Another which TV thread

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Dee96

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Hi Guys

I would like some advice as I am not very up to date with TVs as I would like to be.

Basically I am in the market for a new TV soon. I am not sure what type(led vs lcd ect) and what brand I should look out for. Recently I have seen a lot of the lesser known brands(Hi Sense, Sinotec, ect) advertised for a lot cheaper that Samsungs and LGs. Is the price difference justified or are the lesser known brands fairly decent? Any first hand experience will help.

My current budget is R8 000 but can be stretched a little if the need arises. The room size I would estimate to be 7m x 7m and is very bright. Obviously the larger the TV, the better.

The TV main use will be
- SD DSTV, which I may change to Openview HD
- PS3
- Wii
- And the majority of the time will be spent watching series and movies off my hard drive which I currently run off my PS3 using showtime

I am open to any and all advice

Thanks
 
I am also in the market, have been doing a lot of research over the last couple of months. After reading reviews on reviews, and watching youtube unboxings and more reviews, researching all the issues and tech (micro dimming, input lag, direct led, edge led,4k, curved etc)

I have come to the conclusion to just go ahead and take this one. http://www.whathifi.com/samsung/ue48h6400/review

I will be going with the 55" (tv size to distance calc)http://www.rtings.com/info/television-size-to-distance-relationship. I think the 48" will stretch your budget a bit closer to 10k.

Regarding the local brands, I don't know. I am too far away from a city to take a chance on them, so I have to go with what I know.
 
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insect said:
I am also in the market, have been doing a lot of research over the last couple of months. After reading reviews on reviews, and watching youtube unboxings and more reviews, researching all the issues and tech (micro dimming, input lag, direct led, edge led,4k, curved etc)

I have come to the conclusion to just go ahead and take this one. http://www.whathifi.com/samsung/ue48h6400/review

I will be going with the 55" (tv size to distance calc)http://www.rtings.com/info/television-size-to-distance-relationship. I think the 48" will stretch your budget a bit closer to 10k.

Regarding the local brands, I don't know. I am too far away from a city to take a chance on them, so I have to go with what I know.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.



Can I ask for why you chose that TV. I mean the reason behind LED vs LCD and so on?
 
Dee96 said:
Hi Guys

I would like some advice as I am not very up to date with TVs as I would like to be.

Basically I am in the market for a new TV soon. I am not sure what type(led vs lcd ect) and what brand I should look out for. Recently I have seen a lot of the lesser known brands(Hi Sense, Sinotec, ect) advertised for a lot cheaper that Samsungs and LGs. Is the price difference justified or are the lesser known brands fairly decent? Any first hand experience will help.

My current budget is R8 000 but can be stretched a little if the need arises. The room size I would estimate to be 7m x 7m and is very bright. Obviously the larger the TV, the better.

The TV main use will be
- SD DSTV, which I may change to Openview HD
- PS3
- Wii
- And the majority of the time will be spent watching series and movies off my hard drive which I currently run off my PS3 using showtime

I am open to any and all advice

Thanks
Click to expand...

You definitely want an LED. A couple main reasons is that it uses less power (and heat) than LCD due to not having a backlight. This also means it is thinner and lighter. Also the colours are more vibrant.

As for Sinotec, I have a 42 inch LCD which I bought in December 2008 for R8999 which was all I could for the size back then, and its still steaming along like a beast. I have two Roku's for streaming, 2 Mede8ers for playing local media, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I am still happy with my purchase of 6 years ago.

My parents just bought a Sinotec 55 inch LED as their 2010 Sony Bravia konked out. I was impressed when I saw it, clear and colours were rich. Yes, Sinotec are not a Sony or Samsung and this shows in clarity of picture and colours when you put them side by side, but we are talking about small subtle differences. The 5 year guarantee on Sinotec is a good value add as well.

I would suggest go to Makro and look at them all side by side. As a side note, one of my other reasons for buying the Sinotec back then was also because it wasn't a glossy plastic, but matt plastic which doesn't shows scratches or fingerprints.
 
I mean the reason behind LED vs LCD and so on?
Click to expand...

I went to a small furniture store, the owner came up to me asking if I needed help, I told him I am interested in a TV, he then asked me LED or LCD?:wtf:

I blinked, confused I told him erm LED back lit LCD TV? He then frowned at me and told me he wasn't sure if they had any of those.:confused:
An LED TV is an LCD TV

Despite having a different acronym, an LED TV is just a different type of LCD TV. The proper name would actually be “LED-backlit LCD TV,” but that’s too much of a mouthful for everyday conversation, so people generally just refer to them as LED TV’s, which can cause confusion.

Both types of TV make use of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel to control where light is displayed on your screen. These panels are typically composed of two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them, so when an electric current passes through the liquid, it causes the crystals to align so that light can (or can’t) pass through. Think of each crystal as a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking it out.

Now, since both LED and LCD TV’s use LCD technology, you’re probably wondering what the difference is. The answer? Backlighting. Ordinary LCD TV’s use cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL’s) to provide backlighting, whereas LED TV’s use an array of smaller, more efficient light emitting diodes (LED’s) to illuminate the screen, which gives them a few advantages.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/led-vs-lcd-tvs/#ixzz3O2dAYP6X
Click to expand...

Main Reasons for me ending up at the 55H6400: mostly picture quality and price (Some of last years high end in this years mainstream). I will also do a bit of gaming on it, so low input lag was a factor, this is really an unknown with the local brands.

I don't care about smart features (have a gaming HTPC in the living room) or audio quality, decent home theater setup already (Dynaudio + Marantz). Plus I have a full HD projector with 120" screen in the living room so this will be the workhorse to save a bit on projector bulbs, but if I want the cinema experience I go to the pj.

Another thing to keep in mind is not to over spend, or adopt a new tech too fast as this is currently a rapidly, changing and expanding field. New types of 4k and 8k monitors are being introduced at CES right now, quantum-dot technology, more curved and OLed screens coming up. Rather replace in 2 or 3 years than go all out now.
 
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