TV For PC Gaming / Freeview & Movies

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NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#69513 9-Oct-2010 18:16

Currently looking at a sony EX710 40" or a Samsung Series 6 40"

http://www.samsung.com/nz/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/led-tv/UA40C6200UMXRD/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification

http://www.sony.co.nz/product/kdl-40ex710

Anyone have either of these TVs , or any suggestions ?

We are able to get the samsung for $1999 or the new EX710 + a blue ray player for $2125.
Currently leaning towards the sony as reviews on the net favour sony tvs.

Thanks in advance.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#389940 9-Oct-2010 18:35

The 710 is the first Sony in their range I'd consider buying, nice looking picture (good greens in particular I thought). If you're running a PS3, then the integration of Sony + Sony is pretty sweet.

For gaming, Freeview and movies... I'd still buy a plasma though...

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390073 10-Oct-2010 09:15

definitly go plasma.I have 2 one as the main tv hooked to the htpc which is used fir games, the web and tv, the other is hooked to my 360. Picture quality is suberb compared to most lcds ive seen

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LittleDude

164 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#390270 10-Oct-2010 21:31

I have the Samsung LA40C650 and I am really pleased with it. I use it for movies and gaming.The best feature in my opinion is its usb imput. It has very good compatibility with divx,xvid and mkv etc (my friends Sony EX500 is useless). It "communicates" well with my Panasonic home theatre(not very impressed with it though). I paid $1600 for the tv six months ago and since then I have seen it for the same price with a Blu-ray player thrown in so I think $1999 is way overpriced.
Here is a good review for the NZ equivalent model http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Samsung-LE40B650/

NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390323 11-Oct-2010 07:55

Dunnersfella: The 710 is the first Sony in their range I'd consider buying, nice looking picture (good greens in particular I thought). If you're running a PS3, then the integration of Sony + Sony is pretty sweet.

For gaming, Freeview and movies... I'd still buy a plasma though...

Wow.

We just bought the samsung 6 series 6200 40" LED-LCD tv.

We actually got the store to bring both the Sony EX710 & the Samsung 6200 ( both 40" ) together, and we ran through several modes & feature comparisons.

The 710 has some cool features like it will turn itself off if in the event people go to sleep watching it, its got wireless built into it etc.

But in picture comparison. Both we & the store tech salesmen agreed that the samsung looked much better.
The rocks , trees & bird feathers were so much sharper on the samsung, but on the sony , they looked smudged and the edge lines blurry. The image in general was also much clearer in the samsung, and there wasnt as much noise / fuzzyness ? in the picture. ( not sure of the technical jargon in the TV world )

The colours on the Sony in Vivid mode, did beat the samsungs dynamic mode, giving slightly more... brighter deeper colours ( probably something useful in animation movies or adventure games ).

But all in all, the samsung displayed more realistic colours and a very noticeable sharper picture.

To be honest I was a little disappointed in the sony. Many shops here in Chch dont yet stock the brand new EX710 let alone have it out on display, so I had been holding out on a decision until I had a chance to compare them.

Im not sure about the higher models in the sony series , but the 40" sony EX710 ($2800 shelf price), gets beaten easily & noticeably by the much cheaper $1999 Samsung series 6, picture quality wise as well as the actual look of the TV.

Got a 10gbps HDMI to connect it to the PC, and a free xbox 360 bundle to go along with it.
Bought it at Harvey Norman, they have excellent customer service.

I didnt buy a plasma. Not too keen on them, the plasma (pixels ?) are much larger than those of LCD screens.
While I do agree that the colours on some / many plasmas surpass LCDs , I was surprised comparing LCD-LED screens with Plasma, and it seems the gap is getting smaller, but the LED-LCD screens definitely surpass the traditional older LCDs. The newer LCD LEDs, stood out from the LCDs especially in scenes of viabrant colours , darkness & shadows.

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Nety

2584 posts

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Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#390347 11-Oct-2010 09:30

Just one question.. did you have both TV's calibrated correctly? If not then a side by side comparison has little value as you are relying on the presets which are fairly much without fail rubbish.
The fact you mention vivid is concerning at IMHO it is the last preset you should be looking at. It provides a picture where all colours are pushed way beyond natural. Great for grabbing your attention in store but of no value if you want things to look like the real world.
As for sharpness etc. Were all "enhancements" turned off? They will play merry hell with a HD feedD.

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Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#390371 11-Oct-2010 10:29

I agree - stores aren't good places to check panel performance, but they're often the best option we have.
I know it's too late, but I'd never compare on store mode (dynamic or vivid), instead pick out a standard viewing mode and go from there. Tweaking the calibration further than that in-store is a tricky one, as the viewing environment there will never replicate what we experience in our own homes... so I'm not overly big on spending an hour on each TV in-store.

The thing is, when you get the TV home, you quickly grow to appreciate that vivid colours found under the 'dynamic' mode aren't necessarily right... Check out the colour of grass, the skin tones on actors faces etc, they are so far away from natural it's almost comical.

Re: plasmas having larger pixels...
Well, if both LED's and Plasmas are the same size (say a Panasonic 42" plasma vs a 42" LG LED) - then the pixel density will be the same...1920 x 1080.

NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390452 11-Oct-2010 13:22

Nety: Just one question.. did you have both TV's calibrated correctly? If not then a side by side comparison has little value as you are relying on the presets which are fairly much without fail rubbish.
The fact you mention vivid is concerning at IMHO it is the last preset you should be looking at. It provides a picture where all colours are pushed way beyond natural. Great for grabbing your attention in store but of no value if you want things to look like the real world.
As for sharpness etc. Were all "enhancements" turned off? They will play merry hell with a HD feedD.

Well both I and the tv sales dept guys had a good play with both.

You also find that the stores will optimise the tvs already to make them look as good as possible in the shop.

My posts & review is not a stab at sony in any way. It was honestly a fair comparison.
My gf & I spent two & days looking in almost every shop in chch , except four in northwood because of time constraints.

Infact upon initially playing with the sony, in the side by side comparisons, all of its features were turned off.
I turned on some of them including the true motion setting to 100hz for fair comparison to the samsung.

In general from the opinions from most of the shops we went to, the sellers told us that sonys EX500 - new 7 series ranges arent as good as samsungs 6 & 7 series in picture quality.

The reason for me setting it on vivid mode was for fair comparison with the samsung , which results would give an indication of how an animation movie might look with the bright & vibrant colours.

Anyway we are happy with what we got, and are currently awaiting Samsungs new shipment to Harvey Norman.

Now on to a home theater / surround sound system...

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clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#390549 11-Oct-2010 16:38

NZCrusader: You also find that the stores will optimise the tvs already to make them look as good as possible in the shop.

Optimise and calibrated are two totally different things regarding flat panel TV's.