TV buying is a nightmare.

The Samsung TV i've had for about a year decided to commit suicide and thankfully Samsung reimbursed me. However i'm faced with a problem, what TV should I buy? I'm looking for a 40" TV, I don't give a fuck about Smartness of this TV (Internet features) or 3D. I'm not sure about plasma. LCD or LED, from what i've gathered theres not much of a difference, it will primarly be used for gaming and movie watching. Could the Giantbomb community guide me towards some informative articles and/or websites? Cheers.

Edit: I don't live in America so sales don't really apply to me at the same degree and Amazon only ships 32" TVs and smaller to my area, so i'm sadly stuck to using sleezy brick and mortar stores. Price range is up to €1000.

Editer: I have decided upon this TV although I would really appreciate your input before I make this hefty investment!

http://reviews.cnet.com/8342-6475_7-57525332-242/tv-buying-guide/

@ChadMasterFlash: Thank you!

I have a 26 inch 1080p LED-LCD Vizio. And it is gorgeous. I couldn't recommend an LEDTV over a plain LCD or plasma TV enough.

For gaming and movie watching you are going to want the deeper blacks that plasmas offer. Panasonic has made the best plasmas since Pioneer stopped making TVs in 2006 and sold their patents to Panasonic. If you can get an 06 Pioneer Kuro then jump on it as it is still the best plasma tv ever made. Otherwise Panasonic is the way to go. My brother in law got a 42 inch Panasonic last year and a tenants cat knocked it over and smashed it. When he went to replace it he discovered that Panasonic doesn't make that model below 50 inches anymore. The two different 50 inch ones (3D and non 3D) were on sale so he snapped up the 3D one for just $100 more than the non 3D. He did it for the extra media formats that USB mode can play on the higher end version. He did like Killzone 3 in 3D though so he's happy with the purchase.

It's also the same TV that Ryan and Brad bought before Amazon started charging tax earlier this year.

At some point in the next couple months stores will start putting this years models on clearance to make room for next years models. That's when my old roommate bought his 46 inch for $500. I remember walking home with it in winter but I don't remember the specific month. It was most likely after Christmas and CES though so there is still a little bit of a wait for that.

I just bought a tv yesterday and am waiting on it getting delivered. I went with the LG 47LM7600. It's an LED, and, like @believer258 said, the difference between how they look is incredible. Mine has 3D which isn't really something I cared about, but it seems so many TVs force you to get that and/or the smart options (I suspect the actual tv's are much cheaper to produce so they throw in the features to level the price).

As someone who's been looking for six months, I feel your pain. The market is crazy. The CNET reviews are helpful, but note that sometimes they'll criticize a TV set as not being worth the price because, when the reviewed it, it was 2,000 or something. On a lot of those the prices have drastically dropped so you might be able to get a good bang for your buck.

@mosespippy: Thanks for the detailed response. Panasonic seems to be coming up a lot in the internet searches i've done. I'm not sure i'd be up for waiting, I have Halo 4 and The Walking Dead waiting in their box/harddrive. I don't live in America so sales don't apply in the same way for me and I'm pretty sure Amazon don't ship TV's here, so sadly my options are limited to sleezy brick and mortar shops..

i've got a 60" and 55" 1080p LED LCD smart and non smart, they look awesome. amazon delivered them white glove in 3 days. how hard can it be?

LED tv's have really good back lighting and are very bright. you can't really go wrong with a top brand and good specs, just do it.

@CrossTheAtlantic: Thanks, it really does suck especially when you don't live in America. My original samsung TV was supposed to be an LED but the people in the TV shop had no idea what I was talking about...

@ki11tank: Damn. Three days. It took Amazon 2 weeks to deliver Lord of the Rings: The Return of King for me.

@Dylabaloo said:

@ki11tank: Damn. Three days. It took Amazon 2 weeks to deliver Lord of the Rings: The Return of King for me.

And they won't deliver a TV bigger than 32"? Damn, man.

Do Amazon have a personal vendetta against you, or do you live somewhere fairly backwater?

@GetEveryone: Ireland. I'm not even living in the countryside.

assuming you play games, input lag should be one of your biggest concerns.

Panasonic in general just seems like the better choice when it comes to that, with certain models/lines being better than others.

Since I have no idea what your price range is, I suggest just hitting the avs forums and searching input lag. If you are looking for something, or have a question/problem someone with the same thing has already asked and been answered in there.

Another thing to look into is color banding. Just search the TV's your looking into to see if it has these issues. It'll make some games to the point of unplayable. especially when it's displaying lighting. Even 360/ps3 interface will look awful because they are so gradient heavy.

If you're looking for a Samsung and a 40", AVSForum recommends the UN40EH5000. You just need to make sure you get one that says "TS01" or "TS02" on the side of the box underneath the barcodes/serial numbers. And it's currently going for $427 on bestbuy.com right now.

Edit: The same AVSforum thread also had UK responses, so I'm guessing it's ultra cheap there, too.

I have no idea if there's a setting or something to fix this, but I have a Samsung 6900 and for whatever reason a lot of my games have this dithering/blur effect around everything that moves. I'm clueless with TV's but unless there's something that fixes/minimizes this effect I wouldn't recommend it for gaming.

@Ducksworth said:

I have no idea if there's a setting or something to fix this, but I have a Samsung 6900 and for whatever reason a lot of my games have this dithering/blur effect around everything that moves. I'm clueless with TV's but unless there's something that fixes/minimizes this effect I wouldn't recommend it for gaming.

Always be Samsunging. : )

I've seen that on my parents Samsung before, moving objects have this blurry pixelated halo around them.

It might have something to do with that "clear motion" settings if memory serves me.

Not sure how much that improves it but I'd try adjusting that in settings to start.

@Ducksworth: Turn off any and all image enhancements. In a lot of cases, "Game mode" actually doesn't help.

Dynamic Contrast? Off

Black Tone? Off

Digital Noise Filter? Kill it with fire, then turn it off

LED Motion Plus? Definitely off for games.

Hopefully that'll help. However, it does also matter if you have a Samsung LCD Panel. Most people don't realize it, but most big manufacturers don't always use their own panels. Samsung uses a lot of Sharp and Chi Mei panels as well. Easiest way to see is look on the box or back of the TV, Where it says "Version", TS0# and TH0# are apparently Samsung panels. Sharp has motion issues, and Chi Mei has even better motion than Samsung, but worse viewing angels.

Panasonic Plasmas are some of the best tvs for their price range.The dynamic contrast range and response times are great strengths for games and also make sports look better. The concern with them is glare. If the place you are putting it has excessive natural light, tread carefully.

With you being in a different country I can't offer much more advice other than research the models available to you locally. Good luck and given you past experience, customer service may not be a bad factor to consider.

Get a 3D TV, they have beefy processors that are best for gaming.

@ChadMasterFlash said:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8342-6475_7-57525332-242/tv-buying-guide/

Nice. Loved the link that talked about how all HDMI cables are the same. I'm so confused when people buy them for $25 at Best Buy or Walmart. They're $5 on amazon lol.

I have a Samsung TV now, and I like it. Strange thing though is that it sometimes doesn't want to handle bright neon-like colors well when watching TV. I think it's just the cables problem though and not the TVs, because I've played many movies and games on the TV and it never had a problem with bright neon-like colors. Strange right?

So after two weeks of waiting for refund money to be sorted out I finally have the cash dollar! 

I've decided upon this TV but I'd really appreciate a harsh and honest scrutiny of my choice.

Thanks!

I'm kind of I'm the same rut. I want A new one, but I want one with low input lag for gaming. I play SF4 a lot and the smallest bit of lag changes everything.

As a general rule when buying TVs, go over to the AVS forums and see what those guys suggest. They're crazy motherfuckers, but they know what makes a good TV.

Yeah I hate TV shopping, it's a mess. It's almost impossible to get the right inputs you want for the price you want at the size and resolution you want. As someone who is still insistent on using analog stereo sound, it's becoming harder and harder to find a TV I like. Luckily the Toshiba I bought earlier this year satisfies my requirements, but it only has 2 HDMI ports which is a huge pain in the ass.

I went sony full array backlit lcd. It was pricey but the picture is great and it looks like framed art on the wall. Samsung is also a quality brand though if that's what you're going back with.

@Dylabaloo said:

So after two weeks of waiting for refund money to be sorted out I finally have the cash dollar!

I've decided upon this TV but I'd really appreciate a harsh and honest scrutiny of my choice. Thanks!

That's the TV I have. Well, the U.S. version anyway. It's great. But word of advice. Break it in for about 200 hours before any marathon gaming. These Panny Plasmas still get some image retention now and again.

But other than that, you won't find a better picture for your money. The black levels on this TV are insane.

@Dylabaloo said:

So after two weeks of waiting for refund money to be sorted out I finally have the cash dollar!

I've decided upon this TV but I'd really appreciate a harsh and honest scrutiny of my choice. Thanks!

That's the TV I have. Well, the U.S. version anyway. It's great. But word of advice. Break it in for about 200 hours before any marathon gaming. These Panny Plasmas still get some image retention now and again.

But other than that, you won't find a better picture for your money. The black levels on this TV are insane.

Plasma > LED/LCD

Really simple. Plasma is better for gaming (response times) and they tend to have better contrast ratios/black levels. Also, LED/LCD are really bad at handling SD content, plasma on the other hand is pretty good.

@Dylabaloo said:

So after two weeks of waiting for refund money to be sorted out I finally have the cash dollar!

I've decided upon this TV but I'd really appreciate a harsh and honest scrutiny of my choice. Thanks!

Panasonic are a fantastic brand, they, along with Pioneer make the finest plasma. (well, Pioneer called it quits, but Kuros were insane)

Breaking in just means letting it run for a while without any long gaming sessions. Personally I wouldn't bother, I didn't with my Panny, I did it with my first plasma and it didn't seem to do anything, you'll still get image retention from UI elements if you play a game for hours, but they do fade in time and it's never noticeable unless you go right up to the screen.