fishamaphone said:
Just for you, Kwaad, I made a point of finding every store that *might* sell TVs in the mall, and checked them out.
Electronics store:
Wall of 30 screens, all 30". All HD, all showing the same TV channel ("Hot HD," Hot being the local cable company). No two had the same picture. I saw two Samsung TVs next to each other. One had way too much orange, the other had a stretched image. Next to that was a Panasonic screen: fuzzy. LG had lines through it. Etc, etc. The only one that didn't actually have "HD" or "HDMI" somewhere on it was a Konka, and it was fuzzier than the ones around it, but not the fuzziest on the wall (that goes to the Panasonic screen).
Office Depot:
Five HD screens, showing different stuff, or turned off.
Home Center:
Three standard-def CRT TVs.
Bug (computer store):
Five 15" HD screens, but they all had static images, no video.
Take that as you will.
EDIT: Are you sure they were full HD video? I have seen the HD label on SDTV feeds alot. lol
EDIT: LG and Panasonic do suck. Steer clear. (at wal-mart they look the best)
1. If a HDTV has a stretched image, Make sure it is an HD feed. If it is not, keep away.
2. If the color is way too orange, check the settings some idiot turned the color way up, and set the color warmth on a samsung screen all the way up. I have seen every samsung screen made this generation, and last, and havent experienced either of those problems.
3. All HDTVs that are bought today should have HDMI, unless your looking at a cheap one. And then component should be fine.
4. Office depot, keep away from there.
5. Home center - rofl
6. Bug - 15" HD screens are wide aspect ratio computer monitors.
Go to a TV store. If you have an HHgregg within the same state as you, it is worth the drive IMO. I drive 70 miles to mine. My brother has one 20 miles from him... I've been to both stores.
They hook up their HDTVs properly, and you can tell a difference... properly.
At HHGregg, 90% of the time, the more expensive TV will look better. and 10% it wont. Welcome to the world of consumer electronics. Not all sonys are great. Just most.
I bought my First HDTV at a target. it had the best looking screen at target. Even over the Sonys. I walk into a HHGregg, and I look at my exact HDTV, beside a sony of the same general size. I seroiusly wanted to cry. My Screen looked like CRAP. Infact, compared to most screens it looks like crap.
There is color optimization on all HDTVs. It's their image processor. Some stores, Wal-mart, Sears, Target. Run a Image processor before the video feed wich makes all screens look identical, and if anything, hurts the Best looking TVs because their video processor cant do anything better, and ends up hurting the image.
Moral of the story. I bought my TV at HHGregg. I can put my old TV beside my samsung. It is the same diffrence as at HHGregg. It is NOT like at Target, where the old one does NOT.
A good way to tell if they are running a video optimizer is to go to a samsung screen with DNIe. Turn it on to 'demo'. If the left side of the screen starts to look overly done, and nowhere near as clean as the right side. Leave the store, and never look at their TVs agian.
DNIe does lower the image quality but it makes the colors ALOT better. At WalMart and at Target, and Sears. If you turn it on, it makes the colors worse, and the image quality is crap.
I have never experienced that. (what I mean is, when I turn DNIe on, I do loose some image quality, but the colors are 10x better in most things)
BluRay, PS3 gameplay, HDTV, DVD. DNIe does drop the image quality, but it should ALWAYS and i mean almost ALWAYS help the color. If it makes the colors look worse. They have a killer image processor on the feed.
I dont like the way HDTVs are being sold. You cant compare them honestly.
Some HDTVs look better than others. Some are cheaper than others. Usually you dont expect a cheaper screen to look better than a expensive screen.
You buy a HDTV at wal-mart, target, sears. You buy the best looking screen, becuase it's the cheapest. You take it home, hook it up... holy crap. what happend. it looks like ass.
The image processor is the 2nd most imporant part on a HDTV besides the screen. Wal-mart, Target, Sears. It looks better there, if the Image processor is horrible, because it does less to alter the optimized image.
I was seriously dissapointed in that when I realised that. I was at a wal-mart playing with the HDTVs. and I was wondering. "Why does this 40inch Samsung, the 720p version of what I have... look the worst besides that Sony? Wait, why does a sony look the WORST?!"
I spent 15 minutes playing with settings trying to make it look better. Nothing could help the image.
I turned on the DNIe, and the picture just got HORRIBLE. What is my conclusion? They are running something similar to DNIe on the video feed to optimize for LCD HDTVs and thus, the image on the cheaper screens looks best because the Samsung and Sony further try to optimize the image. (cant be done)
The only TVs I recommend... anywhere, are those I have seen at HHGregg. (the diffrence is that big)
Don't you love it when people tell you how much their stuff costs!
Essay Pro