HDGURU.Com » LED LCD Flat Panels

Choosing The HDTV That’s Right For You

Gary — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:50:02 +0000

Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving is the official start of the holiday HDTV buying season. Despite the ongoing recession and high unemployment levels, analysts at iSuppli and the Consumer Electronics Association predict that 2009 will end with 8 million LCD HDTVs being sold in Q4 (up 7.3% vs. 2008). Here’s our advice.

Size Matters

You need to pick the right screen size for your needs. Generally, LCDs go from 19” up to 65” and plasma HDTVs from 42” to 65”. With 37” screens and smaller you can find LCDs with 720p resolution. At 32” and above 1080p resolution LCD sets are available. With plasma, a 720p class is offered in 42” and 50” screen sizes.

There are a number of considerations when you are deciding on an ideal screen size. First, consider your budget, then the physical limitation of your cabinet or room and seating position. Our exclusive HD Guru viewing distance chart (link) will tell you how close you need to be to see all the resolution with a given 720p or 1080p HDTV. Move further away, you will still get a great picture; however, you will not be able to admire all the resolution within the image due to the limits of human vision.

LCD or Plasma?

If you are considering a screen below 42”, LCD is the only way to go. But if you are seeking out a larger screen size, then you may choose either technology. On a basis of overall image quality, HD Guru and other experts agree that plasma beats LCD (including the LCDs called LED TVs). Why? Simply put, plasma is the only large flat screen technology available today which offers uniform viewing as you move off-axis, meaning everyone in the room sees the same great quality picture. All LCD HDTVs exhibit changes in color, black level and brightness as one moves further away from a straight-on dead center viewing position. There are a number of LCDs that have better off-axis viewing than others and they will be in our upcoming recommended HDTVs list article.

Plasma offers overall better black levels (their blacks always deeper compared to LCD when viewed off-axis) because plasma has the ability to shut off light in the picture at a pixel level. The best LCD black levels are the ones utilizing LED backlights, which include a feature called “local dimming”. This is accomplished by dividing the 2 million pixel images into hundreds of blocks. Be aware a halo may be seen when the image contains adjacent high contrast such as white letters on a black background.

LED TV or LCD TV?

All LED TVs are LCDs. However, a number of TV makers are choosing to refer to their respective LED (Light Emitting Diode) lit TVs simply as LED TVs. The rest of the LCD TVs use thin fluorescent tubes called CCFLs (they’re miniature versions of the bulbs found in light fixtures). An advantage of LED as a light source is lower power consumption as compared to CCFLs. CCFL LCDs use about the same amount of energy as a plasma TVs for a given screen size.

LED TVs are capable of very bright images, making them the preferred backlight LCD technology for daytime viewing, especially in windowed rooms that lack shades or curtains.

There are two types of LED TVs, edge lit and back lit. The edge lit models have the advantage of the thinnest possible profile depth at just over one-inch. LED backlit units are deeper; however, many add a feature called local dimming, creating extremely dark black levels.

There are some disadvantages to current LED TVs. There are white and black uniformity issues at the picture perimeter with many edge lit designs. Also, off-axis brightness tends to fall off a bit more rapidly than occurs with CCFL backlit designs using the same LCD panel.

60Hz/120Hz/240Hz

Standard LCDs have a 60 Hz refresh rate. The motion resolution comes in around 320 lines (per picture height) out of 1080 lines. 120 Hz refresh ups the motion resolution to around 600; while 240 Hz kicks it up to 900 lines or higher. There are circuits incorporated that create more frames to smooth motion, however they come with increased picture artifacts (see related story here link). If you want a LED or LCD TV with the best panel and most features then you automatically get 120 or 240 Hz refresh.

Plasmas have full 1080 line motion resolution without the artifacts found in 120/240Hz LEDs or LCDs. Panasonics V and Z series plasmas offer a 96Hz refresh, which makes the image free of judder normally found in all 60 Hz (LCD and plasma) panels without the artifacts associated with 120/240Hz LED/LCDs.

Special Features

There are a number of added features for people that are looking for the most accurate image reproduction. THX Certified designs provide near ideal color temperature and HDTV color points right out of the box when using the THX picture setting. Many top of the line HDTVs have user calibration controls to allow (with proper test equipment and signals) the fine tuning of the TVs image to near perfection.

Buying your HDTV

HDTVs are in good supply for the holidays and are about 20% lower than last year. Circuit City’s demise changed the market conditions, making Best Buy’s Black Friday doorbuster prices on mid to high end models around the same as you can find today online at our HD Guru Pricegrabber webpage. For brick and mortar stores, check out our” How To Get the Best Deal” (link).

Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc. All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademark. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission. The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable. Data within is subject to change. HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

120/240 Hz LCD Problems Exposed

Gary — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:41:33 +0000

120/240 Hz LCD Problems Exposed
Uploaded by exploretv. – Technology reviews and science news videos.

By HD Guru

Video Edited by Al Caudullo/Article Edited by Michael Fremer

All display technologies combine a variety of strengths and weaknesses. Whether its excess power consumption, limited viewing angle or washed out black levels, over time, engineers work to address the weaknesses while reinforcing the strengths. For example, liquid crystal displays once suffered from blurring when reproducing rapidly moving objects or people. The problem seemed inherent to the technology.

Tests conducted by HD GURU demonstrated how, in the presence of motion, 1080 lines of resolution (per frame height) dropped to 320 lines or less on displays featuring 60 Hz refresh rates, which was long the standard.

By speeding up the refresh rate from 60 Hz to either 120 Hz or 240 Hz, set makers reduced or virtually eliminated motion blur. LCD set manufacturers accomplished this using a new circuit called ME/MC (motion estimation/motion compensation) that activates when the display kicks up the refresh rate to 120 or 240 Hz.

Few technological improvements come without associated costs and as new 120/240Hz LCDs appeared, many reviewers complained that while the activation of the ME/MC circuit effectively reduced motion blur, it was accompanied by noticeable image degradation that made movies appear like videos, caused in part by a diminution or elimination of film grain. Reviewers invented colorful descriptors like “soap opera effect” or “video effect” to describe what they saw.

Using test patterns on a new test disc that can, for the first time, clearly demonstrate the ME/MC circuit’s image degradation, the HD Guru tested five leading LCD HDTV brands (Vizio, Samsung, Sony, Sharp and LG). Each manufacturer employs a trademarked name such as Motion Flo (Sony) and Auto Motion Plus (Samsung) for its respective ME/ME processing circuit.

The test disc is the new Spears and Munsil Blu-ray disc (link). The “moving wedge” test pattern, recorded at 1080p/24 Hz and played back via a Blu-ray player, consists of a vertical and horizontal wedge pattern made up of slightly converging alternating black and white lines. We tested ten models from the five brands, first shutting off the ME/MC circuit while playing the content at 60 Hz and again after engaging the circuit.

We also tested a pair of plasma sets: Pioneer’s Elite Kuro (PRO-141FD) and Panasonic’s TC-P54Z1, engaging the 60 Hz and 72 Hz modes on the Pioneer as well as the 60 Hz and 96 Hz modes on the Panasonic. Regardless of setting, neither produced the picture degrading artifacts seen on all of the 120/240Hz LCDs with ME/MC engaged. See the Panasonic’s image on the accompanying video.

What We See

Minimal amounts of moiré should appear on the moving Wedge Patterns, with the individual black and white lines viewable from one end of the wedge to the other. Some displays did a better job than others (with the ME/MC circuit “Off”) due to signal processing and the given display’s bandwidth. Activating the ME/MC circuit created some nasty artifacts. The wedge distorted, showing flashing blobs that momentarily obliterated the black and white lines as the wedge moved up and down or right and left. This translates to a loss of fine detail such as film grain and overall image alteration.

Why This Occurs

Why does ME/MC produce these deleterious results? Using movie content, for example, the circuit takes the actual film frames that occur 24 times per second and creates synthesized artificial frames between the real ones. The ME/MC chip guesses and reproduces what the created frames should look like. Unfortunately, sometimes the circuit guesses wrong and mis-interpolates the motion present.

In addition, it appears that none of the ME/MC chips available to set makers are capable of processing all of the data within the original film frames needed to produce artifact-free synthesized ones. Therefore, to achieve image consistency, the LCD panel must degrade the actual frame’s image quality to match that of the synthesized frame, which is why the test pattern shows the degradation.

ME/MC Benefits

Artifacts aside, 120 Hz and 240 Hz LCDs produce noticeably smoother motion than do 60Hz sets, or plasma displays for that matter. You will easily notice the smoother wedge movement. Some LCD set owners consider the loss of fine detail a worthwhile tradeoff to get the ME/MC circuit’s smooth presentation.

Alternatives

Currently, prospective flat screen buyers have two alternatives. If LCD is your preference but you wish to avoid the ME/MC circuit’s artifacts, most LCD sets offer a turn off option. The trade-off is lower motion resolution. If you want a feature like LED edge or back lighting, 120 Hz or higher is your only choice as these features are only present on the higher refresh rate sets.The second alternative is to opt for a plasma set. The Panasonic G, V and Z models tested by HD GURU all reproduce full motion resolution HD without the use of artifact-producing ME/MC circuits.

A Final Note

We made the video contained within this article on a Kodak Zx1 at 720p/60 resolution. The footage was edited and uploaded to the servers. Due to limitations of the camera, the need for compression and the upload/download process, the images seen should be taken as a demonstration of the presence (or lack) of image artifacts and not as an exact reproduction of what would be observed in person. We invite and encourage readers to obtain a copy of the Spears and Munsil test disc and perform these tests on your own display or one that you are contemplating purchasing at a willing local retailer.

Have a question for the HD Guru? HD GURU|Email

CEATEC 2009

Gary — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:30:34 +0000

(October 15, 2009) CEATEC (Combined Exhibition of Advanced TECnologies) concluded last week in Chiba, Japan. The show’s big highlight, a preview of 3D HDTVs due to launch in 2010. Toshiba and Sharp debuted their respective 3D HDTV prototypes at CEATEC. Like Sony and Panasonic, they too are using the proposed (and expected to be approved) Blu-ray 3D standard for content storage and display. This means there will be no format war! All 3D HDTVs prototypes on display used “Full HD” 1920 x 1080 resolution with frame sequential left-right display using shutter type glasses. Below are the best new HDTV and other products of the show.

Panasonic

With the largest booth at CEATEC, Panasonic lead the 3D revolution with the unveiling of its prototype 50” 3D plasma HDTV. The images were crisp and bright. Panasonic invited members of the world press to a special 3D information panel. During the presentation, Panasonic executives revealed many details about its up coming 3D HDTVs.

Panasonic reconfirmed a 3D launch in 2010, but will still not pin down a specific date. The 50” prototype, demonstrated the viability of this screen size for full 3D display, a move that implies a line of 3D HDTVs in 2010 will be at this popular size and larger.

In addition to 3D capability, next year’s Panasonic plasma HDTVs incorporate new phosphors that produce improved 2D images, with higher brightness and shorter decay times, resulting in better energy efficiency.

Panasonic’s executives said the company plans to create an entire line of 3D imaging products including camcorders, digital still cameras (under its Lumix brand) as well as 3D capable Blu-ray players and HDTVs.

Panasonic’s president Fumio Ohtsubo discussed 3D adaptation, explaining 3D HDTV will follow traditional consumer acceptance patterns, beginning with early adopters, with sales increasing year to year, leading to mass market acceptance.

Panasonic believes plasma will provide the best large screen 3D image, however, it plans to release smaller screen sizes using its own LCD panels in the future, at a time when many consumers make the shift over to 3D capable displays.Panasonic plans to sell its own manufactured 3D shutter glasses for its 3D HDTVs .

Panasonic made another major announcement, by displaying an HDTV prototype using its newly developed “Neo LCD Eco” IPS Alpha panel. The 42” prototype consumes far less energy than its current LCD models, while producing deep inky blacks, as seen in the photo. These new panels will ship within Panasonic’s 2010 model line to be debuted at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas.

Panasonic will also lower energy consumption on its plasma HDTVs in 2010, a prototype of its next gen 50” displayed, uses one-third the energy as its 2007 model (see photo).

Emphasizing its corporate commitment to greener products, Panasonic announced plans to introduce energy saving LED light bulbs that consume just 7 watts to create the same amount of light as a 60 watt incandescent light bulb. It is also planning to introduce LED lamps that will enable consumers to change the overall color of the light produced, such as reddish warmth for the winter months or a cooling blue tint during the summer. Panasonic did not provide as date for these innovative lamps to hit the stores.

Sharp

Sharp showed its prototype 60” 3D LCD HDTV (photo) and announced its next gen LCD panel for 3D HDTV called UV²A Technology, which stands for Ultraviolet-induced Multi-domain Vertical Alignment. According to Sharp’s CEATEC press release, UV²A promises a 60% higher contrast ratio, higher optical efficiency with 20% higher aperture ratio meaning more light from the backlight will emerge through the LCD panel, two times the speed of conventional LCD panels (this is a necessity Full HD 3D which requires using shutter glasses). Sharp added these new gen LCDs will increase production efficiency from simplification of the panel structure.

Sharp opened its new 10th generation LCD plant on October 1, 2009 in Sakai City, Osaka, Japan. It is the first factory to produce panels using the UV²A Technology.

Toshiba

Toshiba introduced for the Japanese market its new Cell Regza 55” LCD LED backlit HDTV. Incorporating a 3-terabyte hard drive, the Cell Regza HDTV can record up to eight terrestrial digital channels simultaneously. The Cell part of the Cell Regza name is Toshiba’s Cell Broadband Engine which provides ultra high speed signal processing.The 55” Cell Regza LCD HDTV will ship in Japan this December at a price of about $11,000 US.

Toshiba staged a very impressive demo if its prototype 3D Cell Regza HDTV (photo), with one of the brightest LCD 3D images seen to date. Like the offerings from the other TV companies on the show floor, the 3D Cell Regza HDTV displays “Full HD 3D” using shutter glasses for viewing 3D images. No price or availability was given for Toshiba’s 3D entry into the USS market, however it appears Toshiba is ready to join the 3D fray.

Sony

Sony again showed its shutter glass type 3D “Full HD” LCD prototypes, however the big news: its prototype 240 Hz, single lens 3D video camera. The camera uses a huge lens and a beam splitter to capture 3D images. This 240 Hz rate is up to ten times the rate of pro 2D HDTV video and film cameras. The resulting 3D pictures are both novel and distinctive.

The demo employed Sony’s commercial SXRD 4K front projectors and the same type of passive 3D glasses used today in movie theaters around the world. Unlike other 3D demos, the 240 Hz camera produced 3D images with depth extending from the screen and rearward, like one is looking through a window. No content appeared in front of the screen plane. In 3D tech terms, the Sony camera can only capture images with a 0 or positive “Z axis”. In other words, you don’t see any object appearing inches from your face. On the other hand, we were surprised to see this unique camera’s ability to produce viewable pictures, albeit in 2D, without seeing the double images (left and right views superimposed) one normally observes when trying to view 3D content without using the associated 3D glasses. HD Guru will publish more photos of this novel camera prototype in CEATEC photo montage to be posted shortly.

Have a question for the HD Guru? HD GURU|Email

Best Buy Continues Its Schizo “Dual” Price Strategy + Next Week’s Best HDTV Deals Revealed

Gary — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:42:58 +0000

(October 3, 2009) The HD GURU obtained an advanced copy of next week’s Best Buy’s (BB) weekly circular, and thoroughly researched its HDTV weekly “sale” prices to let readers know which models are “real” deals (see the list below). Unfortunately, most of the HDTVs advertised “On Sale” at Best Buy this coming week, actually are priced higher than in the recent past! The website camelbuy.com (LINK) does an excellent job of tracking Best Buy prices.

In addition, BB, known primarily as a “brick and mortar” retailer appears to be continuing its test of a lower “online” HDTV pricing strategy. Next week, prices on select Samsung and Panasonic HDTVs are as much as $300 less on its website than in BBs latest (Oct. 4, 2009-Oct.10, 2009) weekly sale circular.

The following HDTVs are priced lower at bestbuy.com than in its weekly sale advertising. Circular prices are rounded up a penny or two to save space.

Make/Model Size Circular Online $Difference

Samsung/UN55B8000 55″ $3400 $3009.98 $390

Samsung/LN46B550 46″ $1200 $1059.99 $140 (Now $1159.99 10/4009 on line a $40 difference)

Samsung/LN46B640 46″ $1420 $1319.99 $100

Samsung/PN50B450 46″ $850 $799.99 $50 (Raised 10/4/09, now the same price)

Panasonic/TC-P42X1 42″ $700 $599.99 $100

The following HDTVs are at the lowest price ever at Best Buy, as listed in its 10/4/09-10/10/09 weekly circular.

Make/Model Size Was Now

Sony/KDL-52Z5100 52″ 240Hz LCD $2800 $1799.99

LG/55LH90 55″ 240Hz LED LCD $2800 $1999.99

LG/47LH90 47″ 240Hz LED LCD $2200 $1399.99

You should use the HD Guru Pricegrabber search box (located on the left side column of this page under “Check Prices” or LINK) to get the best “online” deals and/or use Best Buy’s blowout prices to help you get a better price from your local retailer, if that’s from whom you choose to buy. For tips on how to negotiate like a pro, go to our article here (LINK).

Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

CEDIA 2009 Report and Analysis Part 2

Gary — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:39:32 +0000

(Sept. 28, 2009) Samsung chose CEDIA to unveil the remainder of its 2009 HDTV line to its dealers. The showings included Samsung’s new 2009 LED backlit LCDs, the B8500 series (bottom photo) and a new 65″ CCFL (cold-cathode fluorescent) backlit LCD (top photo).

The 8500 series consists of two models, the 46″ LN46B8500 ($3599.99) and the 55″ LN55B8500 ($4499.99). These two LCDs (note: Samsung refers to them as LED TVs in the USA) are the 2009 replacement for the well received A950 LED backlit models. Features of the 8500s include: true 240 Hz refresh, white LED local dimming backlights, 2ms rated panel response time and a “rated” dynamic contrast of 7,000,000:1 (to restate the HD Guru’s position, dynamic contrast is a meaningless spec, though HDTV makers keep publishing a spec.).

Features include 1.6″ depth (a new record for backlit LED displays), Internet connectivity for access to Yahoo, Flickr, YouTube and other web based content and widgets. The 8500s are shipping now.

The LN65B650 is a CCFL backlit LCD (Samsung calls it an LCD TV). The 65″ size is new for Samsung and according to industry sources Sharp manufactures the 65″ LCD panel within the LN65B650. A Samsung representative would not confirm who makes the panel.

As stated in the press release “LCD 650 Series TVs will deliver Auto Motion Plus™ 120Hz refresh rate, fast 4ms response time for motion clarity and high dynamic contrast ratios for deeper, more natural blacks. The LN65B650 will also include expansive networking and connectivity capabilities including Samsung’s Medi@2.0 Suite, the unique Touch of Color™ design, and it will meet the latest Energy Star® qualifications. ” The rated dynamic contrast ratio is 100,000:1 The 65″ retails for $6000 and ships this month.

Samsung introduced its latest front projector (photo) from its “Joe Kane” series. The A600 boasts a glossy black finish, low noise, under 13 pound weight, 220 watt lamp, inputs include two HDMI, component video, composite, S-video and a 15-pin VGA connector.

The A600 is “Full HD” using a 16:9 Texas Instruments 1080p DLP chip with a six-segment color wheel, 1000 ANSI Lumen rated brightness and a 3,000:1 rated contrast ratio. The A600 retails for $1795.

Panasonic

Panasonic announced the release of its 2009 58″ and 65″ S1 and V10 series plasmas along with prices. (TC-P58S1 $2295.95; TC-P65S1 $3199.95; TC-P58V10 $2699.95; TC-P65V10 $3999.95.) You can find these HDTVs for far less by checking out at the HD Guru Pricegrabber website by clicking this (LINK) or under the “Check Prices” banner in the left side column of this page. The HD Guru Pricegrabber website currently offers the TC-P65S1 for as low as $2249.

Panasonic’s finally unveiled at CEDIA its 85″ plasma monitor (photo). Unlike its 103″ version, the 85″ operates on a standard 120 volt AC outlet. The image was bright and clean. Panasonic’s Pro division sells it and with sales geared to commercial installs such as conference rooms. It retails for $30,000, a far cry from the 65″ S1 streeting at under $2300.

Panasonic displayed to the CEDIA crowd its new 3D truck which housed a 103″ 3D Full HD Plasma and featured new 3D demo content, including the trailer for the upcoming movie, AVATAR.

LG brought its upcoming wireless and wired LCD flat panel HDTVs to Atlanta. The top-of-the-line 55LHX combines slim contemporary design, LED backlighting with local dimming, wireless HD reception and it’s the first LCD in the US to receive THX certification. The LHX has a rated dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 and is 240 Hz with a scanning backlight. The 55″ 55LHX retails for $4799 and should be in stores next month. The image looked quite impressive and could be one of the best LCDs ever. We look forward to reviewing when it becomes available.

The LH model has wireless 1080p connectivity and 120 Hz refresh, but uses standard CCFL backlights instead of LEDs. The LH85s have a rated contrast ratio of 80,000:1. They’ll be available later this fall as a 47″ model (47LH85, $2399) an as a 55″ (55LH85, $3199).

The SL90 series (photo) is an LED edge-lit, 120 Hz, LCD HDTV besting Samsung’s LN6000 series product by .05″ with a depth of just 1.15″. According to the press release “LG uses a special film lamination technology for better color tuning, gradation and reduction of glare – all in a sleek, minimalist package. The lamination process completes the flat surface, virtually eliminating the visible line between the screen and the bezel when the set is turned off. “

The SL90s have a rated dynamic contrast ratio of 3,000,000:1 and like the others listed, has LGs proprietary “Picture Wizard” for easy set up of the user picture controls without tools or test discs. It also includes ISF CC for expert calibration with proper measuring devices. The SL90s will be available later this fall in the 47″ and 42″ screen sizes with retail prices of $2,599 and $2099 respectively.

The SL80 models are 1.8″ at their slimmest point, have 240 Hz with scanning CCFL backlights and the same flat all-glass face as the SL90 models. They’re available now in the 42″ ($1599), 47″ ($1899) and 55″ ($2799) screen sizes.

Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

The HD GURU’s Hottest Labor Day Week HDTV Deals

Gary — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:48:33 +0000

(Sept. 5, 2009) The HD GURU® obtained advanced copies of this Sunday’s September 6, 2009 Best Buy (BB) circular and J&R ads to find the best Labor Day specials on HDTVs. Last week, a number of televisions hit the lowest prices of the year at BB, due to a combination of new TV maker price reductions, dealer incentives and store wide discounts. This week brings additonal factory price drops, lower sale prices and two new combo deals at Best Buy. They are listed below.

HD GURU also checked J&R (www.jr.com) and found two outstanding Labor Day prices on Sony HDTVs with free shipping included (listed below).

Can you do better than Best Buy with on-line etailers? Yes! HD GURU checked out 6 Avenue Electronics website (www.6ave.com) and found a number of HDTVs with even lower prices by email quote. The items are listed with “Email me for the latest price” alongside the price. For example, the Samsung UN46B6000 email quote is $110 dollars lower than 6 Av’s website price or Best Buy’s price (each are listed at $1599.99).

Also, check out HD GURU’s Price Grabber website located on the left hand column of this page for great Labor Day prices from leading etailers. Just enter a model number into the “Product Search” box under “Check Prices”.

Below are the best Labor Day Deals from Best Buy, J&R and another email 6 Ave quote.

Make/Model            Size     Orig.   Now $Savings Store
Samsung UN40B6000 40″    $2200 $1299.99 $900       BB
Samsung PN50B850 50″     $2200 $1699.99 $500    BB
Samsung LN40B630   40″    $1400   $899.99 $500       BB
LG           32LH20      32″    $550     $429.99 $120      BB
Sony KDL-32S5100   32″    $750    $559.99   $190       JR
Sony KDL-40V5100   40″    $1200 $879.99   $320        JR
Samsung UN40B6000 40″     $2100 $1259.99 $840       6ave
(Note: This is a 6ave “email quote” price. BB’s circular price and 6av’s website price are listed at $1299.99 )

Best Buy Package Deals

Sony KDL-46Z5100 (46″) with free Geek Squad Home Theater setup + Sony HTSS360 home theater system + Sony BDPS360 Blu-ray player Orig. price separately, $3150 Now $1649.97 $Savings $1500 (over 47% off original price)

Panasonic TC-P50S1 (50″) plasma + Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray player Orig. $1850 Now $1199.99 $ Savings $650 (over 35% off original separate price total) Note: the DMP-BD60 is also on sale for $199.99 (originally $300)
——
Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

Christmas In August? Best Buy’s Big HDTV Price Drop

Gary — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:02:35 +0000

(August 29, 2009) Every year the new football season brings with it the start of the HDTV peak sales period. 2009 TV sales volume is around 2008 levels, but with a tilt towards smaller screen size consumer purchases, resulting in lower than anticipated revenues for major retailers and vendors. Best Buy is fighting back this week by dramatically lowering the price of large screen HDTVs and packages, with savings up to 42%!

HD Guru received a copy of Best Buy’s 8/30/2009 Sunday circular. Use this advanced notice to plan a purchase at your local Best Buy or to negotiate with your favorite retailer or etailer. With inventories building on large screen size HDTVs (>39″) dealers and vendors are desperately trying to move more big screens. The result, the lowest prices of the year for 2009 HDTVs. Discounts this big normally occur after Thanksgiving. Below are the best deals (we rounded off “Was” to the nearest whole dollar to save space). Best Buy’s circular lists 33 HDTV models on sale.

Make/Model            Size     Was Now       $ Savings
Samsung UN46B7100 46″    $2900 $1799.99 $1100
Samsung UN46B8000 46″    $3200 $2099.99 $1100
Samsung UN55B6000 55″    $3500 $2399.99 $1100
Samsung LN55B650 55″ $3000 $2299.99 $700
Samsung LN46B650 46″     $2100 $1499.99 $600
Samsung PN58B550 58″     $2600 $1899.99 $700
Samsung PN50B550 50″     $1600 $1099.99 $500
Samsung LN40B640 40″ $1500 $999.99   $500
Samsung LN52B550 52″     $2000 $1499.99 $500
Sony KDL-40XBR9   40″       $2300 $1499.99 $800

Package Deals

Panasonic TC-P54S1 54″ Plasma w/DMP-BD60K Blu-ray
player was $2300 Now $1649.98 $ Savings $650

Sony KDL-52XBR9 52″ 240Hz LCD w/BDPS560 Blu-ray player and HTSS360
5.1 Home theater system was $4000 Now $2499.97 $ Saving $1500

Sony KDL-46XBR9 46″ 240Hz LCD w/BDPS560 Blu-ray player and HTSS360
5.1 Home theater system was $3500 Now $1997.97 $ Savings $1500

One more deal. Beginning tomorrow, J&R (www.jr.com) will have the Panasonic Blu-ray player DMP-BD60K for $199 (was $299) HD GURU is currently evaluating its sister model (DMP-BD80K) with similar video performance and the preliminary test results are excellent.
——
Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

Q2 Plasma HDTV Sales Surge; LCD 40″+ Size Sales Flat —Vizio Maintains No. 1 LCD Volume

Gary — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:03:49 +0000

Plasma HDTV sales surged 31% in unit volume and 35% in dollar volume over Q1 2009, while in the same period, large screen LCD HDTV flat panel volume sales were flat and revenues fell 7%—according to TV industry market research firm Quixel Research.

Quixel’s principal Tamaryn Pratt states in a press release, “Unit sales of 42″ 720p plasma were up 40% quarter-to-quarter as consumers were looking for value in uncertain economic times,” adding “It also helped that all the models offered were from top brands so consumers felt comfortable making a competitively priced purchase backed up by a well known brand”. Q2 saw the arrival of new 2010 plasma models from Panasonic, Samsung and LG.

When queried via email about possible factors contributing to the recent sales surge, Bob Perry, Executive Vice President Panasonic Consumer Electronics responded:

“Consumers are choosing 42″ and 50″ plasma because of historic (low) price levels. History shows that consumers prefer larger displays, and generally will migrate to these larger displays as price points help them make them more attainable. In tough economic times (as well as times of conflict), consumers tend to continue to purchase the same quantities of televisions, although their specific choices change. In this current economic environment, consumers are purchasing HDTV sets that are more price sensitive, but clearly continue to want large sets.”

Vizio Still No. 1 Shipping LCD TV Brand, Continues to Grow

Vizio maintained its lead in US market share of LCD TV in 2Q09 with 21.7% of the market, up from 21.4% in Q1. Samsung, Toshiba and Panasonic also showed increased shares, while Sony shipments dropped 2.9% during the same period, according to data supplied by TV industry market research firm iSuppli.

In iSuppi’s press release Riddi Patel, its principal analyst states “U.S.-based Vizio continues to benefit from its combination of low-cost and full-featured sets, combined with its high-volume retail channels, including Wal-Mart”, adding “The company seems to have found the right balance between price and features that appeals to many consumers.”

“While Vizio Inc. maintained its leadership in the U.S. LCD-TV market in the second quarter,” the release continues, “No. 2 ranked Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. closed the gap significantly as buyers gravitated toward its LED-backlit sets.”

Samsung’s share of U.S. LCD-TV unit shipments rose to 21.3 percent in Q2, up 3.5 points from 17.8 percent in Q1. The gain represented the largest increase of any LCD-TV brand in the United States in the second quarter. With its strong second quarter rise, Samsung of South Korea cut Vizio’s lead to only 0.4 percentage points, down from 3.6 points in Q1. ”Samsung in the second quarter was very aggressive in introducing and marketing its LED-backlit LCD-TVs, allowing it to boost sales of these sets,” Patel said.

“U.S. consumers increasingly are warming up to higher-specification LCD-TV models, including those using new LED-backlighting technology,” Patel added. “iSuppli estimates 2.2 percent of LCD-TVs shipped in the U.S. in the second quarter used LED backlights, up from zero during the same quarter a year earlier. In mature markets like the United States, while many consumers are moving up from their CRT or rear-projection televisions, an increasing number of LCD-TV purchases are replacements of first-generation flat-panel sets. In these cases, consumers are gravitating toward higher-specification televisions, such as those with LED backlights.”

Below are the Q1 and Q2 market share data and rankings.

US LCD TV market by shipment share, 2Q09
Rank     Brand         1Q09     2Q09
1     Vizio                21.4%     21.7%
2     Samsung         17.8%     21.3%
3     Sony               14.8%     11.9%
4     Toshiba             8.0%     8.3%
5     LG                    8.9%     7.9%
6     Panasonic         3.7%     6.0%
7     Sharp               8.6%     5.3%
Others                   16.8%     17.6%
Total                    100.0%     100.0%

-HDGuru® with Michael Fremer

——

Have a question for the HD Guru?

HD GURU|Email

How Retailers Use Lighting To Confuse HDTV Buyers

Gary — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:49:33 +0000

Value Priced LCD HDTV With 50 lux Home Light Level (Above)

 Same LCD HDTV With 500 lux Retail Store Light Level (Below)

(August 6, 2009) It may be difficult to believe, but just a decade ago cathode ray tube-based TVs (CRTs) were the biggest sellers. CRTs have excellent viewing angles, outstanding black levels and high contrast ratios. The technology’s Achilles heel (aside from sheer bulk) was a lack of brightness compared to today’s flat screen sets. However, for most indoor viewing environments, the light output was adequate.

Not surprisingly, store lighting in the TV departments of major retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City a decade ago was subdued to better emulate home ambient lighting conditions so the sets wouldn’t look dim and washed out.

That’s hardly the case today, with store lighting levels purposely cranked up as much as 50 times typical home lighting conditions. Why the change? Because these intense levels can make the best displays with the blackest black levels and highest contrast levels look inferior to cheaper, lower performance displays. Not surprisingly, this leads consumers into buying the cheaper sets because they think they’re getting as good a set, if not a better one, for less.

Contrast, Brightness and Resolution

A TV’s native resolution, black level and brightness (called white level) controls its perceived image sharpness. Resolution of almost all HDTVs falls into two categories, 720p and 1080p, so from a static resolution standpoint, almost all large screen TVs today are about the same (either 720p or 1080p).

“Contrast ratio,” for example 1000:1 (or 1000 to 1) indicates how many times greater is the highest intensity white signal than the lowest intensity black one (the number 1 is the black signal). While that gives you a ratio it tells you neither how bright are the whites, nor how dark are the blacks.

Here is where stores utilize intense lighting to manipulate your judgment. In a typical home environment, the set that will appear to have a better picture and be seen as sharper will be the one with the blackest blacks and reasonably white whites (around 30 ft lamberts) rather than one that’s similarly bright but with lighter black levels.

Viewers perceive just the opposite in a high ambient light showroom. Invariably they choose the set with the brightest picture as having the clearest image, even if the set has poor black levels because the bright ambient lighting masks poor black level performance.

The Measurement Methodology

Last month, using a Konica Minolta T-10 illuminance meter, HD Guru measured the amount of ambient light in the TV sections of national retail stores and warehouse clubs located around Long Island (Sears, Best Buy, Target , Walmart, Costco and BJ’s.).

The measurement total depended upon the set quantity at each retailer; the more sets on display, the more measurements taken. See below for average reading per retailer. Daytime measurements in homeowners’ bedrooms, dens and living rooms also published below were taken with window shades and room lighting adjusted by the homeowners to their particular preferences. Not measured were kitchens, which tend to be far brighter than other rooms and where viewing time is limited and their smaller dimensions usually mean smaller screen sizes.

Store and Home Readings

Store averages (measured in lux) were: Walmart 411.66, Costco 742.77, Target 371.38, Best Buy 180.3, BJ’s 412.13, and Sears 236.58. By comparison, ambient light levels measured in 10 rooms of various homes ranged from just 1.2 to 110.1 lux, with all but two rooms reading less than 35 lux.

Why Do Stores Crank Up The Brightness?

Today, there are two basic retail categories: aided stores with salespeople, such as Best Buy and Sears, and unaided (self-service) ones like BJ’s, Costco, Target and Walmart. Price generally drives consumer purchases in unaided, brightly lit stores where the lower priced, poorer performing sets can appear to be as good as, or better than the more expensive sets. Get the set home and with no reference point, you’ll end up assuming you’re getting the level of performance observed in the store.

Management directs aided store salespeople to maximize profits. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it does conflict with making the right HDTV choice. How? Let’s assume you have a budget of $1500. HDTVs pricing is very competitive and store margins are low. Stores maximize profits by convincing you that a $1000 TV looks as good, if not better than the $1500 set placed next to it. That leaves you with $500 to purchase high profit margin items such as service contracts, “high speed” HDMI cables and power conditioners, when a perfectly adequate HDMI cable can be had on-line for under $10 and a relatively inexpensive surge protector is all you really need. Read this before buying a service contract: (link).

Vizio TVs offer retailers lower profit margins compared to other brands according to industry sources. Not surprisingly, with the exception of Sears, which is an aided store, Vizio’s retailers are unaided stores, where high lighting levels and Vizio’s low prices allow it to compete with and beat Sony and other established brands to win top sales positions.

The MHT Exception

Best Buy’s Magnolia Home Theater division (MHT), located within many Best Buy locations, sells the best and most expensive HDTVs, including top of the line plasmas and LED backlit LCD flat panels not found on the main showroom floor.In order to demonstrate the best displays’ rich inky blacks, guess what MHT does? Correct! They match the store’s lighting to about the same levels found in a typical home environment. Measurements taken at our local Best Buy’s MHT measured from 24.4 to 49.2 lux with an average level of just 34.7 lux! Yes, Magnolia understands that for its customers to see and appreciate the deep blacks, high contrast ratios and superior image quality produced by the more expensive sets it sells, it needs to duplicate home light levels.

Tips

Setting optimal black level for a given display requires adjusting user controls via the TVs remote control, with ambient lighting set to levels similar to what’s found in your similar level found in your home and specialized test signals.

Unfortunately, these conditions are not possible in the big box retailers and warehouse clubs listed above, so you’re stuck with the store’s showroom mode settings. However, you can get a relative idea of the black level of a given display regardless of the stores high ambient light levels by using this trick. Cup your hands forming a tunnel with your thumbs and index fingers making the front opening. Place the pinky side of your cupped hands against the TV screen and place your eye against the front opening. You will need to find or black area of the picture, if you’re lucky, black bars will be present at the top and bottom of the screen on a letterboxed demo material. This will give you an idea of just how light the blacks are on different displays.

Contrast Ratios Specs Are Useless

No accepted TV industry standard exists for measuring contrast ratios. Numbers provided by manufacturers are meaningless. The fake spec race is getting worse with many vendors now providing two contrast ratio specs, standard and dynamic. “Standard” is with white and black areas on the screen at the same time. “Dynamic contrast” is measured using a black screen with no content, versus brightness with a white area on the screen, resulting in a useless number. Who cares how dark a blank screen looks? HD Guru continues to get stonewalled when we query set makers for the methodology of their respective published contrast ratio numbers. The current record absurd claim is a published dynamic contrast ratio spec of 7,000,000 to 1. To add to the confusion, there is a natural maximum eye contrast resolution of just 300:1, according to a paper published by Siemens Technology (PDF link) (http://www.eizo.eu/html_76/ftp/bb_ensuring_image_quality.pdf.)

In an effort to rebut these published specs, HD Guru will be using a newly acquired Konica Minolta meter to make its own contrast ratio readings and will publish the results in all future HDTV reviews.

-HDGuru® with Michael Fremer

——

Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email

Extended Warranties: What You See Is Often Not What You Get ̶ An HD GURU Investigative Report

Gary — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:39:52 +0000

(July 29, 2009) Buy a high-ticket electronics item like an HDTV today and you can be sure the salesperson will try to sell you an extended warranty that’s supposed to protect your considerable investment well beyond the length of time offered by the manufacturer.

Adding a relatively inexpensive extended warranty seems like a no-brainer so many consumers do, yet because the HD Guru frequently receives emails from buyers complaining about difficulties getting the terms of these warranties honored, we decided to investigate.

Not surprisingly, we found that often what you hear on the sales floor, read in the literature and see online is not what you get.

Best Buy, for instance, recently introduced its “Geek Squad Black Tie Protection” plan. It’s “Like Having A Geek Always With You,” proclaims the pamphlet handed out in the stores by blue shirted staff members. “If a product guarded by Black Tie Protection needs four qualified repairs throughout the duration of the plan,” the pamphlet assures consumers, “we’ll make sure that you get a new one.”

While that sounds reassuring and in and of itself may provide sufficient comfort to induce one to buy the plan, unfortunately, it’s not exactly true. According to the terms of Best Buy’s service contract rather than being “a new one,” the replacement “…may be new or rebuilt…” (“rebuilt” meaning used and refurbished) “…at our discretion.”

Best Buy’s pamphlet also states that “…for TVs 30″ and up… we’ll loan you a TV ASAP if it looks like we can’t get yours fixed on the first visit.” Sounds good, but read the actual service contract and you’ll be surprised to learn that there is no mention of a loaner TV.

Best Buy’s service contract (available upon request at a Best Buy store or on its website) does go to great lengths to state terms and conditions, with the list of terms opening with “This is a legal contract, (hereinafter referred to as ‘The Plan’). By purchasing it, you understand that it is a legal contract and have had the opportunity to read the terms and conditions within.”

However, take the time to actually read the contract rather than relying on the pamphlet and you would also learn that if Best Buy (BB) can’t repair the TV it will “…replace it with a product of like kind and quality that is of comparable performance, or reimburse you for replacement of the product with a voucher or gift card, at our discretion, equal to the fair market value of the product, as determined by us, not to exceed the original purchase price of your product including taxes (italics added by HD Guru)”.

The “fair market value” is not you might reasonably assume, the price you originally paid, but rather the covered product’s market value at the time of repair as determined by a BB employee. Of course by the time the extended warranty kicks in, the product can be up to four years old and worth next to nothing!

While we can’t cite an actual example of compensation received by a customer for an un-repairable TV covered by Best Buy’s “ Black Tie Protection Plan”, we do know that this past April, Best Buy voluntarily recalled one of its “house brand” Insignia LCD HDTV models (Post Here). Many of these recalled sets were less than three years old and sold new for up to $1000 plus tax. Best Buy provided gift cards amounting to $500 or about half of the original purchase price.

When asked to comment about the pamphlet’s claims versus the written legal contract’s actual terms, a Best Buy’s spokesperson pointed out that its service contract program’s underwriter, AIG Warranty Group, a division of AIG (yes, that AIG), ultimately determines a covered product’s value.

The spokesperson also acknowledged that despite the pamphlet’s claim, Best Buy’s service contract does not include a loaner program but that the company currently supplies 37″ Insignia LCD loaners to customers whose TVs can’t be repaired during the first service call. Whether the set in need of repair is 32” or 65” the loaner is 37” because it’s the only set size the program offers.

Here is Best Buy’s official response via email (verbatim in bold).

Replacement value

We continue to advocate for the best possible scenario for our customers, and we think they know that. We’ve had virtually no complaints from them about replacements. Replacement value is complicated because the establishment of value for replacement is determined not just by Best Buy, but by the underwriters of our plans.

We’ll continue to work with our underwriters to clarify replacement criteria in our terms and conditions, and to represent the best interests of our customers. Our progress will be reflected in our service plan literature, and ideally in continued customer satisfaction with our service plan fulfillment.

Timing for loaner TV

We say ASAP in our Geek Squad Black Tie Protection brochure because timing on loaner TVs varies depending on whether Geek Squad is doing the repair – or we’re relying on a third-party. When we’re doing the job, we can provide that replacement TV immediately, usually right out of our Geek Squad van. But in some cases, we rely on third parties to reach customers who aren’t in our service area. Still, we agree that our customers may want more details around when a loaner would be available to them. And we’ll make changes immediately in our Geek Squad Black Tie Protection literature to include more details about timing.

On line Sellers

Our recent article “On Line HDTV Stores Get Nailed For Consumer Fraud” (Link) reports that a number of Brooklyn based etailers were cited for fraud and fined by the NYS Attorney General. We checked one of the merchants still in business called “Foto Connection” that sells service contracts written by Brooklyn based Consumer Priority Service (dba CPS). We contacted CPS’s customer service department and asked for a copy of its contract. The customer service rep said it’s not available online and that a written request by US mail was required to obtain a copy—not exactly a forthcoming policy for a legitimate company, which we then suspected CPS of not being.

A check of the New York City office of the Better Business Bureau revealed that “BBB processed a total of 23 complaint(s) about this business in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 23 complaint(s) closed in the last 36 months, 21 were closed in the last 12 months. 2 regarded contract disputes;1 Customer Service; 12 Warranty Issues; 3 Refund or Exchange; 3 Repair Issues and 2 Service Issues.”

To Buy or Not To Buy?

Retailers and etailers offer either their own or third party service contracts. Before purchasing either kind, be sure to read it carefully, even if you need a jeweler’s loupe to clearly see the exclusions and other conditions hidden within the contract’s fine print.

HD Guru checked out the service contracts offered by 6th Avenue Electronics and P.C. Richard and Son, two NY/New Jersey Metropolitan area retail chains. Both contracts proved to be far more straightforward and concise than either Best Buy’s or Target’s. Best Buy’s plan is printed on twenty pages of a 4″ x 8.25″ pamphlet, P.C Richard’s contract terms occupy just 2/3 of a single sided letter size page.

Consider the cost before purchasing a service contract. For instance, Target’s total three years from purchase service contract for a $1300 HDTV costs $79, while BJ’s Wholesale club’s three total years from purchase service contract for the same price TV costs $119. Fined web retailer Foto Connection’s three total years CPS service contract costs $209.30

Best Buy’s four years from purchase date “Black Tie Protection service contract (including the manufacturer’s standard one-year warranty) is $229.99 for a $1299.99 HDTV. In other words you’re paying 17.5% of the set’s total cost for the three additional years of coverage. After reading all of the contract’s terms and conditions, is that a worthwhile investment? Thats your decision!

Remember too that many credit cards will double the manufacturer’s warranty, so check the terms of your credit card(s) before using one to make a purchase.

-HDGuru® with Michael Fremer
——
Have a question for the HD Guru?
HD GURU|Email