LCD TV Buying Guide rates 4 of the years hottest televisions. Samsung fares well in both LED and Plasma, LG provides value and a rich feature set and Panasonic's black levels disappoint with one of their budget models. Fully calibrated picture settings, post calibration testing and comparison ratings are all availabe on the full review. Lately, efforts from the major LCD TV manufacturers have been paying off, both in quality and sales.Pioneer plasma had the best picture quality in the TV market and now they are gone. Samsung, LG and Sony are producing some compelling LCD and LED TVs at good prices and vastly improved quality. While I believe a well done plasma TV still has the best value for quality proposition in the marketplace today, the gap is narrowing fast.
Atlanta, GA October 6, 2009 -- Recent reviews of TVs have revealed major improvements in LCD picture - nearly catching plasma TVs. For years LCD manufacturers have been playing catch up with plasma technology in the side angle viewing, black levels, contrast, and fast motion processing areas. "Lately, efforts from the major LCD TV manufacturers have been paying off, both in quality and sales." states Robert Wiley, lead editorial reviewer for Consumer Electronics Advisory Group. "Pioneer plasma had the best picture quality in the TV market and now they are gone. Samsung, LG and Sony are producing some compelling LCD and LED TVs at good prices and vastly improved quality. While I believe a well done plasma TV still has the best value for quality proposition in the marketplace today, the gap is narrowing fast."
Our review of the Samsung UN55B8000 LED TV revealed an aesthetically beautiful TV and impressive performance packed into a 1.2" depth cabinet. Colors were rich and vibrant, however, there were some challenges with viewing angles and more importantly the 240Hz refresh rate feature. See our recommendations for when to utilize this important feature and when to turn it off and our ratings and post calibration picture settings.
A couple of new LG LCD's have received an overall rating of 93/100. The Picture Quality and Value ratings are stellar. The combination of an anti glare screen and fairly strong contrast ratio is impressive. The LG 47LH50 contains an interesting and convenient internet connectivity feature which allows the viewer to stream movies from Netflix among other web sites directly on to the TV without the need for extra hardware. Just as with the Samsung, the owner of this TV will need to know how to access and turn off the 240Hz refresh rate feature. See our instructions for when this is possible with this TV on the review page. Also see our D6500K picture setting calibrations and post calibration test results which apply to this model and the LH55 series.
Our review of the Panasonic TC-P50X1 plasma TV revealed a weak contrast ratio for a plasma TV. Black levels followed suit in appearing washed out. This is a big surprise considering all the improvements in contrast and black levels from most TV manufacturers. Granted, the X1 series is the budget level 720p (not full HD) model, but this plasma TV generally seems to have been bypassed when new technologies were being implemented. See the review for contrast measurements and post calibration picture settings and results.
We gave a big thumbs up to Samsung's PN50B550 plasma TV. The plasma received excellent marks in contrast measurement, color saturation, features, and received one of our highest value ratings ever. The overall rating was also among the highest ever received. See the review for post calibration picture settings, test results and ratings information.
Consumer Electronics Advisory Group, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is a leader in delivering unbiased, informative and practical reviews and technology articles. The company operates free consumer electronics review web sites including lcdtvbuyingguide.com, plasmatvbuyingguide.com and thecarelectric.com. A non-Dow 30 company - CEAG Inc. is a small privately owned non-non-profit enterprise. We would rather make money instead.
Source: Consumer Electronics Advisory Group
Contact: SD Davis, publisher
1-404-352-7076 Ext. 109
web site: lcdtvbuyingguide.com
