Best 50"+ LCD for under $1500

[lojack1976]

There are a lot of things to look at when considering a tv. First off, the signal being sent to tv's in the store are usually quite bad. You're better off using a blu-ray to test the tv out. Another thing to consider is that tv's are not calibrated nor set to optimal settings in the store. Most of the time they have the brightness and contrast cranked way up to compensate for the bright lights in the store, and you'll get an inaccurate assessment of the tv's picture. I guarantee you that once you get a Vizio home and adjust it it will not look nearly as good as you thought it did in the store. I have a friend who bought a Vizio last Christmas and its okay for a budget television, but certainly not what I would buy myself if I can do better. Like I said, I like my LG, but the black level isn't quite up to par, not bad, but not quite good enough. I'm a huge movie buff, and I was just wasn't satisfied until I got the Panny plasma, but I actually wanted a Samsung LCD. It was just way too expensive at the time. My plasma has a better picture than the Samsung I was looking at, but I wanted LCD since I have a computer hooked up to it. Now I just take more care in using it on the plasma. As for the Toshiba, its not a bad tv, but I looked at it side by side with others like Sony, Samsung, LG, and even a Panny plasma, and it was easily the worst picture. Unlike most stores, the particular Circuit City I visited actually had much dimmer lighting for optimal viewing and comparing tv's was much easier. I could adjust pictures and everything and the best picture was definitely the Panny with the Toshiba being dead last to my eyes. Even the JVC off to the side of it looked better with a much sharper picture with comparable black level. Most people on this forum will tell you that Samsung and Sony make the best LCD's right now, and the experts who review these tv's agree. As for the 120hz tv's, I don't believe that you will find a 52" much cheaper than the Samsung I suggested, and certainly not better if you do.