wonderfully and you no longer get that judder effect as the camera pans across a set of mountains for example.

Personally I'd go for an LCD but that's because I have kids who'll likely leave the TV on with a static image for an entire day!

[TBL2260]

Say I had £700 (nothing major I know) to spend on a TV, I play my 360 through VGA on my old school 32" Sammy (Thanks to EB for setup tips a while back). Any suggestions from the AV crowd for a purchase ? Ideally I was thinking of going up to 40"....