Insignia NS-LCD42HD

hi thrustbucket,

actually, i just bought this set yesterday! NS-LCD42HD from best buy. i am currently using it as my pc monitor primarily, and have already played some ps2 games on it. here are my impressions:

as a pc monitor hooked up via VGA, it looks amazing. and it is currently only on 720p (1366 x 768). i cannot get it to go into 1080p mode (1920x1080), it sometimes shows the picture but with 2 large black bars on the sides, or it just hangs and the TV says NO SIGNAL, and i have to reboot my computer. however, 720p does look pretty darn good, even when sitting 5 feet away.

watching movies streamed through my pc is also amazing. im very impressed. the images are clear, colors are nice. only complaint i have is the black levels are a little weak. they are not as deep as you would see in more expensive TVs.

as for playstation 2, i tried several games. gran turismo 4 supports 1080i and it looks very clear. i also played god of war (480p) and final fantasy 12 (480i) and everything looks good. i have my ps2 hooked up via component. sorry, i dont have any more advanced systems like 360 or ps3 to be able to review how they look, via hdmi or what not. sorry (Although if you want to donate a system to me to test, i would not complain )

also, i dont have an antenna yet to test what tv itself looks like. i just put in an order for a phdtv1 antenna (philips HDTV antenna). i live in west LA so hopefully i get some good signals (i live less than 30 miles from the broadcast antennas)

my main complaint about the tv atm which i hinted at earlier, is the fact that i cannot yet get 1080p to work via my computer. im not sure if its video card settings, or the tv itself. it is possible that the tv only accepts 1080p via certain inputs, and i actually read somewhere it ONLY accepts 1080p via component! not even HDMI! i hope this is not true. it would be silly to accept 1080p via component but not HDMI, which is more advanced. the user manual that came with the tv is crap, doesn't tell you anything. i ordered a DVI-HDMI cable to test, and replace my vga connector right now.

hopefully that gives you a jist of the tv. overall i am pretty happy with the TV, it is a lot better than i expected at this price range. any more questions feel free to ask.

I considered this tv also, but decided to pass on it for a few simple reasons, relability and overall value down the road. While it might not be a bad tv, I worry about it lasting many years and there being good customer service/support on such a unknown brand tv. I decided on spending the extra money for a Samsung, as there is good support here in the forums on them, and by Samsung. Also, if you gonna go out, go all the way out, but thats just me.

I picked up the NS-LCD42HD last night from BB. I got lucky and got a guarantee from an under-informed manager that I could recieve the 24 Month financing and free setup regardless of it being a "PowerPrice" item.

I kept going back to BB for a few days to compare it again and again and finally decided that I much preferred the performance of it to many of the other displays and it was insanely bright (which was important in our room of a thousand windows), and that is without recalibrating it and BB's 720p showroom input. I know its an unknown name, but Insignia is manufactured by LG, the picture looked great, and with BB's awesome warranty, I know I'll have it for at least 4 years and by then the technology will be so much better it will have been pointless for me to spend double the money now.

It was a mutual Christmas present for my girlfriend and I, and she won't let me touch it until the install guy shows up on the 22nd. I'll report back when I've had some time with it.

My wife and I bought one of these a few days ago as a bedroom TV. So far, I have only hooked up a first gen XBox to it.

The television seems a little lighter than other LCD panels of its size. It has a piano black image around the frame which I like, but some may not. I orginially planned on wall mounting it, but the mounting brackets on the back are about 15.5 inches apart and the mounting brackets that supported that required more than one stud. I attached the included stand and put it on top of a dresser. It seems to dip forward a few degrees, but seems quite stable.

I connected the XBox via component cables. My impressions so far are that this television in its default settings is quite bright and would benefit from a pass of a calibration disc (especially for a darkened room). I think that for a room with a lot of ambient light, it would perform well.

The television defaults to a stretched display mode, but I don't care for 4:3 content stretched to 16:9. This setting cannot be changed in the display menus, but only by the zoom button on the remote.

The next thing I noticed was that the default animation that plays as the XBox booted up had strange verticle lines throughout the entire picture. It disappeared when I actually got in to a game. The opening XBox animation plays at 480i while games and such play at whatever resolution they support. 480p and 720p content looked good, but when I booted Kung Fu Chaos (480i), I noticed the same verticle lines return. I do not know if this is a defect of my set or just typical behavior of all of these sets.

We just got a Verizon FIOS HD DVR last night and I plan to connect it via HDMI and can report back with more impressions.

I just purchased one of these about ten days ago. So far I can say the picture is great, but the built in sound leaves a lot to be desired, thin -tiney sounding,we have a Harmon-Kardon receiver and B&W 3-way towers which sound incredible, so the sound issue is covered. I also got a PS3 at the same time which plays Blue-Ray DVDs at 1080P via HDMI, which is amazing in itself. This TV is an exceptional value for the $996 I paid and if you have external audio you got it made. The only downside is that I ended up spending a lot for for a sectional sofa and recliner to make our living room a lot more comfortable for watching TV. Off shopping again for new end tables and coffee table so we can eat & drink while watching the Blue-Ray copy of "The Shinning" I got from NetFlix today.

this might be a problem with your xbox. i played a few PS2 games in 480i on my TV and i didnt get the vertical lines.


im glad to hear the TV supports 1080p via HDMI. i've been hearing a lot of bad news about these lower-cost TVs supporting 1080p via component, but not HDMI for silly reasons.

i was a bit worried since i got my dvi-hdmi cable and tried plugging in my computer to the TV and setting my computer to 1920x1080, and i got a bad image (text was fuzzy, and my image was zoomed in, so i was losing some of the picture all around. i could not see the taskbar, or the icons on the edges of my desktop). HOWEVER - after surfing through these forums, i found that the problem is more likely due to my video card - ATI apparently is aware of this issue spanning many of their cards to many TVs and isn't doing anything about it. a lot of people in the thread post here on AVS just went and bought an nVidia card and it fixed their problems. so basically i think the TV is very good, just my video card sucks.


i've owned the TV about a week now and could not be happier. even at 720p to my PC it is very clear. i've been watching a lot of 720p movies (.mkv files) and they are amazing quality. i can only imagine what 1080p blu rays are like.

Insignia is BB inhouse name. Could be made by any major TV/Electronics maker, LG, Panny, etc. I had a 26" CRT TV & was fine. Only issue was I had to program the Harmony remote for it manually for all buttons.
My only issue would be in 4 years if you need a partfixed. Would any be available.

I will make a point of testing something else on 480i, but the XBox did not have these problems when hooked up to my 46" Sony CRT (at work, so can't look up the model number). The verticle lines persist, but I do almost nothing at 480i, so it isn't a big deal for me.

I got the Verizon HD DVR hooked up to the set via HDMI. I set the box to 1080i, but may try 720p for comparison. So far, it seems to handle static images very well, but anything with fast motion caused blotchy color banding and shows obvious compression artifacts (blockiness). It doesn't seem that this is a flaw in the TV's design as much as the precise nature of a digital display revealing flaws in our signal. This is my first LCD panel, so I cannot be sure.

I will be hooking up an XBox 360 with a HD DVD addon and see how well that performs in another week or so.

i just got my antenna in a few days ago (phillips PHDTV1 silver sensor) and plugged it in. first thing that was strange was, the coax cable that came with the antenna did not fit into the TV's antenna-in port. i mean, it goes into it, but when you try screwing it in, the threads dont catch. i'm not sure if the cable that comes in the antenna box is poorly designed, or if the port on the tv is the problem, and unfortunately i dont have an extra coax cable to check.

anyways, i left the coax cable connected, but not screwed in, so its pretty loose and if i shake the tv a bit it would fall off. but i powered on the TV, and did the channel search. within 2 minutes it found like 30 digital channels and 25+ analog. i was shocked but i guess its not that surprising since I live in west LA, where TV programs are pretty much made

i went through the local big name channels (2-13) and was amazed at the picture quality. i was especially impressed with channel 7, Eyewitness news. the picture when you see the news casters is razor sharp, very crisp looking.i like watching this channel because its in HD all the time. the other channels are sometimes HD, but sometimes "HD" but really SD. i watched a couple basketball games (lakers vs cavs, vs 76ers) on channel 9, and those were broadcasted in 1080i. unfortunately there was some ghosting when especially fast moves were done by great players like Kobe Bryant who is one of the fastest in the NBA. mainly, the ball looks kind of blurry when its shot or passed. im not sure if this is hte issue with the TV itself, or with the broadcast since i hear 720p is better than 1080i for sports. but all in all it was a very enjoyable experience.

so once again i am extremely satisfied with this purchase. it works excellent as a computer monitor, and now as a TV with OTA broadcasts. i'm hoping santa leaves me a ps3 or xbox so i can test out some serious 1080p gaming and movies on this thing.

PC Buyer Beware


This set doesn't support 1080p through all inputs. Do a little more research before you purchase.

I was in Best Buy tonight looking at Insignia Ns-LCD42HD and asked the sales person who rebrands this for BB. He said it is made by Westinghouse.

It is a nice tv, but It was to big to take home with me and the store delivery date is almost a week after the holidays. I think from what I saw of it on display, that it has a very good picture especially when it is displayed next to other LCD Tv's costing hundreds of dollars more.

i cannot find what inputs support 1080p, do you know

After reading this thread and several others on the forum regarding the Insignia 42" 1080p I decided yesterday to go and pick one up for myself. Unfortunately when I got it home the LCD was broken and when I tried to return it Best Buy placed the blame on me when it's obvious the TV was broken in the box and refuses to give me an exchange or refund. They're telling me that I'm out the $1080.49 I paid for it after tax. I've posted my story on my personal blog and I'd like all of you to take a look at it before considering a purchase from Best Buy.

drackenstein.livejournal.com/197818.html

I'm not the only person who has had or is currently dealing with Best Buy's essentially non-existant return policy so please, please spread the word and if you could please digg my story. Publicity at this point may be my only recourse.

I'd like to mention that this is not a hijack as the TV in question is the Insignia 42" 1080p that is being discussed in this thread and that my purchase came as a direct result of having read this thread.

Please take this story as fair warning. Thank you.

If you used a credit card like amex then you can call them and they can help you out.

Okay, I've had it out and running a little over a week now, and it is awesome. It is very bright, which can almost be a detriment while watching in the dark, but its great for sunny days with our window filled room.

I have Time Warner HD cable and a Phillips upconvert. So far the best picture I've been able to put into it is broadcasted, therefore compressed, 1080i but it looks great, very sharp, and very vibrant. I watched hockey in HD and it looked awesome, can't wait for the winter classic on new years.

There have been a few times that quick moving action, like what the Office likes to do with its camera work, can be iffy. Other fast moving scenes seem to do very well from my upconvert DVD player so I'm guessing at this point any blur is mostly due to compression.

Finally, it sucks that Best Buy is giving Drakenstein so much trouble with his return. I had a stuck red pixel in the middle of my set, took it in and exchanged it with no issue other than a Geek Squad guy saying it was going to be hard to get the manufacturer to take it back with one pixel problem. But they took it back and gave me a new one, even plugged it in before I left so I could check it out for problems before boxing it back up and sending me home with it. I bought the 4 year warranty, but I don't think they even looked it up, just a standard defective return and exchange. I've had only the best customer service from them and I recommend contacting the head offices.

Go and speak to the store manager. If you paid by credit card, and you should always use a credit card for such purchases, talk to your credit card company.

Does this model have QAM tuner? I see it has ATSC
Thnx,

My brother-in-law bought this set last night. Opened it up today at 1PM, saw pretty much the exact same thing you did, returned it and had a new set in his house by 2PM.

So it's apparently a case by case(manager by manager) basis.

Hey guys I just bought a 42" 720P Insignia LCD and in a totally dark room, during dark scenes I can see mura/cloudiness/a non-uniform background (whatever you want to call it).

So my question is, is this normal for LCD's ? If I return it, will the next one I get have the same thing? Should I even bother returning this? Thanks for the help!

Look at the attached photo in the upper left corner.

Since no one replied, I went to Best Buy and exchanged it for the 1080P version (I paid a little more). Let me tell you the 1080p version (the lcd42hd) is freakin awesome! It has a little bit of flashlight effect in the corners, but the backlight is VERY UNIFORM! It looks so much better than the 720 version. I don't see that annoying blotchyness in the corner.

I play Call of Duty 4 (xbox360)- on this TV and it is AWESOME. No tearing, no lagging, no jaggies, nothing. Just perfection. Movies look absolutely perfect too.

My main TV is a Panny 50" Plasma, so I am used to seeing a pretty good PQ.

I can honestly tell you the Insignia 1080p is A+ for gaming and watching movies and EVEN BETTER CONSIDERING THE PRICE. Don't be afraid to give this TV a shot. To my eyes it looked much better than the Westinghouse AND Vizio competition.

Just a caution to make sure the lack of a "backlight" control is not causing any problems getting the "brightness" of the set tuned in.

Even still, some people just run their LCD's in full "torch" mode and like that the best. I know my sister does.

Have any of you attempted to use this TV with your PC? I cannot get good results with 1080p

If connected through VGA - when I set it to 1080p, the image is squeezed in the middle, and there are two black bars on the sides. Like you are watching an SD channel on TV.

If connected through HDMI (via DVI->HDMI cable from my ATI x850 pro) it overscans/underscans (don't know which one, but basically i'm losing about 1" of image all around. I cannot see the taskbar in Windows, for example). Also, the image is not as clear as VGA.

Anyone have experience?

Note: writing this in the sort of annoying narrative form. Skip to the end if you just want the good part.

I was pretty disapointed when I saw that this tv only supported 1280x1024 as its max resolution (it's in the manual somewhere..certainly not on the box or anywhere you'd see in the store) but had settled for running it in 1280x768 to keep a sane aspect ratio.

After reading Archonius's near-success I decided to give it a try, as I had never even gotten the pillarboxed image.

So I gave it a shot, got the same results. Even tried dropping it to 1080i which was a little better in that it wasn't pillarboxed, but it was horribly off-set and worse than the hdmi overscan.

About this time I was going to write a frustrated email to Insignia just to see if they'd help, but before hitting send I had one last idea.. Try some different preset timings I had remembered hearing about. It worked. I now have full 1080p with no overscan or other issue that I've noticed.

Here's the quick howto:
Note:
Messing with video timing is a scary thing. Or so I always read. The only issue I've ever had was making a CRT whine, but still I take no responsibility for what happens with this.
I should also note that I did this with an Nvidia 7300LE. Supposidly ATI cards use different timings, but I don't think its an issue if you do it through the preset.

Enough rambling. Heres the step by step:

Install the video tweaking program powerstrip. I tried to link but as this is my first post the forum rejected it, just google for 'powerstrip' and its the first link.

Right click on the tray icon and go to Display Profiles -> Configure.

There should be the name of your video card on the top of this new window. If you use dual monitors, you'll want to hit the down arrow on the far right of it to make sure its on the right one.
You can tell by the resolution, and it will say PTS108B on the left side.

Change the resolution slider to 1920x1080 and change the refresh rate drop box to "Custom Timing" and click Advanced Timing Options.

From there, click the Custom Resolutions button.


Heres where you finally get to pick presets. I screenshotted what mine looked like for comparison.
You'll want to check the "Aspect ratio: 16:9" radio button. This isn't needed but makes the list a LOT easier to deal with.

Now scroll down the list until you see 1920x1080p 60hz (EIA/CEA-861B) and select it and click the "Add new resolution" button. Watch your tv's image change.

You might want to go into the video menu on your monitor and go to the vga section and click 'auto adjust' now just to make sure.


Let me know if you can't get this to work and I'll try to take more screenshots or maybe even screencast it if you'd like.

Semi thank you so much. Your walkthrough was spot-on and IT WORKED! I am now looking at a razor sharp 1920x1080p image @ 60hz via VGA with not even a pixel of overscan. I cannot tell how how much I appreciate this - I have been fooling around with the settings in ATI Control Center, Windows, and even a little bit in powerstrip for weeks and could not get it to work. Thanks again for your help.

Guys, be absolutely sure you know what you're doing when going into these Insignia HDTV's hidden service menus. If you mess royally and then want to exchange your set at the store you bought it from (or the manufacturer) your warrant will be completely voided if they find out what you've done. Just... let's be careful in there, OK?