How to choose a TV
Hello!
Recently, after reading the article "How to assemble an entry-level home media system? We choose a TV, player, audio ” and after reading the comments on it, I was surprised to learn that most habretchiki, although they keep their nose in the wind and try to know about all the new products and the latest trends, once in the store they can’t simply choose a TV and speakers. I am selling this equipment, and in particular TVs, and I will try to give a couple of tips on what to look for when choosing.
Let's start:
Yes, yes, it all starts small and the choice of TV, oddly enough, begins precisely with the choice of its size. So, most readers know that the recommended distance to the TV is 3 diagonals, i.e. going to buy a TV with a diagonal of 40 '' we will have to watch it from a distance of 40 * 2.54 * 3 = 304.80, i.e. from about 3 meters, but in fact this figure is individual for each individual person, it’s more convenient for someone (me) to watch the 55 '' diagonal at a given distance, and for someone (say, my parents) it will be much more comfortable to watch from 3 meters 37th diagonal. It should be noted that a trip to the store often does not give an idea of what you need - because of the large showrooms, the size is concealed and the 40 '' diagonal bought in the store, as a “not very big” house can seem simply enormous, Also, let's not forget that many manufacturers like to play with the thickness of the frame, the color of the frame and the monolithic design. The easiest option is to create a rectangle of white sheets of paper glued together, this will allow you to evaluate the real dimensions of the TV that you want to purchase. I also note that some manufacturers, such as Sony, have mock-ups on their websites for printing on several A4 sheets.
Such seemingly unimportant moments, because of which many can be disappointed in their choice of equipment. So, the screens on TVs are matte, glossy and can be covered with glass, which in practice gives us - glare, i.e. if you buy a TV in the kitchen and are planning to watch it during 5-18 p.m. and the windows face west, then from May to September on TV with a glossy screen or glass you can only enjoy your reflection. This problem is less pronounced in plasma due to a higher level of brightness and color, but still very noticeable.
As for the place, keep in mind that LCD / LED TVs of cheap and medium price segments distort colors quite a lot at a certain angle, so if you are going to watch TV in a large company or at a large angle, pay attention to the plasma or choose the model with the least distortion (on the same flatpanelshd.com there are photographs of the TVs they are considering, from almost all angles).
Holivars on this topic have been going on for more than one year and, most likely, will not cease until the moment when OLED panels become sufficiently accessible. In principle, everything is simple, the more expensive the TV - the better it shows, but today the Panasonic TVs in the VT30 series are considered to be the best TVs, which are cheaper than the top LG and Sony similar diagonals, but this does not mean that plasma is better in all respects, LG xxLW9500 will yield to it quite a bit, and for some moments, for example, to play the console, it seems to me to be much preferable, although it will cost much more.
For myself, I determined that from 50 or more diagonals it is worth taking plasma, on the smaller diagonal of the LED, simply because precisely after the 50th diagonal for comparable money you will get the best picture on plasma. The power consumption of modern TVs is not very different, so pay attention to this is not worth it.
I will try to say what impressions about each of the manufacturers I have developed during my work.
Plazma - heaps of awards and victories, the VT30 and G30 / GT30 series are considered the best in terms of price / quality ratio, as well as the VT20 and G20 / GT20 series before them, a couple of years ago the company took the palm from Pioneer (along with a bunch of their technologies) and holds it tight still. It is worth noting that, contrary to the divine picture, all the other options on the company’s televisions are implemented frankly through w * pu, the remote controls, unlike the ones made by Sony, are light and flimsy, and the menu is completely thought out, most of the video is not readable from USBies. Although, in fairness, I’ll note that, based on my experience, people who bought Panasonic, especially the top-end series, will never insert a flash drive in it, advanced ones will put a media player, the rest will use a Blu-ray home theater, so for the most part the use of TV functionality is limited on button. In 2011
LCD / LED is a slightly overpriced price in Ukraine, in fact we sell them to those who bought Panasonic plasma and want a TV in the bedroom or kitchen of the same brand.
Probably the best-selling TVs in the CIS countries, the most advanced in terms of reading from flash drives and HDDs, do not read only the Blu-Ray images and there are some problems with DLNA work (although they are still several times less than those of competitors).
LCD / LED - Personally, I think their picture is somewhat "motley", although fans of football and movies like "Avatar" should like it, in general they can be considered one of the most interesting TVs in the middle price segment. As for the top models, a lot of questions arise: last year's xxC9000 model is the flagship on paper, but in fact it stands out only in price and design, otherwise it represents last year's xxC7000 in a different case. Below it, the xxD8000 with steeper features and a newer matrix goes up a notch and everything would be fine, but the xxD8000 is essentially the same xxD7000 with a different design and Microdiming function (local dimming of the screen, which due to the fact that the TV is made using EDGE LED technology does not normally can work in principle and adds nothing new to the picture).
Plazma - in principle, good TVs, if the functionality is important - we take it, if the picture is more important - look at the competitors. (although I personally really like the PS-64D8000)
Personally, I was always impressed by the products of the Korean giant - reliable, durable and for quite adequate money, the biggest problem of the company is the inability to convey its advantages to the end consumer, even as a seller it can sometimes be very difficult for me to explain to a person why it is necessary to buy LG. Let's hope that the company’s employees on the habrahabr.ru blog will try to put everything in its place. I would buy myself LG - yes, definitely yes, if there was a person willing to tell me about them. On the topic, I can only praise the top TVs of the 9th series, which are easy to reach on equal footing with the Sony xxHX920, and note the convenient remotes and omnivores when reading from flash drives.
Releases only LCD / LED. Speaking about this company, I immediately want to note such a thing as Ambilight, it’s really cool and after a month of watching TV with this function, it’s hard enough to switch to something else. And all would be well, if not for this ё @ $% #! The remote control, which looks like an egg and which I would gladly charge the developers with a confrontation, also puts it mildly, stresses the general inhibition of the TV interface and the inability to read some files from a flash drive. When buying, you should forget about the preset settings, spend an hour on normal screen calibration and I think that the picture quality and Natural color rendering will not disappoint you. It is also worth noting that many televisions from the summer batch had a power supply defect, which was solved by one week in the service, I don’t know if the problem was removed or not now. All in all good TVs,
They are attracted by the design and integration with the rest of the company's equipment, in principle, normal TVs that are worth taking if you are the owner of other equipment of this company (from Blu-ray players and movie theaters to PlayStation and Walkman), Monolith’s very beautiful design in the TVs of the series pleases NX and some HX and very upset by the artificial restriction on reading .mkv files from USB and HDD. Particular attention should be paid to the HX series - the picture is super.
At the mention of this Japanese company, many will recall the famous Quatron (fourth yellow subpixel), i.e. the picture in these TVs is formed not with the help of RGB (red, green and blue) subpixels, but with the help of RGBy (red, green blue and yellow) subpixels, the company's engineers say that this allows you to more accurately transmit skin color (in fact, the company's TVs They were famous for the natural color reproduction of the colors of human skin, I don’t know why (yes, the company has racists and there is no black subpixel there), but although the TV is able to cover a large color palette at the output, it is corny there isn’t enough information for input ode, i.e. there are no sources that tell him how to use the yellow subpixel, how does TV know how to use this subpixel ?, the answer is calculated independently, i.e.
Recently, after reading the article "How to assemble an entry-level home media system? We choose a TV, player, audio ” and after reading the comments on it, I was surprised to learn that most habretchiki, although they keep their nose in the wind and try to know about all the new products and the latest trends, once in the store they can’t simply choose a TV and speakers. I am selling this equipment, and in particular TVs, and I will try to give a couple of tips on what to look for when choosing.
Let's start:
Diagonal.
Yes, yes, it all starts small and the choice of TV, oddly enough, begins precisely with the choice of its size. So, most readers know that the recommended distance to the TV is 3 diagonals, i.e. going to buy a TV with a diagonal of 40 '' we will have to watch it from a distance of 40 * 2.54 * 3 = 304.80, i.e. from about 3 meters, but in fact this figure is individual for each individual person, it’s more convenient for someone (me) to watch the 55 '' diagonal at a given distance, and for someone (say, my parents) it will be much more comfortable to watch from 3 meters 37th diagonal. It should be noted that a trip to the store often does not give an idea of what you need - because of the large showrooms, the size is concealed and the 40 '' diagonal bought in the store, as a “not very big” house can seem simply enormous, Also, let's not forget that many manufacturers like to play with the thickness of the frame, the color of the frame and the monolithic design. The easiest option is to create a rectangle of white sheets of paper glued together, this will allow you to evaluate the real dimensions of the TV that you want to purchase. I also note that some manufacturers, such as Sony, have mock-ups on their websites for printing on several A4 sheets.
Place and time
Such seemingly unimportant moments, because of which many can be disappointed in their choice of equipment. So, the screens on TVs are matte, glossy and can be covered with glass, which in practice gives us - glare, i.e. if you buy a TV in the kitchen and are planning to watch it during 5-18 p.m. and the windows face west, then from May to September on TV with a glossy screen or glass you can only enjoy your reflection. This problem is less pronounced in plasma due to a higher level of brightness and color, but still very noticeable.
As for the place, keep in mind that LCD / LED TVs of cheap and medium price segments distort colors quite a lot at a certain angle, so if you are going to watch TV in a large company or at a large angle, pay attention to the plasma or choose the model with the least distortion (on the same flatpanelshd.com there are photographs of the TVs they are considering, from almost all angles).
Plazma / LCD / LED
Holivars on this topic have been going on for more than one year and, most likely, will not cease until the moment when OLED panels become sufficiently accessible. In principle, everything is simple, the more expensive the TV - the better it shows, but today the Panasonic TVs in the VT30 series are considered to be the best TVs, which are cheaper than the top LG and Sony similar diagonals, but this does not mean that plasma is better in all respects, LG xxLW9500 will yield to it quite a bit, and for some moments, for example, to play the console, it seems to me to be much preferable, although it will cost much more.
For myself, I determined that from 50 or more diagonals it is worth taking plasma, on the smaller diagonal of the LED, simply because precisely after the 50th diagonal for comparable money you will get the best picture on plasma. The power consumption of modern TVs is not very different, so pay attention to this is not worth it.
Manufacturers
I will try to say what impressions about each of the manufacturers I have developed during my work.
Panasonic
Plazma - heaps of awards and victories, the VT30 and G30 / GT30 series are considered the best in terms of price / quality ratio, as well as the VT20 and G20 / GT20 series before them, a couple of years ago the company took the palm from Pioneer (along with a bunch of their technologies) and holds it tight still. It is worth noting that, contrary to the divine picture, all the other options on the company’s televisions are implemented frankly through w * pu, the remote controls, unlike the ones made by Sony, are light and flimsy, and the menu is completely thought out, most of the video is not readable from USBies. Although, in fairness, I’ll note that, based on my experience, people who bought Panasonic, especially the top-end series, will never insert a flash drive in it, advanced ones will put a media player, the rest will use a Blu-ray home theater, so for the most part the use of TV functionality is limited on button. In 2011
LCD / LED is a slightly overpriced price in Ukraine, in fact we sell them to those who bought Panasonic plasma and want a TV in the bedroom or kitchen of the same brand.
Samsung
Probably the best-selling TVs in the CIS countries, the most advanced in terms of reading from flash drives and HDDs, do not read only the Blu-Ray images and there are some problems with DLNA work (although they are still several times less than those of competitors).
LCD / LED - Personally, I think their picture is somewhat "motley", although fans of football and movies like "Avatar" should like it, in general they can be considered one of the most interesting TVs in the middle price segment. As for the top models, a lot of questions arise: last year's xxC9000 model is the flagship on paper, but in fact it stands out only in price and design, otherwise it represents last year's xxC7000 in a different case. Below it, the xxD8000 with steeper features and a newer matrix goes up a notch and everything would be fine, but the xxD8000 is essentially the same xxD7000 with a different design and Microdiming function (local dimming of the screen, which due to the fact that the TV is made using EDGE LED technology does not normally can work in principle and adds nothing new to the picture).
Plazma - in principle, good TVs, if the functionality is important - we take it, if the picture is more important - look at the competitors. (although I personally really like the PS-64D8000)
LG
Personally, I was always impressed by the products of the Korean giant - reliable, durable and for quite adequate money, the biggest problem of the company is the inability to convey its advantages to the end consumer, even as a seller it can sometimes be very difficult for me to explain to a person why it is necessary to buy LG. Let's hope that the company’s employees on the habrahabr.ru blog will try to put everything in its place. I would buy myself LG - yes, definitely yes, if there was a person willing to tell me about them. On the topic, I can only praise the top TVs of the 9th series, which are easy to reach on equal footing with the Sony xxHX920, and note the convenient remotes and omnivores when reading from flash drives.
Philips
Releases only LCD / LED. Speaking about this company, I immediately want to note such a thing as Ambilight, it’s really cool and after a month of watching TV with this function, it’s hard enough to switch to something else. And all would be well, if not for this ё @ $% #! The remote control, which looks like an egg and which I would gladly charge the developers with a confrontation, also puts it mildly, stresses the general inhibition of the TV interface and the inability to read some files from a flash drive. When buying, you should forget about the preset settings, spend an hour on normal screen calibration and I think that the picture quality and Natural color rendering will not disappoint you. It is also worth noting that many televisions from the summer batch had a power supply defect, which was solved by one week in the service, I don’t know if the problem was removed or not now. All in all good TVs,
Sony
They are attracted by the design and integration with the rest of the company's equipment, in principle, normal TVs that are worth taking if you are the owner of other equipment of this company (from Blu-ray players and movie theaters to PlayStation and Walkman), Monolith’s very beautiful design in the TVs of the series pleases NX and some HX and very upset by the artificial restriction on reading .mkv files from USB and HDD. Particular attention should be paid to the HX series - the picture is super.
Sharp
At the mention of this Japanese company, many will recall the famous Quatron (fourth yellow subpixel), i.e. the picture in these TVs is formed not with the help of RGB (red, green and blue) subpixels, but with the help of RGBy (red, green blue and yellow) subpixels, the company's engineers say that this allows you to more accurately transmit skin color (in fact, the company's TVs They were famous for the natural color reproduction of the colors of human skin, I don’t know why (yes, the company has racists and there is no black subpixel there), but although the TV is able to cover a large color palette at the output, it is corny there isn’t enough information for input ode, i.e. there are no sources that tell him how to use the yellow subpixel, how does TV know how to use this subpixel ?, the answer is calculated independently, i.e.