This article is designed to serve as a warning to all shoppers seeking the lowest priced HDTVs. The store’s bargain price leader may really be a poor quality high definition television making lousy pictures. The HD Guru looked for the stinkers that stood out at his local big box retailer. All the sets listed below were the worst looking HDTVs on the sales floor in the 27â€Â-42†sizes. Every TV displayed the same store HD feed and all were in their respective factory default settings. Get ready to hold your nose.
Insignia 27†Flat Panel LCD model NS-27LCD $699.99
This LCD had some of the worst (as in the lightest) black levels of any HDTV viewed. A high def set should have deep dark black blacks and white whites. Moving slightly off center (off axis) produced lighter blacks and darker whites. A dark screen also produced a bright blue point shining at the HD Guru. This Insignia set had blue pixel(s) that were stuck, something the HD Guru hasn’t seen in many years. Stick a fork in this turkey. The Insignia 27†gets the HD Guru ♥ “Don’t buy it†rating
HP 32†Flat Panel LCD LC3260N $899.99
This panel is described as “high brightnessâ€Â. It appears the copy writer left out the word “uneven†between high and brightness. In addition to the non-uniformity, the contrast ratio (the difference between black and white) was not favorable when compared to adjacent LCD flat panels, giving the picture a flat appearance. If this wasn’t bad enough, the demo set had an affinity toward green, an undesirable trait if you don’t care for light green skies and olive drab oceans. This HP LCD rates the HD Guru ♥ “Don’t buy it†rating
HP 37†Flat Panel LCD LC3790N $1299.99
Like the smaller HP model this 37†panel suffered from uneven brightness. Add uneven color across the screen. In addition the black level was poor, much lighter than the similar sized TVs surrounding this LCD TV. The LC3790N earns the HD Guru ♥ “Don’t buy it†rating.
Insignia 42†Plasma NS4PDP $1399
Viewing this panel was like time traveling back to the 2004 model year performance levels. The blacks were not dark and neutral as they should be, they appeared a murky green, giving the image a pea soup haze. Steer clear of this one. Chalk up another HD Guru ♥ “Don’t buy it†rating.
A Final Note
The “off brand†LCDs and plasmas tend to use earlier generation panels, with lower performance, to produce a less expensive product.
When shopping for a LCD panel (under 40†size class), the HD Guru recommends you stick with the major brand TV manufacturers, such as Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Hitachi and Toshiba . They offer the latest generation LCD panel technology. If you shop carefully, you will find their entry level models priced at a few dollars more than the off brand or non-TV centric manufacturer’s products. The store I visited had many to choose from and all made demonstratively better pictures than the “one heart†rated sets.
In above 40″ sizes the HD Guru recommends plasma for typical home lighting conditions (see LCD vs. Plasma post for more information). The HD Guru’s top rated plasmas are all made by Panasonic, Pioneer and Hitachi. With the huge recent price drops in plasma there is no reason to settle for a lower rated brand.
Copyright 2006 HD Guru (SM) All Rights Reserved
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Black Friday
\’Wretched excess is an unfortunate human trait that turns a perfectly good idea such as Christmas into a frenzy of last-minute shopping-or attaches the name of St. Patrick to the day of the year that bartenders fear most.\’ -Jon Anderson Happy Ho…
I am looking to buy a 32in. or 37in. LCD or plasma screen TV in about six months. I want to spend around $700 to $800. Is the non-name brands of Tv’s like dynex or insignia a bad route to go. I want to get the best value for my money, I just can’t seem to find a good opinion. Any help would be great. thanks
Bigger is better. Don’t let anyone fool you. I’m leaning toward rear-projection and the biggest and lowest price I’ve seen is Mitsubishi WD 73734.
I hear alot about Pioneer but don’t see much out there. What do you think about the Mit-73734. Can you recommend a better rear-projection for the money?
Larry
As I understand it, a TV is not a true HDTV unless it is 1280 x 720 or higher, and that a TV with 1024 x 720 (or 760 or 768 or 780) is an EDTV. Yet while looking at the HDTV listings on ebay, I saw the following listing:
You are bidding on a
BRAND NEW & SEALED IN THE BOX
42″ OEM TRUE HD SAMSUNG PLASMA
FLAT PANEL HDTV
What do we mean by TRUE HD?
According to the consumer electronics association all TVs with a vertical resolution of 720 or above are considered high defintion so this set qualifiesÂÂ
Our oem branded plasmas use GENUINE Samsung HDTV plasma panels with a resolution of 1024 X 768 capable of displaying up to a native 1080i HD signal.
Poorly written. The set will accept a 1080i signal and display it as 1024 x 768ÂÂ
Many dealers online are selling lower quality EDTV units as “HD” or “HDTV” that say only “HD Ready” and have resolutions of 852 X 480. To the casual shopper it appears they are getting true HD quality when they are NOT!
Many dealers have older panel designs that only have 3000 or 4000 to 1 contrast ratios. Our GENUINE Samsung HDTV plasma panels have a 10,000 to 1 Contrast Ratio!
As the HD Guru has written before, these contrast numbers are meaningless as there is no accepted industry standard for measurement.ÂÂ
This is confusing me. While it say that its resolution is 1024 x 768 it is “capable of displaying up to a native 1080i HD signal”.
If it had 1080i resolution, shouldn’t the resolution be listed as a higher resolution, something like (#pixels) x 1080? Are these people playing games with wording? Are they just saying that if this set receives a 1080 signal, that it will show on the screen?
Are they misrepresenting the tv’s capabilities or am I confused about the standards?
Help me GURU!
As stated above this falls under the catagory of poorly written copy and hype (puffing)
The HD GuruÂÂ
Great site and thanks.What should I be looking for to see if I need a s-video cable?? Thanks ,howard
You only need “S” video for standard definiton signals. S video cables do not vary much in quality in lengths under 10 ft, get the cheapest one.
As far as cables for HD signals they are only component video, HDMI or DVI.ÂÂ
The HD GuruÂÂ
I purchased a HP 32″ LCD HD TV in the summer of 2005. When it was 16 months old, the picture would come on for about 10 seconds and then the screen would go black. HP referred me to Comp USA, who referred me to a local repair shop in the Kansas City area. HP wasn’t interested in the set since it was 4 months out of warranty. The shop said that it would cost over $2000 to repair it. This was a set that cost $1500 in 2005 that is now selling for about $800. Need I say more!
Don
I took the liberty to forward your complaint to an HP contact (requesting a response to you) . Let me know how you make out.
HD GuruÂÂ
I WAS READING AN ARTICLE BY KEVIN HUNT/THE HARTFORD COURANT IN MY LOCAL NEWSPAPER ABOUT ADVICE ON PLASMA TV’S.
THE FIRST THING PEOPLE ASK ABOUT PLASMA TVS IS BURN-IN,AND SHOULD PEOPLE BE CONCERNED?
IT WAS ANSWERED,BURN-IN IS A MYTH THAT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE.I BEG TO DIFFER.I RECENTLY HAD MY PLASMA TV CHECKED AND WAS TOLD,WHAT I’M SEEING ON THE SCREEN IS BURN-IN AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.
WHOM EVER SAID THIS ABOUT BURN-IN SHOULD COME TO MY HOUSE AND I’LL SHOW THEM.
THANK YOU,
MICHAEL
If you follow my precautions listed in my archive Plasma article you could have prevented the screen burn-in.
Here is how to reduce or eliminate the burn-in that is now on your plasma. (after you do this please reset the user controls as instructed in my archived plasma article when you have finished restoring the panel.)
You will need a source that will give you an all white screen. This could be a DVR or DVD. There are test DVD discs (video essentials and avia to name two) that have this pattern or you can try to find a scene that fades to all white in a tv program, or movie disc and freeze frame. Not all DVD players have a screen saver override but you need to use one that does. It doesn’t matter which input you use for an all white screen source (it can be component, S video HDMI or composite)
Once you have the all white screen up, crank up the picture (contrast) control to 100% . The burn in will fade by doing this though depending the severity but it will take hours or possibly a day or more of keeping the all white pattern on the screen to get the maximum reduction or elimination of the “burn in”.
Once you have reduced or eliminated the burn in, lower the contrast contol to half or less on all inputs. Settting the contrast too high is what contributed to the burn-in in the first place.
The HD Guru
Do you consider Polaroid an “off-brand”? I’m considering purchasing the Polaroid FLM-4234BH: 42″ FHD Widescreen LCD TV with ATSC Tuner. Have you tested it?
I have not tested this model. The Polaroid brand is a licensed by third party companies. These “tier three” brands generally outsource their panels from Chinese or Korean vendors. I find the tier three brands do not have the state of the art LCD panel technology that the tier one name brands possess. My big complaints about LCD and in particular the earlier generation panels are angle of view and motion blur issues.
Move off of horizontal center and observe the degree of the blacks get lighter and the whites become darker as you move to the side. I recommend credits scrolling at the end of a DVD movie to check motion blur.
Bottom line, for better overall picture quality, viewing angle and freedom of motion blur, the HD Guru recommends Plasma over LCD in the 37″ and over sizes. The Panasonic, Hitachi and Pioneer are my top choices for 42″ plasma.
If you want to stick to LCD I generally favor the tier one brands and I like the SPVA panel technology found in select Sony and Samsung LCD panels ( they have better viewing angles)
HDGuruÂÂ
I own a Mitsubishi WD-62927. When watching live sports in 1080i on CBS and NBC the screen is very blocky while there is alot of motion. I do not see this on other hd channels. Is this due to poor signal quality? What is the technical name for this?
Does the next generation of HDTVs address this problem?
You don’t write if your reception is over-the-air, cable or satellite. it is called macroblocking and it could be poor signal reception or your local brodcaster or cable system. If you are using an antenna try an in line amplifier (radio shack sells some poor ones but they may do the job) I use a winegard antenna amp. If it is cable, call your cable provider. ÂÂ
The HD GuruÂÂ
I have a question. i have just bought a 42 sanyo vizion plasma tv. im not sure of the number but it’s only at walmart. my question is i just saw a panisonic 42 plasma th42px6u for a little more is there a substantial quality difference between the two? and if so what?…………rick in ny
Sanyo sells TVs exclusively to Wal-mart. The Panasonic in my tests is one of the finest 42″ on the market (other two are the Hitachi and Pioneer) . The Panasonic HD plasma have excellent black levels and contrast ratios and properly deinterlace 1080i for a fine HD image. Yes the Panasonic is a much better performer than the Sanyo and worth the extra dough.
The HD GuruÂÂ
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I bought the Sharp LC52D62U and have seen no case of banding. They had it in the first models produced but fixed the problem. Having worked in an electronics store and seen all of the different brands and technologies I have not seen to many LCD flat panels out that even compare. I would not hesitate to suggest this set to anyone that is looking for a good flat panel LCD at a fair price. Also to the GURU would you suggest using a PS3 for the 1080p source or a stand-alone player?
I have not had the oppurtunity to compare the PS3’s Blu-ray performance to the free standing unit, but reports have been favorable.
The HD GuruÂÂ
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little confused. I just read your remarks on the CES show. should I wait? planning on purchasing a Samsung LCD 40′ HDTV model #LNS4095D. ANY COMMENTS. I do not need the cablecard on the 96D model. Was this set researched and tested by the HDGuru?????????? would love your input. purchasing TV very soon. within a few days. Also, is it safe to buy a refurbished TV????????
GURU: Great Website. Have had 46″ Sony KDL46XBR3 now for 3 months and have Directv and OAT hookup on rabbit ears (25miles from antennas) and the experience has been fantastic. LCD was expensive but the 1080p. was purchased for future experiences.
Guru:
I have lost confidence in your opinions because you classify HP as an “Off-Brand” and include two of their units among 4 “do not buy” units.
I have a 65″ HP DLP, I bought it after comparing with all top models, and I believe HP has excellent picture, they bring the color and imaging experience to TV.
Maybe you should recommend which units to buy, but so far it seems as if you are biased against HP, which in my opinion is the number 1 company in technology.
The HD Guru welcomes all opinions. Here are some of the facts. HP has decided to pull out of the DLP rear projection business. They used an outside company to build its RPTVs, so they really did not have a lot invested in RPTV business
HP does not make flat panel LCDs or plasma panels. They buy all the panels from a number of sources. HP has positioned themselves in flat panel as a “name brand” at lower prices. However HP sourcing from outside vendors tends to put at a cost disadvantage compared with the Samsung, Panasonic, Hitachi etc that make their own panels. Money has to be saved somewhere and the HD Guru feels the models mentioned cut to many corners.
HP does make some great products, the HD Guru has owned a number of them over the years. The models cited happen not to be in this group. Perhaps HP should stick more of its core products. As one industry person puts it. Starbucks makes a great cup of coffee. It doesn’t mean I want to by an HDTV from them.
The HD GuruÂÂ
HDGURU, this is a great site. Keep up good work.
Lou
Guru,
What is your opinion on the Panasonic TH-42PX60U plasma unit vs. Sony KDF-42E2000 LCD unit. Trying to make a pic between the two. THANKS, MTV
Unless you have uncontrollablely high ambient room lighting conditions, I would go with the Panasonic plasma for better image quality .
The HD Guru
I just returned from a friend’s who had just gotten the HP LC3760N 37-inch High Definition LCD TV. How does this differ from the LC3790N that you gave a “Don’t buy it†rating to. The picture on the 3760 was extremely bright and sharp and the colors were great (we were watching an NBA game). He also has a 50″ DLP and everytime I switched between the sets the HP picture blew me away. That all being said, I do not have a lot of experience with comparing HD sets (yet…).
Knew to the site (loads of information) and was wondering if there’s any info on DLP? Any way to search the site? Thanks…
The HD Guru will be posting “The Real Story on Microdisplays” (including DLP) within a few days.
The HD GuruÂÂ
Why again do I subscribe to HT when everything I need is here! Fantastic website, love the no holds barred call it like you see it approach. Wish there was more of this in print.
I have a Ps3 and a xbox 360 and I was wondering which HD sets would give me the best 1080p picture, and the most HDMI inputs. Also do they make a converter that transfers HD signals from 2 different sources to the HDTV
Thanx for your time
John O.
You do not list any criteria (such as size, angle fo view etc. only 1080p) without such constraints it is impossible for me to make suggestions.
Why don’t you take a look at the HD Guru’s top flat panel picks in the archive. The HD Guru will be choosing the top microdisplays soon.
The HD Guru
Thank you for your candid information, GURU. I have only begun to peruse your very helpful site.
Sincerely, Tom L.
Toms River, NJ
I am hearing impaired. I ordinarily have closed caption on the screen. When I switch to HD from TV for those stations broadcasting in HD, I lose the closed caption. Am I not doing something, or is it unavailable in HD?
Digital closed captioning is required by all digital TV broadcasters and HDTV displays. Consult your owner’s manual for set-up instructions.
The HD Guru
All around very good information—Love the site so far!!!
I purchased a Vizio 42″ Plasma and so far have been very pleased with it—Excellent colors and the black levels are very deep. My cable company is all fiber optic and supplies a dual tuner Motorola set top box with built in DVR.The HD channels are AMAZING!!!…Some of the good viewing that I’m getting out of this Vizio is probably due to the excellent fiber optic feed that I’m receiving—ZERO interference and absolutely no distortion due to inferior cable.
As I stated, I’m very happy with the Vizio and I have watched other plasma televisons at a few of my buddies homes and I honestly can’t see any differences between their sets and mine…(Both are Panasonic)…All things being equal—The same fiber optic cable and set top box….
What’s your take on the Vizio plasma??? I noticed that the 50″ Vizio plasma was one of only a couple of plasmas that passed the deinterlace and 3.2 tests…
Kevin
Vizio plasma use good signal processing, and incorperate either LG or Samsung glass. I find the Japanesse produced panels (Hitachi, Panasonic and Pioneer ) are more advanced and produced better images and black levels. Like all new componies Visio has no track record for reliablity. With name brand prices dropping, The HD Guru prefers sticking to the three Japanese plasmas. If you are happy with Visio thats great. However The HD Guru recommends an extended warranty be purchased on all brands under five years old and all new technologies under three years old (this includes Sony’s SXRD and JVC’s DIiLA rear projectors). It is the HD GURUs long experience that new technologies often take three years to find and eliminate problems. If you are going to be a tester (and you are if the tech is less than 3 years old ) you should cover yourself with the extended warranty.
The HD GURUÂÂ
lets face it folks, the vast populace of these here great USA is clueless when it comes to buying TV sets, and all the manufacturers take advantage of this “STUPIDITY”. Hence the word “rip-off” is written all over the off brand models. We all know that there is a huge mark-up on all electronic products. Let us continue feeding the faces of the FAT CATS in the electronic industry, so they can drive their high dollar cars and live in their fancy homes.
Its ingorance, not stupidity IMHO. By using this website you are obviously an educated consumer. For those that don’t want or think they need to do some research before purchasing their first HDTV, they are going to take thier chances. I am not a big fan of off brands. The good news, as prices continue to drop, the dollar difference between name brands and no-names will continue to shrink eventually they may drive many of these brands out of the US market.
The HD Guru ÂÂ
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Congratulation for you website very insteresting.
I’ll been reading for a while and cannot see anything about DLP only LCD and plasma .
I did my home work 2 years ago when I purchased a 50″ DLP I seen to be the best option until now.
Can you write something about DLP.
Thank you.
Great site…needs a “Search” so you can look to see if there are any comments on a particular name.
About off brand, I have been looking at many, somehow, one brand seem to stand out in quality picture and sound but I can’t seems to find any professional review on it. I am talking about “Vizio”. Low price, fairly good picture and color, and lately they have included a sub-woofer in the 46″ LCD, which makes the total sound output in the awesome range. Who makes this brand and why is it so cheap (Sams Club had it at $1,648 on Black Friday)?
Vizio claims its low price is due to its limited distribution plan which enables it to operate with a lean sales and marketing organization allowing them to sell for less.
I tested its plasma proper deinterlaicing of 1080i and 3:2 pulldown, it passed, though you can’t infer that its LCDs will pass or fail.
The disadvantage of these tier three “new or no name brands” is they must purchase their panels (sometimes referred to as “glass”) from one of the panel makers. As written in The HD Guru’s top picks, the big screen best LCD glass today is made by Samsung-Sony (called SPVA). I do not know of any tier three companies that claim to use it and I doubt any would as it would command a premium price and loss much of its advantage. Read the LCD vs. Plasma post on which technology would be best for you.
The HD Guru
Hi,
Love your site…clear, unbiased, solid content. However, I only see one article reviewing tvs… the list of Worst HDTVs. I couldn’t find a list of your favorite Plasma and LCDs. MAybe I didn’t see it. Could you help me. thanks, Don
Thanks. Its at
http://hdgurucom.wpengine.com/?p=11ÂÂ
The HD GuruÂÂ
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I just purchased a Sony BDP-S1 only to find out that my Sony KDS-R60XBR1 1080p HDTV will not accept a 1080p input. How can they call it a 1080p HDTV? I have tried to resolve this with Sony but so far no success can you offer any assistance?
———————-
You are correct, your model does not accept 1080p signals. However, there is some good news for you. The KDS-R60XBR1 proplerly deinterlaces 1080i. This means it will reassemble each interlaced field to recreate the full 1080 lines every 1/60 of a second. With proper reassembly of each film frame you will be seeing all the resolution in the disc. For more on your set’s test and a lengthy explaination, please refer to my article that appeared in Home Theater magazine this past May its at
http://www.hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/0506halfrez/index.html
The HD GuruÂÂ
Judging a picture on 1 sales floor is tough lots of variables not only from the set itself, but the set up there as well as the digital feed.
Rear projection DLP,LCD,LoSC are often overlooked because you can’t hang them on a wall. These sets are now as light as Plasma or LCD, 15″ in depth with picture quality that is superior.
I have both a Plasma set and a DLP and they are both great. The replace the bulb issue is viewed as a negative by some. With the only failure mechanism a $150-200 bulb, it is a smart deal to me.
The HD Guru will be posting an article soon explaining the various microdisplay rear projection television (RPTV) technologies. It will be followed reviews of the HD Guru’s top picks for RPTVs
The HD GuruÂÂ
Any chance the HDGuru could take a look at upconverting DVD players and let us know if the quality of output is actually better than a standard DVD player? Is this a good alternative for waiting out the format wars while getting the most out of your current DVD Collection
An excellent suggestion , however its not that simple. To get an improvement in the image, the scaler that converts native 480i DVDs to HD resolution within the DVD player needs to be better than the one built into the HDTV .  The TV should be able to bypass its internal scaler to derive all the improvements. This is an aspect ratio on the display often called dot-for-dot (sometimes it goes under a different term). Obviously because of these variables “results may greatly vary”.
With that stated, I am anxiously awaiting the 2nd generation HD DVD and Blu-ray players. The new Toshiba $999 retail HD DVD player shipping at the end of this month (Dec 2006) will be equipped with the Silicon Optix scaler chip. This was the best processor the HD Guru reviewed in a shoot out in Home Theater MAGAZINE. I expect some Blu-ray player with Silicon Optixs scaler announcements in Jan.
With a top scaler within a DVD player and a HDTV that will take full advantage of it, you will great results. Of course you will still have to pick sides in the format war.
The HD GuruÂÂ
Why no mention of the Sharp 62U series and its awful horizontal and vertical bands?
Rocky Guru suggests the 1080p or even the 720p DLP sets. This technology isn’t as expensive as plasma or LCD and looks just as good if not better in some instances. Plus, you don’t have to worry about burn in or dead pixels. In fact, the only thing you must concern yourself with is the lamp going out over time. It takes on average 3-4 years for that to happen depending on how much you watch it. When it does go out, it takes all of 3 mins to change then your ready to roll again for another several years. Once plasmas go out, that’s it. The only other tv that rivals DLP, in my opinion, is LCD. They are expensive but good none the less. The main thing to remember is check for dead pixels before buying. People will try to tell you that they have learned how to handle the technology and it happens far less than it used to….don’t believe them. Do your own homework before you decide to take it home. To sum up, of all the HDTV types to buy, go with either DLP or LCD. If you would like to see what I am talking about, go to your nearest Best Buy and have them show you side by side the different technologies. You will be amazed….
I presume you meant to say “there is NO reason” in the last sentence.
Thanks for the catch. I’m in the process of hiring a copy editor to avoid this in the fututre.
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The HD GuruÂÂ