In the market for a 42" HD TV, what to look for?

Hey all,
My parents are in the market for a new HDTV and they've decided to use a 42" HDTV as it fits perfectly into the new entertainment center my dad just finished building. They came to me thinking I would know all the details on what to look for....but the thing is, I haven't had a television in about 3 years and I've spent zero time paying attention to the HDTV market. So here I am asking for a quick crash course on what to look for.

I live in Marquette MI... so we don't have a best buy, costco, sams club, or any place that offers a wide selection to choose from... aside from our super center walmart.

Recommendations, pointers, and advice on accessories are all welcome and appreciated. Their budget is ~$1200. I'll probably have them order it online as the selection around town is... lacking.

Thanks!
-thecheat

I swear by the Samsung ToC series 6 (or higher) LCD TV's. The picture quality plus the 120 Hz refresh puts all others to shame.

If you have a Fry's or Best Buy anywhere nearby, you can see the Sammys next to Sony's best--and there is no comparison. When I went comparison shopping, I asked the BB guy how can you even sell anything else? He said the TV sells itself--it's obvious to even blind people that this is the best HDTV picture out there now.

I purchased my 46" ToC on Amazon for $1700 shipped. Samsung also makes a 40" and a 52" and the 40" should be within your price range.

Look for LN40A650 (or replace the "40" with "46" or "52" if you want the bigger one). The 7 (750) series has some additional bells and whistles (built in flash with recipies and other stuff...) but otherwise it is the same picture.

Selecting a TV:

A samsung 5 series or higher will do you good. The ToC line (6 series and up) has a major aesthetic upgrade with stepwise improvements up to the flagship 9 series. For example, a 5 series panel vs a 6 series will not show much difference, but there will be a night and day difference between the 5 series and the 9. Do not even bother looking at other brands unless you are willing to delve into detailed comparisons. There are only a few models that have better picture quality than a samsung panel, whereas samsung lcds in general outperform the competition.

If you are considering other brands, do not get a sylvania, vizio, westinghouse, or any other small brand. These companies do not have their own fabrication plants, and just buy other companies' lcd panels. This means they have low quality control in comparison to companies like samsung (one of the reasons why samsung lcd quality is rated so high). You should be able to pick up a 5 series 42" for around 1200, but if not, I would highly recommend getting a smaller samsung tv rather than a cheapo no-name. In fact, the tv I would recommend for your parents is the Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p. It's available on amazon for ~1100 right now.

Video Accessories:

You will need a few things to make the most out of your home entertainment system. For video, cables need to be shielded to protect the signal from degradation and outside interference. This does not mean you need $100 monster cables, but it does mean you need ~$30 cables.

Other than that, you also will want hdmi or dvi input sources. Compared to component video, hdmi or dvi provides much better picture quality as it is a digital connection versus an analog. What this means is, if you have a blu-ray or a hd cable box, use the hdmi or dvi connection rather than the component to get the best video quality. And in case you're wondering, hdmi= dvi+audio, so pq is the same for both.

Audio Accessories:

Here's something people rarely tell you: the speakers on lcd TVs really suck. You need an external sound system to really make the most out of your entertainment center. But also, think about what the tv will be used for. If it mainly going to be used for watching TV, i would forgo getting a speaker system. If your family enjoys watching movies, and really want to make the most of it, then a speaker system is necessary. I won't go into too much here, since everyone has different tastes, price ranges, etc, but if you don't know where to start, I will recommend the Logitech Z-5500 sound system. Originally designed as high end computer speakers, it has now become a powerful standard in home audio setups. I'll let you look up the specs if you want, but the audio is crisp, no distortions on the mid-range, and very powerful and robust bass. It is around ~$230 and very easy to setup with a lot of connections. I don't think there's another speaker system around that price point with a better sound. And of course, just like for video, you need shielded audio cables.

This pretty much covers all of it. Good luck and enjoy watching your favorite shows in HD!

aznkc730 said:

Selecting a TV:

A samsung 5 series or higher will do you good. The ToC line (6 series and up) has a major aesthetic upgrade with stepwise improvements up to the flagship 9 series. For example, a 5 series panel vs a 6 series will not show much difference, but there will be a night and day difference between the 5 series and the 9. Do not even bother looking at other brands unless you are willing to delve into detailed comparisons. There are only a few models that have better picture quality than a samsung panel, whereas samsung lcds in general outperform the competition.

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I don't know if the 5 series has the same panel as the 6. The contrast ratio for the 6 series is rated at 50,000:1 whereas the 5 series is listed at 30,000:1 (still very good). IMO, the 6 series is worth the extra cost because of the 120 Hz refresh (Auto Motion Plus).

The series 7 is exactly the same as the 6 series with a flash upgrade that has games, recipes and other software preloaded. Both the 6 and 7 series have "InfoLink" where you hook up your TV to a switch and it automatically logs in to USA Today content for news, weather and stocks.

The 8 series uses the same panel (according to the specs), but the thickness of the TV is about 1/3 thinner and the bezel (around the screen) is about 1/2 of the 6 or 7 series.

The 9 series flagship uses LED lighting instead of CCFL. The LEDs allow this screen to have variable lighting across the screen. What this means is that the back light can be adjusted from region to region (I don't know if is actually pixel to pixel, but I doubt it).

Most LCDs have a uniform backlight behind the color filter. To display black, a pixel must be turned off completely, but there is always some bleed through which limits the contrast from black to white. With variable LED back lighting, a region that is supposed to be black will be truly black because the LED back light will be turned down or off whereas bright areas will have their LED back lighting turned up. The Samsung series 9 TVs claim an astounding contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1 -- a ratio unheard of in even the best CRT monitors.

I have yet to actually see a series 9 monitor, but I'm sure it would be drop dead gorgeous.

the 5 series does not have the same panel as the 6, but remember what I said, it is an incremental increase from the 5 series to the 6. And also, the contrast ratios are all dynamic, which usually means the actual contrast is much lower. For example, I have a samsung ToC T260HD. Dynamic contrast ratio is 10:000:1 whereas actual is 1000:1. The actual contrast ratio makes a bigger difference than the dynamic, since it is based on the lcd hardware rather than post-processing the image to improve the contrast. Regardless, colors and picture quality will be superb on both the 5 and 6 series.

The only real difference is 120 Hz refresh. It is a great feature, but I'm not sure TheCheat would be willing to spend an extra $200+ for it. It only makes a noticeable difference when watching high speed fast action scenes. And even then, you need to have a side by side comparison in order to tell the difference. I would much rather spend that $200 difference on a great speaker setup, instead of having slightly better video, but no audio to support it.

aznkc730 said:

the 5 series does not have the same panel as the 6, but remember what I said, it is an incremental increase from the 5 series to the 6. And also, the contrast ratios are all dynamic, which usually means the actual contrast is much lower. For example, I have a samsung ToC T260HD. Dynamic contrast ratio is 10:000:1 whereas actual is 1000:1. The actual contrast ratio makes a bigger difference than the dynamic, since it is based on the lcd hardware rather than post-processing the image to improve the contrast. Regardless, colors and picture quality will be superb on both the 5 and 6 series.

The only real difference is 120 Hz refresh. It is a great feature, but I'm not sure TheCheat would be willing to spend an extra $200+ for it. It only makes a noticeable difference when watching high speed fast action scenes. And even then, you need to have a side by side comparison in order to tell the difference. I would much rather spend that $200 difference on a great speaker setup, instead of having slightly better video, but no audio to support it.

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I concur that the contrast ratio alone wouldn't warrant a lot of extra money. However, after doing much 'eyes-on' research, I wouldn't buy a HDTV without the 120 Hz refresh. Unless one watches only news or shows where the camera never pans anywhere, this is the one feature that IS worth paying significantly more for.

The smoothing effect offered by doubling the frames is THE FEATURE that makes watching sports and cinema enjoyable on a LCD screen. Without 120 Hz refresh, chunks of screen--especially in the background--look like so many large pixelated blocks that often draw your eye away from the action and diminish any enjoyment you might have watching on a large screen because you end up dismayed by the clunky picture quality during action scenes.

All that being said, I have excellent eyesight and my color discernment is perfect (I've been tested), so picture quality is king for me. Whether TheCheat thinks its worth the extra money is another question. In any case, I highly recommend going to a Best Buy or Fry's (or any retailer) that has a 'wall of TVs' so you can compare different models side by side so you can decide if the feature is worth your money--or not.

I love my Samsung LN40A630

Ok, these guys are recommending good stuff albeit EXPENSIVE stuff. Here are a few tips for your buying.

1. An LCD is not an LCD there are several factors to consider such as:
a.Resolution. Be extra careful to get a TRUE 1080p TV and not a 720p. Don't just look at what resolutions are supported because many will SUPPORT 1080p but actually downgrade the signal to 720p. Most that are true 1080p will actually say TRUE-HD on the box/tag.

b. Refresh Rate. Most TVs will be 8ms or less and 60hz but newer ones are 120hz which virtually eliminates any ghosting but are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than their 60hz counterparts.

c. LCD vs Plasma: Seems a lot of people forget plasma these days but plasma is now in-line with LCD pricing, capable of 1080p and arguably has truer colors/blacks and is less subsceptable to ghosting than an LCD. However, some people argue that the life of a plasma is not as great as that of an LCD.


That being said, you have 3 tiers of LCD and Plasma HDTVs, there is the upper echelon occupied by Samsung, the sharp Aquos and the Sony Bravias. These IMO are too pricey.

There is the lower echelon occupied by the likes of Westinghouse, Olevia, Sanyo and all the other off-brands you don't recognize.

Finally there is my favorite, the middle tier which is occupied by Panasonic, Phillips, Sharp (non Aquos), Toshiba and the like which is where I feel that you get the best performance to value ratios.

Good luck....

Fudgenuggets gives some great advice on brands. If you do go with a middle tier brand, Toshiba's new regza line is pretty good.

finally, i forgot to talk about warranty. If you go to a store to buy your tv, the salesman will most likely try to sell you a 5 year in-home warranty. I know this because I worked in Home Theater at BestBuy for a few summers during college, and it is always one of the talking points regardless of what TV you try to buy.

To put it shortly, it is a complete waste of money, and pure profit for whichever store you purchase it from (LCDs rarely break). The only real thing it offers is convenience, and peace of mind. Most warranties will offer complete in-home service for 5 years, with free yearly maintenance check ups. And if they can't fix it, you will get a new replacement. If you or your parents feel that this peace of mind is worth the extra 300-500 dollars, then you should definitely haggle over the final price.

For example, at my store (BestBuy Pasadena) the home theater manager approved me to go up to a 10% discount on TVs and 15% off accessories without needing to ask for further approval. Of course, I would never tell the customer that, but it gives me a great amount of freedom to make sure the customer buys. For example, if someone is looking at a 2,000 dollar TV, I can sell it to him for $1,800 and my manager would be alright with it. If he's on the fence, I'll tell him i'll throw in a dvd player, or 5 free movies, or monster cables, etc (something worth $100). The customer is delighted he gets a bunch of free stuff that he wants, and I only gave a 5% discount.

The point of my story is, if you do get the warranty, "Home Theater Specialists" like me will be inclined to give a full discount on the TV, because the warranty more than makes up for it. If a salesman suggests getting the warranty, just reply by saying, "well, I'd like to, but that'll put me over what I was planning to spend". If the sales associate has an inkling of a brain, he should start offering a packaged deal.

P.S. Don't fall for free home delivery or free "professional installation". They will offer that to you first because it seems like it's worth it (especially if you believe the prices BestBuy lists), but in reality it costs the store about $30 to add you to the deliver and install list. Instead, try to get solid cash off the final price, or at the very least, free cables or discounts on all accessories that you buy with the TV.

Wow! Thanks for the info about Worst Buy.... I didn't realize that and thought that HHGREGG was the only sleazy car salesmen in the electronics business. Could you please create a thread in the Vendor feedback forum and tell EVERYBODY that plus give us some examples on some other products where we can take advantage of this or should I say rather not be taken advantage of?

FudgeNuggets said:

Wow! Thanks for the info about Worst Buy.... I didn't realize that and thought that HHGREGG was the only sleazy car salesmen in the electronics business. Could you please create a thread in the Vendor feedback forum and tell EVERYBODY that plus give us some examples on some other products where we can take advantage of this or should I say rather not be taken advantage of?

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Im just going to step in and defend BBY. Its the practice of all retailers. Everyone knows the profit is on service (so obviously pushed first) then accesories. This allows them to discount the TV to get you to pay retail on the extras.