A few months ago we finally bought a big flat screen. By training I’m a LCD module engineer (Motorola, Nokia) so this was no point-and-click purchase. I do this for a living. I researched the hell out of it, compared countless models side-by-side, but very quickly it came down to one obvious choice.
We bought a 46″ Samsung LN-T4661F, at Fry’s for $1810+tax, and we LOVE this flat screen. I concluded there is no other LCD for less than $2,000 that even comes close to the optics of this set. However, if you have $3,000 to spend there are LCD’s with a finer specifications.
I’m very impressed with the rich saturated colors, deep blacks, even backlighting, build quality, styling, everything. With 1080p signal and these optics, every movie scene looks like high resolution color print film (in motion). Amazing! After I unboxed it I ran solid color test screens (black, red, blue, green) for several hours checking saturation, backlighting consistency, and dead pixels. Not a single dead pixel found, which is quite surprising for a typical 1920×1080 LCD. Also very happy with the anti-reflection film, and the thin frame border allowing this TV to fit places that wider sets cannot. I highly recommend this LCD. My wife complains, “You love that TV more than me!”
Things to know before shopping:
1) There is no LCD vs. Plasma debate, because a good LCD TV is vastly superior.
2) A good anti-reflection film is a must when buying a big screen LCD TV, unless you place it in a room without sunlight exposure, and you watch it in low-light conditions.
3) Dump your cable, go with Satellite. We actually had both cable and satellite feeds coming in, so we could compare them. There is no comparison, especially when it comes to HDTV. Satellite rules with a brighter, far crisper picture.
4) Yes, IF I could afford the bulbs I would buy a high-def digital projector, because they are incredible for showing movies 10 feet wide on your white living room walls. I sometimes borrow projectors from work to see movies at home. Digital projectors are the best, but are still quite expensive if you want a 1080p model.
5) Be sure to READ reviews online before buying. For example, we were considering buying a particular Sony big screen LCD model, because it was on sale previous version model. Online reviews quickly revealed that particular model has a major field return problem with ghosting and inconsitent backlighting.
