LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[Cuber001]

It's the "WEGA Engine" that makes the difference in the picture though; the panel makes a difference to a point, but it's the processing behind it that matters.

Most people tend to agree that the Samsung looks better than the Sony "S" series LCDs, but worse than the "V" series

I knew it wasn't my eyes! Even my girlfriend, who knows nothing about any of that, picked up on it.

Same panel maybe, but different technology. It looked really unclean and washed out.

[Hodge]

Most people tend to agree that the Samsung looks better than the Sony "S" series LCDs, but worse than the "V" series.

I don`t and I`ve owned both the sony and samsung for a duration of time (currently owning the bravia s series now) and I`m not just basing my opinion on a 30 second glance at a crappy freeview signal like others who have commented. The colour tones on my S series are far superior to the samsung with a far more natural looking colour palatte and a wider viewing angle aswell.

[segages]

I called Samsung last week and claimed I'd have the 720p tearing issue (I haven't because I haven't used 720p over component yet but future proofing can't hurt right?). They took my address and email and said they'd be sending a cable in the post and the software over would be sent via email. So far, I've received neither. Fair enough the cable might take a week but the software shouldn't take that long. Might give them a call this weekend if I've had nothing... if I really did have the problem, I'd be a bit miffed by now

[andrewfee]

I don`t and I`ve owned both the sony and samsung for a duration of time (currently owning the bravia s series now) and I`m not just basing my opinion on a 30 second glance at a crappy freeview signal like others who have commented. The colour tones on my S series are far superior to the samsung with a far more natural looking colour palatte and a wider viewing angle aswell.

That's strange; while they may not be using the exact same panel, the S-series at least is using the same type of panel, and should have the exact same viewing angles. (I assume the two sets were the same size?)

Colour is harder to get right on the Samsung, but I've had it looking very natural.

I'd be interested on your thoughts of how the two compare though; I'm probably going to be selling to downsize (if I ever get my Samsung back...) and it's really between the 26" S series and Sharp GD7E. I'm pretty much set on the Sharp, but only because the S series doesn't have the WEGA Engine. (but V doesn't have VGA; morons)

[themanwithapc]

It's the "WEGA Engine" that makes the difference in the picture though; the panel makes a difference to a point, but it's the processing behind it that matters.

Most people tend to agree that the Samsung looks better than the Sony "S" series LCDs, but worse than the "V" series.

Strange, I haven't come across anyone that says the Samsung is better than the 'S' series, especially people that have used both sets for a while (like hodge).

As for 'S' v 'V' series, I've heard that the WEGA engine only makes a difference for standard broadcasts. When both sets are displaying HD material, they have similar performance.

[ThoseOfTheUnlight]

The S and the V series have exactly the same panel, as themanwithapc says, its just the Wega engine thats on the V series, and a lack of a VGA input.

[andrewfee]

The S and the V series have exactly the same panel, as themanwithapc says, its just the Wega engine thats on the V series, and a lack of a VGA input.

Under 32" this is true, but the V32 and V40 use an S-PVA panel; the S32 and S40 do not.

[Hodge]

That's strange; while they may not be using the exact same panel, the S-series at least is using the same type of panel, and should have the exact same viewing angles. (I assume the two sets were the same size?)

Colour is harder to get right on the Samsung, but I've had it looking very natural.

I'd be interested on your thoughts of how the two compare though; I'm probably going to be selling to downsize (if I ever get my Samsung back...) and it's really between the 26" S series and Sharp GD7E. I'm pretty much set on the Sharp, but only because the S series doesn't have the WEGA Engine. (but V doesn't have VGA; morons)

Well the main differences i can think of are:

Watching dvd`s I thought the bravia is way superior to the samsung down the colour looking far more natural like my philips crt in the room. Also I noticed slight trailing of blacks the odd times with my samsung when watching dvd`s, where with the sony there isn`t any. I`d also say the deinterlacer is better as well with fzero on the cube in RGB looking not as soft as the samsung did.

Games. Well I noticed this with the samsung and the sony but for the first 10-15mins depending on the game (halo2 is a prime example) you will notice slight trailing especially on blacks. But after 10-15mins It`s perfect like the screen has to warm up for optimal performance. Not sure if all lcd screens are like this though. Also I prefer 480P on the Sony compared to the samsung, can`t quite put my finger on why though. As for 720P there`s nothing in it except for the better colour repoduction of the sony.

As for viewing angle well It`s definatly better than the samsung and by what I read over at avforums somewhere in the huge sony thread, that the sony panels were designed to have better viewing angles. Sony might of licensed samsungs lcd technology but the panels are clearly different with sony altering the design quite abit along the way by the look of things. As for the wega engine in the v series most of the folks that have them over at avforums says the performance gain with the wega engine is minimal and hardly improves the freeview or sky signal.

For VGA usage (especially games), well no doubt the samsung wins as It can output tons of resolution either wide or 4:3. Where the sony mainly outputs 4:3 resolutions like 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x768 which is more 15:9 i think. With the sony you can have pixel to pixel, full 1 and full 2 picture views and If you want to use It for general pc usuage I`d probably go with the sony as you can adjust the backlight for evening usuage where with the samsung you have to have the backlight on full over VGA.

Also the Sony has a manual backlight adjustment which is a plus and I`d say the backlight sensor is tons better aswell as you can`t see the backlight alter brightness as It does It very very gradualy where with the samsung It`s alters it in big steps I found.

At the end of the day Sony centres are very accomadating when it comes to demoing TV`s so I`d recommend anyone who wants to see what their really like is to take down your xbox/cube etc and give them a proper demo with the material you use.

themanwithapc did you get your sharp ga6e today? how is it as It was really close whether I opted for the sharp or sony. But with not being able to demo the sharp properly and not being a gambling man I went with the sony in the end.

[Hodge]

Under 32" this is true, but the V32 and V40 use an S-PVA panel; the S32 and S40 do not.

I have the 26inch S series but how can anyone be sure of this? why would the 26 use the S-PVA panel and not the 32/40inch ones? Unless someone can prove It then I don`t believe it.

Edit: Also If you look at the tech specs here both the S and V series have the same response time and viewing angles

http://www.sony.co.nz/bravia/lcdtv/sseries.asp

[andrewfee]

I have the 26inch S series but how can anyone be sure of this? why would the 26 use the S-PVA panel and not the 32/40inch ones? Unless someone can prove It then I don`t believe it.

Edit: Also If you look at the tech specs here both the S and V series have the same response time and viewing angles

http://www.sony.co.nz/bravia/lcdtv/sseries.asp

There was a Sony press release that stated the V32 and V40 used S-PVA panels. As for why it's not mentioned on the specs? No idea.

[bungle]

I really can't decide between the 51 samsung series (with its new (up to) 3000:1 contrast ratio!) and the JVC DS series. I'm also stuck on size, between 26 - 32, seeing as the viewing distance will be 3-16 ft.

[andrewfee]

I really can't decide between the 51 samsung series (with its new (up to) 3000:1 contrast ratio!) and the JVC DS series. I'm also stuck on size, between 26 - 32, seeing as the viewing distance will be 3-16 ft.

3000:1 is with "dynamic contrast" enabled; basically it throws away shadow and highlight detail at the expense of slightly better (perceived) black levels. The true contrast ratio is 800:1

For SD material on an HD set, you want to be at least 3x the diagonal away, however with HD you'd want to be about 2x away, or you won't see all the benifits.

If most of your time is with SD and below 6ft, I'd say go with the 26" (same size as a 28" CRT) If it's HD and around 6ft, then I'd go with a 32" LCD.

If you're mostly further away than 6ft, I'd go 32" regardless.

[bungle]

Ah, I see. Do you have any preference on set? I saw the samsung and the jvc running sd and I thought the jvc was a lot better, if slightly lacking in colour but I assumed this was due to the broadcast/settings.

[themanwithapc]

themanwithapc did you get your sharp ga6e today? how is it as It was really close whether I opted for the sharp or sony. But with not being able to demo the sharp properly and not being a gambling man I went with the sony in the end.

awww, you remembered

I was really concerned when it hadn't turned up by 5.45, but 5 mins later the delivery man rings and hands me my shiny new telly.

So far, I haven't had too much time to tinker with settings, try out various configurations, but I'll post what I got so far.

Right, the set itself looks so nice. I've seen the pics, and TBH the design was putting me off the telly. However, seeing it in the flesh, it is a beauty.

First thing I did was connect it up through VGA and try out my PC. I was so happy and then, my desktop comes up. What's this? There's loads of white squares on the black colour of my desktop pic. I looked at various pics, and all of them had the same problem. Only the black showed them, all other colours were fine.

Anyway, feeling a bit dejected, I fired up a few HD samples from M$ site, and saw what this set was really capable of. It is what I saw during those 5 mins or so that convinced me I had made the right choice. Colours were vibrant, motion was smooth (with no obvious ghosting or smearing) and all in all, I was convinced I was watching the latest thing in television technology.

Returning to my desktop, I noticed something strange. The white boxes had disappeared. Not a sign of them. I messed around with the settings, looking at different colours, pics, vids etc. and even browsing online with it. Whilst doing so, I came across an interesting read on another forum. Apparently, another user had the box problem, and he said it didn't happen in games, only occured in VGA and was prevented by using 800x600. I rebooted the PC and the squares were back, so I tested his claims, and surely enough he was right didn't try games). He said it might actually be due to his lead, rather than the screen, and he's waiting for another one, to pass judgement on this. I'll be watching that closely too just to get some idea of this issue. Although I hope not, this COULD turn out to be Samsung Tearing Issue II. Hopefully it's just a coincidence with leads at fault.

I've tried tinkering about with colours and settings, but there's just so much available. Avid visual fans will love this, as practically everything is adjustable. I'm not so 'tech-savvy' so I'm only using defaults at the moment till someone comes out with some good settings. Another great thing to note is that the backlight IS adjustable and this is an invaluable tool, as already I'm beginning to get a little concerned with the max light setting.

The other things I have tested are my PS2, using a RGB scart lead, and PES5 looks decent and playable. Obviously it looked better on my CRT (14") but I'm waiting for component cables to arrive for both the PS2 and GC until I pass any judgement on the set with games. I've also managed to connect the Sky in one of the upstairs bedrooms with the TV, using a standard RF coaxial lead (i think*) and image quality is understandably below par. Still, I have been watching the Champions league for the past 50 mins or so, and I've become used to it. Not ideal though.

So all in all, if that white squares problem isn't too much of a biggie, then this set is worth it's price (~?140 more than Sammy, but with included 3 year warranty) and more. I'm especially hungry for some 360 action after seeing the HD capability of this set with the videos I had.

I'll try to post some pics later if I can. Hope this helps.

[HaHaUK]

People with HD LCDs/Plasmas - whats the quality of the picture of older consoles (SNES/MD/N64 etc) when played through RF or scart? Is it also as bad as when a PS2 is played through scart/RGB?

Thanks