Interesting 30 LCD TV's - Page 2  

I have a question for anyone who has gotten one of the 30" Sceptre's from Costco. Are the speakers detachable? You see, the thing is, I have a very nice oak entertainment center that I'd like to continue using but it can only fit something 31.5" wide in it. The only 30" widescreen televisions that I've found so far that will fit are the Toshiba 30HF83 crt one and Dell's 30" LCD one (which does have detachable speakers). But, I'd rather go with a LCD and Dell's isn't exactly cheap (by comparison at least). It really seems a shame that more manufacturers don't come out with widescreen LCD televisions that have a nice looking, small surrounding frame. Thanks for the feedback!

Well, I'll chime in here. I'll do more of a "review" in a few weeks, but I have a new-ish (2 weeks old) Philips 30pf9975 that I really like. I really considered, and liked the Sharps, and looked at the Westinghouse purely on price alone (but those that had seen it on this forum deemed it "horrid", so I passed), and considered the Costco Medion.

Regardless, I'm really happy with the Philips. My only problem so far (post purchase) has been finding a ceiling mount for it that does everything I need it to do since it doesn't take a standard VESA mount. (It looks like only ones that will fit are Draper Aero C Basic's, C490's, and C1150's). I'm waiting for my DVI cable to get here before I really do a review on it.

I will say this. If I hadn't already purchased the Philips when the Sceptre came up, I'd probably be looking at that. I just didn't understand how much I'd LOVE PixelPlus (Philips' upscaling technology).

Anyway, if anyone is considering a 30", I'll give it my thumbs up - and I haven't even seen it from a DVI source yet... :) As I said before, I'll start a thread on it in the next few weeks.

Looking at the top view shown on Sceptre's website, they do not appear to be detachable.

Jasmo,

While the Maxent unit doesn't seem as appealing as the Sceptre, it does have detachable speakers and is exactly 27 1/4" wide without them (just measured it). And looking at the Costco website, looks like the Maxent and Sceptre are the same price with the MIR. I wouldn't completely dismiss the unit if space is an issue.

-eric

well I just thought to give this thread a bump with a question: What a very good store for online buying of this stuff?

bshplt,

A word of caution: as far as LCD displays go, make sure you deal with a reputable place. Think of the case where you would have several dead pixels on arrival and the online place doesn't return your call.

-eric

The Syntax appears to have detachable speakers and its at newegg for only $100 more than the costco price.

Interesting - especially with the listed 750:1 contrast ratio. It doesn't mention HDCP, which could be a little scarry. Of course, some companies don't really emphasize that little "tidbit", so that doesn't mean the Syntax doesn't support HDCP.

Well, I broke down and ordered a Viewsonic N3020W.

It isn't due in for almost two weeks, though. :(

Given that it costs $15,000 to get into the HDCP business, I'd say anything that doesn't explicitly claim HDCP probably lacks it. Especially this class of LCD panels.

Picture of the DVI input panel on the Syntax panel (both the 27" and the 30" have same panel):

http://www.tigerdirect.com/images/Sk...452-3000-l.jpg

And, that, Mr. Lam appears to be very positive indication that the panels >>do<< have HDCP.

Obviously, actual verification is required, but that's good news. Please ignore my comments above. :)

Mark

so how are the Syntax panel anyway??

To bshplt:

In another thread, I posted my comments after observing the Syntax side by side with Sony, Samsung and the other major brands. Please do a search in the archive.

Mark,

That's great news! I look forward to your review. I'm trying to decide between the Sceptre (ability to return to local Costco a BIG plus in its' favor) vs. the Syntax.

Thanks dsurkin...I'll look for that review :)

Here's dsurkin's thread discussing the Syntax. Of course, I'm always leery of such side-by-side comparisons since there's no way to know how well any of the sets were adjusted ...

Personally, unless the size of the Sceptre were an issue (which it actually is for me ...), I would take it over the Syntax in a second because of Costco's return policy and the Sceptre brand name is well regarded in the LCD monitor field.

I was considering the Dell, but having read the specs of the Syntax I am sooooooo tempted. The only thing is, that none of the retailers that sell this LCD have a return policy that would allow me to return it, so I am really doubting it. :(

Got my Sceptre...

Here's my first look of the unit:

Pros:
- Seems Brighter and better CR than the Maxent.
- Totally silent. That's great!
- Vibrant colors (will need to calibrate it).
- Very sturdy assembly (doesn't feel fragile).

Cons:
- Very heavy compared to the Maxent (It's like 65lbs).
- Speakers are permanently attached.
- 4:3 stretch is available on DVI, but not on 720p or 1080i.
- The image is somewhat noisier than the Maxent (might be the source though).
- Poor remote control design and IR reception (I have to press several times to fire the command).
- Very little features in the menu (feels like a $200 TV menu).

I'm definitely returning the Maxent and keeping the Sceptre, because I think the Sceptre is a better value, but it's not perfect either.

Just wanted to let you guys know.

-eric

How do the black levels on the Sceptre look to you so far? Also just a general question. The ratings on contrast for these units, is this a scientific standard that gives these numbers real validity, or are these more of a "best guess" rating given by the manufacturer? Any thoughts? Also if you get any pictures taken of your Sceptre up and running i would love to see them. Thanks

ericjut thanks for the feedback!!

How's ghosting and streaking? and 3:2? what about normal cable, how's the standard channel resolution?

:) Thanks!!

Seeing as I'm still shopping for my first HDTV maybe I'm missing something, but I thought by definition 720p and 1080i signals were 16:9, i.e., there's no such thing as 4:3 720p or 1080i ...

Yes, curently at this price point it would be naive to expect a perfect unit. But I am glad it has so many good points.
I was also a little confused by your statement about 4:3 aspect ratio. Not quite clear how does this unit display 4:3 material, regardless whether the source is SD cable/satellite/OTA/DVD/VCR, in native aspect or stretching it to fill the display? Is this feature available on all inputs?
As for 720p and 1080i , as far as I understand, there is no definition that the HD signal must be in 16:9 AR. What about regular 4:3 DVD movies for example scaled to HD resolutions? I belive they still keep the same aspect ratio. Please correct me if I am wrong here.

Thanks for the feedback on detachable speakers everyone!

I decided to try and find out more specific info and decided to e-mail Syntax directly for it. This is what I got back. I thought some of you might find it interesting:

Hi Jim,

Thank you for interested in Syntax produce.
LT30HV, without both speakers, the width is 28.5"
It is HDCP compliant.

Thanks,
Jason

I was happy to hear that it'll fit nicely in my custom oak cabinetry. Now to just come up with some scratch...

Ok... Let me try to answer all those questions. :)

jmwfl2000 -> The black levels are some of the best LCD ones I've seen, which would confirm the difference between the 600:1 and the 500:1 CR. Though it is still an LCDs display and it doesn't compare with my DLP PJ I've got downstairs. I'll still have to calibrate it to get the best performance. Also, I can't guarantee pictures, but I'll see what I can do.

bshplt -> Just like the Maxent, there is no ghosting/streaking, 16ms seems to do the trick pretty well. I've only tried the unit with my Mot6200 Cable box, but I did try the override 480I option on it. The deinterlacer was looking as good as the one that's in the Mot6200 (average, nothing great there). Standard cable through the cable box looked somewhat more grainy and noisy than the Maxent I had. I'll try plugging cable right in to see what the tuner looks like and let you know.

Beckles -> If you're watching Fox, PBS and/or ESPN on HD Cable right now, you'll find out that, sometimes, those channels will stretch some 4:3 content into the standard 16:9 HD aspect ratio (they don't window box), thus screwing up the AR. That's very annoying if your TV doesn't let you squish the image from a 16:9 format into a 4:3 to correct the AR. That feature is what I called "4:3 stretch" for lack of a better term. BTW, the unit doesn't seem to support any other kind of zooming or stretching. So, we'll have to live with double-boxed content (letter-boxed + window-boxed) sometimes. The Maxent had like 6 different stretching/zooming options, so I feel a little bit short-handed on this issue.

TauRus -> Please read comment above. Also, from the testing I've done so far, the unit seems to be following the right AR for all modes. The "4:3 stretch" was not available on the Component inputs (only on DVI so far, I didn't try cable/SVideo/Composite) and would probably be to fix a problem with the source itself or maybe for the upscale DVD case that you talked about (DVI connected DVD trying to display 4:3).

Anybody else got it yet?

-eric

Thanks Eric! I am supposed to get it today. Will report as soon as I hook it up to the system.

Quick Update...

The unit does have multiple zooming/stretching modes, but it depends on both the input and the resolution. For example, 480i via component has 4:3, 16:9, full and a zoom that would fill a 16:9 screen with a 4:3 image (cropping the bottom and top). 720p and 1080i via component has only full. 720p and 1080i via DVI has full and 4:3.

-eric

How does PC input look on the Sceptre (assuming you can get your PC to output to its native resolution)? Thanks.

Just got my Sceptre 30" LCD TV tonight around 8 PM.

Shipping: by Fedex, box had a couple of dents but overall it looked fine. The units was double boxed. No complaints about shipping.

First Impressions: This baby is heavy, like Eric said before. Excellent build quality.

Tonight I have connected this panel to my PC (Radeon 9700Pro) through DVI cable. Max supported resolution is 1280x1024, but naturally I preferred the native 1280x768@75Hz

Have played back a couple DVDs, and have to say the picture is quite amazing for an LCD. The photos that I attach do not do justice to this display, especially after I had to reduce the image size to meet the forum's limitations.