Need help buying a new LCD

I would recommend the Samsung LN40B630 or the LG 37LH40. Some people have reported a red flashing issue with the two Sony models you have listed, so I'd be a bit leery of buying them. If you get lucky and could get a V5100 without the red flashing, then I'd rank it between the Samsung and the LG.

In any case, all of the 120hz models you have listed would be very fine TVs. Good luck in your decision.

I'd buy the 60hz for normal TV viewing. I'll bet the "comparison" you saw was an internally generated "split screen" on the same TV. This is simply used to sell high end sets.

I don't know if you saw an internally generated "comparison", but there are people who see a difference with higher frame rates. The hierarchy goes like this:

1) True 240 Hz
2) Quasi 240 Hz (120 hz with a scanning back-light)
3) 120 Hz
4) 60 Hz

People who know what to look for can see a difference with sports and action movies.

Forget Dynamic contrast ratio, it's meaningless.

i beg to differ major websites like cnet claim different
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10243372-82.html


1) True 240 Hz
pretty much useless without a test pattern on screen and a lesser 120hz model next to it to really see the diff between the 2

2) Quasi 240 Hz (120 hz with a scanning back-light)

same as above and maybe even harded to see a diff than a 120hz

3) 120 Hz

useful to have if you like to tweak your TV depending on what your watching at a given time but most people will set it one way and leave it

4) 60 Hz

perfectly acceptable to 90% of TV users, you can't miss 120hz if you never had it and/or never knew how to use it correctly


I too have also seen that bogus split screen video shown in stores that servicetech is talking about and its almost as ridiculous as samsung marketing TV's as LED TV's without even mentioning its still an LCD TV and most of the uninformed general public truly think its a TV made up of LED's, i've herd it from many people from co-workers to people in stores

Your TV is picking up the vertical blanking pulses on SD stations. You can expand the picture to hide this but will loose resolution on HD channels.

I also see it on a some HD broadcasts that are upconverts. On your Sony you'll want to disable full pixel which will get rid of it.

It will be under MENU, SETTINGS, SCREEN, DISPLAY AREA.
While only a few upconverts will have the lines, every time I see the lines it's obviously a upconvert. I keep my Sony on full pixel because I don't like overscan and just try and ignore the lines when they show. You won't lose much by disabling full pixel though.

Try connecting the cable directly to the set and doing a channel scan. This will lose all the encrypted HD channels but the local broadcast HD channels should still be there (though not with the same channel numbers as on the box--try the actual broadcast channel number, adding a -1 after the number.

This will allow you to isolate the problem as being in your HD cable box or in your tv. Digital broadcast is still a bit glitchy at times--occasional audio dropouts and pixelization is normal.

Please excuse me, I'm not trying to insult you, but your logic is all wrong.

If a problem exists using one source device (in this case the cable box), but not the tv's own tuner, then the problem cannot be in the tv itself unless there's something wrong with the tv's hdmi input. If the problem is in the HDMI input it would show up on all HD channels tuned by the cable box. You've stated that it does not occur on all HD channels tuned by the cable box, only some of them, thus eliminating the HDMI connector on the tv as a possible source of the problem.

You've further stated that the problem does not occur when using a DVD player.

So the problem does not occur using the tv's tuner or a dvd player, and only occurs on some but not all channels when using the cable box. Logic would argue that there's no way this problem's source is your tv. If it were the tv, then it would show up when using the tv's tuner and/or also when using a dvd player. Since you've already swapped out cable boxes and HDMI cables the problem is in the cable company's handling of the incoming signal from the station at the head-end, or in how the software used by your companie's cable boxes handles channel changes.

You've stated that the problem is only momentary immediately after changing channels and clears up quickly. It may be caused by the box shifting from one incoming scanrate to another when changing channels. HD channels can be broadcast in either 1080i or 720p and sometimes picture disturbances will occur momentarily when the box has to switch between the two. Some tv tuners, cable boxes, and satellite boxes handle this better than others--many just show a blank screen until the box adapts resulting in slow channel changing, others let some of the wonkiness actually show on the screen momentarily so the prolonged dark screen doesn't scare the customers (lol).

I gotta be totally honest with you and say that imho this problem is most likely not your tv. Most HDMI problems that are faults in the tv itself involve failure of the HDMI handshake, not problems with accepting different HD scanrates. Some sets won't accept 480i over HDMI but I've never heard of one that has any problem with 1080i vs 720p.

The only way to verify would be to connect a source device other than the cable box that lets you select 720p, 1080i, and 1080p output and experiment.
Blu Ray players do offer this option, maybe it's time to go ahead and get one now--they are the best HD source available now anyway due to much higher bandwidth than broadcast or cable, and prices for decent players have dropped out of the stratosphere. C'mon, ya know you want one! LOL.