New Sony TV advice for a gamer

Uhm, you sure that Sony's the brand you want? I could definitely recommend a nice Samsung LN52A650 in a heartbeat. I take it you're not a fan of a glossy screen, but even so, it's probably by far amongst the best LCDs out there for that price range. I'd definitely give Samsung an equal look, if I were you.

Replacing a XBR960 eh? Well... make sure you keep that TV.

Quite frankly you'll probably be somewhat dissapointed by every TV you own henceforth. That was truly an amazing set.

Just from numerous gamers I know, they hate Sony's set for gaming.

It was a sad day when I had to replace my beloved 34" XBR960 this past October. I went with the 46" XBR4 and have been very, very happy. While it does smear from time to time, it really isn't a deal breaker in my opinion. The glossy brezel and screens on the Samsung's drive me nuts every time I'm in the TV section at Best Buy or Circuit City. Plus, I've never been a big fan of their build quality in regard to electronics; they're always made with cheap plastics.

Sorry, not a fan of Sony. The 960 should be good for at least another 4-5 years, but it seems that Sony builds in the problems, tech support can't fix them, and still people come back and buy from them again.

Seriously though, going from a CRT to a LCD (even a good LCD) is going to be a dissapointment for you if you play allot of games. The contrast ratio on most LCD sets is not as good as the specs from the manufacturers say and for some RPG games like Halo1/2/3 it is a problem. You start loosing fine detail in dark scenes and you can't shoot it if you can't see it.

My advice is to look into real world contrast ratio measurements and find the display that has the best that is verified by outside sources, not just the manufactures specs. I would start by directing you to the Samsung 650 or the Sharp 92 series. These two sets have some of the highest CR of all LCD's and even better than allot of Plasma sets.

Exactly my point, Samsung has perhaps the best contrast ratios and PQ bar none. There are people that are saying that the A650/750 is almost like a CRT in LCD clothing. Not too sure if that's the right analogy, but it's probably the closest LCD competition to plasma and the tube.

I would agree with 8IronBob here and recommend the Samsung models. I thought the glossy screen would bother me but it doesn't. If you purposely look at the screen for a reflection you'll find it every time. But if you focus on the screen the reflection disappears. However, the glossy bezel reflects as well, and that distracts me more than the glossy screen. Like 8IronBob said, don't rule Samsung out as an option.

Plus, unlike Sony, Samsung does care about the well being of their products, from what I hear...
After all, they are a manufacturer, not just a brand name. The only thing that Samsung needs to do is make a more consumer-friendly remote control, I mean, not EVERYONE wants to use their TV like an iPod.

While I am not a paticular fan of Samsung, the 650 is a good set.

My main issue with Samsung is the menus. The menus seem to be the most non-intuitive that I have experienced among the major manufacturers. Yes you get used to them, but still it shouldn't be that hard. I have a rule to use the instruction book as a last resort.

On the OP's original question about gaming, I would post the same question about LCD sets in the gaming forum as well. There are bound to be allot more people there that will have a more informed opinion about the subject there.

Again I can't stress the importance of good CR when choosing a set for gaming. Yes motion blurr is an issue, or at least it used to be. Now most sets in range that you are looking at are sub 5ms response and that is good enough for gaming.

As games go into HD teritory, the sets that we play them on must keep up. I see very few that can compare to a CRT in one reguard, CR. When I bought my set it was primarily for watching TV (SD and HD) and DVDs. It was later that I hooked up the X-Box and Gamecube to it and decided that having 52 inches of game screen was not all it was cracked up to be.

My next set was bought with the CR in mind.

Also, even tho HD will be becoming the standard, there are still some sources that may remain SD, even tho maybe 480p. With that in mind, Samsung should have some technology to even make those sources look almost upscaled to 1080p, and I believe they've done that in some regard. Haven't really given SD that much of a looking over yet, tho. Sony's been known for amongst the best SD upscaling, but whether Samsung's taken control of this, that's another thing. For gaming, because the Wii and PS2 are SDTV, I'd like for an LCD to almost make it look smooth, and without too many jaggies, and most modern high-end LCDs will take care of that for you.

Sony and samsung are using the same panels and technologies -- they're even made on the same assembly lines. Mostly, the difference is in packaging, screen finish, and software (processing and features).

Informer, for gaming I don't think any of those features you listed are going to be that important. I'd pay more attention to the various image lag features that will become noticeable in gameplay. If you're using a pc to game (rather than console), you'll want decent support for pc video modes.

Samsung is a rapidly improving company, so if people's opinion of them is 3 years old or more, they should reevaluate.

I'm keeping my 34" XBR800 for now, since I still love the picture, and I think CRT fans should wait to see the new LED backlit TVs before deciding. Once I see those, I might jump to LCD.

Honestly the 650 looks good enough to me already, but I want to see the Z4100.

OP should consider plasma, which is superior for gaming - if they didn't consumer 450W+, I'd buy one.

Oh yeah, I especially love the A750 display at BB, since the audio quality is far better than the A650(tested the volume on separate trips, and my memory is pretty good about what I heard), as well as a slightly better PQ, but you don't get the swivel stand with that one, it looks more stationary to me. That's the only downside I see to that. For off-angle gaming, you probably would want to swivel the TV in the direction that faces you or your friends, if you're not 100% in front of the television. Like me, even tho I have the TV in front of me when I'm about 5 - 6 feet away watching it in my recliner chair, when I want to use it as a PC, I usually just swivel it to the left towards the home office end of my desk, and just use the PIP feature to use the PC and continue watching another source. Of course, I'm using a dedicated monitor for the PC, and have a 32" JVC LCD next to it, but when I get the A650/750, that'll be replacing BOTH displays, it being 46" and all, and move the JVC to maybe a bedroom or basement room. To me, 46" is the ideal size for gaming, so don't skimp on size or features, that's the sweet spot.