Plasma, LCD, OLED, LED, best tv for next gen

Is the W900A 2pt or 10pt WB? I'm not sure what is disabled. I tried to check in the owners threads on AVS if CAL-Day and CAL-Night are available in those modes but I'm not certain. I think it should if you put it in PC mode as you are just changing what the input is so ideally I would think it would keep access to the same settings, but hard to say. I know with some models enabling those modes disable any type of processing but they do not disable the calibration controls.

Just 2 point. I no longer have the Samsung, but I do remember that PC Mode settings were stored seperately, despite it being activated by a label change.

I got the sony w802 and so far I'm not impressed (except the 3D is nice).

Is it supposed to have such terrible viewing angles? I mean my DS isn't much worse. My old Samsung LCD was better. Also the color seems off (comparing it next to my Dell Ultrasharp monitor) and the screen never seems to get black, always light grey or blueish.

When I turn the 3D on the screen gets a lot brighter and better, is there a setting to keep it like that for 2D?

I don't know, maybe mine's defective but I'm really not impressed so far.

I have the W9, but maybe I can help. On the remote press Home, then go to Settings > Preferences > Eco, and set Light Sensor off. That should give you a nice permanent brightness boost.

According to hdtvtest.co.uk, the viewing angles should be fine within 45-degrees. On your couch(?) does the quality suffer if you sit to the left or right?

For color try setting the color temperature to Warm1 or 2 as a starting point, and you can adjust the white balance in the advanced menu if it's still too cool/warm.

I'm not sure about the black levels, but hdtvtest recommends setting Adv. Contrast Enhancer to Low. The W9 (and probably the W8) supports full range RGB. I know on some TVs blacks will show up grey if they get limited RGB. You can adjust the range for each input by pressing Home > Settings > Picture & Display > Pro Picture Setup > Dynamic Range.
 
Its pretty huge for the price thats good, I seen it in action, for a person not all into TVs specs it can be enjoyed just fine.

People sometimes forget not everybody is a AV crazed guy that knows about RGB,Grayscale,Banding and all that, some people just need a TV at a good price to watch cable for a few hours in the work week.

Not everybody needs a $5,000 setup, many are fine with $500 tv like that one.
 
Get an LCD, for the reason bolded. You'd have to check, but I don't think the cheaper Panny's have the filters to compensate for direct lighting. My ST30 (a step up, though a bit older) isn't quite a mirror, but you can definitely see the reflection of the room it's in if I don't have the blackout curtains closed.

Good point. Probably my only concern with it right now is the viewing angles. I got to see the 60 inch in best buy today and the viewing angles aren't superb compared to a plasma. But it shouldnt be that big of a deal in my room.
 
Good point. Probably my only concern with it right now is the viewing angles. I got to see the 60 inch in best buy today and the viewing angles aren't superb compared to a plasma. But it shouldnt be that big of a deal in my room.

What panel tech is it using that the viewing angles aren't stellar? That's a weird thing to still be happening in 2013 (my 200..mm...8? Ish, Samsung didn't have that problem before it dropped dead on me).
 
What panel tech is it using that the viewing angles aren't stellar? That's a weird thing to still be happening in 2013 (my 200..mm...8? Ish, Samsung didn't have that problem before it dropped dead on me).

PVA and TN have viewing angle issues. PVA is actually preferable to IPS for tvs for many people as it tends to achieve a higher peak contrast ratio that can reach roughly twice what an IPS panel can get. This is why Sony is using PVA in its higher end panels and IPS when you go a few rungs down the ladder. Since a viewer tends to stay relatively still in comparison to the outbound angle of the screen at normal viewing distance, PVA is often considered preferable to IPS for televisions.
 
Its pretty huge for the price thats good, I seen it in action, for a person not all into TVs specs it can be enjoyed just fine.

People sometimes forget not everybody is a AV crazed guy that knows about RGB,Grayscale,Banding and all that, some people just need a TV at a good price to watch cable for a few hours in the work week.

Not everybody needs a $5,000 setup, many are fine with $500 tv like that one.

I understand, but i think at that range someone would be better off with a pn51f4500 (499) or pn51f5300 (599), as they have quite a bit better picture quality.
 
Just 2 point. I no longer have the Samsung, but I do remember that PC Mode settings were stored seperately, despite it being activated by a label change.



I have the W9, but maybe I can help. On the remote press Home, then go to Settings > Preferences > Eco, and set Light Sensor off. That should give you a nice permanent brightness boost.

According to hdtvtest.co.uk, the viewing angles should be fine within 45-degrees. On your couch(?) does the quality suffer if you sit to the left or right?

For color try setting the color temperature to Warm1 or 2 as a starting point, and you can adjust the white balance in the advanced menu if it's still too cool/warm.

I'm not sure about the black levels, but hdtvtest recommends setting Adv. Contrast Enhancer to Low. The W9 (and probably the W8) supports full range RGB. I know on some TVs blacks will show up grey if they get limited RGB. You can adjust the range for each input by pressing Home > Settings > Picture & Display > Pro Picture Setup > Dynamic Range.
Turning eco mode off helped a bit.

It does look pretty okay now. I'll keep trying to get a perfect setting. The TV came with long scratches too (you can't see it when watching but it annoys me). I'll have to think about keeping this TV.

Oh and also I can't launch any apps because the server...
 
PVA and TN have viewing angle issues. PVA is actually preferable to IPS for tvs for many people as it tends to achieve a higher peak contrast ratio that can reach roughly twice what an IPS panel can get. This is why Sony is using PVA in its higher end panels and IPS when you go a few rungs down the ladder. Since a viewer tends to stay relatively still in comparison to the outbound angle of the screen at normal viewing distance, PVA is often considered preferable to IPS for televisions.

That makes sense I guess. I always try to sit directly in the center of any TV I'm trying to watch.
 
Went to a Modia HT store today. They had Samsung 4k panels, as well as Sony. LG too. 1080p Blu-ray content looked great on the Samsung. Of course the native 4k stuff was drool worthy too. Now that HDMI 2.0 has been announced, once they start becoming available on 4k TVs might have to seriously consider them. Been playing games in 4k all day on my PC and it's so good. Need them TV prices to just come down a litttlee more...
 
Got my S60 today! Used it for about 8 hours.

Pros
- The black is INSANELY good. Holy shit.
- Colors are great.
- BluRays look FANTASTIC.
- Netflix PS3/Native S60 app looks pretty damn good on superHD. PQ looks off once in awhile but barely noticeable.
- Menu system is very simplistic and fast.
- Panel design is smaller and sexier then i thought.
- Some PS3 games look stunning. TLOU and GOW3 look mind blowing. Other games like Madden 13 and a few others looked ok, the jaggies pop out big time. PC i tested BF3, Portal 2, and crysis 2. Sweet jesus. Stunning.

Cons
- Buzzing sound is a bit too loud sometimes. If you're playing a game or watching a movie it's barely audible. But when using the PC for browsing it gets pretty loud.
- So with that said, I'm not enjoying using my PC on it which is a shame. I'm not sure if it's because i'm using HDMI or maybe i have to mess with the settings? But something just seems off during browsing. Majority of use will be on PC which is why it bums me out. Watching netflix, youtube, streams, etc look great. Hopefully i'll figure something out. But so far my old bravia wins that round.
- This is my first plasma so i'm hope i'm just being paranoid. But please tell me slight burn in are normal? They would completely disappear if i had anything on screen. But seeing all those burns ins during stand by mode scares the shit out of me. lol
- The glare is NO JOKE at least in my apt. If you have a shit load of light, watch a lot of TV during the day, or can't control your light. Then i highly recommend tracking down a S64 if you can. It's not horrible. But if your anal about that then i would suggest getting a s64. I can control my light so it doesn't really effect me.

With that said i'm extremely satisfied. Movies and games look fantastic. Highly recommended for anyone on a budget and wants the best quality. The CNET review is spot on.
 
Got my S60 today! Used it for about 8 hours.

Pros
- The black is INSANELY good. Holy shit.
- Colors are great.
- BluRays look FANTASTIC.
- Netflix PS3/Native S60 app looks pretty damn good on superHD. PQ looks off once in awhile but barely noticeable.
- Menu system is very simplistic and fast.
- Panel design is smaller and sexier then i thought.
- Some PS3 games look stunning. TLOU and GOW3 look mind blowing. Other games like Madden 13 and a few others looked ok, the jaggies pop out big time. PC i tested BF3, Portal 2, and crysis 2. Sweet jesus. Stunning.

Cons
- Buzzing sound is a bit too loud sometimes. If you're playing a game or watching a movie it's barely audible. But when using the PC for browsing it gets pretty loud.
- So with that said, I'm not enjoying using my PC on it which is a shame. I'm not sure if it's because i'm using HDMI or maybe i have to mess with the settings? But something just seems off during browsing. Majority of use will be on PC which is why it bums me out. Watching netflix, youtube, streams, etc look great. Hopefully i'll figure something out. But so far my old bravia wins that round.
- This is my first plasma so i'm hope i'm just being paranoid. But please tell me slight burn in are normal? They would completely disappear if i had anything on screen. But seeing all those burns ins during stand by mode scares the shit out of me. lol
- The glare is NO JOKE at least in my apt. If you have a shit load of light, watch a lot of TV during the day, or can't control your light. Then i highly recommend tracking down a S64 if you can. It's not horrible. But if your anal about that then i would suggest getting a s64. I can control my light so it doesn't really effect me.

With that said i'm extremely satisfied. Movies and games look fantastic. Highly recommended for anyone on a budget and wants the best quality. The CNET review is spot on.

I wouldn't use a plasma TV as a PC monitor. I got permanent burn-in on my LCD TV by using it as a monitor and I'd imagine that the same thing would happen to a plasma much faster. Static images are the bane of a plasma, and if you leave the task bar there for hours, or some hud element (like Minimize/Maximize/Close) unchanged for hours, it's going to burn in eventually.

Fleeting IR (image retention) is common on plasmas and isn't anything to worry about if it goes right away. I can leave a network bug on my TV and then switch to a grey JPEG and see that the bug is temporarily retained, but it always goes away just as fast.

Oh and you'll need to set the TV into just scan mode (I forget what that's called on Panny's) to get things just right. On the PC side, you need to make sure it's set to not do any sort of aspect ratio adjustment or anything (usually in your video cards settings in the control panel). I'm sure there's a guide out there for setting up the PC to accurately do Blu-Ray color and whatnot, but I don't have one handy. That's assuming you're still going to go through with using a plasma as a computer monitor.
 
OK is it normal for LED TVs to have this annoying glow when it's on? The blacks are never true black unless the display turns itself off for a second (when loading the next screen or something).

I have a Samsung LCD from 2008 and when it's on, it doesn't have this problem. It's not true black either but it's not noticeable. On the w802 it's distracting. It's less annoying with the backlight turned down, but I'm surprised if this is normal.
 
OK is it normal for LED TVs to have this annoying glow when it's on? The blacks are never true black unless the display turns itself off for a second (when loading the next screen or something).

I have a Samsung LCD from 2008 and when it's on, it doesn't have this problem. It's not true black either but it's not noticeable. On the w802 it's distracting. It's less annoying with the backlight turned down, but I'm surprised if this is normal.

Edge-lit LED LCD's can't do pure black. The light has to stay on to illuminate things even in a dark scene, which leads to what some refer to as flashlighting (where it looks like a beam of light is coming from the side of the screen to illuminate the middle). You can really see this in scrolling white text on a black background (such as a credits scroll at the end of a movie). It does also kind of cause scenes to seem kind of improperly and/or unevenly lit at times.

I briefly owned Vizio's new flagship LCD that had all sorts of issues, but the most jarring was the complete washout that occurred during dark scenes. It was easily the worst display I've ever had, and I sent it right back. In making these TV's thin and in keeping costs down, we've flushed image quality down the shitter.

Full array LED/LCD's don't have these problems. I guess it's either too expensive to make all models full array, or they've got to save it for their top of the line products (like the Samsung 8000 series) to differentiate them.
 
OK is it normal for LED TVs to have this annoying glow when it's on? The blacks are never true black unless the display turns itself off for a second (when loading the next screen or something).

I have a Samsung LCD from 2008 and when it's on, it doesn't have this problem. It's not true black either but it's not noticeable. On the w802 it's distracting. It's less annoying with the backlight turned down, but I'm surprised if this is normal.
I would assume that the glow you are referring to is the LED lighting, in which case yes, that would be normal during dark scenes. Black levels are one of the biggest downsides to any LCD panel, as they just aren't very good. If you are looking for good black levels (and in turn better colors) plasma is the only way to go until OLED is viable. No LCD panel is going to come close to that of a good plasma, and a big reason is black level.
 
I'd go plasma over anything else when it comes to gaming/sports watching.

Projector's are also a good way to be immersed in games. Best is to just envelope yourself in front of a giant 120 inch+ screen with surround sound. Projector's are cheap too, 3D ready one's for $850 + FS on amazon.

threw this one up on a barren white wall. tons of ambient light and the white walls and light scatter but was still able to get decent picture quality out of the projector. That monitor to the right is 24 inch.

IMG_20130329_112439.jpg
 
I'd go plasma over anything else when it comes to gaming/sports watching.

Projector's are also a good way to be immersed in games. Best is to just envelope yourself in front of a giant 120 inch+ screen with surround sound. Projector's are cheap too, 3D ready one's for $850 + FS on amazon.

threw this one up on a barren white wall. tons of ambient light and the white walls and light scatter but was still able to get decent picture quality out of the projector. That monitor to the right is 24 inch.

I was thinking about going for a PJ, but decided that I'd wait out LED lamp technology. The replacement bulbs for the JVC projector I was looking at were craaaazy expensive. One day, the bulb will never go out.

I think I'm going to raw dog it. Wish me luck!

God speed.
 
The other day I discovered there was such a thing as 'short throw' projectors. How come no one told me these things existed? 100" from only 1.5m away so I can just put it on a table. I found the benq 1080st for $800CDN but I missed the sale so I'll have to wait thanksgiving or something.

And it only gets better. If you can splurge on a Laser Projector you can get 100" from only .5m away!
http://youtu.be/VAxtJBd_Vyw
 
The other day I discovered there was such a thing as 'short throw' projectors. How come no one told me these things existed? 100" from only 1.5m away so I can just put it on a table. I found the benq 1080st for $800CDN but I missed the sale so I'll have to wait thanksgiving or something.

And it only gets better. If you can splurge on a Laser Projector you can get 100" from only .5m away!
http://youtu.be/VAxtJBd_Vyw

The short throw ones require awkward placement and the laser one is like eight grand. If you've got a table you can set the short throw PJ on in the exact spot it needs to be (very limited zoom/no lens shift), and you don't mind listening to it (DLP's can get pretty loud from up close), it might be an okay option.

Oh and you've got to run wires to it...in the middle of the room. That could get ugly :P
 
I got the sony w802 and so far I'm not impressed (except the 3D is nice).

Is it supposed to have such terrible viewing angles? I mean my DS isn't much worse. My old Samsung LCD was better. Also the color seems off (comparing it next to my Dell Ultrasharp monitor) and the screen never seems to get black, always light grey or blueish.

When I turn the 3D on the screen gets a lot brighter and better, is there a setting to keep it like that for 2D?

I don't know, maybe mine's defective but I'm really not impressed so far.


The viewing angle on mine only gets dodgy at around 45 degrees, where it goes all washed out, as with the blacks you really need to play around with the settings.

It's taken me quite a while but they are pretty good now, I use adv contrast and black enhancer in combination with brightness and contrast.

I use impulse mode with gaming and that lowers the backlight massively but you have to crank up the various brightness settings to make it useable, and the blacks I get on impulse are now better than any other mode with seemingly very high backlight and contrast. The same will apply to 3D

I think you really need to spend a lot time tweaking the various modes, I've tried to adjust the blacks in a very dark room with a solid black screen and it gets to a point where brightness and contrast etc stop effecting black levels, try that as a starting point.

But most TV's don't look great in a fully dark room anyway, I just have a lamp on in the corner of the room and blacks look pretty much as dark as the bezel.
 
I wouldn't use a plasma TV as a PC monitor. I got permanent burn-in on my LCD TV by using it as a monitor and I'd imagine that the same thing would happen to a plasma much faster. Static images are the bane of a plasma, and if you leave the task bar there for hours, or some hud element (like Minimize/Maximize/Close) unchanged for hours, it's going to burn in eventually.

Fleeting IR (image retention) is common on plasmas and isn't anything to worry about if it goes right away. I can leave a network bug on my TV and then switch to a grey JPEG and see that the bug is temporarily retained, but it always goes away just as fast.

Oh and you'll need to set the TV into just scan mode (I forget what that's called on Panny's) to get things just right. On the PC side, you need to make sure it's set to not do any sort of aspect ratio adjustment or anything (usually in your video cards settings in the control panel). I'm sure there's a guide out there for setting up the PC to accurately do Blu-Ray color and whatnot, but I don't have one handy. That's assuming you're still going to go through with using a plasma as a computer monitor.

Thanks for the info!

Avs has a lot of great tips. Everything is running smoothly now. Almost all my PC complaints are gone now. I'll just need to be careful with the burns ins. *crosses fingers*
 
I think I'm in love.


(Yes my interior decor needs some work!)

So far the only 3D games I've played are Crysis 2 and Black Ops 2 but both look incredible. Later today I'll be trying Wipeout HD/Fury, Super Stardust HD, Resistance 3, Killzone 3, Ico/Shadow of the Collosus, House of the Dead Overkill and watching either Avatar or Dredd (haven't decided which yet).

Two questions about this TV (Panasonic TC-P65VT60).

1) I have a fairly cheap surge protector, but for some reason my TV won't plug into it. Why, and is it dangerous to leave it plugged directly into the wall?

2) I'm assuming there's a little charge cable for the 3D glasses but I can't find it. Any ideas where it might be?
 
I'm assuming there's a little charge cable for the 3D glasses but I can't find it. Any ideas where it might be?
I've had a couple of 3D TVs that came with glasses, all of which used batteries. Are you sure yours don't? Even the ZT (European model, at the very least) came with two pairs that used batteries.
 
The 3D glasses that come with the 60 series are not rechargeable and use batteries. The last series that had the rechargeable ones in the box was the 20 series.
 
I think I'm in love.



(Yes my interior decor needs some work!)

So far the only 3D games I've played are Crysis 2 and Black Ops 2 but both look incredible. Later today I'll be trying Wipeout HD/Fury, Super Stardust HD, Resistance 3, Killzone 3, Ico/Shadow of the Collosus, House of the Dead Overkill and watching either Avatar or Dredd (haven't decided which yet).

Two questions about this TV (Panasonic TC-P65VT60).

1) I have a fairly cheap surge protector, but for some reason my TV won't plug into it. Why, and is it dangerous to leave it plugged directly into the wall?

2) I'm assuming there's a little charge cable for the 3D glasses but I can't find it. Any ideas where it might be?

Pretty nice setup you have there. What did you do for a backlight setup?

As for the surge protector, definitely get yourself one.
 
Pretty nice setup you have there. What did you do for a backlight setup?

As for the surge protector, definitely get yourself one.
Yeah good idea.

I actually have a very simple setup, just a desk lamp clamped to the stand pointing at the wall behind (got the idea from the biased lighting thread we had a while back). Although what you're seeing in the picture is just the recessed lighting in the ceiling of my basement, I turn them off when I play games or watch movies because there is a bit of a reflection.
 
I was thinking about going for a PJ, but decided that I'd wait out LED lamp technology. The replacement bulbs for the JVC projector I was looking at were craaaazy expensive. One day, the bulb will never go out.



God speed.

You could be waiting a very long time sadly.

There's nothing to be scared about with UHP lamps, treated well they can easily make the rated hours and more (if you can handle a drop in brightness) I just got over 10k hours out of one which is double it's rated life and when it finally went, ordered a bare OEM lamp from HK for £57 rather than paying the £150 they charge here.

Take a look at DLP over the JVCs if it's mainly for gaming, you can get an surprisingly impressive picture for very little money, contrast isn't comparable to D-ILA, or even some modern LCD machines but they are pin sharp with great motion.

Also stick some money aside for room treatment, makes or breaks a projected image.
 
Any concerns buying from amazon? Dead pixels or anything? Looking at the free shipping and no tax as a big benefit.

I just bought my 65" f7100 from amazon and it arrived today in perfect condition. No dead pixels, no noticeable banding, and incredibly minor flashlighting for such a large screen. The delivery company will drop off the tv, unbox it, and plug it in while they're there so if there are dead pixels, or if the tv arrives damaged in any way, then you can refuse delivery and have amazon ship a new one just like if you bought it from best buy, etc. I believe the return period with amazon is the same as best buy's as well so if you're not happy with the picture then you should be able to return it within 30 days. Double check the whole no tax thing though because I paid tax on my set, but I've placed a few hundred orders with amazon so it didn't bother me too much as I would prefer to give them my business at this point. fwiw if there's a Costco nearby that you have access to, it may be with it to consider them as well if they carry the set you're looking at. I believe they add an extra year of warranty coverage for no cost and they sell additional warranties for deeply discounted prices. Typically I think they're a ripoff, but Costco only charges around 100 for an extra few years so that may be worth it to you.

As far as the set goes, I'm very happy with the purchase. After borrowing some settings from avsforum and making a few changes, the picture looks incredible. Sure, the blacks aren't as black as they could be on a plasma, but they are more than acceptable and the only way that you would be able to tell is if you had a plasma in the room to compare them to. There's no banding, and the flashlighting is very minor to the point that it isn't really worth mentioning. No clouds or anything either, the entire set it uniform and looks great for a 65" edge lit panel. The colors look very accurate now, although the set had a red tinge out of the box. A few adjustments took care of that and everything looks very good.

I haven't had a chance to do any gaming yet as it took about an hour to move my existing wall mount up a few inches and get the new panel on the wall, and the UGA game came on before I could fire up the ps3. I'll try some out later and see if I'm still thrilled with the purchase, but as long as game mode works and the input lag is minimal then I can't imagine being too disappointed.
 
So how come we aren't seeing smaller OLED TV's? There was the 11" Sony, and now there are two expensive 55" models plus a just-announced 77" from LG...but I want something in-between, like, a 22" for $1400.

My understanding is that the larger the OLED panel, the harder it is to make, so these huge sizes seems like an odd starting point. Is the assumption that no one but rich people who buy giant TVs will pay the premium?
 
Can someone explain to me why my new TV shows ads when I turn the volume up or down? I mean, what the fuck?

Edit: well I figured out how to disable it, rage abating somewhat
 
Can someone explain to me why my new TV shows ads when I turn the volume up or down? I mean, what the fuck?

Edit: well I figured out how to disable it, rage abating somewhat

It's a smart TV. It knows what you want man*

*Fucking hate that shit and it was the first thing I disabled once I got my first Panasonic Plasma two years ago.
 
did you have it set on retail mode or something?
No, I specifically picked home theater and not showroom mode. It's apparently a thing with some TV's now. It's ridiculous. I hate ads!
LLShC.gif


At least after wading through menus for time immemorial I figured out how to turn it off.
 
You could be waiting a very long time sadly.

There's nothing to be scared about with UHP lamps, treated well they can easily make the rated hours and more (if you can handle a drop in brightness) I just got over 10k hours out of one which is double it's rated life and when it finally went, ordered a bare OEM lamp from HK for £57 rather than paying the £150 they charge here.

Take a look at DLP over the JVCs if it's mainly for gaming, you can get an surprisingly impressive picture for very little money, contrast isn't comparable to D-ILA, or even some modern LCD machines but they are pin sharp with great motion.

Also stick some money aside for room treatment, makes or breaks a projected image.

Pretty much... If you want to get the most out of your projector, there's quite a few things you can do.

I'm no real help on entry level projectors...
 
The 3D glasses that come with the 60 series are not rechargeable and use batteries. The last series that had the rechargeable ones in the box was the 20 series.
Interesting, guess I need to get some of those.

So far today I've played Crysis 2, Black Ops 2, House of the Dead Overkill, and Super Stardust HD, and watch about half of Avatar. All I can say is: holy shit!!! This TV is amazing.

I wish more games came in 3D. =(
 
Any non-edge lit LCDs in the 1k range? Seems like the array backlighting has gone bye bye. :(

Still think I'm going for the 50" Sony r550a but I want to make sure I get the nest value for my 900 bucks.
 

Looking at the price, I'd have to say no. Some models advertise local dimming/smart dimming/etc, but I think the Samsung 8000 is the only one on the market right now (except for maybe a Sharp Elite branded one for a lot more money) with actual micro dimming (where the LED's are actually behind the screen in the middle and not on the edges). I could be wrong about that, but basically, you're looking at $1500-3000 USD for one of the TV's that actually does have it, and probably 2K for the 50" variety.

You could be waiting a very long time sadly.

There's nothing to be scared about with UHP lamps, treated well they can easily make the rated hours and more (if you can handle a drop in brightness) I just got over 10k hours out of one which is double it's rated life and when it finally went, ordered a bare OEM lamp from HK for £57 rather than paying the £150 they charge here.

Take a look at DLP over the JVCs if it's mainly for gaming, you can get an surprisingly impressive picture for very little money, contrast isn't comparable to D-ILA, or even some modern LCD machines but they are pin sharp with great motion.

Also stick some money aside for room treatment, makes or breaks a projected image.

I went through too many AVSforum threads where there was a never ending refrain of "My bulb burst prematurely; They won't replace it", which really soured me. I definitely wanted one of the JVC's (or one of Sony's LCoS ones) and could have gotten a huge discount on one at one point (one of the higher end models for like $1400) but ultimately decided that it wasn't worth the hassle (not just the bulb hassle; The building a theater out hassle, the having to fight over whether we'd be watching in the theater or the living room hassle, etc).

Any non-edge lit LCDs in the 1k range? Seems like the array backlighting has gone bye bye. :(

Still think I'm going for the 50" Sony r550a but I want to make sure I get the nest value for my 900 bucks.

I don't believe so, no.
 
Looking at the price, I'd have to say no. Some models advertise local dimming/smart dimming/etc, but I think the Samsung 8000 is the only one on the market right now (except for maybe a Sharp Elite branded one for a lot more money) with actual micro dimming (where the LED's are actually behind the screen in the middle and not on the edges). I could be wrong about that, but basically, you're looking at $1500-3000 USD for one of the TV's that actually does have it,
Are you saying the w802 is the best I can get for around $1000 even if other TVs list better specs?

I do want to point out that TV was on sale, used to be $1600 (same as the Sony). Actually I think the Sony lists micro dimming which isn't as good as local dimming (the LG). I'm hearing mixed things.
 
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