32" LCD High End, Which one to get?

Here's a list that I would use to go shopping by, I take quality and price and combinded them for a score and ranked them as my first choice on down.


1. Panasonic TC-32LX50

2. LG 32LX1D

3. Toshiba 32HL95

4. Sharp AQUOS

5. Hitachi 32HDL52

6. Sony V-Series (XBR)

7. Sony Bravia S-Series

8. Samsung LN-R329D

9. JVC LT32X576

10. Westinghouse LTV-32W1

I took the LG 32LX1D back after 11 days and got the Panasonic TC-32LX50. I really loved the LG and it had several features that the Panasonic doesn't have (i.e. Built-in tuner, CC, TV Guide) but the component inputs (from Sony DVD progressive scan) on the LG left the Picture looking too soft and made the colors look kind of washed out plus the black levels did not look as good on some DVD's. Everything else about the LG I loved, HD OTA was awesome due to LG's 5th gen ATSC tunner, and the color was super natural looking.


The Panasonic TC-32LX50 has much better black levels, and a much better picture thru component, as a matter of fact I could not tell the difference between the component and HDMI inputs from the Pro Brand Digitil Stream STB. Since we watch alot of DVD movies component input must be at it's best. If my DVD player had HDMI out I might not have taken the LG back.


After doing the setup with the DVE disk the picture is just amazing from all inputs, It's almost a 3D look to the HD broadcast and I can say that the true 720p image it gives is better than the 1080i images.


The Panny also has much better control over the color adjustments and a adjustable backlight that also helps with achiving a better black level. I wished I had the DVE (got it for X-mas) to setup the LG, I wounder how much of an improvement it would have made.


Another thing my wife and I noticed is that the Panasonic has a shaper picture with HD OTA, the only thing that I have not done yet is see what analog looks like on the Panny?


To tell the truth my wife and kids like the LG better, but since I deal with computers and video monitors all day I can tell the slightest difference in image Quility, thats why I chose the Panny over the Sharp AQUOS, and I'm happy I did plus I would not pay the high price for a over hyped Sony XBR.

I was just looking at a few 32" LCDs last weekend, including Sony Bravia XBR and a few 32 inch screens. The Sony's picture quality was better than all the others for sure. If it wasn't $700 more than the others, the decision would have been very easy for me.


The Samsung R328W was one of the best of the rest, the contrast ratio is much higher (maybe not as high as their claimed 3000:1 but still the blacks were blacker and images with lots of shaded texture really stood out. Its images looked grainy compared to the Sony though, and low light scenes lost a lot of detail - it's as if the Samsung's dynamic response is nonlinear - flatter at lower levels and steeper at higher levels perhaps. The sony didn't seem to have as deep of blacks, but it did have better detail in low light areas, for example dark clothing in low light almost disappeared on the Samsung but you could see texture on the Sony. I was too enthralled with the Samsung's contrast ratio to really evaluate any of the others, I almost took one home with me that day. (However the more I think about it, the more I suspect that the grainy picture and the increased contrast ratio go hand-in-hand, like getting grainy photos when you take pictures or shoot video in the dark. )


So anyway, I can understand why the Sony costs so much more, its picture really is much better.