HDTV Response Rates

[JoshL]

I'm a first time HDTV buyer. I've seen a lot Sharp LCD's adverstising their 4mS response times. Does any other HDTV whether it be plasma or LCD have this fast a response time. And will I even really notice a big difference?

Also, I've pretty much narrowed down my two choices to the Sharp 46" LCD 92U series, or the Panasonic Plasma 50" or 42" 700U series. Anybody out there have these or know about their performances?

Thanks

 

[jliedeka]

I can't comment on any of the specific models you mentioned. I can tell you this, take the manufacturer's specs with a pinch of salt. 4ms response time sounds great but you should check out the models you are interested in while playing the content you intend to watch.

One thing to keep in mind, HDTV broadcast stations have a wide variety of broadcast quality. I'm a football fan and I've noticed that some over-the-air stations are better than others. My TV is not high-end and I can tell the difference. The games on Fox were better than the locally broadcast games during the pre-season.

If you plan to use your set for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray or upscaled SD-DVD discs, you should audition the TV with those in mind.

 

[MDS]

The majority of LCDs have a response time of 8 ms.

Sharp only achieves its stated response time of 4 ms with the 'fine motion' feature turned on. It's a trick of their processing algorithms. I'm not saying it's a gimmick because it is not but realistically I don't think that should be the deciding factor between competing models. 8 ms is plenty fast to all but eliminate motion lag.