New HDTV help

[sohaibrazzaq]

Hey all, I am going to buy my first HDTV next week and I have some questions to ask, I hope someone can help

The main purpose for this tv would be gaming, ps3 and maybe ps4 in the near future. I have been a pc gamer till now and planning to give ps3 a go to, I will also use it for bluray movies but gaming is my first priority. I am thinking of buying a 46" or 52" Samsung series 6 or 7 tv. Anything higher is above my tv budget.

Ok so coming to the question I want to ask:

1. From what I understand through reading most sources, LED is the way to go if you are buying a new hdtv but I want to ask is it best option for gaming or should I be better off buying a simple lcd tv? (plasma is out of the question)

2. Samsung also lists something called "Clear Motion Rate" and I see newer and expensive models have higher of it upto as much as 1000 Clear Motion Rate. I don't quite get what it is but its not something refresh rate or something that I need to know? I know getting tearing on tv screen due to fast paced action game/movie shouldn't be a concern this far into hdtv technology but hey better safe then worry.

3. Should I really be investing into a 3D tv because its a thing of the present/future even though I am not planning to use any 3d feature? (I can't picture myself wearing goggles for 3-4 hours while playing games). Or I am better off spending that money into something better like buying a bigger tv? Also can 3D TV's display the 2d content as good a normal 2D tv can?

4. Anything else that I need to look out for when buying an HDTV?

Here is one tv that seems quite interesting to me, I saw that in my local retail store last Friday and it was listed for an amount roughly equal to $1200 USD.
http://www.samsung.com/ae/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/led-tv/UA46F6400ARXZN

It's supposed to be a 3D tv although its from Samsung old 6 series. Does it lacking any notable new features that I should be aware of or is it good enough for my gaming and average bluray playing needs?

[jman98]

I know that it seems like it's a great idea to ask those questions here, but really it may not be. The reason is that people here are not typical of the public in general. So you'll end up getting answers from people with exceptionally sensitive vision who see defects that 99.99% of the population will never see or care about even if they can see them.

1) LCD vs. LED vs. Plasma ends up being a religious issue. I've used LCD TVs for years as have my friends and family and they've served us all well, but your question won't surprise me at all if it invites some responses from the Plasma or LED fanatics who act like LCD is something akin to a 40 year old 10 inch black and white TV. I cannot comment at all about gaming questions.
2) Typically something like this Clear Motion Rate has people who love it and others who absolutely hate it. You'll have to see it in person to know which one you are.
3) I got rid of a perfectly good Samsung LCD HDTV that was about 5 years old to get a Vizio 3D LCD HDTV and I love it. But if you're not planning on watching 3D BluRays, you probably don't need 3D. Yes, 3D TVs can display 2D content as well as a 2D TV can. Do note that 3D questions usually invite dubious responses from the people who say "It has failed every time it's been tried" and the people with vision defects who can't see 3D very well who say it sucks because they don't understand that their vision problems are not typical.

Samsung makes fine TVs. The only things I would warn you about, and you may not care about these at all, is that Samsung TVs do NOT
support PAL resolutions in NTSC countries, so if you have a lot of PAL DVDs and live in an NTSC country you will need to own a DVD player that can convert from PAL to NTSC output. The other thing you need to know is that usually it is impossible on Samsung TVs to turn off overscan, but again, you may not care about this.

[sohaibrazzaq]

Thanks for your response, I know most of the choices come to a personal taste like LCD/LED/Plasma debate but the reason I asked here is for personal experiences from other users, and since I have never owned one of those hdtv's myself so I don't have any first hand experience.

I have watched many 3D movies in cinema and I only watch animated movies in cinema 3D but I am not sure if that experience can be created with a 46" screen but maybe I am wrong. I am sure that I won't be playing any game in 3D atleast.

I live in India, and I am pretty positive that Asian countries use PAL as default broadcasting resolutions, I do have many blurays that I purchased from amazon.com and I think they are ntsc but they run fine on my 25" dell LCD monitor so I reckon I won't have any problem running them on ps3 as well on my new tv?

[jagabo]

An LED TV is nothing more than an LCD TV with LED backlights instead of fluorescent lamps. The main advantages being lower power consumption and a thinner design. Unless you're talking about OLED TV -- which is obviously out of your price range.

Clear Motion is Samsung's version of motion interpolation.

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/faq/FAQ00022394/22562/LN40A550P3FXZA

It can be used to give 24 or 30 fps sources more fluid motion. It may not work well with games. You can turn it off, of course.

[fritzi93]

Your usage scenario (priority for gaming) calls for LED/LCD, IMO. With plasma, any time there are static screen elements, you must reckon with IR (image retention), and the possibility of burn-in.

Just about all currently-produced LCDs will have a game mode. This will turn off all non-essential image processing and reduce lag time to a minimum.

I'd suggest you go to the AVS forum, LCD sub-forum. Here:

http://www.avsforum.com/f/166/lcd-flat-panel-displays

Here you can find dedicated (official) threads on just about any model LCD made.

Good luck whatever you get.

[usually_quiet]

I have nothing against LCDs. That is what I have. I have nothing against plasma TVs either. I just never considered one because plasma TVs aren't made in sizes under 42 inches, and I need something smaller and more portable.

Most gamers prefer plasma TVs for excellent contrast and black levels, smooth motion with less trailing and uniform illumination. They are much better than they used to be, but are still heavier, less energy efficient, and hotter than an LED TV of the same size, if those things concern you. Screen burn in is more of a problem with plasma TVs than LCDs, but has been reduced in recent years.

[redwudz]

One other plus for LED TVs is longer life span. The LEDs run cooler and do last longer than the florescent tubes used in other LCD TVs. It also seems to me that the LED TV/monitors I've seen have a bit better contrast and more even brightness compared to other LCD TV/Monitors. Video performance wise, I doubt there is any difference between the two backlighting methods.

[sohaibrazzaq]

Yes the reason I put plasma out of the question is because of their power usage. Here in India power failures/loadshedding are quite frequent problems so I want a unit which consumes as less energy as possible so I can run it on backup power sources if needed (heavy duty UPS/generator).

[usually_quiet]

Yes the reason I put plasma out of the question is because of their power usage. Here in India power failures/loadshedding are quite frequent problems so I want a unit which consumes as less energy as possible so I can run it on backup power sources if needed (heavy duty UPS/generator).

LED is what you want if energy usage is a major concern. Also remember that the larger the TV is, the more electricity it will consume. The Samsung TV you were looking at seems like a nice choice for watching movies. I couldn't find reviews that said anything about its gaming performance.

[jman98]

Yes the reason I put plasma out of the question is because of their power usage. Here in India power failures/loadshedding are quite frequent problems so I want a unit which consumes as less energy as possible so I can run it on backup power sources if needed (heavy duty UPS/generator).

In that case you may want to invest in a UPS to plug the TV into. I do that. I live in a part of the USA with unreliable power. We have short brownouts about once a month where I live. All the UPS does is provide reliable power to the TV so that it doesn't get power yanked from it during a brownout.

[jagabo]

I want a unit which consumes as less energy as possible so I can run it on backup power sources if needed (heavy duty UPS/generator).

In that case you may want to invest in a UPS to plug the TV into.

That's what he's planning on.

[sohaibrazzaq]

I was in the market today and I saw two different packings for the same tv in different shops that I listed in my first post. One was Made in Thailand and it was about $250 USD expensive then the other which was Made in Malaysia. They had exact amount of accessories in them but the only difference was that the Made in Malaysia was without any manufacturer warranty. The sales person said that they give 1 year service warranty which means if something bad happens in the first year they are responsible for getting the tv into working order but I will have to pay the full cost (which basically means no warranty in fancier words).

What I want to ask here is that does anyone know if there is any quality difference in Samsung tv products which are made in Thailand and Malaysia? I know Samsung's top of the line products come from Korea but no idea about other countries.