[oss]

Hi All,

I am in the market for buying a LCD TV (37") and started with the idea of going in for a Full HD model (1080p).

I had almost finalised on Samsung LN37A550 till i saw the Sharp LC37A53M. Now, though the Sharp model is only HD ready and not Full HD, it has a frame rate of 100Hz, and frankly i loved the picture quality of this model compared to the full HD Samsung model. Also i had doubts about the qulity of Samsung panels.

I had almost decided to go in for the Sharp, when they launched this new model LC37A65 which is a full HD model. However, it does not have the double framerate (100Hz) technology

Now both these models cost around the same 64-65k, and therefore the confusion is should i go for the Full HD model (LC37A65) with 50Hz framerate or the 100HZ framerate model (LC37A53M) and compromise with the HD ready model

What is forum members advice? Which is a better feature to go in for ????

PS to MODs: Though there is a thread on LCD TV since it has gone too big, and is heavily oriented towards Plasmas, i had opened this new thread.

[SkyWalker]

Why do you need a FullHD on a 37" model? Research has shown that people wont be able to make a difference between 1080p & 720p (or 768p) on models under 50".

And if you are thinking of using it as a computer monitor too - at 1080p, text would be too small to be legible. At 60-70 price range you could get a non-100Hz 42" model though with FullHD.

[Fillmore]

Here is my advice..

1. Sharp
Sharp is quite durable, I can say this because our office cafeteria has a Sharp LCD which runs continuously for 14 hrs a day non stop daily. And in the past 1 year I have not seen any image degradation.

Given the 2 models you have shortlisted, Since the price is almost the same do not consider this as a factor for deciding.

Rest is , 1080p/60hz Vs 720p/100 hz

- Resolution: You will not be able to find any difference in image quality between 1080p and 720p on a 37". If any it would be very very very minimum and that too when viewing 1080p video streams. i.e. if you have HD content streaming.
For this you need either a HD DVD player or Blue-Ray or a N/w media player streaming HD content.

Traditional DVD's will not have any difference. Even if the DVD player says Upscale to 1080p its all bull****.
i.e. A DVD player that upscals 420p to 1080p is nowhere close to the clarity you get viewing original 720p content let alone original 1080p content.

Next the 100hz/60hz
Here I think you should check it out for yourself. To do this pick a good quality DVD which has some fast moving action scenes.
Ask the showroom guy to play these scenes on both TV's. If you notice difference in clarity during the fast moving sequences. Go for the 100hz TV even if its just 720p.

Hope this helps.

[oss]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

Research has shown that people wont be able to make a difference between 1080p & 720p (or 768p) on models under 50".

That's news to me, but yes, it certainly makes sense.

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Resolution: You will not be able to find any difference in image quality between 1080p and 720p on a 37". If any it would be very very very minimum and that too when viewing 1080p video streams.

Next the 100hz/60hz: Here I think you should check it out for yourself. To do this pick a good quality DVD which has some fast moving action scenes. Ask the showroom guy to play these scenes on both TV's. If you notice difference in clarity during the fast moving sequences. Go for the 100hz TV even if its just 720p.

That's what i am planning to do now.

Actually earlier i saw a 1080p Sony & 720p Samsun, and found the Sony to be offering better picture quality. But this could be due to the inherent capability of Sony to reproduce pictures better.

Let me check out both 720p/100Hz & 1080p/50Hz simultaneously and report the findings.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by oss

Actually earlier i saw a 1080p Sony & 720p Samsun, and found the Sony to be offering better picture quality. But this could be due to the inherent capability of Sony to reproduce pictures better.

at the risk of contradicting myself, let me see - yes you will find a difference - mostly if your viewing distance is under 3 feet. This is typically what happens if you are in a store to check out.

In your house you will be viewing it at a distance of 6' or more and you will be finding hardly any differences then. But that being said most 42" LCDs are now 1080p, so no big deal.

[oss]

My viewing distance will be about 7-8ft. You are right, many websites do mention that same thing.

I got this excellent link from the other thread on LCD TV buying: 1080p Does Matter - Here's When (Screen Size vs. Viewing Distance vs. Resolution) CarltonBale.com

Anyways, I am going to check both the models today. Will post my feedback once i check them out.

[oss]

BTW, can we expected any reduction in the prices of LCDs on account of the 4% reduction in excise duty?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Go in for a full HD eyes closed. Normally we keep a tv for atleast 8-10 years and i'm sure in another 3years everything will be full HD. Tata sky will launch HD service by first or second quarter next year as well.

From personal experience: i bought a Sony 'D' series 40 inch LCD (non full HD) last year and last month got a full HD sony 'W' series, again 40inches. Trust me, i just hate to watch tv on the D series and transfered it from my room to my grandfathers and took his 'W' one.

I saw this difference in pic quality from regular tata sky stb. Ofcourse a 1080p upscaling player or a blue ray played through PS3 changes the quality dramatically!

Save up money and buy the tv after a few months, but go in for full HD.

[gopalnayak]

Originally Posted by oss

Let me check out both 720p/100Hz & 1080p/50Hz simultaneously and report the findings.

The best would be to go for a 1080p/100Hz model. If you are buying a 100Hz model, make sure it has some kind of motion compensation built-in. Otherwise, it is absolutely of no use. Such models tend to cost close to a lakh. If you are running short of budget, my vote would go to 720p/100Hz.

BTW, I assume you have checked up the brightness and Contrast ratio specs. These specs are equally important.

[oss]

OK; finally managed to do the comparison in the last couple of days. Comparing the 100Hz models with non-100Hz and also the 1080p v/s 720p.

As already mentioned by many (thx skywalker on this one), for a 37inch, 720p does the job very well. However when it comes to 100Hz, it has a marked difference over the 50 Hz model. I checked this on Sharp, Philips, Sony, and Hitachi and the conclusion is same for all.

I also did cross comparisons, a Philips model 42" 1080p/100Hz with a Sony 1080p/50Hz, and it is very evident that 100Hz clearly makes a difference.

Considering the fact that i am looking at a 37", the vote is clearly in favour of 100Hz.

1080p & 100Hz would've have a deadly combination, but not many offer it in the 37' and also the cost goes very high. Sony especially rips off in this area with only the X-series offering both charging somewhere around 1.3lakhs for a 42". Hitchi has the best model at 1lakk in the 37" ultra-thin model.

I have decided to go in for Sharp LC-37A53M, a 37", 720p & 100Hz model. Price quoted is 64k.

Thanks all for all your suggestions.

Originally Posted by gopalnayak

The best would be to go for a 1080p/100Hz model. If you are buying a 100Hz model, make sure it has some kind of motion compensation built-in. Otherwise, it is absolutely of no use. Such models tend to cost close to a lakh. If you are running short of budget, my vote would go to 720p/100Hz.

BTW, I assume you have checked up the brightness and Contrast ratio specs. These specs are equally important.

Now, what is this motion compensation stuff

The dynamic contrast ratio is 8000:1 and the brightness is 450cd/m2. Guess this should be alright. The response time is 4ms which is really good.

Most of the good models come with 10000:1 / 500 / 5-6ms specs.

[gopalnayak]

Originally Posted by oss

Now, what is this motion compensation stuff

Even though the normal TV transmission is at 50Hz, it is actually 25 frames per second due to interlaced transmission. TVs without motion compensation actually show you each of these 25 frames 4 times, making it 100Hz. TVs with motion compensation actually show 100 different frames. They achieve this by comparing 2 consecutive frames in the actual transmission, analyse the movements and insert the extra 3 frames. Philips calls it Digital Natural Motion (available in most of the TVs with Pixel Plus), others call it MotionPro, etc. You can visit eZone or some place with high end Philips LCD and see the difference for yourself.
Hitachi 37" ultra slim is the best of the lot and you should seriously consider this one.

Originally Posted by oss

The dynamic contrast ratio is 8000:1 and the brightness is 450cd/m2. Guess this should be alright. The response time is 4ms which is really good.
Most of the good models come with 10000:1 / 500 / 5-6ms specs.

This looks OK.

[Porus]

My $0.02 suggestion

why not try out panasonic 37" ?

[oss]

Was looking for LX800 or LZ80, but couldn't find them in many dealerships/showrooms.

Not really impressed with any other LCD models of Pana.


MODS: Pls remove this post; i was trying to merge two posts into one, but ended up creating a back-to-back post

[oss]

Originally Posted by gopalnayak

Hitachi 37" ultra slim is the best of the lot and you should seriously consider this one.

Hitachi UT37MX700A is ofcourse the best of the lot. It's a wonderful piece but the least i could get it for is 1.05 lakhs. I am really not sure if i want to spend that kind of money on it though it probably does deserve it.

Originally Posted by Porus

why not try out panasonic 37" ?

Was looking for LX800 or LZ80, but couldn't find them in many dealerships/showrooms.

Not really impressed with any other LCD models of Pana.

[Elito11]

Originally Posted by oss

Hitachi UT37MX700A is ofcourse the best of the lot. It's a wonderful piece but the least i could get it for is 1.05 lakhs. I am really not sure if i want to spend that kind of money on it though it probably does deserve it.

No Way! For that price you are better of with the Sharp.

Was looking for LX800 or LZ80, but couldn't find them in many dealerships/showrooms.

Not really impressed with any other LCD models of Pana.

The LX800 should be availaible, try and look again. At abt 50k its VFM for what it offers.

Also 100Hz is very useful if you are going to majorly use it for SD content. Else for HD or gaming purpose the there are are similar or better LCDs at that price (very debatable ). Like the Sony X and W series.

Elito