Sunauto,

can you tell me if the 37" Toshiba Regza LCD TV has clean Astro TV image or not. I was looking at the display at a shop (not viewing Astro) and the salesman recommended me Samsung instead of Toshiba because he claims Toshiba TV image has picture noise or pixel patches or something like that. Didn't quite understand exactly what he meant.

Your feedback is very much appreciated.

Thanks everyone for the feedback

Ok, after weeks of visiting every electronic shop I could think of and after hours and hours of staring at every LCD TV on display I have finally bought my LCD TV.

It's not the Regza like lots of you recommended but the LG 37" LC2R. And it's the cheapest branded 37" LCD TV too. I got it for RM4,2xx/-. It is also the heaviest (34kg) against the other 37" most of which were around 25+kg. The LG panel really looks class and expensive quality.

I don't know why, but I didn't like the Toshiba Regza picture texture. The PQ looked too 2 dimensional and had the slightly grainy look.

On the other hand, the LG might not have the brightest or the best contrast in the shops, but it was perfect for home purposes. In fact I had to tone down most of the levels to below 50% at home or else it will be too bright and too much contrast.

The PQ had the CRT TV quality look and after connecting to the RF (I don't have Astro) and after proper adjustment of all the options and sharpness, noise reduction etc. , I was really impressed by the colours and perfect balance of brightness and contrast. (My area has good TV reception). The TV even comes with a built-in Booster for RF reception. (My fears and doubt before purchase vanished immediately).

There is almost no picture noise at 5-6ft viewing. The pic is smooth and sharp with good depth and I almost felt I was watching a good quality 100HZ CRT TV. (Don't expect Astro to have such smooth texture though)

Even at the shops, some LCD like the Sony were extremely sharp, but when it came to scenes like rivers and forests viewed from afar, you could see how much artificial sharpening they had. The water and trees looked like black square patches instead of real water and leaves.

The LG however was less sharp, but the dark areas had good details, where leaves looked like leaves and water ripples looked like what it should.

The LG has lots of features too like PIP and 1:1 pixel mapping for PC use, memory storage for the different settings under different modes etc..

The 2006 XD engine incorporating DCDi (Faroudja) is probably why it looks so smooth with very little jaggies.

I am currently playing DVDs using the Sony NS-76H (recommended by you guys) and things are looking really good.

Please excuse me if I go missing for a long while because I got a new toy to play with

Btw I don't recommend the LG 32" model selling at below RM3,000 because it really look inferior with only 800:1 contrast compared to my 37" which has 1,600:1 contrast.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Mar 25 2007, 10:51 PM

I didn't want to buy it at first because of the heavy weight. Afraid my not too big TV stand with rollers would collapse under it's weight.

But in the end I sort of convinced myself that it's heavy because it has expensive parts inside, lol . After all, got 2 years warranty from LG

Yea, I guess Plasma is still better than LCD at certain things

It's region free and it definitely has component and HDMI. But take note that using component won't give you anything higher than 480P/576i.

---

Added on April 5, 2007, 10:18 pmLast month I saw the Samsung HD950 or 850 (can't remember exactly) display set selling for only RM2xx at Best Electronics, KLCC.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Apr 5 2007, 10:18 PM

Yes, choosing a LCD TV is quite subjective. Even at the shops some brands like Sony and Samsung has their own specialised players feeding a very good quality picture to their units. Every where you go, their units will look very good.

Try to compare where they have the same demo playing on different brands, so that you can get a better idea.

Even then, depending on which unit the shop is promoting, they will optimise those units to look better than others.

For e.g when I was browsing around for the 37" LG unit, which I eventually bought, I noticed that one HSL shop in the city only connected the single yellow composite cable to all the LG units. Needless to say the quality was bad compared to other brands which had component cables connected.

The Toshiba Regza I presume is quite a popular choice. It has the advantage of backlight control which can be really useful and the price of the 37" was only about RM 450+ more than the 37" LG I bought at that time.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Apr 8 2007, 10:50 PM

Anyone with LG LCD TV tried to set PC resolution to 1368x768 resolution?

I have a Geforce 7600GT card (which doesn't support 1366x768 or 1368x768) so previously I set to 1360x768 resolution which is supported by the LG (connected via RGB)

Now I have custom set the GC to 1368x768 and then set the LG to 1366x768 (Native) and I find that it is sharper than when previously the LG and GC was both matching 1360x768 mode.

Anyone can confirm my eyes are not playing tricks?

This post has been edited by Ngto: Apr 12 2007, 11:41 PM

What you are looking for is at least twice your budget.

I bought the 37" LG for RM4,299/- last month. Don't know about the current price. Chould be cheaper due to the intense competition.

Although it is rated to last that long, I am kind of worried about how much dimmer it will be after a few years.

The LG I bought last month already doesn't look as bright as the first day. Don't get me wrong, it is still bright enough, just that the loss of brightness is noticeable after 1 month. Or could it be my eyes sort of got adjusted to the brightness and now unconciously appears to be less bright

I only know Toshiba SD770SR has a retail price of RM499/- with free HDMI cable.

---

Added on May 5, 2007, 10:10 pmBtw, the cheap LG 190H RM3xx HDMI player can actually upscale through component (yes you read correctly) to 720P & 1080i without any hacks.

But the scaler quality isn't too good.

This post has been edited by Ngto: May 5 2007, 10:11 PM

A lot of brands now got 32" at around that price.

Samsung got a model just below RM3,000/-
I saw one LG model displayed price at R2,799/-
Panasonic has also come out with a 32" around RM3,000/-
Toshiba should also be around that price... etc. etc.

As for recommendations, I better leave it to the sifus. But to me Samsung look brilliant at the showrooms, but that's because they are using their own customised player with a high quality feed.

The Samsung 32" below RM3,000 I was referring to is the LA32S71B (which is already almost phased out). In fact two months ago I was already offered the price of RM3,000 by Mediaplex and a few other places after bargain, although most of the other shops were priced at RM3,399/- or similar.

32" is too small. Won't enjoy. Get 37" or 40". 8 feet distance for 37" still ok.

Wasn't MiTV in trouble before? I remember reading in the news some time back they laid off some employees etc.

Anyway, you are right about their programmes, not interesting whatsoever. They will fail even if they relaunch unlesss they get more interesting shows and lower their charges.

Your PC got S-Video output?

Besides Composite, S-Video is a bad choice for Video. If you can't use direct VGA connection to LCD-TV then it's better to use some sort of DVI to VGA converter and connect to the LCD-TV.

You already know the features of Sharp. The best is for you to go to one of the AV shops (good example is Best Denki at KLCC) and compare all the different brands for 32" models yourselves.

Remember, even Sharp got different models for 32", but I guess by now the older models would probably have been phased out already.

btw, you can also connect your computer to your TV through HDMI using a DVI to HDMI converter.

Sorry I couldn't be of further help.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Jul 1 2007, 08:13 PM

Basically HD got two mode 1) Normal HD =720P 2) Full HD = 1080P.

Those models you mentioned above are only 720P. Even if it stated it's 1080i, it's not full HD. Full HD must have the 'P' stated in it's 1080 specs.

The cost of a Full HD (1080P) set will cost you way above the RM5,000/- you mentioned.

But don't worry, because normal HD is sufficient for most people considering the lack of full HD content available. Full HD's only practical use locally is limited to viewing original Blu-ray or HD-DVD movies which itself cost around RM170/- and above per disc (from the isolated video shops selling them). Odering directly from online overseas sites cost less of course, if you don't mind the hassle.

Then again in order to view full HD movies, you will need a Blu-Ray player or HD-DVD player which will cost another few thousand RM. Good news is the PS3 can be used as a full HD player for Blu-ray movies, but it is not launched here yet by Sony Malaysia. Even the games released for the PS3 will mostly only be in normal HD.

HDMI would be better with two ports or more of course. A HDMI DVD player which can upscale standard DVD (480P) to Normal HD (720/1080i) , will be using one of the ports. If in future you have another device which requires the use of another HDMI port, the extra port or ports will come in useful.

As for LCD or Plasma, I think it's best you view them at the Shops and form your own opinion.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Aug 26 2007, 07:21 PM

A videocam with HD features will also come in either Normal HD or Full HD. As always a full HD videocam will cost you. So if you are buying a 720/1080i TV, it would be sensible to buy a normal 720/1080i videocam to match the resolution to your TV. Movies or video filmed at 1080P will not be able to display on a 720P/1080i TV, without the use of some sort of downscaling technique or devices.

If you want a TV with a recorder, then the Time Machine is a good option. But take note that the specs of the LG 42PC1RR Plasma states that the resolution is only 1024x768 compared to a normal LCD TV res of 1366x768.

Whether LCD or Plasma image is better, dependes on individual tastes. That's the reason I suggested you look at the displays yourself.

People say Plasma got a more natural display and better black separation for standard video or TV viewing.

However, I prefer LCD for it's really bright image and generally higher resolution (I watch more DVDs than TV programmes). But as a reminder, Astro/TV viewing on both Plasma and LCD won't be better compared to conventional CRT TV. That's because the higher resolution Plasma/LCD must upscale the low resolution TV signals to fit the native panel resolution

Physically (lifespan, weight, power consumprtion, fragility etc. etc. ), the LCD is better than Plasma in my opinon. Also LCD is better suited as a monitor if you have a PC that you want to connect it to.