[wahoodude23]

Hey all,


I'm deciding between Sony 50" LCD Grand Wega 655 and the 3rd Gen Samsung DLP 5063. I'm torn right now because I've seen the display on both of these at BB, Tweeter and CC and I like different things.


The Samsung definitely contrasts the greyscales better and is much better aesthetically and also is PC compatible. The Samsung is also lighter and less bulky.


The Sony has a brighter screen, a cable card, and a built in HD tuner. The picture is pretty crisp and sharp on both - maybe slightly more on the Sony.


Has anyone done any comparisons on these TVs? Can you offer some advice? Will the LCD age more quickly and have less life than a DLP? Is the Cable Card slot crucial? Which technology is more reliable? Is the color wheel on the Samsung prone to breakage. Has anyone played XBOX or PS2 on either TV.


I'm somewhat of a newbie and I want to make sure that I make the best decision - thanks in advance for your feedback. Any feedback would be really appreciated - even if you only have one of the TV - plz let me know what you like/dislike or what breaks....


*wahoo*

 

[scrubsr1]

I owned the samsung you referred to for 37 days until it crapped out on me...light engine failure. I must say that those were the best 37 days of gaming I've ever had, halo was eye popping to say the least. CC allowed me to trade it in on the new Hitachi 50vs810 which is supposedly one of the best lcd rptv's around. Sadly my particular unit was cursed with a horrible green push on portions of the screen, in addition to sde at the recommended viewing distance. It's going back and I'm contemplating the hlp again, but this time with an extended warranty. I do believe the sony will give you fewer problems.

 

[kickstart]

Yeah I think that about sums it up. The Samsung has an overall better picture (because of the shadow detailing), but the Sony seems to more reliable so far. Look out for an upcoming HDTV roundup in PC Magazine that will review both types; a reviewer has stated that they like the Samsung's picture better.


There are other secondary things, like more PC inputs in the Samsung, better SDTV on the Sony , generally lower prices on the Wega, nicer cabinet on the Sammy ad infinitum.


I advise people to go for the Sony unless they can't stand the lack of shadow detail. You'll never see a movie with dark scenes played in the store, so take in a DVD like the Matrix. Make sure both sets aren't in their default ultra bright modes (on Sony this is called Vivid) because the blacks are completely lost there. Switch them to Movie mode or whatever the normal brightness/contrast level should be. If you have a game system, take it in and ask to hook it up. They oughta be accomodating if you're buying a $3K tv.


In my case, I found the Sony's shadow detail acceptable, so I went that route.


I've never heard anyone actually having a real instance of 'yellowed' LCD or broken color wheel. Fixing a color wheel motor is going to be cheap in comparison to other stuff in the set. Its just a constant speed DC motor. The wheel itself is nothing fancy either.


I'm not even going to touch on the rainbow or screen door effects. Plenty of postings on that.

 

[chrisp2u]

Quote:

Originally posted by wahoodude23 Has anyone played XBOX or PS2 on either TV.

I'm currently considering the purchase of a KDF-50WE655, and would appreciate any input (no pun intended) on this as well (in my case, a PS2).


Thanks,

c

 

[mrcoaster]

I've been looking strongly at the 50WE655, too. I think we're going to end up going with the 60XS955, but the WE sure looked good the couple of times we've looked at it. I really like the picture and the shadow details look acceptable to me from what I've seen of it so far.

 

[wahoodude23]

Quote:

Originally posted by chrisp2u I'm currently considering the purchase of a KDF-50WE655, and would appreciate any input (no pun intended) on this as well (in my case, a PS2). Thanks, c

I originally posted this thread a few weeks ago. After much deliberation, I purchased the Sony KDF-50WE655 last week. I have been more than thrilled with it so far. The picture quality is stunning in HD - I watched the MNF Jets-Miami game and it was amazing. SD signal looks better than the DLPs also. The picture is clear and the colors are very vibrant. The only complaint I would have are the black levels. At every store I went to though, the Sony consistently looked better.


As far as video games go, I own an XBOX and NCAA football 2005 and Top Spin play beautifully on it with no lag in full screen. If you use wide or zoom is gets more pixelated - so go with the regular full screen.



Hope that helps.


*wahoo

 

[PlaneNuts]

I'm considering the same two sets, but just recently reading about noise levels of both the fans, and color wheel on the Sammy. Will these things be audible during silent parts of tv/movies? Will this level of noise really be noticable to affect our choice?

 

[wahoodude23]

Quote:

Originally posted by PlaneNuts I'm considering the same two sets, but just recently reading about noise levels of both the fans, and color wheel on the Sammy. Will these things be audible during silent parts of tv/movies? Will this level of noise really be noticable to affect our choice?

I sit about 10 feet away from my TV and I can't notice any noise levels. Even during the silent part of shows. If you get up really close to the Sony - like 1-2 feet away, you can hear the faint fan noise - but who watches TV that close?


I can't speak to the Samsung but the Sony GW IV noise is really negligible.


*wahoo

 

[pad971]

Is the Sony subject to burn-in of the vertical black boxes when watching full mode?


If so, I believe that is a very significant factor for the next few years until more stuff is presented properly in 16x9.


I have the Samsung and the no-burnin feature of the DLP screen was a major factor in my decision since I expect to watch a fair amount of 4:3.

 

[wahoodude23]

Quote:

Originally posted by pad971 Is the Sony subject to burn-in of the vertical black boxes when watching full mode? If so, I believe that is a very significant factor for the next few years until more stuff is presented properly in 16x9. I have the Samsung and the no-burnin feature of the DLP screen was a major factor in my decision since I expect to watch a fair amount of 4:3.

As far as I know - the RP LCD screens don't have risk of burn-in either just like DLPs. Has anyone heard anything differently?


I heard burn-in risk is with LCD flat panels, RP CRTs, and plasma.



*wahoo

 

[71intheworks]

Quote:

Originally posted by wahoodude23 As far as video games go, I own an XBOX and NCAA football 2005 and Top Spin play beautifully on it with no lag in full screen. If you use wide or zoom is gets more pixelated - so go with the regular full screen. Hope that helps. *wahoo

I would much prefer to play video games in widescreen mode (if the game supports it) like Madden 05, etc... has anyone seen the motion artifacts and pixelation like wahoo?

 

[Slordak]

Quote:

Originally posted by pad971 Is the Sony subject to burn-in of the vertical black boxes when watching full mode? If so, I believe that is a very significant factor for the next few years until more stuff is presented properly in 16x9. I have the Samsung and the no-burnin feature of the DLP screen was a major factor in my decision since I expect to watch a fair amount of 4:3.

There's no true burn-in on any DLP or RP-LCD set. Hence, neither the Samsung nor the Sony being discussed here suffer from burn-in of the black bars when viewing in "Normal" (4x3) mode. This should not be a consideration when choosing between these two sets.


The nasty video lag on the Samsung DLPs for 480i input sources certainly could be a consideration, though...

 

[cracker23]

i'm also trying to decide between the hlp or gwiv. the only reason i haven't gotten the gwiv yet is the black levels. how bad is this problem? with a lamp on in the same room is it unnoticeable?

 

[Slordak]

With regards to the black levels on the GWIII and GWIV... It really depends on who you ask. Some folks consider it a major issue, others consider it a very minor nuisance. If you're someone who feels that blacks need to be absolute pitch-black, you may not be satisfied with this set. If you don't mind if the blacks glow a bit, you will find the set acceptable.


Bottom line, you're going to have to audition the set yourself (in a Tweeter or some such) to see how you feel about the black levels. If possible, you may also want to try at least user menu adjustments while you're there in the store to turn some settings down (since it may be set to "torch mode" and hence will already have problems with everything being too bright!).

 

[nixima]

I had the HLP for about 2 months and I just traded it in for the GWIV. I play a lot of video games on my PS2 and the lag was unacceptable on the HLP. I also saw rainbows like crazy but I got used to the TV after about a month and didn't notice them as much. I've only had the GWIV for a few days and I am very happy with it. There is no lag on my PS2 now. The integrated HD tuner is a nice feature also and it works very well. Of course this doesn't matter if you use a satellite service.


I agree that the black levels are not very good but the other features of the GWIV outweigh this issue. Having a lamp on does help this problem but does not eliminate it. I also agree that the build quality of the Sony is better. One example of this is sometimes the HLP would not turn on when I issued a power on from the remote and I would have to push the power button on the set. So far I have not experienced any quirks like this on the Sony.

 

[wahoodude23]

Quote:

Originally posted by Slordak With regards to the black levels on the GWIII and GWIV... It really depends on who you ask. Some folks consider it a major issue, others consider it a very minor nuisance. If you're someone who feels that blacks need to be absolute pitch-black, you may not be satisfied with this set. If you don't mind if the blacks glow a bit, you will find the set acceptable. Bottom line, you're going to have to audition the set yourself (in a Tweeter or some such) to see how you feel about the black levels. If possible, you may also want to try at least user menu adjustments while you're there in the store to turn some settings down (since it may be set to "torch mode" and hence will already have problems with everything being too bright!).

Well said - I completely agree with you. I have the 50" 655 GWIV and the blacks are definitely NOT pitch black - in a dark room you can definitely see the glow behind the screen - BUT that doesn't bother me too much. The other benefits of this set far outweigh the lacking black levels. The picture is bright, crisp, and clearer than the Samsung in my opinion. I agonized over this decision going to store after store. My friend owns a 2nd gen 43" Samsung DLP and I went over there and watched DVDs and played XBOX for hours to test it out before buying the Sony. The picture just didn't impress me as much as the Sony although the DLP blacks were much much better. The XBOX - I didn't notice any lag although my friends think its obvious - maybe I'm just not a very discerning gamer


You just have to figure out what characteristics are most impt to you. If black levels are a huge deal for you, maybe the GW isn't for you - but man o man - does it have a beautiful picture.


One thing I wanted to say about reliability. This forum raised major concerns for - fair or not - about the reliability of the Samsung DLPs because I read so many horrible stories here. I know 3 people who own Sammy DLPs ranging from 43" - 60" and not one of them have had a problem. Also - I've had my Sony for almost 2 weeks and no problems either. One time I turned it on and it wouldn't fire up so I had to press the power button the remote again and it was fine. Maybe the reliability issues are closer than ppl think. Who knows?


About widescreen video games - if the game supports widescreen I don't think artifacts or pixelation will be a problem. It's only the 480 games which don't look so great on wide mode.


*wahoo

 

[wahoodude23]

I wanted to thank everyone on this forum for their input. Here is a picture of the TV and setup that I finally decided on.


Sony Grand Wega LCD KDF50WE655



*wahoo

 

[NickHDTV]

Can anyone confirm if there are any differences in PQ between the GW.III and the GW.IV? There is a $750 price difference and I don't see any changes that would make a difference in Picture Quality. The slot and the tuner are nice but I wouldn't need them. Let me know if there are any difference in PQ.


Thanks

 

[bigdaddy999]

I was told that the light engine was "the same" but that the optics were different in that the WE655/GWIV series has the "XBR lenses" giving a better distribution of light across the screen relative to the 610/GWIII. That and the tuner/card and cosmetics.

 

[jonesi]

Quote:

Originally posted by NickHDTV Can anyone confirm if there are any differences in PQ between the GW.III and the GW.IV? There is a $750 price difference and I don't see any changes that would make a difference in Picture Quality. The slot and the tuner are nice but I wouldn't need them. Let me know if there are any difference in PQ. Thanks

$750 difference? I guess it depends on where you look. I got my GWIV within 220 of around where the GWIII is priced right now...


jonesi