I want your opinion on 3D TV...RIGHT NOW!

My experience isn't 100% failure: my dad's set still works (and would apparently have better picture if you make an adjustment)...my grandmother also has a Samsung LCD that is working. I just brought up what problems I have seen with the brand to balance complete praise of the brand.

PQ is dependant on individual models...the highest rated line of TVs for PQ has been the Pioneer Kuro. While LCDs are getting better, I have noticed their main problems have been color range. For some folks, that's not perceivable and they respond to oversaturated colors. That's one of the reasons Best Buy always have TVs set on vivid color profiles, and why some HDTV shows seem way to oversaturated. Resolution is less critical if you don't have a full range of color on the screen.

Will any 2011 TV best the 2008 Pioneer Kuro? | Crave - CNET

 

Just get one of each

 

Hah! Sweet, I found the off-topic boards...nice...

My two cents: 3D tvs are absolutely great, but ONLY if you buy them because they are a good tv. As an owner of a 3D Samsung, its cool for watching stuff formatted in 3D and videogaming but otherwise, it's little more then a parlor trick. Don't get me wrong, I do watch it in 3D but its normally used for some type of special occasion. Any 3D tv MUST be a good stand alone tv. In otherwords, take the fact that it is 3D out of your buying equation. Really, it's little more then icing on the cake. Also as an aside, I got my tv for a steal when my sister's bf needed some fast cash...sucks for him, great for me.

As for the LED/Plasma/LCD arguments. I would say that what you want should depend strongly on what the application is. Plasma tvs are great and almost always have a higher refresh rate (less blurring when the picture is showing something moving), but if you plan on watching it in a brightly lit room the colors may appear washed out. On the otherhand, LED tv's are normally brighter and somewhat overbearing in a dimly lit basement.

Oh and mac, dynamic contrast has different levels...normally a low, medium, high or off setting.

 

fwiw, we have a 7 year old 42" panasonic plasma in the living room and a 3 year old 37" samsung lcd in the kitchen where we usually watch tv. the samsung has a great hd pic, but, whenever we go in the living room, the pic seems a little better. other than that, i never notice. and for regular tv viewing (shows/sports/movies) i have never seen any ghosting or anything negative. btw, had the samsung repaired 5 times under warranty for the same sound and pic problems. all the do is take it off the wall, remove the back and change out the mother board. it's been fine after the fifth and final fix. and this is my second samsung, the first one crapped out after a month and had to be fixed.

 

Bisco, did you ever calibrate the tvs? Alot of people forget that step but it would justify the difference in clarity

 

no, they are both out of the box with adjustments to brightness and etc. what do you mean by calibrate?

 

Brightness, contrast, sharpness, color backlight, tint...all that fun stuff. They are supposed to be changed based on where your tv is and what you are viewing. I know they make a dvd that helps you change the settings but I can't remember the name of it or where to get it.

 

I am glad you asked.... Calibration of monitors is one of the tasks I do at the Network. For me it involves the use of a calibration tool that attaches to the screen. You then send a flat field Luminance signal of 10% and one of 90%. At the 10% setting you will set the RGB Black offsets. The 90% level will allow you to set the RGB white offsets. This will then give you a PERFECT Black and White picture. Why would you want perfect B&W you ask? If the settings are off for the B&W portion of a picture, how can the color component of the picture be properly displayed. Back in the days of NTSC, ALL TV's had a "Service Switch" in the back. You enable it, the screen would collapse to 1 line of raster. You then backed off on the RGB gain controls, and then bring them back up just to the point they are visible. When all 3 color are set properly you would have a nice PERFECT WHITE line. If you ever watched a nice old B&W flick and notice the screen has a Red of Green or Blueish tinge to it, this adjustment process will take care of that and give you a true B&W picture.
Once that is set, color naturally falls into place. All that is required at that point is to set Chroma levels, Chroma Phase should be good, I usually trim this setting of Phase off of skin tone which works best for me, the problem is you have to find a station that takes the time to set their cameras properly!
After I get done with a set, it is PERFECT, and my bosses are happy, which makes me happy!
And they pay me to play with these toys!!!

 

thanks! i have adjusted them all. it also depends on what you are watching and how bright the room is. i find the lcd to be a bit dark for dvd's no matter how i adjust the settings, although, i tried the bluray player on it and it seemed better.

 

OK I am putting my money where my mouth is! After offering a load of comment on this subject, that and the old Flat Screen blew up in the windstorm last week. Tonight I went out ponied up $989.00 for a LG 55" NON 3D HDTV. I will be bringing the Color Analyzer home this weekend, and give this set a good workout. If there is any interest, I can do a writeup and stick in in Fred's HOP!
I have been playing with it for the last 3 hours or so, and I have to say for under $1k, this is a great buy. I also picked up the 3 year extended warranty. That only cost $60 bucks, that's $20 bucks a year. 5 years of complete coverage I hope I never have to use! They would come to me, repair, fix, or replace for the full 5 years. After that, it's time for a Holodeck!
I figure by then a HDTV will consist of a box about the size of a small tissue box. Well you have to have room for all the connectors. The screen will come rolled up in a tube and you stick it to your wall, just like wallpaper. You would then plug the "Wallpaper" into the small box and BAMN,
Wall HDTV... COOL!

 

No by that time, you'll have wireless HDMI.

 

I have an old set from the 70's with a rotary click-click-click knob for channel selection and a "colour adjustment" button that just makes everything look almost inverted.

Every now and then the whole thing takes on a green hue. My "calibration" method involves smacking it rather hard on its right side which beats it into submission. Picture restored.

 

You can't do it with a digital signal containing DRM. You will need to use an analog output from the DVR. To keep the quality close to HD, use the composite video output. Since the DVR will only output at full speed, it will take the full time to transfer.

Tom

 

Nice! Did you go LCD or plasma? I still have my eyes on the LG 55LW6500 3D or 55LW5600 3D. More often than not these days, LG sorts to the top of my list even though I have no bias. Have an LG washer showing up Friday, to repace a leaky 1st gen front loader.

 

recording oaklands loss to miami for posterity?

 

I use that technique on the Studio Cameras every once in a while when I am working the stage on "General Hospital". A camera starts throwing glitches into the HD Video does not go over well in the Control Room! A good whack can tell you more is 5 seconds sometimes, than all the Service Manuals in China!
It instantly indicates something is LOOSE! I open the side door, power down the Camera Head, reseat all circuit boards, and tighten all connectors. The heat and movement gremlins can run rampant in a Camera if your are not careful!!
Hell that method works well on Diesel Generators also. When I was working the Olympics in Sarajevo in '84, I was called to a venue that had a Generator problem. I show up and in addition to the usual Engineers I work with was the Head of Engineering, his Second in Command, and my boss. Having meet the boss's the night before over drinks at the hotel, he immediately spotted me and told me to "FIX IT".
CRAP, all I could think of was give the Generator a quick once over, check the tank, make sure ignition was ON, and then, for good measure, I SMACKED THE HELL OUT OF IT!
I waited 5 seconds as they all looked at me open mouthed, and hit the starter button, DAMN, it even surprised the hell out of me, because it started right up! BAMM! We had power, coverage could now continue!
The head of Engineering looked over at my compadres, points at me and stated, "Now that's a Engineer, what's wrong with the rest of you!
Luck, she's a bitch...but a useful one!