WOOT! New TV!!! (Pics inside)

[Sandman]

I thought I would have to wait till the end of the month but I was able to get it early as a birthday present....still paying for it though; but I got it early. It's a nice one too.

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=lcdtv&model_cd=LN40B550K1FXZA

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/djsandman/samsung.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/djsandman/IMG_0262.jpg
More pics later....the small screen is no longer small for me!

[Urizen]

Yo dawg. Yo shit be pimped.

[pronounconnoun]

Good jorb. Looks sweet! I'm assuming that this was a gift for yourself. It's always good to please yourself, especially on your birthday (;))

[Sandman]

Added a second picture.

Good jorb. Looks sweet! I'm assuming that this was a gift for yourself. It's always good to please yourself, especially on your birthday (;))

Technically birthday is tomorrow but it's still a birthday present.

[Dark Prince]

Nice, you're going to love HD gaming...

[Troggles]

Very nice. I have a 32" Samsung myself and it is sweet.

[Shieldmaiden]

Grats, Sandy. Mrs Jonno and I have been hankering for a new TV for a while, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen any time soon.

[Rogue_hunter]

My family got a 40" Sony on Memorial Day, and it's been especially fantastic once we got the HD DirecTV dish installed two days later. Enjoy your new TV!

[Kagger]

This is the TV I'm looking at getting. I can't decide if I want it, or its 120 Hz equivalent. I've always found 120 Hz to be jarring, so I'm not sure if it's worth it.

How did you decide?

[Sandman]

This is the TV I'm looking at getting. I can't decide if I want it, or its 120 Hz equivalent. I've always found 120 Hz to be jarring, so I'm not sure if it's worth it.

How did you decide?

$1,000 was my budget....this unit was under 1k before taxes. It was an easy choice.

[Kagger]

$1,000 was my budget....this unit was under 1k before taxes. It was an easy choice.

I think that's going to be my deciding factor too. I'm taking it to college so I don't want to throw a ton of money at it.

Did you look heavily in to 120 Hz?

[Sandman]

I think that's going to be my deciding factor too. I'm taking it to college so I don't want to throw a ton of money at it.

Did you look heavily in to 120 Hz?

Not really since I couldn't afford it. This tv looks awesome to me. I'm coming from a 27" Samsung CRT set that could only do 1080i so the difference in the upgrade is night and day.

[Jason]

I got the 46" version about a month ago. It's been a great tv so far. I've seen a bunch of little details in movies and games that I had never seen before. Hope you like yours as much as I do mine.

[cp#]

I thought you were wall mounting it. What was so hard to set up? :p

[Ghostbear]

Do you have a Daytona 500 board game? Thats so weird. :P

[Wasson_]

what treasures do you have hidden in that chest under your TV?

I'm guessing Hookshot...

[Karak]

This is the TV I'm looking at getting. I can't decide if I want it, or its 120 Hz equivalent. I've always found 120 Hz to be jarring, so I'm not sure if it's worth it.

How did you decide?

Jezuz. Don't get 120HZ. That shit is NOT ready for primetime yet. It will be but man not right now.

[Mike Kelehan]

Don't turn the bass up too high, or those board games are going to CRASH.

[bstiff]

Jezuz. Don't get 120HZ. That shit is NOT ready for primetime yet. It will be but man not right now.

Funny thing is when I was out at Best Buy this weekend looking to possibly upsize my tv, they now have 240 hz set out. I thought I read somewhere that movies are filmed at only 60 fps anyways so what would be the benefit of refreshing every frame 4 times?

[muddi900]

Movies run a 24fps. 60Hz is enough for them. 120 is great for gaming.

[Inverarity]

To clarify: you should look for a 120Hz refresh rate, but steer clear of 120Hz 'motion processing'.

A 120Hz refresh rate is ideal for HDTVs because it's a common multiple of all the frame rates you'll find with North American sources. Depending on the original, you'll find source video at 24Hz, 30Hz, and 60Hz; Hz in this case is basically the same as fps. As a result, a 120Hz display will never drop frames or pick and choose which ones to show again; every frame will be shown the same number of times (five, four, or two times), which preserves the original source's quality.

(24fps film and 60Hz displays don't actually play well together, because 60 isn't an even multiple of 24; in a given second of film, the display has to choose to show some frames twice and others three times. This can induce some artificial shuddering in the image, especially on smooth camera motions.)

On the other hand, 120Hz or 240Hz 'motion processing' (such as Samsung's Auto Motion Plus) sucks, IMHO, and you should avoid it in its current form. These schemes try to wring extra clarity and stability out of the source by interpolating between frames to create new frames that aren't in the original source. The method is intended to reduce motion blur, but in my experience it gives the image a harsh, artificial quality; it tends to distort the focus of the shot, and *really* plays havoc with shots which have very deep or shallow focus.

To my mind, the point of any audio or video system is to give you as accurate a reproduction as possible of what the creator of the media wanted you to experience. If that's your goal, a display with 120Hz refresh is extremely useful; 120Hz motion processing really, really isn't.

[Karak]

Funny thing is when I was out at Best Buy this weekend looking to possibly upsize my tv, they now have 240 hz set out. I thought I read somewhere that movies are filmed at only 60 fps anyways so what would be the benefit of refreshing every frame 4 times?

That's correct. The technology for many of these systems is no where near the "specs" they push. 120hz whether its native or assisted chip motion is difficult to pull off correctly and the amount of complaints from waviness to motion sickness is very large. It reminds me of the handshake issues HDMI had. No one cared they just wanted HDMI, despite all the flaws in the first version and the sad fact that many people didn't have systems that required it. And with TV's you are not future proofing by buying early as they do indeed switch formats/standerds mid stream sometimes. Or something new and better pops up mid-generation. 120hz, at least from the reviews, cost comparisons and all the side to sides you can find is not mature enough yet to warrent a purchase.