LCD vs. LED TVs

[mike004]

Looking for a 24 in flat panel TV.

Everyone says go for LED. Better contrast, viewing angle etc.

But they have some LCD TVs in Currys that look just the same picture wise as the LED TVs. A Panasonic model looked really good.

Does either type have a better resolution for text? My eyesight isn't great so i don't want to be straining to read out-of-focus text.

 

[^woody^]

Be aware that the LED element just relates to the backlight and they are not actually LED screens or more precisely OLED ... which are very expensive and only small size at this time

The contrast and view angle will be related to the panel, not just the backlight so its not that easy to say that LED lit screens are better

Also, the shops tend the whack the brightness and contrast up to make them appear more vibrant

 

[festive]

If i can just add do some research have a flick through Avforums or Amazon reviews, or work out roughly what you want from the TV. Some people scream about poor backlight from some LED TVs which as woody detailed are all LCD but just backlit with LED.

My advice is to go to a superstore and spend your time comparing. My first purchase i was convinced on the Sony until i went there to compare them all, the similar LG model blew it away on price and definition.

Im now quite into my Samsung LED tvs due to picture quality and features, and a common familiar interface across them all for the wife to keep up Some people flap about the backlighting being ott or too bright in one corner, luckily mine have been ok.

My main screen in the lounge has been a Pioneer plasma for many years now and im still massively impressed by it, after Pioneer dropped out the market Panasonic have taken over, they make a great screen, you wont be dissapointed with one.

Youll find most modern TV's have a 'display' mode used only for display purposes due to the bright lighting in superstores, otherwise the picture on all the TV's would look somewhat dim.

Hope that helps somewhat..

 

[Monsterminty]

check out the panasonic range, some really nice ones

 

[Igorian]

I'm with Festive on the Samsung LED range. Good picture and sound, very thin and light. The remote is pretty good too

 

[flameport]

Does either type have a better resolution for text? My eyesight isn't great so i don't want to be straining to read out-of-focus text.

The display type isn't particularly relevant, but the screen resolution is.
You should look for 1920x1080 which is usually marketed as 'full HD'.
Some others are only 1366x768, which rather obviously is substantially inferior having only half the number of pixels.

 

[mike004]

Does either type have a better resolution for text? My eyesight isn't great so i don't want to be straining to read out-of-focus text.

The display type isn't particularly relevant, but the screen resolution is.
You should look for 1920x1080 which is usually marketed as 'full HD'.
Some others are only 1366x768, which rather obviously is substantially inferior having only half the number of pixels.

Isn't 1366x768 better for normal (non HD) TV?
If I buy a 1920x1080 TV and don't watch HD will I be viewing a 1366x768 picture on a 1920x768 screen? This doesn't sound like it would give a good picture.

 

[Alarm]

Well i`m going to get this

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/lg-50pv350t-50-full-hd-plasma-tv-10374192-pdt.html

50" Full HD Plasma fastest refresh rate going

 

[flameport]

If I buy a 1920x1080 TV and don't watch HD will I be viewing a 1366x768 picture on a 1920x768 screen?

No.
SD is 704×576
720p (so called HD but not really) is 1280×720
Full HD is 1920x1080.

1366x768 appears in TV sets because it is a very common size used for computer displays, so the panels are a bit cheaper due to larger manufacturing volumes. It certainly has nothing to do with good picture quality or having a panel with a resolution suited to TV images, as no TV system uses that resolution.

As everything below full HD will have to be upscaled to be displayed on a 1920x1080 panel, the quality of the driver electronics and software have a big impact on the picture quality.
This is why two televisions of different brands with the same panel (display) in them can look totally different.
Just to add more confusion to the mix, some DVD players and other boxes can upscale the image before it gets to the TV, which may or may not give better results than the TV itself.

 

[mike004]

As everything below full HD will have to be upscaled to be displayed on a 1920x1080 panel.

I don't like the sound of that. It's like some image editing software that adds pixels when it resizes an image.

Surely an argument for sticking with a non-HD screen resolution if you have no intention of watching HD?

 

[flameport]

Surely an argument for sticking with a non-HD screen resolution if you have no intention of watching HD?

You can't buy televisions with SD resolution panels, so it's impossible.

In every case other than full HD on a 1920x1080 panel, the image will be resized to fit the display.
How much resizing depends on the source resolution, the panel resolution and whether any other options such as crop / zoom etc., have been selected.

 

[mike004]

>In every case other than full HD on a 1920x1080 panel, the image will be resized to fit the display.<

I guess the image is resized by adding pixels.

So it may be best to buy a HD ready 1366x768 panel for non-HD viewing. Not as much resizing of the image.

 

[Monkeh]

>In every case other than full HD on a 1920x1080 panel, the image will be resized to fit the display.<

I guess the image is resized by adding pixels.

So it may be best to buy a HD ready 1366x768 panel for non-HD viewing. Not as much resizing of the image.

That idea can backfire due to cheaper panels and electronics.