Samsung PS51E490
If you fancy picking up a budget plasma, but hanker after Active Shutter 3D and a fashionable finish, then this 1024 x 768 resolution Samsung with a ‘crystal’ neck design, could suit (particularly given that it’s widely discounted to around £599). It offers an extra inch over its 50-inch rivals, and has a reworked panel design which cuts down on the double imaging often seen when PDPs are viewed from the side.
Picture quality is great for the price; the Real Black panel delivers smooth, dynamic images and colours ping. There’s no Smart TV portal provided though – you’ll have to get your catch-up kicks elsewhere.
Reg Rating 80%
Price £799
More info Samsung
Samsung UE55ES8000
You can’t accuse Samsung of taking a backseat when it comes to new technology. This flagship 55in LED LCD brings both voice and motion control to television for the first time, in addition to all the other techno-gubbins you’d expect from a high-end set. Speech as a user interface has obvious benefits, but in this early iteration it needs almost clinical conditions to function properly. Motion control is even more problematic. In most cases it’s simply easier to get what you want with a button press.
Image quality, though, comes without caveats. Detail is preternaturally sharp, blacks are forbidding and colours rainbow wild. There’re also customisable MotionPlus settings to fine tune motion resolution clarity. Throw in a bustling online portal with no shortage of streaming content, then wrap it up in designer duds and you have a medal-winning TV.
Reg Rating 90%
Price £2500
More info Samsung
Next page: Sharp Aquos LC70LE836E
COMMENTS
Incoming...!
"This flagship 55in LED LCD brings both voice and motion control to television for the first time, in addition to all the other techno-gubbins you’d expect from a high-end set. "
So how long after Apple launch their iTV before the patent spats start?
Buy used
People are so wrapped up in having the latest and greatest, you can get older tech for cheap. I just bought a 52" Mitsubishi DLP for $100. It's 6 years old, but only has 2000 hours on a 6000 hour bulb. Sure, it's a bit bigger, but you would only know that if you looked behind it. I have it hooked up to a PC so I can watch anything with it. Normally I have it at 1280x720p, but it will do 1920x1080i and doesn't look to bad at that higher res. I just replaced a 10 year old 60" non HD Philips that I got for free. I had to throw in $25 of coupling fluid, and 3 hours of my time to get it working like new. We used that TV for 2 years until I found the Mitsubishi.
"Thanks to economies of scale, 1024 x 768 resolution PDPs are monopolising the low cost big-screen brigade"
1024 x 768 is not HD, it's not even widescreen!
How about TVs vs projector review?
You can get a very decent 100" projector setup (including a decent screen) for under a grand. Some of the new ones have fairly bright pictures, and a side by side comparison with TVs might be useful.
To me, over 2k pounds is clearly into home cinema territory - the only way I would have a TV of this value is if I won one in a competition. YMMV, of course, but I'm a projector enthusiast so even if I just had 500 to spend on a new "telly" I'd get a projector.
