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Yes I have searched the forums for this and found stuff so please do not ask. However, the discussions are 3 months old and technology changes weekly now it seems. Also, I have a more specific question. I am looking at getting a 55" LCD and have narrowed it down to Sony or Samsung.
Both the Sony Bravia 500 Series and the Samsung 630 Series have really good reviews. Does anyone actually have one of these two tv's? I found two reviews for the Sony that said after 14 months it crapped out and Sonys assistance was less than assistive and was wondering if anyoine else has had this issue or knowledge of Sony products reliability.
As for the Samsung, the only real issue was glare in a well lit room. Our LR is not real bright unless we open the curtains all the way but was just wondering is anyone has any experience on this?
if you twlking about picture qaulity then you can look on google for reviews frothose who actually use lab test.As to user reviews often you only hear from those that have had them a short time or got a bad set really as far as going out. OC world ;c-net and other right now are rqving about the picture quality of the new vizo highend sets for the cost. It and a Samsung are tweo top picks but Samsung is much higher in cost with little difference.As to reliabilty its like any elecdtronic in that those who get a bad set or go out for other reasons often are found on user reviews alnog with those who are amaqzed but only had them a short while.
Samsung LN52B630 52-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
During all my research, I was 95% convinced I was going to buy one of the Panasonic G10 plasma screens, and that the truer blacks and better motion resolution would be more my style, but upon spending quite a bit of time comparing screens and customizing settings, it became clear to me that the LCD, in particular the 630, was superior in the ways that really mattered to me.
The LN52B630 is a matte screen LCD, and not only do I prefer its anti-glare properties, I also prefer the way it displays images. It has its own built-in softness that is warm and smooth.
It's a cold cathode fluorescent light-lit screen. I found it superior to the edge-lit LED LCDs I sampled. Actual BACK-lit LED LCDs might be a different story, double if they have local dimming, triple if they use RGB LEDs. But I haven't felt any sort of contrast deficit.
240Hz is totally useless to me as I absolutely cannot stand the Soap Opera Effect/AutoMotion. 120Hz does perfect 5:1 pull-down of 24fps Blu-ray so there's exactly zero advantage to 240Hz over 120Hz to me.
Right out of the box, the LN52B630 is a disaster. You have to tweak just about every possible setting in the User Menu. The AutoMotion has to be turned to ZERO immediately and never touch it again. The backlight level must be turned way down -- I use 5. Sharpness to zero. Turn off Black Tone, Dynamic Contrast, Gamma, Flesh Tone, Edge, Digital NR, and Game Mode. Then you have to break into the Service Menu using a special code. Using the Service Menu I properly adjusted all the geometry, turned down all three Sub-Sharpness parameters, tweaked Sub-Color, and reduced the Noise Reduction setting to absolute zero (even with Digital NR in "off" in the User Menu there's still an annoying amount of unnatural NR going on).
The "speakers" are utter garbage, but I've got a wonderful two-channel stereo speaker + dual subwoofer system hooked up (I've never heard an impressive home surround system, even highly touted ones, and "HT in a box" systems are a crime against cinema and music).
I feed 720p FIOS (the 1080i FIOS is not as clean) and Blu-ray to this screen, both with HDMI (which gives perfect lip sync by the way) and have gotten loads of complements and expressions of surprise, most of them from people who have their own 50 to 60 inch LCD or plasma screens. It's just stunning, clean, and gorgeous. Blacks are very dark and motion is never an issue in sports or movies (remember that 24fps Blu-ray/your local movie cinema is really not all that smooth anyway).
I highly recommend this screen, but only if you're willing to do some work on it. But I think a lot of televisions in box-stock settings are a nightmare, so just be aware of that.
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