Hi

I'm hoping to buy a new LCD at the end of the week and have been trying to research on the net the best one to get.
All I come across on nearly every one I look at in my price range is backlighting / clouding issues!
It's putting me off nearly every TV!

In my budget I was going for the Sony KDL46W5500U but I keep reading bad things about backlighting.

Is it really bad or will it only affect me if I watch the TV in the dark? (which i never do)

I was even going to splash out on the Samsung LCD that all the mags etc are raving about but all I've read on forums etc is bad clouding and returned tvs!!!


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Si

Go for a plasma screen instead. IMHO the picture quality is far superior.
There is a 50" Panasonic plasma with freesat for about the same price as the Sony LCD you were looking at.

^^^^ I'd agree, buy a plasma

It's only scare mongering, a small number of sets with slight problems - I can't say I've ever seen it on any TV, apart from occasional faulty panels.

Go and look at the sets yourself - don't get carried away looking for flaws (digital TV is full of them as it's much too compressed).

What those who are blindly barking "Buy a plasma" are forgetting, is that if you can't darken or at least limit the natural light in the room during the daytime, a plasma screen isn't very enjoyable. LCD panels are less reflective, and so they are okay for daytime viewing with curtains open etc.

Or take that advice on board, give it due consideration, weigh up the pros and cons, read the tea leaves and cast the chicken bones on the floor, and then buy a plasma

Stop reading! Go LOOK at some and decide for yourself!!

I'd agree - try a plasma. My house is full of LCDs. As for scare mongering maybe I'm unlucky but I've had 2x LCDs go funky so far.

It is definately not scaremongery...

Here is proof that modern TV's do not last and a lot of them are refurbished - less than 2 years old! Stick with good old CRT!

Take a look at this.

http://www.ashtronic.co.uk/

A shop that sells second hand TV's - what's that supposed to prove?.

And a lot of them seem to be CRTs too ....

At ludicrous prices as well - who's going to pay those prices for sets you can pull out of skips?.

Second hand LCD & Plasma - some that are less than a year old that have been refurbished. Some are obviously older, but a majority of stock is 1-3 years old that have been repaired.

Why would a TV have to be refurbished after such a short time?

I have the 52 inch of the sony you are considering, the set is awsume you wont be dissapointed, no backlight issues with my set

If you watch TV in a bright room then you will have reflection problems with a plasma, even wall lights cause enough reflection to be very annoying.

You dont get that with CRT...

It does take a bit more effort regarding placement of the TV / lamps etc but it is worth it. Modern Plasmas aren't as bad as older ones.


Nor do you get HD or a screen bigger than about 32".

But for the average home...why would you want anything bigger than that anyway?

I personally prefer to look at a screen as a 'whole' and not have a screen so big that I have to keep moving the eyes to look at what is happening at different parts of the screen. The bigger the screen...the more distance you need to capture the full effect and to see the whole screen clearly.

Massive TV's in large rooms means you have to distance yourself from the TV to see the whole screen as oppose to a standard CRT where you can sit closer and gain a better effect. Distance and large TV's is simply defeating the whole concept in reality. Plus flat screen TV's look very distorted anyway compared to CRT. (sales people are shocked when I point out these issues)

Assuming you are referring to some distortion other than that caused by the shop having no clue about aspect ratio and not setting the correct setting
Which is a common fault - of the store or its staff !
Please enlighten us




refurbished usually just means tested & cleaned

and they claim

"....Most cases these items have not been repaired and are pre-working stock..."

+ the flat ones so far seem to be supermarket brands, where they will have a high level of returns which were not real faults anyway



Not really, sitting 12 ft from a 42" is more rewarding than watching a 32 at the same distance, and no, my eyes are not bouncing about trying to scan the entire screen
(yes I know that distance might not suit HD-but I'm fine with it)

Plasma has the same reflectiveness (or less) than a CRT depending on the quality of the AR coating

With regard to backlight bleed & clouding, It is more prevalent than you might think. However, if you had not read about it chances are it would not be bothering you. Forums tend to stir up issues like this & make you start looking for problems & if you look long & hard enough you will find them! For most people it is not an issue but for some it drives them nuts!

Having owned several LCD's & recently a plasma, I know which I prefer (plasma) that said there are plenty of good LCD's out there.

Plasma is more reflective than a lot of LCD panels (except the glossy ones) but is not really an issue unless you have direct sunlight on it (like a CRT) I have a bright room (and wall lights) & it really is not a problem

you are seriously failing at appreciating scale. at 6 feet a 42" is inhabiting a tiny portion of your visual field. even a 65" fails to fill your visual field at that distance. neither is truely cinematic. you are overestimating the actual size of these tvs. never mind the distance factor, you don't have to sit further back at all for such tvs at all. sure you cant use them as desktop monitors, but at any couch distance its still too small to be cinematic. its why people buy projectors. so the idea you have to sit in the next room because of a flat screens size is simply bonkers.

crts are the worst of all worlds. they didn't get big enough to be cinematic and sitting closer only exaggerated their flaws. never mind the room boulder aspect of a large crt. a 65" on the wall leaves the room clear, a mere 40" crt is a massive imposition in a room. crts by definition distort. first with round tubes, then even with flat tubes getting geometry correct on a flat scanned tube was just as difficult. there are zero geometry issues with flat panels, the pixels are precisely where they are. of course if you are a muppet setting incorrect aspect ratios or zooming/stretching on content sure you'll distort things, but thats besides the point.

Plasma - You watch TV mainly in the evenings. You watch sports and movies. You have a room and viewing distance for a screen at 37" minimum. You watch a lot of SD material as well as HD. You want a natural deep picture with excellent contrast, colour and definition with a high viewing angle.

LCD - You watch TV mainly during the day / bright room. You play a lot of games and watch HD material. You want a bright colourful picture with excellent clarity.

---

Plasma
Pros: Excellent contrast and black levels. Excellent performance in dark scenes. Better motion response for fast action (not as good as CRT). More natural picture and colour. No loss of colour or picture quality viewed on angles. Excellent SD performance aswell as HD.
Cons: Only come as small as 37". Slightly heavier than LCD and can consume more power (depending on screen and picture). Image retention and burn are rare but can still be done.

LCD:
Pros: Bright, clear and sharp pictures with excellent HD performance. Matt screen (on majority of LCDs) reduces reflections. Good performance in bright / sunny aspect rooms.
Cons: Poor black levels and dark scene performance. Colour can be unnatural. Motion response is poor on the majority of LCD's. Backlight bleed is still common (only noticeable on dark screens/scenes)


Personally I went from LCD to Plasma and never looked back (unless it was for a bedroom/ small TV)
Plasmas offer such a good all round picture. Yes, they can suffer in sunny rooms in summer but most of the time you watch TV in the evening.

Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Pioneer Plasmas are the only ones around. Panasonic and Pioneer are the best to go for

I've just bought a new Samsung LED tv and the picture quality is amazing even in SD the quaily is impressive, I waited years and did not know what to buy it cost over £1000 but its well worth the xtra money.

Daz

Because they will be ex-rental, or warranty returns - no different at all to CRT sets.

From someone "up there on the front line" I can tell you catagorically that decent make LCD TV's are more reliable than CRT ones.

Hard to say with Plasma, as numbers sold are so small in comparison - but they are less reliable than LCD.

What, they last longer that 10-20 years?!

If you know that, please PM next week's lottery numbers to me!

Cheers,
David.