LCD recommendations

@johnboy25 wrote:

I’m considering getting an LCD TV for use with my PS3 so I get full advantage of it, including the Blu Ray as my current TV does not have an HDMI outlet. I have looked at this one:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/3496910/Samsung-Pebble-19-SM932MW-HD-Ready-Widescreen-LCD-TV/Product.html

But I was wondering if anyone knows of any cheaper alternatives. That is the kind of size I’m after and the fact that it has both Scart and HDMI is a big plus but I was hoping to stay below the £200 mark (I’m aware that £199.99 technically is!) If I can’t, then I’ll probably get that one.

Price and number and type connections is one thing

I’d look for the ”response time” & ”Viewing angles” and colour options

It’s ok being able to connect it to everything bar the toaster and the kettle but you need to be able to view it from more than just straight on and have realistic colours and something that can respond quickly!

* I can hear the till in the background already*

Types

TN + film
The inexpensive ‘TN (twisted nematic) + film’ display is the most common consumer display type. The pixel response time on modern TN panels is sufficiently fast to avoid the shadow-trail and ghosting artifacts of earlier production. The fast response time has been emphasised in advertising TN displays, although in most cases this number does not reflect performance across the entire range of possible color transitions. Response times were quoted for an ISO standard black-to-white transition and did not reflect the speed of much more common transitions from one shade of grey to another. More recent use of RTC (Response Time Compensation – Overdrive) technologies has allowed manufacturers to significantly reduce grey-to-grey (G2G) transitions, without significantly improving the ISO response time. Response times are now quoted in G2G figures, with 4ms and 2ms now being commonplace for TN Film based models. The good response time and low cost has led to the dominance of TN in the consumer market.

The TN display suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. For colour representation many panels use 6 bits per colour, instead of 8, and are consequently unable to display the full 24-bit truecolor (16.7 million colour shades) available from modern graphics cards. These panels can display interpolated 24-bit color using a dithering method which combines adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade. They can also use FRC (Frame Rate Control), which quickly cycles pixels over time to simulate a given shade. These color simulation methods are noticeable to most people and bothersome to some[citation needed]. FRC tends to be most noticeable in darker tones, while dithering appears to make the individual pixels of the LCD visible. Overall, color reproduction and linearity on TN panels is poor. Shortcomings in display color gamut (often referred to as a percentage of the NTSC 1953 color gamut) are also due to backlighting technology. It is not uncommon for displays with CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps)-based lighting to range from 40% to 76% of the NTSC color gamut, whereas displays utilizing white LED backlights may extend past 100% of the NTSC color gamut – a difference quite perceivable by the human eye.

The transmittance of a pixel of an LCD panel typically does not change linearly with the applied voltage,[1] and the sRGB standard for computer monitors requires a specific nonlinear dependence of the amount of emitted light as a function of the RGB value.

IPS
IPS (in-plane switching) was developed by Hitachi in 1996 to improve on the poor viewing angles and color reproduction of TN panels. Most panels also support true 8-bit per channel color. These improvements came at the cost of a slower response time, initially about 50ms. IPS panels were also extremely expensive. A partial list of LCDs that utilize IPS can be found at PcHardwareHelp.

IPS has since been superseded by S-IPS (Super-IPS, Hitachi in 1998), which has all the benefits of IPS technology with the addition of improved pixel refresh timing. Though color reproduction approaches that of CRTs, the dynamic range is lower. S-IPS technology is widely used in panel sizes of 20″ and above. LG.Philips remain two of the main manufacturers of S-IPS based panels.

Evolution of IPS LCD electrode structures and performance (from Hitachi)

AS-IPS – Advanced Super IPS, also developed by Hitachi in 2002, improves substantially on the contrast ratio of traditional S-IPS panels to the point where they are second only to some S-PVAs. AS-IPS is also a term used for NEC displays (e.g., NEC LCD20WGX2) based on S-IPS technology, in this case, developed by LG.Philips.
A-TW-IPS – Advanced True White IPS, developed by LG.Philips LCD for NEC, is a custom S-IPS panel with a TW (True White) color filter to make white look more natural and to increase color gamut. This is used in professional/photography LCDs.One such monitor to use this technology is the NEC LCD3090WQXi.
H-IPS – Released in late 2006, an evolution of the IPS panel which improves upon its predecessor, the S-IPS panel. The H-IPS panel is used in the NEC LCD2490WUXI, LCD2690WUXi and Mitsubishi RDT261W 26″ LCD, Planar PX2611W[2] and Apple’s newest Aluminum 24″ iMac. H-IPS up close.
The pros/cons of the H-IPS over the S-IPS:
Pros:
Much less backlight bleed.
No purple hue visible at an angle
Backlight bleed improves looking at an angle
Less noise or glitter seen on the panel surface (smoother surface)
Cons:
Still some backlight bleed in areas that are green.
Viewing angle is narrower.

@johnboy25 wrote:

Strangely enough, the vast majority of that went over my head :lol: My dad knows a few folk who know about these things, one does it for a living so I’ll be seeking him out. So long as it does what it’s supposed to do, that’s all I need.

In short there’s a few different types available!

It’s a technology advancing very fast and as it does so the prices will drop!

I like pricerunner when hunting out pricing options!

Good luck…

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/