# OK HD gurus...I need your expert opinions



## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

I am thinking about pulling the trigger on this LCD.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665405479&XID=O:kdl52w4100:dg_tv_gglsrch

What do you think?

Thanks in advance.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

not bad, watch where you buy it, you can spend alot for that in a store, or buy it cheap on the net


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Personally I think I might go with the Samsung LN52A650, but it's a Bradford-McCoy argument. Amazon has the Sony for $174 less than the Samsung. 
I actually ordered the Samsung LN46A630 but then I was saving $500 over the larger set.


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

My only complaint so far is the piano gloss black finish on the bezel surrounding the screen. I'm afraid it will reflect light and be distacting while watching.

I can get it for $1899.00 with a wall hanger thrown in at a major retailer where I live.


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## mutelight (Oct 6, 2008)

Buy with confidence, it is a fantastic display. I have the 46" V model (step below that W) in my bedroom and it one of my favorite displays in the house.

Phenomenal, natural looking colors right out of the box and the Bravia Engine 2 is superb for scaling lower resolution signals.


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## grog (Jul 3, 2007)

Very nice set. 

I like this one..

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532063


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Looks like a good one, most Editor and User reviews are a thumbs up. Its more of a case at that size do you want Plasma vs LCD. For LCD it looks good, just has the normal drawbacks of LCD's of that size, viewing angles being the biggest issue.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

Calvin386 said:


> My only complaint so far is the piano gloss black finish on the bezel surrounding the screen. I'm afraid it will reflect light and be distacting while watching.
> 
> I can get it for $1899.00 with a wall hanger thrown in at a major retailer where I live.


Is that with tax and everything? The guy I use for my buisness has it listed at 1699 no tax, you can buy a wall mount for 79 bucks for that on the net too


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Great TV. The W-series (which this is) is where the 120 Hz / Motion Flow / proper 1080/24p refresh starts, so you're getting all of the most important current features.


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## NOLANSKI (Apr 4, 2007)

Awesome TV just make sure you can live with the off axis viewing angle.
LCDs tend to start to wash out at about 30° and it get worse the farther you go.
If everyone is watching nealy dead on or better no worries.


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

GrumpyBear said:


> Looks like a good one, most Editor and User reviews are a thumbs up. Its more of a case at that size do you want Plasma vs LCD. For LCD it looks good, just has the normal drawbacks of LCD's of that size, viewing angles being the biggest issue.


I didn't realize there was a viewing angle issue. I was under the impression that LCD's had virtually a 180 degree viewing angle.

Is it the bigger the screen the less viewing angle?


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

grog said:


> Very nice set.
> 
> I like this one..
> 
> http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532063


Me too. My living room would be like an IMAX theater...lol


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

projectorguru said:


> Is that with tax and everything? The guy I use for my buisness has it listed at 1699 no tax, you can buy a wall mount for 79 bucks for that on the net too


That's a good price. Do you mind sharing? I would be interested in checking him out. Although I have been hesitant to have delicate electronics shipped.


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

IIP said:


> Great TV. The W-series (which this is) is where the 120 Hz / Motion Flow / proper 1080/24p refresh starts, so you're getting all of the most important current features.


This is why I have had my eye on this set. I'm glad to know someone agrees.


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## mutelight (Oct 6, 2008)

NOLANSKI said:


> Awesome TV just make sure you can live with the off axis viewing angle.
> LCDs tend to start to wash out at about 30° and it get worse the farther you go.
> If everyone is watching nealy dead on or better no worries.


With older and/or cheaper TN panel displays, yes. Not remotely as noticeable on models using S-PVA panels or better which is where the W series falls under.


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## NOLANSKI (Apr 4, 2007)

Calvin386 said:


> I didn't realize there was a viewing angle issue. I was under the impression that LCD's had virtually a 180 degree viewing angle.
> 
> Is it the bigger the screen the less viewing angle?


No they just don't have the viewing angle other displays do.

Go to your local store that has LCDs on display and view from various side angles.
Judge for yourself...if in your setup it's not an issue then no worries.
My wife likes to watch from the kitchen and we have a large sectional couch so we needed the wide angle a plasma provides so all had a great picture. We tried a LCD and loved the picture but the viewing angle was not acceptable for us.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

Calvin386 said:


> That's a good price. Do you mind sharing? I would be interested in checking him out. Although I have been hesitant to have delicate electronics shipped.


www.shopdigitalonline.com

also check Vanns.com out too(I did not) they are the 2 cheapest on the net. I have my own buisness in Home Theatre Installs, and most people around here have been doin the net shipping deal with no issues, the onlything is, I would get the warranty(3 year).


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## koji68 (Jun 21, 2004)

NOLANSKI said:


> Go to your local store that has LCDs on display and view from various side angles. Judge for yourself.


Yes do as he says. My brother-in-law has a the KDL-52XBR6 and there is no angle problems that I can see. The specs say that the viewing angle is 178 degrees.


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

mutelight said:


> With older and/or cheaper TN panel displays, yes. Not remotely as noticeable on models using S-PVA panels or better which is where the W series falls under.





> No they just don't have the viewing angle other displays do.
> 
> Go to your local store that has LCDs on display and view from various side angles.
> Judge for yourself...if in your setup it's not an issue then no worries.
> My wife likes to watch from the kitchen and we have a large sectional couch so we needed the wide angle a plasma provides so all had a great picture. We tried a LCD and loved the picture but the viewing angle was not acceptable for us.





> Yes do as he says. My brother-in-law has a the KDL-52XBR6 and there is no angle problems that I can see. The specs say that the viewing angle is 178 degrees.


Thanks that's good to hear. I will stop by a store just to be sure.

Thanks projectguru. I will check both of those stores out.


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## DavidRobert (Apr 6, 2008)

Calvin386 said:


> I am thinking about pulling the trigger on this LCD.
> 
> http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665405479&XID=O:kdl52w4100:dg_tv_gglsrch
> 
> ...


Calvin,
I have the same problem in deciding on a tv. WHile I have always preferred SONY, I have 2nd thoughts. At BestBuy - I saw the Sony 46W4100 next to the Samsung 46 inch model 650. The higher Samsung contrast showed a much sharper and clearer image, at a lower price. I now see CC and BB raising prices $100 this week, for Christmas. Might be wise to wait. 
In reviewing the 7 & 8 Samsung series models- I see higher prices with basic same picture just more bells. Others have said the 650 seems a good deal. I keep reading comments on the web.
A friend has a 52 inch Sony XBR with FIOS- I was not impressed. The SD stations look terrible and I wonder how good the Samsung is in the SD format, as I watch the Western channel alot.
COmments are welcome. Its hard to decide.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

DavidRobert said:


> Calvin,
> I have the same problem in deciding on a tv. WHile I have always preferred SONY, I have 2nd thoughts. At BestBuy - I saw the Sony 46W4100 next to the Samsung 46 inch model 650. The higher Samsung contrast showed a much sharper and clearer image, at a lower price. I now see CC and BB raising prices $100 this week, for Christmas. Might be wise to wait.
> In reviewing the 7 & 8 Samsung series models- I see higher prices with basic same picture just more bells. Others have said the 650 seems a good deal. I keep reading comments on the web.
> A friend has a 52 inch Sony XBR with FIOS- I was not impressed. The SD stations look terrible and I wonder how good the Samsung is in the SD format, as I watch the Western channel alot.
> COmments are welcome. Its hard to decide.


I bought the Samsung 650 model also. Definitely the sweet spot and highly rated at cnet etc. SD looks like crap on all hdtv's. How does the hd compare? I bought a tv from vanns. No sales tax in california. Everything went fine. These tv's have been shipped from china and trucked a few times before we get them no matter how you buy it. Why pay way more?


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

It's hard to access the picture in these big outlets. The LCD's are not calibrated and the lighting is not good for it.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

DavidRobert said:


> Calvin,
> I have the same problem in deciding on a tv. WHile I have always preferred SONY, I have 2nd thoughts. At BestBuy - I saw the Sony 46W4100 next to the Samsung 46 inch model 650. The higher Samsung contrast showed a much sharper and clearer image, at a lower price. I now see CC and BB raising prices $100 this week, for Christmas. Might be wise to wait.
> In reviewing the 7 & 8 Samsung series models- I see higher prices with basic same picture just more bells. Others have said the 650 seems a good deal. I keep reading comments on the web.
> A friend has a 52 inch Sony XBR with FIOS- I was not impressed. The SD stations look terrible and I wonder how good the Samsung is in the SD format, as I watch the Western channel alot.
> COmments are welcome. Its hard to decide.


Use caution on big chains like Best buy Circuit city. they are a volume dealer, and for example, they can alter the settings on a particular tv because they got a deal through that manufacture for a period of time, so they may showcase that against another tv, so you think it looks much better. I would strongly advise you to look at smaller stores such as Boscovs, sears ect and look at the same tv's

As far as SD, any LCd.plasma, will look crappy on that signal, they won't upconvert an incomming sd to their resolution(even though I have been told by a best buy guy that,lol) So use caution, do alot research, if you see a tv that looks betterthan what you want, but is to high priced, don't worry, in your living room you'll never see the difference.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

Calvin386 said:


> It's hard to access the picture in these big outlets. The LCD's are not calibrated and the lighting is not good for it.


Some lcds may be calibrated, read my other post. I found out this when 2 sonys side by side at circuit city looked too different, I asked the associate to use the remote, he refused, and then allowed me after talking about it, the 42" sony on the left was actually messed with, Contrast was way down, and the solor was set to high, I asked him why they would do this, he said someone else must have messed with it(meaning a customer), I put it back to default settings, and it amazingly looked identical to the other 40" ,(one was W series the other was KDL), be carefull


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## mutelight (Oct 6, 2008)

projectorguru said:


> Some lcds may be calibrated, read my other post. I found out this when 2 sonys side by side at circuit city looked too different, I asked the associate to use the remote, he refused, and then allowed me after talking about it, the 42" sony on the left was actually messed with, Contrast was way down, and the solor was set to high, I asked him why they would do this, he said someone else must have messed with it(meaning a customer), I put it back to default settings, and it amazingly looked identical to the other 40" ,(one was W series the other was KDL), be carefull


KDL is the prefix to the L, S, M, V, W, XBR etc. series. The biggest difference between all of those models are the panel techs and image processing. Depending on what size you are looking at some of the lines have the Bravia 2 Engine and others do not which make a difference when it comes to scaling SD content as well as color reproduction and motion handling.

With that said, I couldn't agree with you more, the settings in stores are inconsistent at best. Typically a lot of the big box stores have all of the displays on "torch mode" which makes the image seem more bright and oversaturated in color because to the uninformed they think that means the display is better.


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

kikkenit2 said:


> I bought the Samsung 650 model also. Definitely the sweet spot and highly rated at cnet etc. SD looks like crap on all hdtv's. How does the hd compare? I bought a tv from vanns. No sales tax in california. Everything went fine. These tv's have been shipped from china and trucked a few times before we get them no matter how you buy it. Why pay way more?


I also bought this set (in October) from Amazon and am very happy with it. Amazon has since dropped the set $200 and includes a white glove delivery service which means they'll have a contractor deliver it , take it out of the box and do a basic hookup to make sure it works. Then they take the box and packing material away (if you want).


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

Well, I bought the KDL52W4100. I think I did pretty good...$1682.73. That was a major retailer where I live. I loaded it in my truck and it's now in my living room in the box. I can't even open it because I have to go to a Christmas play.


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## mutelight (Oct 6, 2008)

Calvin386 said:


> Well, I bought the KDL52W4100. I think I did pretty good...$1682.73. That was a major retailer where I live. I loaded it in my truck and it's now in my living room in the box. I can't even open it because I have to go to a Christmas play.


Great purchase! You should be very happy with that display. Right out of the box make sure to take it off of the "Dynamic" setting and start the image quality tweaking on "Standard".


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

Thanks...I will certainly turn off the "torch" settings. 

I have some calibration settings that I got off the net for this set.


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## mutelight (Oct 6, 2008)

Calvin386 said:


> Thanks...I will certainly turn off the "torch" settings.
> 
> I have some calibration settings that I got off the net for this set.


Ah excellent, you are already one step ahead.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Calvin386 said:


> Thanks...I will certainly turn off the "torch" settings.
> 
> I have some calibration settings that I got off the net for this set.


I just picked up a new Panasonic Plasma HD TV, getting setting from CNET and another Website, sure helped. I would NEVER have thought to make some of the changes that they recommended. THEY sure have made a HUGE improvement's over what I thought was a good picture out of the box.


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## lobo65 (Oct 23, 2006)

dettxw said:


> Absolutely nothing wrong with it.
> 
> Personally I think I might go with the Samsung LN52A650, but it's a Bradford-McCoy argument. Amazon has the Sony for $174 less than the Samsung.
> I actually ordered the Samsung LN46A630 but then I was saving $500 over the larger set.


I have the LN52A650, and love it. I got it from Amazon for $2,300.00 with free white glove shipping. I would highly recommend buying from them.


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## Calvin386 (May 23, 2007)

GrumpyBear said:


> I just picked up a new Panasonic Plasma HD TV, getting setting from CNET and another Website, sure helped. I would NEVER have thought to make some of the changes that they recommended. THEY sure have made a HUGE improvement's over what I thought was a good picture out of the box.


It is definitely worth the time to find some good settings on the net. I generally try to find an in depth review of my model which has professionally calibrated the set.

Nothing beats having a professional come to your home and do it though.


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