Help deciding which HDTV to buy

[Randy_Marsh]

I need help deciding which HDTV to buy. Was wondering if anyone here is very knowledgeable in this department, and also if any of you know of any good forums for discussing HDTVs.

I've pretty much decided i want to go with LCD over plasma, and i want 1080p, and something between 32 and 42 inches. i wanna spend around a thousand dollars, give or take about 300.

also i've been doing some research and was wondering if the response time will have any impact on games. the main drawback of an LCD is that i've learned that there can be some problems with fast-moving images (i decided this con was outweighed by the cons of plasma so i still wanna go with LCD). so my main question is, regarding videogames, am i going to be able to tell the difference between a TV with an 8 millisecond response time and one with a 6ms response time? am I going to be able to tell the difference between a TV with a 60Hz refresh rate and the newer ones with a 120Hz refresh rate? also i've noticed that a lot of TVs only list EITHER their response time in milliseconds OR their refresh rate in Hz (hertz). why is this?

any and all suggestions are appreciated.

thanks,

Marsh

[Majors]

http://www.avsforum.com/

Helped me out with my OTA digital tuner/antenna.

[Niode]

What you have to note is that response time can vary between different manufacturers. Not the physical measure, but rather, the way the manufacturers measure this. Some go from grey to grey, which obviously gives a faster response time. Others go from black to black which will give slower response times.

Due to the vast majority of new games being emo-tastic gore fests. You're going to want the best TV that handles very dark tones. The only way to find this out is if you go out to your local electronics store and just ask them to show you content that you would be using it for. They should be happy to do anything to get them a sale. Make your decision once you have seen it in action. Never trust anybody's opinion on the internet. Even pro review sites. They may not see what you see and vice versa. In other words, one reviewer might only review certain content that you won't be using it for and give it a rave review and then you buy it and find out it handles fast paced scenes like utter shit. Likewise you might not be able to tell the difference between two TVs that are £400 shy of each other. Why waste the money if you aren't going to see the benefit?

Just go out there and look at lots of TVs in real life. That's the only true way to find the right TV for you.

Another thing to look at if you want to play old consoles is the quality of the upscaler. Get them to play some standard definition content. Better still take a DVD or a Console with you and ask if they can play that content on screen. (without putting it through an external upscaler/upscaling DVD player first). Sometimes it might be more beneficial to save money on a TV that doesn't upscale well but has a nice screen, then using that extra money on a really good upscaling tuner. Rather than spending big bucks on a TV with a nice screen that only upscales moderately well.

[Randy_Marsh]

thank you niode that was a very helpful post.

[Randy_Marsh]

and you too majors.

[Ziggy]

All I can say is, if I had to buy another HDTV today (which is possible, mine might die) I'd get either a Sony or a Phillips based on what I've read.