considering about buying an lcd tv

[v1rus]

My 2 cents:

1. The only criteria for selecting a TV should be PQ as that is the primary function of a television.

2. There are numerous studies/reviews on internet which stress on the fact that difference in PQ depends on your viewing distance. But no study/review (for you) can be better judge than your eye.

Therefore, as you have also decided, auditioning a television set is your best bet.


Bottomline: Compare HD Ready with FUll HD, using True HD Content.
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I have a different opinion on this. Audition with the content you primarily intend to see on your LCD. If television is primarily to be used for DTH viewing the TV with better PQ on SD/1080i feed is better for your needs if you intend to watch HD movies/Blue Rays TV with better PQ on HD feed suits your need.

Also you can keep following in mind:
1. Most display sets in show rooms are configured with High colour and contrast to give optimum PQ in show room like environment and therefore ask the shop keepe to change every television you audition to say "Cinema" mode as that is closer to how you will configure your television at your home.

2. As you are planning to buy a LCD/LED television do keep in mind the viewing angle. Audition your television from different viewing angles to make sure the PQ is consistent across the arc.

3. Play a channel/video with fast moving content to make sure you donot end up getting blurry images while watching your favourite sports channel (LCD TVs Get Faster Refresh Rates | PCWorld)

Finally just remember nothing is perfect in this world if there would have been a perfect television we all would have bought the same . So buy the one which you find the best

Cheers!!

 

[Jaymin]

If television is primarily to be used for DTH viewing the TV with better PQ on SD/1080i feed is better for your needs

Even for 1080i content, u need the width of 1080 pixels for best viewing. If u fit in 1080i content into 768 pixels, then the picture will look stretched vertically - looks odd.

Talking of PQ - what does it depend on? Doesnt it depend a lot on the no. of pixels, then the type of scanning (p/i), Refresh rate, Static Contrast ratio.........? If u have lesser pixels, no matter whats the scan technology, no matter how much refresh rate it supports or what its contrast ratio is. U will be limited by the lesser no. of pixels.
U r saying as if PQ doesnt have any connection with the no. of pixels on the screen.

Viewing angles - thats an issue only in Plasma TVs, which are out of question right now. NORMALLY most Screens today are capable of 178 degrees of viewing angle. Yes, but that needs to be ensured.

Lastly - the link u provided - LCD TVs Get Faster Refresh Rates | PCWorld did u read which year it is? Its Feb 2007. Agreed that we have to go for higher refresh rates, but then most TVs today support a rate of 100 Hz or more. Yeah if u buy cheaper ones, lesser known ones, u might end up with lower refresh rates.

 

[v1rus]

U r saying as if PQ doesnt have any connection with the no. of pixels on the screen.


As i have mentioned earlier as well, (every other thing being constant) PQ is a function of both distance and resolution both and does not depend on resolution alone.

Even for 1080i content, u need the width of 1080 pixels for best viewing. If u fit in 1080i content into 768 pixels, then the picture will look stretched vertically - looks odd.


What do you think happens when you provide SD feed to an HD television?


Viewing angles - thats an issue only in Plasma TVs, which are out of question right now. NORMALLY most Screens today are capable of 178 degrees of viewing angle. Yes, but that needs to be ensured.


Nope.

From Wikipedia page: Wider viewing angles than those of LCD; images do not suffer from degradation at high angles unlike LCDs[6][7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display)

Other google search results:
Google


Lastly - the link u provided - LCD TVs Get Faster Refresh Rates | PCWorld did u read which year it is? Its Feb 2007. Agreed that we have to go for higher refresh rates, but then most TVs today support a rate of 100 Hz or more. Yeah if u buy cheaper ones, lesser known ones, u might end up with lower refresh rates.

The intention was to provide the information so that OP can keep this in mind and audition the television with a fast moving video. As even you have mentioned ("but then most TVs today support a rate of 100 Hz or more") that not all TVs have equal refresh rates don't you think while auditioning it should be kept in mind?

I see this daily on a not very old Panasonic LCD in our office canteen (I donot know what model it is). The ticker at the bottom of news channel is always blurry.

Just to clarify I never meant an offence so do not take this personally.


Cheers!!

 

[Jaymin]

Even i dont mean any offence. I am just clarifying a few things.

Distance i think is a a non-existent factor. Coz when someone says "I will watch at xyz feet from TV", then they wont stay stuck at that distance. In most places - be it homes or offices, people do tend to watch from lesser distances. And the image then looks totally awkward.

All i want to say is that the viewers wont keep themselves tied to their seats at that xyz distance. So that factor shudnt be considered at all. Take the case at my place only. Theres a gap of good 8-10 feet from the TV. But at times theres multi-tasking. ie, Watching TV and doing some work. and at that time the distance reduces down to even 3-4 feet. So its not hard & fast that u always watch from a particular distance, it keeps changing.

This reasoning just appears to me as a gimmick to clear stock of HD ready TVs, which under normal circumstances people dont prefer. Atleast the people who know the difference between HD Ready & Full HD.

And btw, whats the difference in pricing between the HD Ready TV & the Full HD TV?