LCD 27-inch ?

[DVWannaB]

A friend asked if I knew of any highly rated 27" LCD TVs. I didnt know the answer, but told him that there is a place where these wonderful guys hang out that wopuld know or at least give recommendations. So with that build-up, can anyone give me an idea, what to look for and recommendations? Thanks.

[ROF]

The Syntax Kolin DLT-2711 is a great 27" LCD at a good price. You can find this from $600-$800 dollars. It's two toned silver and black and has the full gambit of inputs. (Composite, DVI, VGA, Component, etc.) The DVI is HDCP compliant too. The sound is good by itself too which is good if you don't own a home theater system, but if you do it includes both subwoofer and RCA outputs and of course it does the complete HDTV spectrum (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i). It also runs quiet and cool. Did I mention it looks good?

[edDV]

Check these issues for a budget LCD TV.

-Look for 1280x720 (1366x768 typical) native resolution or better.

-Look for contrast spec as high as possible. Under 1000:1 is ok for office lighting use, more is better for theater lighting.

-Check black levels under room lighting not store lighting. LCD backlights are notorous for leaking light causing grayish blacks.

-Most LCD monitors will look good with progressive DVD sources (movies). Take in a pure interlace DVD with lots of motion (sports, shakey camcorder, TV graphics moving around) and see how the LCD deinterlacer handles it from a DVD source. If they have the DVD player hooked up progressive, you would be looking at the DVD player deinterlacer. Try it with 480i setting to see the TV deinterlacer.

-Insist they hook it up to an analog broadcast TV source. LCD monitors are always progressive so standard NTSC/PAL interlace inputs (also VHS, camcorders, etc.) must always be deinterlaced for display. Deinterlacers struggle with motion. A sports channel will be best to test for motion artifacts.

[Epicurus8a]

Consumer Reports rates these 26" sets the highest:
Sharp Aquos LC-26GD4U $1,600
Panasonic Viera TC-26LX50 $1,400
Toshiba TheaterWide HD 26HL84 $1,350
Maxent MX-26X3 $1,100
Samsung LN-R268W $1,250
LG 26LX1D $1,400
JVC LT-26X576$1,600
ILO ILO-2600 (Walmart) $750

Much further down the list is the Westinghouse LTV-27W2 @ $900. (It's the only 27" set on the list.)

(Personally, I like the Samsung. I also like purchasing from Costco due to their excellent return policy; anytime within one year.)

IMO, specs only tell part of the story. User friendlyness, construction, and styling are just as important as the specs; maybe even more important.

[DVWannaB]

This is great stuff. Many thanks guys. I will print this out and give it to him. Thanks again.