What makes a good LCD?

Remember, The main factor is the panels real maker, not the name on the casing. there are a lot of TVs out there, but not as many LCD panels, narrow your search by looking at models that use a good quality panel.

CRT to LCD?
Uh...good luck with that.

I have two Sharp AQUOS sets, one from 2005 ( 32D4U ) and I just grabbed a 42D62U. They are both great sets with all of the required bells and whistles.

The PQ of the newer gen set has great blacks...NOT plasma quality but better than most LCD's I looked at at the stores. My home viewing has confirmed this. Plus, Sharps have great color and that LCD "snap" that makes them soooo hard to resist.

Despite what the CRT crowd claims, any good quality newer-gen LCD will be an overall improvement over the behemoth dinosaur sets that are based on 50++ year old technology...... C'mon now.....

Just stick with top makers and you'll get a good set. If you skimp, then you risk getting crap. Simple really.

Good Luck

I like Sharp, LG and Chi Mei(Westinghouse)... don't care for Samsung.

Sony makes the best lcd's. You gotta atleast give them that.

Why? They use the same display panels as Samsung and JVC, several of their sets do not properly deinterlace or perform 3:2 pulldown. They make very good sets but the "best LCDs", I'm not sure.

The new Sony's have some definite plusses but from my own experience with them in various stores and settings, they cannot get the black levels as good as the Sharp or Samsung models.

For what they charge for an XBR panel, it should perform better. They look great in torch mode but dial them into real-world settings and the dark scenes get pretty mucky. Try it at your local store with familiar source material and keep an eye on those black levels and detail in dark scenes. You'll see.

There are only a handful of LCD cell manufacturers (Sharp, AUO, LG, etc) and they all made to same basic performance. Response speed is a legitimate spec that will show how well a LCD cell is made. They all have wide view cones and color filters so that will not be a factor.

The real difference is the video engine (scaler) that is used. Genesis is one of the best as are some models from Pixelworks. Most set manufacturers will/do not mention the chip manufacturer nor do they attempt to compare them. Better brands use better chips. Also, name brand sets are usually soldered together better. Third tier sets usually suffer from manufacturing quality issues.

The cheapest no-name brand 40" 1080P being sold at a major retailer used an LG LCD display inside. On a PC it was fine. Scaling NTSC upon the full screen, it looked like junk. THAT"S WHAT YOU NEED TO LOOK AT.

DB

LCD panel manufacturers test the panels, grade them accordingly, and then sell them on to set manufacturers. This means that a very cheap monitor is likely to have a third rate panel. Cut-price sets may also use older designs of LCD panel, with inferior contrast ratios, viewing angles, and response times.

There is no standard for measuring and reporting pixel response time. Some manufacturers are reporting black-to-white-to-black, others report black-to-white while others are using gray-to-gray. Each of these measurements will give different results.

It is important for a set to have a good video processor which properly deinterlaces and scales. However just buying by processor name alone could give you to a false sense of security. There are many registers and routines within each of these processors. It depends upon which portions of the processor are activated. A poorly manufactured set with a good processor could provide an awsome viewing experience "if" the right portions of the processor are activated at the correct times. A well manufactured set with the same processor could provide a X$*(^# display if all of the processors capabilities are not properly utilized.

A good LCD set is one that:
1.) Does not exibit clouding
2.) Does not exibit banding
3.) Can reach as close to true black as possible
4.) Is 1080p
5.) Has more than 1 HDMI input
6.) Is not made in a third-world country

to add to the list:
7- has good shadow detail
8- doesn't crush whites or blacks- see shadow detail
9- doesn't have motion smear
10- has excellent color rendition
11= 1 to 1 pixel mapping is good also
12- doesn't have to be 1080p to be good
13-1 HDMI doesn't make it bad

IOW it should look like a CRT

I suggest checking out Olevia. I picked up a 337H on clearance, it has a great picture wth no overscan but no tuner if you need one.