VIZIO E472VLE 47-Inch 120Hz Class LCD HDTV with VIZIO Internet Apps (Black) (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

After a week with this TV, I've decided that I'm glad that I resisted the urge to buy a more state-of-the-art, and more expensive, model. This meets all of my needs, plus adds some nice to have features that I didn't think I would get for this price.

The most important thing, of course, is the picture. I am very pleased with it. For example, I watched the OTA broadcast of the first game of the NBA finals, and the picture was as good as anything I've seen with the demo loops they show at the stores. Also, I'm pleasantly surprised that OTA SD content looks good, too. I've seen some other TVs at friends houses that do a poor job on SD content. It also does well with DVDs, and other non-HD content, such as things I have encoded over the years.

The picture is incredibly sharp and detailed with an Xbox 360. If there are any image blurring issues in games, they are beyond my eyesight.

This TV also has a very good viewing angle. I don't notice much of a drop-off of image quality, even when sitting almost completely to the side of the screen.

The speakers are another plus. Not spectacular, but plenty loud enough to fill the room, and of good fidelity.

Another reviewer criticised the remote. I agree with that. It is of the "lots of tiny buttons" category, and not as responsive as I would like. But after programming the TiVo remote for the TV, I rarely use it, anyway.

The various setup/tweaking menus could have been done better. For one thing, I don't understand why, on a 1080p-capable screen, the text of some items is almost unreadable. Thankfully, there's not much setup to be done, and for the most part, I'm too lazy to be a tweaker.

The Internet connectivity and apps features are a mixed bag. The Netflix app is at least as good as what I have on a Roku box, and I will definitely use it; but the YouTube app , and some others I have tried are pretty useless.

Philips 50PFL3807/F7 50-Inch LCD 60Hz Internet (Black) (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

Learn more about "smart" TVs, how they work, what services are offered by different manufacturers, and exactly what you'll need to get started at Amazon's Smart TV Center.

Product Description

50" LCD iPTV with WiFi built-in, Pixel Precise HD Engine, Net TV Apps, Media Connect, 3 HDMI, USB and VGA Input, DLNA, and SRS TruSurround

its really nice tv in this price, and also have wifi built in and works great, pict quality is really good, its really better deal in this price compare to samsung $1300 and sony $1400 its really half price tv with same features..love it , its almost six months no issueAppears to be the best bang for buck after a week of solid research before buying.

Pros. Easy to unpack, install, setup, everything is guided. Lightweight. Very low glare in bright sunny room.

Cons. I was really excited about the wifi media connect option. It simply does not work well. Very hit and miss is the best I can share. Spent hours to give up. Fallback was long Hdmi cable to laptop.

Side. Uverse works fine for me, using hdmi too.

 

Sony BDPSX910 Portable Blu-ray Player (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

I am very impressed with this portable Blu-ray player, especially since I purchased it when it was still $199. The picture is very clear and the color is great with newer Blu-ray discs. I have the unit set at half brightness and that is all I need. The volume is pretty good, but I think it could be better. If you are going to use this DVD player in the car, it might not be very loud unless you are using a headphone or earbuds. That being said, the unit only has one headphone jack, so only one person can enjoy the movie with quality sound in a louder-than-being-at-home environment.

That being said, the sound quality with good earbuds is great. I actually heard something in a movie I had never heard before even though I have seen the movie a number of times. Two headphone jacks and wifi would have made this unit close to perfect.

What I am most impressed about is the battery and that it basically lives up to its specs ... which I find rare with electronics. Sony says the battery will last up to four and a half hours. Also, the unit does not get hot on your lap.

Right off the charger I was able to get four hours and 25 minutes at half brightness (10). I wish it were a bit easier to check the battery besides shutting off the movie to see, but at least there is a flashing light on the unit to alert the viewer that the battery is about 20 minutes from dying. During my test, the light started flashing at four hours and five minutes.

I played a non-Blu-ray DVD and the picture and sound is good.

I played a music CD and the volume seemed louder than with a movie. It sounded very good.

I tried inserting a flash drive, but the unit said the drive was not supported. The only thing I can think of is that the drive contained more than just pictures, videos or music. Perhaps later I will delete a flash drive that I don't use and just add some pics, music and video to see if it works.

Hopefully this Blu-ray player lasts a really long time because it is a great unit for the price and included features.

Pros:

Price
Battery
Crisp picture especially with newer Blu-ray movies
Remote
Easy to use touch keys

Cons:

Only one headphone jacks
Volume with movies
Limited way to check of the battery
No wifi

Samsung UN40ES6500 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz 3D Slim LED HDTV (Black) (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

This review is for the 60" model.

First Impressions
-----------------
The box is *huge*. The TV is *thin*. Not even an inch at the edge, and maybe just over in the center. The menus are pretty straightforward. (I don't care too much about the 3D or Smart features of this TV at the moment, and don't have much frame of reference for how to judge modern 3D, so I can't really review these aspects.) The screen doesn't seem too glossy, but it apparently works very well as a mirror because I can see a negative image of my kitchen when it's off.

Struggle
--------
One extremely annoying "feature" of these TVs that I've found out after purchase is the "CE Dimming" feature. This is not the "ECO Dimming" or anything you can control; It's hard-coded into the certain picture modes (Standard and Native, at least). This feature is something that will reduce the backlighting when there is mostly black on the screen. (For example, if there is 100% brightness white text on a pure black screen, it would actually display at a fraction of that intensity due to the backlight dimming). I've read that this is to reduce the appearance of light bleeding in from the edges, since it's edge-lit. This "feature" annoys me significantly, particularly because I am not allowed to control it. After searching around I found out this is called "CE Dimming" and you can hack it by going into the service menu (you can find the instructions online yourself), however messing with it apparently voids the warranty. The only picture mode I found that doesn't use this is "Movie" mode. But, movie mode looks terrible with its default settings.

After 3 days of struggle, experimentation, and research, I've found settings that actually give me a picture I can call "good" or better. I'm not an expert, but I'm technical and pretty picky. So, because I have found no calibration settings for this series of TVs yet, I'm going to provide the ones I am using, if only to prevent any of you from having to obsess over this for hours and hours. I'll offer a little bit of explanation as to why I'm setting it the way I am. I got some guidance and expertise from a known site, but as of right now they do not have professionally calibrated settings. What I did is by eye only.

Settings
--------

Picture Mode: Movie
Backlight: 15
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 46
Sharpness: 10
Color: 50
Tint: 50/50

Dynamic Contrast: Off
Black Tone: Off
Flesh Tone: 0
RGB Off: Auto
Color Space: Auto
White Balance: 25 for all
10p White Balance (R, G, B): ON
- Interval 1: -8, -7, -7
- Interval 2: -10, -3, 2
- Interval 3: -9, -2, 6
- Interval 4: -9, -1, 8
- Interval 5: -10, 1, 10
- Interval 6: -6, 3, 10
- Interval 7: -9, 5, 10
- Interval 8: -1, 5, 8
- Interval 9: -5, 1, 6
- Interval 10: 0, 2, 0
Gamma: 0

Color Tone: Warm2
Digital Noise Filter: Off
MPEG Noise Filter: Off
HDMI Black Level: LOW
Film Mode: Auto2
Auto Motion Plus: Clear
LED Motion Plus: On

Comments on the Settings
------------------------
Movie mode is the only mode I found that doesn't use "CE Dimming", which is a huge annoyance to me. (I'd rather see edge-lighting, easily. Not sure why I can't control that, Samsung.) Backlight, brightness, and color are kind of like salt and pepper: Use to personal taste in your environment.

A note about almost all the other settings: I like an eye-popping, colorful picture as much as the next guy, but I don't like it at the expense of information loss. From my own experimentation (in Standard and Native modes), all the Dynamic Contrast and Black Tone settings did was flatten out the low end of the blacks. Dark scenes look like "paint by number" with all kinds of banding and digital multiplication/division. Lame, worthless settings if that is the effect, and a problem in general with "digital" stuff.

Standard white balance isn't fine-grained enough to make the adjustments to any of the picture modes that are necessary, in my opinion. I messed with it for a long time, so I know. :) The only way to get actual, fine-grained color control is to use the 10p White Balance settings. Now, I only know this from messing around with it, but what this does is allow you to control the individual colors R, G, and B as 10 different intensities, from black to white. So, Interval 1 is the darkest reds, greens, and blues (close to black), and Interval 10 is the brightest R, G, and B, close to white. If you use "Expert Pattern 1" you can see how this works. Short summary?: Red is WAY over-represented and blue is WAY under-represented when everything is set at 0. Everything looked neon until I calibrated this, particularly the reds, and greens to some extent. (Maybe they can create a "1980's" picture mode!)

The noise filters aren't needed when you have everything calibrated correctly. They are kind of an excuse for having the eye-popping over-saturated settings that Standard and Dynamic mode come with. I'm not too sure on the Film Mode and LED Motion Plus. They didn't give me any noticible changes. The Auto Motion plus is nice, but I found that it starts getting choppy when you have other effects going on, including a lowered sharpness (I imagine it must be doing some extra calculations for that.) So, I only set it to Clear because it doesn't seem to get choppy with that set, but still provides some stability and smoothness in fast scenes.

Overall
-------
I give the picture (once it is set correctly) a 5/5. The fact that I can't adjust certain "features", combined with the level of screwing around it requires to make the picture look good makes me lower that. Seriously Samsung... why can't there be a default mode in here that has professionally calibrated settings? You must know that the reds are way too saturated, right? You can still set it to "Standard Mode" by default to create eye-popping pictures that make people buy the TV. But with all your expertise, why not just have a mode that has all this stuff pre-calibrated and save us the time?

EDIT (2012-05-28): After further tinkering, I think I have refined settings to make the picture pop a little more without ruining the picture. Use above settings, but adjust to these:
Dynamic Contrast: LOW
Black Tone: Darker
HDMI Black Level: LOW
Color Space: Native

Sony PMW-EX1R XDCAM EX Full HD Camcorder without SxS Card, 1920 x 1080 Resolution, Wide Angle 14x Fujinon Lens, 1.23MP Viewfinder (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

The Sony XDCAM EX PMW-EX1R HD Camcorder (without SxS Card) is the impressive successor to the popular PMW-EX1. While retaining everything that was right about the previous camera, Sony has listened to its professional users and taken several steps forward, not only improving ergonomics and convenience, but bringing a whole new set of features to the world's only full HD compact camcorder.Like its predecessor, the PMW-EX1R's core is its three 1/2"-type CMOS sensors and 14x Fujinon zoom lens. This heavyweight imaging combo captures full 1920 x 1080 hi-def images to solid state SxS PRO memory cards (sold separately) at multiple bit rates, resolutions and frame rates. Whether you're shooting weddings, documentaries or feature films, there's a frame rate and resolution for you - from 60fps and native 23.98p recording at 720p, to 1fps at 1080i. SxS PRO cards of up to 64GB in capacity can be used. For 64GB cards, the camera will require software version 1.15 or greater installed from Sony's website. The way to install it is by downloading the version to a computer, connecting the camera to the computer by USB cable and selecting the upgrade option in "Others" tab of the camera's menu table. If your computer has an SxS slot, you can just transfer the downloaded file onto the SxS card and then pop the card into the camera to transfer the download, which in this case also you would do through the "Others" menu. 64GB cards can record 200 minutes in HQ mode

Our studios use 4 of these for a cooking show on a big international network. They work flawlessly. I've seen some with 600+ hours on them and still running perfectly. If you're looking at this camera, you already know what it can do, so I won't rehash what everyone's already raved about on other sites.

Just wanted to add my real-world 5-star rating for a truly excellent piece of camera gear.

 

Sewell 20ft HDMI Cable, 1.3b Male to Male (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

Great HDMI cables don't have to cost a lot. Sewell standard grade cable like this is perfect for everyday use. This cable meets or exceeds all HDMI specifications to preserve the highest quality image and sound. For long runs of HDMI cable (over 15-30 Ft.) you're going to need an HDMI Signal Repeater to ensure the highest quality signal reaches your display. This certified High Definition Multimedia Interface cable (HDMI cable) is the latest generation in audio/video connectivity. It provides high-definition digital video and digital audio via a single cable. This HDMI cable is fully HDMI version 1.3b compliant and has full support for up to a 1600p video signal. It supports a 10.2Gbps bandwidth (340MHz). Why HDMI? HDMI has quickly grown to be the most commonly used AV interface in home theater systems from the very basic systems to the very complex ones. The great benefit of HDMI is that it allows you connect both the audio and video signals to your equipment with a single connection. The fact that it is an all digital system allows for the highest quality replication of the audio and video. In order to preserve the highest quality digital AV signals, make sure to use high quality HDMI cables like ours. Fully compatible This cable is fully compatible with all your HDMI equipment. Use it with your XBOX 360, PS3, Blu-Ray player, HDMI compatible DVD player, HDMI compatible laptop, HDMI compatible AV receiver, and any other HDMI compatible equipment. 

Perfectly serviceable HDMI cable at a fraction of the cost from big box sellers like Best Buy. 

VIZIO M420KD 42-Inch 120Hz Edge Lit Razor LED LCD HDTV with VIZIO Internet Apps (Black) (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

Received this TV a couple of days ago and was very satisfied with everything it has. It's very lightweight, as a petite female, I was able to screw the TV to its stand and lift it to the table. Setup was easy, I was able to watch Netflix in a couple of minutes. In the beginning, the lighted Vizio logo was very annoying, till I found out that I was able to turn it off from the TV menu.

I sorta got an info overload from the Apps; so far I only setup Netflix and Yahoo! weather, the rest can wait (or I'll never use, due to the clumsy keyboard on the remote). Also received $5.99 credit for one free HD movie from Vudu. With all these goodies, who needs cable? I just bought Mohu HDTV indoor antenna and can't wait to set it up.

List of preinstalled apps: Rhapsody, Yahoo! (Finance, Weather, News & Store), flickr, Netflix, Vudu, Hulu Plus, Amazon, YouTube, Skype, Twitter and Facebook.

Remote is ok (see attached pic). Too many small buttons on both sides, accidental pressing of the buttons can't be avoided.

One feature that this TV doesn't have (and my old dear tube TV from the 1990s had) is the wakeup feature. It has sleep feature though. Why not both? Hmmm...

Please note that this model is better than its cousin M420SL. Dynamic Contrast Ratio for SL 200,000:1 and KD (this model) 1,000,000:1.

Samsung UN55ES6100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz Slim LED HDTV (Black) (Electronics) newly tagged "1080p"

UN46ES6100 (but this review could easily apply to the 40,50,55 and 60 inch models) PLEASE READ!

Let me start off by stating that I am rating this pretty much solely on the picture quality, because the Smart Hub on this is completely junk. So why would I still give this TV 4 stars when the selling feature on this is the Smart Tv feature, because the TV itself is absolutely stunning when it comes to picture quality.

I've accepted the fact that the Smart TV feature is garbage on this TV. Sadly Samsung is aware that they drop the ball big time on creating a good Smart TV. That being said though you probably won't find to many TV's that have a good Smart TV function and picture quality as good as this (except the Sony Bravia......but it will cost you big time). Between my friends and I we have tried almost all the new TV's that have come out, and to be honest none of the new Smart TV's have impressed me. LG comes pretty close with the whole package for a good price, but still (in my opinion) does not compare to this TV when it comes to picture quality.

The apps are attached through the Smart Hub which means, yes, they also run slow. I run my streaming apps through my Blu-Ray player and it looks great. It's weird that an external source such as a Blu-ray player runs apps better that a tv that has apps and software built into it. Smart Hub is absolutely useless on this TV, everything from the browser to the apps are ridiculously slow. I give the Smart Hub feature a 1 out of 10. It works, but barely. This feature is not ready for prime time.

Now, down to the nitty gritty. The reason this TV is still great is because I personally love the look of their Auto-Motion feature. Some say it looks "soap opery", but I love it. You can turn off Automotion easily and it still delivers in 120hz mode. This TV has a whooping 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast that completely delivers. The picture quality is very crisp and colors are very vibrant (Actually to be honest, out of the box it's too vibrant. You will have to play around with it. Check the bottom of this post, I'll supply a professionally calibrated configuration to help some of you). HDTV looks great. Everything is so clear it does almsot seem like there is no screen dividing you from the movie. Blu-Rays on this is an experience all to itself. So in conclusion for picture I give this a 10 out of 10.

Sound is decent on this. It's not bad. It does have it's moments with low end bass a little. Coarse my theory on sound on a TV like this is, if you bought this TV your probably like me and had some inkling that your future foretold a certain sound system......maybe a nice sound bar. So in conclusion for sound I give this 7 out of 10. Very passable sound for sure.

Comparing a the UN46ES6100 to the UN46EH600 (Similar Samsung TV minus the Smart TV)
Here is a valuble piece of information. If your looking for a Samsung TV with all the same qualification but no Smart TV feature, go with the UN46EH6000 (40,46,50,55,60). Although this TV does match up in every way, the picture quality is a little less (about half million in the dynamic contrast department, which actually isn't much when considering the naked eye) on the UN46EH6000, but you will save about 300 bucks. By the way, if you compare these two TV using Amazon they will tell you the match up, but after talking to Samsung they gave me the real specs. These TV's are comparable, but not the same. They would leave you to think the the Smart feature is the only difference. My personal opinion, get the UN46ES6100. In the long run you want the best picture quality. Right?

In final conclusion, I really like this TV .....a lot (the UN46ES6100, bad on topic). If you read the other reviews the biggest beef is clearly with the Smart Hub, which to be honest is completely accurate. In fact this problem is not isolated to this model, it would seem that all the 2012 Samsung's that attempted the Smart Hub failed miserably. I bought this TV for $899 at Costco and to be honest I have not come across a TV yet that compares for the price. In fact this TV performs at the rate of most TV's that go for double the price. So if you buy this TV know that you will be disappointed in the Smart Hub feature but very surprised at the picture quality. Maybe the best you'll see for awhile. I give this TV a solid 8.5/10.....and I'm actually hard to please.

Those calibrations that I promised:

These calibrations were done professionally by the guys at lcdbuyingguide....(dotcom). They worked awesomely to get my TV looking perfect.

Picture Mode Movie
Backlight 16 (Backlight is the one part you will have to adjust to your liking and room lighting)
Contrast 95
Brightness 45
Sharpness 15
Color 50
Tint G50/R50

ADVANCE SETTINGS
Dynamic Contrast Off
Black Tone Off
Flesh Tone 0
RGB Only Mode Off
Color Space Auto
10pt White Balance On
Gamma +1
Expert Pattern Off
xvYCC Off
PICTURE OPTIONS
Color Tone Warm2
Digital Noise Filter Off
MPEG Noise Filter Off
HDMI Black Level Low
Film Mode Off
Auto Motion Plus Off
LED Motion Plus Off
10PT WHITE BALANCE ON

Interval Red Green Blue
1 0 -1 -1
2 -1 -1 -1
3 0 0 0
4 -1 0 +1
5 -1 -1 +1
6 -1 -1 -1
7 -1 -1 -1
8 0 0 0
9 +1 0 0
10 +2 0 0
WHITE BALANCE
Setting Value
R-Offset 25
G-Offset 25
B-Offset 28
R-Gain 18
G-Gain 23
B-Gain 21
SCREEN ADJUSTMENT
Picture Size Screen Fit
MEASURED CONTRAST (WITH OTC1000)
100 IRE (Y) 55.3625
O IRE (Y) 0.0222
Ratio (x:1) 2493.8063

Hope these calibrations help. So far I've used this calibration and I've loved it. It's great because it works on movies, sports, tv, blu-ray....you name it. The only time I change them is when my living room gets really really bright, then I just put it on standard for a little while.