Lerfin
05-12-08, 04:45 PM
I'm in the market for a new flat-panel TV, probably 50+ inches, to replace my old 54-inch 4/3 rear-projection model. I've spent a couple of hours on this forum and see a lot of expertise but am now more confused than when I started. I'm not nearly as interested in the specs as I am the picture, and I know that what is "best" is subjective. So I decided to list my preferences and get some comments.
1. I HATE artifacts. I don't want any trailing images, unnatural flesh tones, pixelation or blotchy images.
2. My TV will not have the best location. It will be in a large room with palladium windows that cannot be covered, and will even be in direct sunlight part of the day. There's no getting around it with the house design. I will compensate as much as possible by recessing the TV in a cabinet, but I'll definately need a bright display that is not prone to reflection or glare.
3. I like lots of plugs in the back since I'll have DVD (SD for now but ultimately HD) and would like to hook my laptop into it. I do a lot of video editing and my camcorder has USB output so that would be nice too, but not essential.
4. I like to mess with the adjustments. I don't know if covergence is even an item on the newer TVs but whatever adjustments there are I would like to have access to them. Geometry can drive me crazy if I see unnatural shapes (e.g., egg-shaped spheres, bowed doorways). A built-in grid generator would be nice too.
4. I have a Dish 622 HD reciever if that makes any difference.
Mainly, I want to avoid the artifacts and have a nice bright display.
So I'm soliciting advice. I'm thinking that LCD is probably the way to go, and I'm reading here that Sony is top of the line. Costco has a 52" KDL52WL135 for $3000. I looked at it for about 15 minutes and it seemed to be blotchy with some color oversaturation and some pixelation with changing scenes - especially bright to dark. I spoke with a floor person and he said that the images aren't as clear as I would get at home because the signal strength is not good in Costco with all the sets hooked in parallel. I didn't know that signal strength is an issue with digital.
I'll stop here to avoid a total turn off due to the length of this post, but I will appreciate some feedback.
Thanks
1. I HATE artifacts. I don't want any trailing images, unnatural flesh tones, pixelation or blotchy images.
2. My TV will not have the best location. It will be in a large room with palladium windows that cannot be covered, and will even be in direct sunlight part of the day. There's no getting around it with the house design. I will compensate as much as possible by recessing the TV in a cabinet, but I'll definately need a bright display that is not prone to reflection or glare.
3. I like lots of plugs in the back since I'll have DVD (SD for now but ultimately HD) and would like to hook my laptop into it. I do a lot of video editing and my camcorder has USB output so that would be nice too, but not essential.
4. I like to mess with the adjustments. I don't know if covergence is even an item on the newer TVs but whatever adjustments there are I would like to have access to them. Geometry can drive me crazy if I see unnatural shapes (e.g., egg-shaped spheres, bowed doorways). A built-in grid generator would be nice too.
4. I have a Dish 622 HD reciever if that makes any difference.
Mainly, I want to avoid the artifacts and have a nice bright display.
So I'm soliciting advice. I'm thinking that LCD is probably the way to go, and I'm reading here that Sony is top of the line. Costco has a 52" KDL52WL135 for $3000. I looked at it for about 15 minutes and it seemed to be blotchy with some color oversaturation and some pixelation with changing scenes - especially bright to dark. I spoke with a floor person and he said that the images aren't as clear as I would get at home because the signal strength is not good in Costco with all the sets hooked in parallel. I didn't know that signal strength is an issue with digital.
I'll stop here to avoid a total turn off due to the length of this post, but I will appreciate some feedback.
Thanks