LED LCD - Toshiba, LG, or Samsung

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G

garman

Enthusiast
Considering a 55" LED LCD, but having difficulty choosing between the Toshiba 55SV670U, the LG, and one of the three Samsungs.

The reviews have been somewhat helpful, but note shortcomings for all three. I am hesitant on buying an edge lit Samsung, since it seems to have the most picture flaws. The Toshiba seems to be a better brand, but the LG is substantially cheaper. The biggest critisim of the Toshiba is off angle viewing. That said, I am leaning heavily toward the Toshiba.

Anyone have any thoughts on these three TVs?
 
C

clouso

Banned
garman said:
Considering a 55" LED LCD, but having difficulty choosing between the Toshiba 55SV670U, the LG, and one of the three Samsungs.

The reviews have been somewhat helpful, but note shortcomings for all three. I am hesitant on buying an edge lit Samsung, since it seems to have the most picture flaws. The Toshiba seems to be a better brand, but the LG is substantially cheaper. The biggest critisim of the Toshiba is off angle viewing. That said, I am leaning heavily toward the Toshiba.

Anyone have any thoughts on these three TVs?
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hi..i have my 55sv670u since a week now and im very pleased with it..my first choice was going to be a panny 58'' v10 series (plasma) but when my local dealer received the led toshiba i just felt for it..lol...better blacks and better overall PQ then the panny's...it is true that the viewing angle is the biggest con about this tv but its no big deal for me...i would say that from sitting right in front to about 120 to 150 degrees the viewing is very good..if you think you will have people or yourself sitting at more then 150 degrees i dont suggest you this tv but if you will be sitting in the right spot this tv is just awesome...PQ is the best iv seen right after the kuro's no kidding!...iv been able to compare it to the pannys v10 the sony bravias and also the led samsungs and i just think the toshiba had better overall PQ...now you would need to be able to see and compare and make your own opinion...this was mine...have a good day! :)
 
G

garman

Enthusiast
Thank you for the response. It is comforting to learn that someone is pleased with their purchase and has considered similar alternatives.

I compared the Toshiba to the LG and Samsung at Best Buy, but unfortunately they had 480i set on the Toshiba, while the Samsung and LG were playing 1080P. The Samsung appeard way too bright, blooming, and had a blue cast. The LG looked great, but was playing the cartoonish colored Speed Racer movie in 1080P, so it was difficult to compare it to the Toshiba playing Pirates of the Carribbean at 480i. The salesperson at Best Buy could not figure out how to change the Toshiba to 1080P from 480i. He fumbled with the remote for a few minutes and gave up. Perhaps I needed to beg him to consult the manual, but I too gave up. I miss the Tweeter store.

Best Buy just raised the Toshiba price back to $2,999 from $2,699, so I am considering buying through Amazon (Beach Camera) for $2,295. I am a bit nervous about making such a big purchase through an online retailer.

Did you wall mount your Toshiba, or use the stand?
 
C

clouso

Banned
garman said:
Thank you for the response. It is comforting to learn that someone is pleased with their purchase and has considered similar alternatives.

I compared the Toshiba to the LG and Samsung at Best Buy, but unfortunately they had 480i set on the Toshiba, while the Samsung and LG were playing 1080P. The Samsung appeard way too bright, blooming, and had a blue cast. The LG looked great, but was playing the cartoonish colored Speed Racer movie in 1080P, so it was difficult to compare it to the Toshiba playing Pirates of the Carribbean at 480i. The salesperson at Best Buy could not figure out how to change the Toshiba to 1080P from 480i. He fumbled with the remote for a few minutes and gave up. Perhaps I needed to beg him to consult the manual, but I too gave up. I miss the Tweeter store.

Best Buy just raised the Toshiba price back to $2,999 from $2,699, so I am considering buying through Amazon (Beach Camera) for $2,295. I am a bit nervous about making such a big purchase through an online retailer.

Did you wall mount your Toshiba, or use the stand?
Click to expand...
i use the stand and the tv is on a desk kind of furniture...just to tell you i saw madagascar 2 yesterday in 1080i and it was just awesome so dont worry about the PQ with this tv you wont regret it..i find it ridiculous that they show some tvs on full hd while the other is in 480i ...but anyway it is a very good tv and im very pleased with it!
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
garman said:
The LG looked great, but was playing the cartoonish colored Speed Racer movie in 1080P, so it was difficult to compare it to the Toshiba playing Pirates of the Carribbean at 480i. The salesperson at Best Buy could not figure out how to change the Toshiba to 1080P from 480i. He fumbled with the remote for a few minutes and gave up.
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The Toshiba is 1080p so it was displaying 1080p. The source may have been 480i but when it gets to the TV, the TV sclaes and deinterlaces to 1080p. Granted it would be better to compare TVs where both sources are outputting 1080p.

I have a Toshiba 52" LCD that is a little over a year old. I think it does a pretty good job on all sources. Off axis the picture quality does decrease but that is true of pretty much all LCD/LED. Still I think it is acceptable, especially in my case where the side seating isn't more than about 120 degrees off axis.

Like all LCDs (or so it seems) the Tosh does exhibit 'flashlights' in the upper left and right corners. I swear they are decreasing in intensity over time and regardless you can only see it when the screen turns pitch black, like at the end of the movie when credits are rolling. No other problems to date whatsoever.
 
C

clouso

Banned
MDS said:
The Toshiba is 1080p so it was displaying 1080p. The source may have been 480i but when it gets to the TV, the TV sclaes and deinterlaces to 1080p. Granted it would be better to compare TVs where both sources are outputting 1080p.

I have a Toshiba 52" LCD that is a little over a year old. I think it does a pretty good job on all sources. Off axis the picture quality does decrease but that is true of pretty much all LCD/LED. Still I think it is acceptable, especially in my case where the side seating isn't more than about 120 degrees off axis.

Like all LCDs (or so it seems) the Tosh does exhibit 'flashlights' in the upper left and right corners. I swear they are decreasing in intensity over time and regardless you can only see it when the screen turns pitch black, like at the end of the movie when credits are rolling. No other problems to date whatsoever.
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first an upscale signal is nothing compared to the real 1080 signal..and i never had that ''flashlights'' problems in the upper corners yet..you are comparing your lcd with a led lcd..not really the same thing.
 
bandphan

bandphan

Banned
I hate to beat this horse but if it were me the panny V series is the no brainer ;) watch one hockey game on a lcd. :rolleyes: color accuracy is great but if the lag is there so what.
 
C

clouso

Banned
i cant wait to watch hockey! :)...NFL football was awesome on the led with no lag.:D
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Toshiba needs to kick up their marketing a touch. If their LED tvs are as good as many say they are they could be doing a snudge better. Even LG is marketing their tvs a fair amount, Samsung is marketing a ton. Toshiba, what are you doing?
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
clouso said:
first an upscale signal is nothing compared to the real 1080 signal..and i never had that ''flashlights'' problems in the upper corners yet..you are comparing your lcd with a led lcd..not really the same thing.
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First, if you make the statement 'an upscale signal is nothing compared to the real 1080 signal' it indicates that you didn't get that the TV will always scale to its native resolution, which is all I was commenting on. The OP was asking why the BB salesperson couldn't get the TV to display 1080p and it WAS because it can't display anything else. It's just that the source, as I said, was 480i so the TV had to scale and deinterlace it to 1080p. Lots of people don't understand this still and clearly that is the case for the BB guy and is all I was commenting on.

An 'LED' TV is an LCD panel that uses an LED backlight - it is not a panel with 1920 x 1080 LEDs.

'Flashlights' or 'clouding' is inherent to some degree on every LCD based TV. An LED TV may suffer the same issue although that is the intent of using an LED backlight to attempt to mitigate the problem somewhat. As usual, the solution doesn't always solve the problem. Just because you haven't seen it yet (and you will) doesn't mean that people considering these TVs don't want to know about the possibility.
 
S

smitty78

Audioholic Intern
bandphan said:
I hate to beat this horse but if it were me the panny V series is the no brainer ;) watch one hockey game on a lcd. :rolleyes: color accuracy is great but if the lag is there so what.
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I would have to agree. After viewing several displays...especially the heavily pushed Samsung edgelit, they still don't compare to plasma, IMHO. I can see where the thin panel and overly bright display might draw the average person in but for everyday watching that overly bright monitor gets to be annoying. You can't dim them but so much...not to mention that annoying auto dimming feature that can't be turned off. I would seek out the Sony backlit LED if I were going to go that route or even a higher end flourescent backlit LCD.

Another thing that bothers me is the processor. Even with judder set at "0" they still have that live T.V. feel to them...very unnatural when watching movies. Pirates of the Carribean was playing on blu-ray on the Sammy edgelit model and it looked like watching a british show or a cheap sitcom series, IMO. I hear that they dominate in the sport channels, though. Very smooth motion due to higher refresh rates and anti-motion blurring features. I could see getting one if you watched ESPN 90% of the time.

Like everything else, it all depends on what you like. Just be sure to audition them for yourself, especially if you are a movie buff. Ask them to play a blu-ray or even a DVD to see if you like the PQ and motion. They definately have a different feel to them that may take some time to get used to. There are other things to consider too such as room lighting. LCD may be a better route if you have a bright room. This is the ONLY shortcoming of plasma's from what I've seen. They have perfected them from earlier models, no longer suffering from burn in issues or shorter life spans. The wattage issue is negligable. One salesman tried to tell me that those plasmas use as much electricity as an oven. :rolleyes: I noted they didn't have the first plasma in their store either and I'm sure commission had nothing to do with that. :cool:

Well, there's my two cents. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
G

garman

Enthusiast
Bought the LED LCD 55" Toshiba from BBY tonight, will be delivered next Monday. It will be an interesting change from my 1080i 55" CRT rear projection Mitsubishi. The old set was about 2 feet thick, so the 4" Toshiba is delightfully slimmer. I can't wait to hang it on the wall and watch a good movie.

Thanks for all of the comments.
 
C

clouso

Banned
garman said:
Bought the LED LCD 55" Toshiba from BBY tonight, will be delivered next Monday. It will be an interesting change from my 1080i 55" CRT rear projection Mitsubishi. The old set was about 2 feet thick, so the 4" Toshiba is delightfully slimmer. I can't wait to hang it on the wall and watch a good movie.

Thanks for all of the comments.
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congrats on your purchase..you wont be desapointed...blu-rays just look awesome on this tv and you will have plenty of picture settings to choose from for movies or just do as i did and adjust the settings just like you like it and leave it that way!..thats what i did...
 
billy p

billy p

Audioholic Ninja
billy p

billy p

Audioholic Ninja
D

DaleAV

Full Audioholic
billy p said:
Wow isn't the xbr9 the top o the line model from sony? How do these people doing all these reviews come to different conclusions and results? Somebody JMO is trying to sell us the cool aid they're drinking...;)

Regards, Bill
Click to expand...

I never assume a topline model is always the best...even though I agree that would seem to be a logical conclusion.


Here's two similar tests on calibrated displays. Of course, no two displays (of the same model) should be that different.

The baseline is that all the displays are calibrated which should even the playing field. Of course the final 'evaluations' are still subjective.
Although VE sells all the models listed, good, bad or ugly. None of this explains all the differences, or who or what to believe except your own eyes.

I generally look for commonalities between reviews, and if it is something I can see for myself. Beyond that there are no easy answers.
 
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D

DaleAV

Full Audioholic
clouso said:
this review is talking about the toshiba zv series not the sv...the zv series is nothing compared to the sv wich is led lcd...valueelectronics was reviewing led lcd tv's if i get it right!.
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Thanks for fine-tuning the topic. It got past me too. I know when you are looking for a display you have all the model numbers burned into your brain. Later it's all fuzzy. :)
 
C

clouso

Banned
DaleAV said:
Thanks for fine-tuning the topic. It got past me too. I know when you are looking for a display you have all the model numbers burned into your brain. Later it's all fuzzy. :)
Click to expand...
right..there are so many sometimes i get lost too...lol
 
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