icecaveman Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I currently own a LCD TV with 3200:1 in dynamic contrast ratio 800:1 in bright areas. Before that I had a 1000:1 and it was horrible. Even at 3200:1 there are no decent blacks yet my LCD PC monitor that has 1000:1 has acceptable blacks. It's driving me crazy. The problem is when viewing them at retailers they all seem to have acceptable blacks because they usually show cartoons where it doesn't matter and the light in the room is distracting. I spent $2500 on my TV and I think it's quite bad actually. It's only good for sports and other bright scenes. Dynamic contrast is really distrurbing as the blacks are acceptable sometimes but then a light appears on the screen and suddenly all blacks turn light and washed out. I'm not going to purchase a $4,000 LCD TV. So I'm considering the CRT HDTV alternatives. Any reccommendations? I am considering the SlimFit TVs from Samsung but I would have to order them from some online retailer. The newer versions of SlimFit don't seem to have arrived to Europe so are the previous SlimFits acceptable? My primary usage is Xbox 360 and video (DVD mostly) playback. The strange thing is all stores are filled with cheap LCD displays and people seem to love them even with worse contrast ratios than mine. Do I suffer from to good vision or why can't I get used to bad contrast ratios. :cry: How many years before they actually become usuable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniacidz Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 They are basically a trend. Everyone should know if they want a tv, to go Plasma or LCD Each has their positives and negatives However, technology still hasnt got them to be fantastic yet. I am still awaiting for that to happen, at a reasonable price. I too may also go down the CRT HDTV as at least its tried and proven to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodel Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I'm fairly sure the new Slimfits are available but they still aren't very good. Lots of geometry problems etc. There are quite a lot of HD CRT's in the US and I think they sell pretty well, but despite that there are still very few in the UK. I agree though with regards to being frustrated with the poor 'blacks' on lcd, I got one last year and sent it back, saved myself quite a bit of money and bought a regular CRT which has an awesome picture. It's not HD but to be honest by the time I have HD channels I'll be looking for a new TV anyway and will hopefully be able to pick up something of better quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I would not really recommend the Slimfit CRT HDTVs, especially if they still are having geometry problems. I've had one for about 6-7 months now and I'm already saving up for something better. If it's all you can afford, go for it, but if you have the option, go with LCD or plasma. i'll take grey blacks over image warping any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 But BangBang234 or whatever his name was said the new SlimFit didn't have geometry problems anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKuro Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 What about DLP or LCOS technologies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 24, 2006 Author Share Posted August 24, 2006 Don't all projectors suffer from the same issues? Not so good blacks and need to replace the ligh bulb frequently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 DLP, LCOS or any other projection system is not good for use with console game. They have a very little lag that is noticable when playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 24, 2006 Author Share Posted August 24, 2006 But some people claim there isn't a noticeable lag on DLPs while some people even claim 8ms LCDs have a lag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 24, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 24, 2006 But BangBang234 or whatever his name was said the new SlimFit didn't have geometry problems anymore? The models I've sene don't have any geometry issues, but the picture sucks. What about DLP or LCOS technologies? DLP is bad for gaming because of the lag. LCoS is fine, though. Don't all projectors suffer from the same issues? Not so good blacks and need to replace the ligh bulb frequently? The digital sets have gotten better. Bulbs last about 6,000 hours DLP, LCOS or any other projection system is not good for use with console game. They have a very little lag that is noticable when playing. LCoS is fine for gaming. I just think you're not looking at the right LCD's. If you look at the Samsung LN-Sxx51 series or higher, you'll see some very good blacks. The Snoy XBR2's are supposed to be good, too, but I haven't seen them yet so I can't promise that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 I'm not going to purchase a $4,000 LCD TV. It has been said many times here... You get what you pay for. I just think you're not looking at the right LCD's. If you look at the Samsung LN-Sxx51 series or higher, you'll see some very good blacks. The Snoy XBR2's are supposed to be good, too, but I haven't seen them yet so I can't promise that. Those TV are close or more than 4000$.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 24, 2006 Author Share Posted August 24, 2006 If there are no decent CRT HDTVs I'm probably forced to go for a $4000+ one. I just can't let anyone I know aware of how insane money I spent on such a small TV. I'm considering either of these ones, although I haven't seen them in person. They both have dynamic contrast ratio, something that scares me as small bright light in a black scene resaults in all the dark colors turning rather light. Are the ones you suggested any better than these? http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/c...&productId= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atasas Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Here is one that I've chosen for my mate :rofl: and he could'nt be hapyer http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/453_324140.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwolf1973 Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 LCDs are fine. You just have to do a little research and goto a store to try and get an idea of how good it will look in your home. I have a Sony Bravia 40" LCD and it looks great! I have a Toshiba HD-DVD player, HD cable and Xbox 360 connected to it and everything looks amazing. The biggest part of making the picture (and black levels) look good is calibrating the display. I used Avia Home Theater Essentials and it helped immensely :) Here's a quick rundown of the positives and negatives of various TV technology: LCD TV: No burn in issues, direct view sets don't need replacement bulbs, panel life is supposedly long, blurring in fast motion scenes is not an issue on good sets DLP TV: Good sets don't seem to have any motion blur, some people see the "rainbow" effect (I do), burn in is not an issue, the cooling fan can be noisy sometimes (depends on brand & model), needs replacement lamps, lots of mechanical parts inside of TV (more to potentially break) Plasma TV: Great reproduction of color and detail, can burn in quite easily (not good for games), some sets start to dim after 2000 hours (so brightness has to be turned up for the same level of brightness) CRT HD TV: Great color reproduction, size is usually limited to 34" (widescreen) or less, VERY heavy and bulky Hope this helps you out Icecaveman! :woot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 24, 2006 Author Share Posted August 24, 2006 ^ The problem is the stores don't want me to go plugging around my 360 in their TVs... they have bad content showing in stored, serial connected and all looks horrible no matter what TV. Another issue with black levels is other people who have the same TV as myself claim it to be superb and have great blacks, but they do not. All I need to know is the real contrast ratios of these Philips TVs, as they claim to be 5000:1 or 6000:1 but that's dynamic, meaning it's far worse when playing game like oblivion where you run around a cave with a tourch lit, Dynamic contrast gets like 1000:1 on a 3200:1 TV. Does anyone know a LCD TV that keeps the high contrast during those situations? What is th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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