HN

is there a possibility that stores (i dunno, let's say best buy) are cranking up brightness on flat panels -- lcd or plasma -- and lowering them on the dlp display models to make the flat panels appear like they have a better picture?

i'm interested in a dlp set (this year's samsung models) and reviews of DLPs (not necessarily this year's) sometimes say that they are too bright at times. whenever i see them displayed in store, they just seem so dark. i didn't have time to make picture adjustments; i just saw that the setting was on "dynamic" but isnt' that usually the one that cranks up brightness?

My other concern that's possibly related is the viewing angle. the dlp set (61") was on a stand (~20in") and i took a seat on the floor. i was trying to replicate how it'd be setup in my living room. the picture quality at that angle was pretty poor but i don't know to conclude whether it was due to the brightness (or rather dimness) or the nature of rear projection.

any thoughts?

blued888

I think demo DLPs at stores have varying degrees of brightness due to their lamps being used almost 12 hours per day.

Brian Shannon

If you are suggesting that these stores are somehow manipulating settings to drive sales to a specific type, I think you greatly over estimate their skills and sales abilities.

The bottom line is that these sets are unpacked, put on a shelf, plugged in and set to receive some type of dvr demo loop. The setting are usually whatever comes out of the box, which is wrong and usually very high.

If the remotes are laying around it is entirely possible that the person (or the 100th person) before you has changed something. The flourescent lighting in these stores makes everything look pale and washed out, the demo material is often very poor quality.

If you want to properly evaluate a set, have them connect a dvd player so you can view the dvd of your choice.

pat00139

Plasmas can have a 1200cd/m2 (that's square) brightness, LCDs are about 500-650cd/m2, and DLPs are a lot darker than that. Like Brian said, out of the box, the LCDs are very, very bright, because Samsung/Sony/whoever knows they might be demoed. The brighter and with a higher contrast a tv looks in a very bright big box store, the nicer the picture will look. Of course, when you that high-contrast TV home, it'll look fuzzy and blown out because, I assume, you don't have a 1200-watt bulb in your living room.

Generally plasmas have a higher native contrast ratio than LCDs, but LCDs have a longer life-span. DLPs are nice if you have a dark viewing room. Their viewing angles also aren't as wide as LCDs. DLPs also have a bulb, which is an extra purchase every couple of years. They are very nice if you have a dark room, because you can get a huge screen size for a fairly low price.

Sdallnct

I'm going to go out on a limb here....

Brightness is GENERALLY not an issue with any of the current generation of displays.

Are there brighter sets then other? Of course. But if anything, I think may of todays displays are TOO bright. In fact I think it was last year that rated a Samsung DLP very highly (either top spot or 2nd) in Home Theater Magazine who then went on to say that you needed a good pair of Ray Bans if your going to watch this for more then a couple of hours.

Yes, I understand there may be reasons you want the brightest display possible (day time watching, lots of windows and refuse to get curtains). But IMO, in the more typical situations, brightness is just not an issue. Most every set (especially of the top tier players) has all the brightness needed.

HN

Thanks all. I'll give it a few more weeks and a few more stores/demo displays before i purchase (thinking of samsung HL61a750).

that's exactly what i was suggesting ; figured it was any easily implemented tactic

movielib

The LED DLPs last much longer, probably as long as you will use the TV. Samsung is the only company which makes them so far. I've got the 61" and I love it.

movielib

That's the newer model of the one I have. Get it, you won't be sorry.

pat00139

You're right, I forgot about those.

HN

Well, a few more weeks turned out to be a few months but i finally pulled the trigger. However, went for the 67a750 instead of the 61. Price in the amazon gold box was too good. And, I figure bigger will eventually appear smaller (or rather normal), but smaller will never be bigger, know what I mean?

Now just have to suffer the pain of waiting and hopefully it will be here for superbowl

Patman

I saw the Samsung 67a750 on sale for $1699 at Fry's today. That's almost in my wheelhouse (if I could convince myself I'd be happy with DLP-LED when I was used to a plasma for almost 2 years).

Sdallnct

Is that a 67" set? Wow! that is a big set. If you have room for that, ever consider a front projector?

Patman

I'm not sure if I do have the room (only sit 10 feet away), but at least it'd be a hard TV to steal (in light of my recent home break-in). Heh.

Otherwise, I may scale back to the Samsung HL61A750.

Sdallnct

If you look at my sig...I use a 94" WS and my front row is right at 10' feet, maybe 10.5 feet. HD sources look stunning! I mean...look at a theater! And since most prime time TV is available in HD, it is stunning! And come on...what about next weeks game? Can you imagine!!!

Last night I was calibrating my projector as I had gotten a new bulb. On a whim I threw in Dark Knight on BD! OMG...awesomeness!

Now, HD does look stunnning. SD, not so much on the front row. But I ok with SD on my 2nd row that is closer to 12-12.5 feet from the screen.

Spiky

For some bizarre reason, I said yes to my father's invite for the game next week. So, I may have to watch it on a little 40-52" screen. He's been talking about a PJ as he is redoing his basement TV room, but time's running out, a 52" Bravia is more likely. Silly me.

The Mits 5500 LCD 1080p model has a $300 rebate right now and a very short throw. And Reon processing that sounds like it's better than pretty much any player or receiver out right now. (except the Denon 58xx receiver) If I had some cash, I'd probably upgrade.

Patman

Sweet setup. Unfortunately, I don't have a dedicated room for such lofty ambitions, it's a weird L-shaped room with high ceilings, so I'm stuck with normal displays at the moment. Still mulling the 67" display since my viewing habits has been me either on the couch from 10 feet away, or in the dining room where I surf on my PC from about 20 feet away, and the 67" display would be more watchable from 20 feet away.

HN

tv was delivered this morning but I had to be at the office so couldn't play with it right away. just now got done with all the channel scanning and minor tweaking but it is still on the floor (have to wait for someone to get out of work for an extra set of hands). this is going from an older 32" lcd to now 67" dlp. it is big and it is beautiful.

and so my saga for a new tv has ended...just 3 days before the superbowl, how 'bout that.

Kicker_of_Elves

Post some pics and a review please! Thats the same one i wanna get in a couple of weeks

HN

(please excuse the ragged clothes, I had just gotten back from the gym. I included myself to show relative size of the screen. I am 5' 5")



SD channels are fine, if a bit soft as (same as the days of 'jumbo' tvs). HD content, however, is . I was watching the final Transformers city battle on hd-dvd and my friend says "you don't need to go to the theater anymore." My previous tv was a 32" crt, so this is a significant leap and i'm glad i took it

The only thing that bugs me is that i can't figure out how to label my channels (not sure if it's even possible). but that is such a miniscule afterthought. I have not regrets / buyer's remorse.

Kicker_of_Elves

Awesome, thanks for the pic and the mini-review!

Patman

Well, I pulled the trigger on a display model at Best Buys this evening and finally bought one of these HL67A750 TV sets.

Best Buy is clearing them out, and their clearance price is $1299.99 (if you find one in the store, you may have to end up talking to the manager to get the price). I ended up getting the 4 year warranty on it, since the combined price including tax was still lower than my target price of $1700 (I've been waiting for Fry's to lower their price on this set to that $1700 price before taxes for the past month, ever since Super Bowl week). Plus I rationalized that since the LED engine is rated for a very long life, I wasn't worried about the display set being run 12 hours/day, since I wanted this particular model so I could also abuse it if I wanted to do so.

Oh, also got lucky since there's free delivery for TV over $999.99 this week, that was another $69.99 savings. Woo Hoo!

If the set dies within 4 years, I'll have some warranty credit to pick a new TV set, and hopefully by then, the prices will come down even more for comparable picture quality vs. size.

Now I just have to wait for the Tuesday delivery of the TV set...

Kicker_of_Elves

Let us know how it is Patman, I've had my eye on one for awhile but I've been waiting for the price to drop before picking it up. That's a great price , i wish i had a Best Buy near me.

Patman

It's slated for delivery on Tuesday between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. It's like Christmas in March!

Patman

Woo hoo! The TV just got delivered, and it looks fine from 20 feet away (as well as 9 feet away - almost too much, but that's a good problem to have). It also survived the trip as well without much wear-n-tear (as far as I can tell on a cursory view).

Patman

Here's the "before" - 50" plasma:


Here's the "after" - 67" DLP:


Here's a small set of screen shots of the 67" DLP, I did raise the gamma to clean up the photos a bit to get them to look "right"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patcave...635673/detail/