Got my 32" lcd tv and it's kicking ass...

[mr. nails]

Priority list for LCD's (in my opinion):

1) Contrast Ratio
2) Response Time (if its above 8ms, don't even consider buying it, book it out of there asap lol)
3) Viewing angle --> Tilt Radius, basically, is the viewing angle obtuse or acute, obviously go with something that is as obtuse as possible.
4) Inputs/Outputs, don't buy anything that does not have any of the following:

-HDMI input
-At least 1 component (set) input(s)
-At least 2 composit inputs
-Optional, it just sweetens the deal, look for a VGA input
-At least 1 DVI input
Almost all LCD's out there now (27" and up) meet the above guidelines

5) Cost.

so, if u have the time could u plz elaborate on what u said? what do these do and why would a person need them. i'm thinking of buying one and like i said be4... i'm ignorant @ the fact of what i need and what's good. ppl that know about these and of course actually have owned a couple should have good input. talking to sells reps aren't my thing cuz all they do is try to sell u something instead of actually helping u. thx in advance!

[jetje]

just buy a Philips with ambilight and you'll be fine. It;s the best quality out there.
for instance the "Widescreen flat TV with Pixel Plus 2 HD and Ambilight 2 channel 32" LCD HD Ready 32PF9830/10 "


i myself have this one with ambilight (so not he 2 version!) and it's fabulous.

Make sure you adjust the size of the screen on the distance that you can take from the screen. That way you will have the best performance and most enjoyable view!

Distances to take:
20-27 inch display à 61cm –-> 1m52
32-37 inch display à 1m82 –-> 2m43
42-46 inch display à 3m05 –-> 4m27
50 Inch display à 3m65 --> 4m87

[suprafreak6]

and how much does that cost..remember cost is a problem in our country...

[lynx]

and how much does that cost..remember cost is a problem in our country...

If you were a software engineer you would describe that as a "feature".

[cpt_azad]

and how much does that cost..remember cost is a problem in our country...

If you were a software engineer you would describe that as a "feature".

hahahaha

Contrast Ratio:
Ratio of the luminosity of the brightest and the darkest color the system is capable of producing. (wiki)

example: 400:1(typical movie theater scenario) compared to 4000:1 means the 400:1 will show the colors at a lower "level" of light intensity (as in the color black won't really look black, but a bit brighter, and a very vibrant bright color such as red won't really look that vibrant) and the 4000:1 will up the "level" of intensity 10 fold. Meaning the 4000:1 ratio will show black shades (or just pure black) the way they're supposed to be displayed (ok that's a flawed statement, it won't be pure black, but damn close [close enough not to tell difference]) and bright vibrant colors the way they're supposed to be shown.

That's my definition for Contrast Ratio, so please correct me because I know there's a bunch of holes in that statement, but it's a "dumbified" version that's good enough for the average consumer.

Response Time:
From what I know, it's the amount of time it takes the liquid crystal cell (LCD screens, what's in em) to go from black to white then back to black again (active->inactive->active) and is always measured in milliseconds. The less milliseconds it takes the better, meaning, say you're playing a game, and it's fast paced, a very high response time (16 ms +) will make it look really crappy, with lots of blurring (no, not motion blur, the crappy blur) and not to mention it won't be the fast paced game you want it to be, since what you're doing with the controller is in real time (so is the system in question) but your TV/screen can't keep up (16ms is hella fast, but you have to take into consideration there are usually 30+ frames per second...).

The lower the response time, the better and more crisp it will look, like the way the game/movie was intended. So buying a TV/screen with a low response time (less than 8 is what you're shooting for, there are screens out there that can do it under 4ms [here] and some even 2ms) means better the quality of entertainment.

Viewing Angle:
All LCD's emit light in a linear fashion, there really isn't a definition in my head that I can think of at the moment, so you might have to google it, but what it means is that the best way to view things on the TV/screen is to sit directly in front of it (DO NOT get it confused with sitting in front of the TV like 1 feet away, what I mean is, you want to be sitting a distance away that is perfectly perpendicular to the center of the TV, so not to view the TV at an angle, like off to the side or something, perfectly centered). Viewing angle matters because, say you wanna watch a movie and you're friends are over, well all of you can't sit in the center (unless it's a chick, let her sit on your lap ) so they will most likely have to sit to the left of the center and the right of the center, depending on the degree to that straight perpendicular line, they might not be able to see the pictures being emmited by the TV, it'll look dark and garbled.

The TV I have you can view at an angle of no more than 160 degrees, which is very impressive. It also depends on how far away from the TV it is too. So go for a TV that has a higher viewing angle.

Inputs/Outputs:
There is no point in getting a TV/screen that is HDTV ready that does not have HDMI or DVI, but don't worry, almost all TV's now a days, LCD or not, have those inputs. HDMI is true High Definition, and when things like PS3 and Blu Ray (or HD DVD) become popular, you'll be glad you have HDMI for your TV so you can watch/listen in true High Definition, I have to point out that we really aren't in the High Definition era yet, we have the technology but nothing to utilize it with. DVI is basically HDMI minus the audio, HDMI being both hi def video and audio. Component is a step down, you'll need this to view things in 720p and 1080i (HDMI being 1080p and everything in between) and is a must for now (until true Hi def comes out), and all LCD's come with at least one set of Component inputs (1 set because for component, there is a blue, green, and red wire dedicated to video and video only to bring out clarity and step up the quality, less signal loss basically), but usually when you buy LCD tv's you want to hook up your DVD player and say an xbox or something, so having 2 sets of components (2 blue, 2 green, 2 red inputs for video) is highly favored. Composite is also included in everything, it's what we've been using for like the last 6 years, I don't even know how long.

But like I said, almost all LCD's have the input/output priority taken care of, but never hurts to know and make sure.

Cost:
Self-Explanatory, but I want to take the time to say, do not spend 3000 dollars (arbitrary number) or something on a "Sony" LCD or a Phillips or Samsung, when you can get pretty much the same thing (quality and features) for a fraction of the cost. When researching, here's what I do (did, same thing lol): take the total cost (yes taxes too) then divide it by the number of inches, so for example:

27" TV costs 989 after taxes, 989/27 = 36.63 dollars for 1 inch

This will help you in determining what's the best. But in saying that, don't go for the cheapest one out there either. I can honestly say, the Prima 32" that I have right now, a brand that I've never heard of until I bought the TV, can outperform (quality wise, I don't care if you believe me or not, at the end of the day I'm happy cuz I get better quality than a Phillips or Samsung and having spent less than half) the same category Phillips and Samsung LCD's, the only thing that my TV is shunted by is the Sharp AQUOS TV's.

Also, take into consideration how much you're gonna use it, what you're gonna use it for (I've yet to use my LCD to watch regular TV). That way you can justify the price.

And in saying all that, when you're watching a movie or playing a game, please for the love of god, close the blinds and turn the lights off. Even the slightest light pollution within the room of the TV will cause quality degration. And also, buy a good home theater system and hook it up to your DVD player/360/ps2/whatever with optical audio, you won't regret it.

Hope that helped.

[mr. nails]

Hope that helped.

yes sir! thank u. to answer ur question on how much i'd be using this tv and for what purpose... well, pretty much everything. all my movies i have, all my consoles i have, and of course.. MY PC!!! lol, can't wait to see what css is gonna look like.

one more question. u said something about the response time going from black to white then back to black again. cool, understood. then u gave that link to that acer lcd. it's talking about grey to grey and not the example u gave. what's the difference?

[cpt_azad]

Hope that helped.

yes sir! thank u. to answer ur question on how much i'd be using this tv and for what purpose... well, pretty much everything. all my movies i have, all my consoles i have, and of course.. MY PC!!! lol, can't wait to see what css is gonna look like.

one more question. u said something about the response time going from black to white then back to black again. cool, understood. then u gave that link to that acer lcd. it's talking about grey to grey and not the example u gave. what's the difference?

Well that's what I know, I honestly think that shades they choose are arbitrary as long as it measures the actual time it takes to go b/w the shades (not colors, shades as in white and black shades).

And ya, CSS look intense on a 32" lcd (what I have) lol, good gfx, crank up the resolution (make sure u select 16:9 ratio in the options menu when in counter strike) and prepare to be amazed.

And ya, I use it for everything but actually watching TV on it lol, theres like only 2 channels that are in hidef so no point, and I realized that I don't watch TV anymore (past 9 months or so), I usually just download my tv eps (new ones).

[lynx]

Quoting black-white-black response times is misleading.
They boost the speed by "overvolting", which can't be done with grey-grey.
It almost never happens all across the screen so most transitions will be grey-grey.

Grey-grey is slower than black-white-black because the voltage determines the shade of grey so you can't apply overvoltage. But that's what happens in real life so it's what you should look for in the quoted response times.

Unfortunately there are no standards for the shades of grey involved, or at what point the transition is determined to be complete (80%, 90% ?) so there's no real comparison between manufacturers.

Contrary to what I've said above, Viewsonic have come up with an overvolting method for grey-grey transitions which has allowed them to get (quoted) response times down to 2ms.