LED vs LCD

[Riverboy]

Hi all, I am looking to buy a new TV. I am at a quandary between a LED tv and a LCD tv. I was at Best Buy today looking at a Samsung 46" with Internet capabilities. I know LED tv's are the new thing besides a 3D tv but don't really need that. I want to go with a good brand. Anybody have any recommendations? My room I am putting it in is about 12' wide by 20' or so with 3 large windows that face out to the backyard. Plasma's are out due to the reflection issue. The TV will be above a gas fireplace in its own cubby with power/ethernet hookups. 46" is the minimum and 55" would be about the max. Looking to spend around 1200 smacks.

 

[p-Bar]

Samsung is tops . Sorry they didn't educate you on LED / LCD . Flat screens are Plasma or LCD . When you LED that is the backlight used on the back of the LCD to light the display. older LCD's use a flourescent tube to do this the problem with these is the "contrast ratio" the blacks don't get black enough so they devised a way to backlight with a bunch of led's so they can be shut off individually to get the blackest blacks which now compete with the plasmas . Best Buy is ok to buy from but they sell entry level and older models . The bigger the better go with the 55 cause you don't want to say should a could a would a . The Samsung do have a pretty shiny surface though they did this to get a better contrast ratio. If you have to save your money to buy the right set and be sure you can do the netlix through the set too. Good luck

 

[dresslered]

I would vote for the Samsung as well. I have two of them. I have heard that the LG is a close runner up and less pricey.

 

[E7mack96]

Lg

I had 2 different LGs fail just before the warranty expired... and the only service center (as of last spring) was in CA. I decided not to ever buy a LG TV again. I am not shipping a TV to CA for repairs from FL



Tony

 

[Fireman Dave]

We got our 46" Samsung a couple of years ago - fantastic! It has the mat screen which cuts way down on glare. Two guys on the FD have LGs that took dumps on them. They look good and are cheaper, but seem to have a spotty track record. Also, check Amazon - we saved some significant money buying our Samsung through them.

 

[dresslered]

I bought my first 55" Samsung LED from Abe's of Maine. However, I had to take the day off from work to meet the delivery truck and check out the unit before accepting (Abe's rules). The second time around, I spent a little extra but bought it locally. The salesman was happy to see my 3500 in the parking lot as the lady before me wanted to have him put a large TV in her Prius--I knew those people had no sense.

 

[p-Bar]

If you want that Sammy to rock buy a calibration DVD by AVIA here is a link
Ovation Multimedia Avia II Calibration DVD 2 New! - eBay (item 160556600640 end time Apr-07-11 13:03:29 PDT)

 

[dresslered]

p-bar,

Maybe it is personal preference or I just don't have the eye for it, but I much prefer the uncal-ibrated setting on the Samsung. At a Best Buy store, I talked with a girl (who seemed very knowledgeable) and discussed the different methods of calibration. She talked me out of any kind of calibration even though they sold a $200 onsite calibration setup. Apparently, and only my opinion, the engineers at Samsung spent a lot of time researching just what gave the best picture. My vote is to go with the factory setting. I viewed identical TV's side-by-side one, being calibrated and the other being factory set, and the factory settings won hands down. She went as far as showing me a Blu-ray that showed the flaws with the factory settings. It seemed to only occur in a snow scene, and yes, the snow had a bluish tint. This was the only flaw that I could see and not having two TV's side-by-side at home, I doubt I will never notice this flaw. With the exception of bluish snow, every other scene that I saw was much more colorful and vivid with the factory settings. If you want the washed out colors, just buy the cheaper TV's.

 

[p-Bar]

Dave,

I wouldn't pay the 200. 00 The DVD is only 17. 00 but to each their own . I don't want blue snow or yellow snow:-laf

 

[GOlsen]

I know there are some people here that like their Samsungs, but I must say stay away! I have 2 Samsungs both with problems. My first one is a 61" LED DLP. 2 years to the day it stopped working. I bought a service manual and started poking around and found a bad sub power board and led driver board. Pretty ridiculous for a $2300 TV. The 2nd one is a 46" LCD and straight out of the box it had a checkerboard pattern on the screen. Took it back, second one does the same thing only intermittently. It's really too bad because the picture quality is awesome. If you do a search on the 'net, you'll find many other Samsung owners unhappy about their TVs.