Help me choose a new TV! Budget is £800-1000~

[wildpluckings]

Hello, I am in the market for a new television and I'm feeling overwhelmed by the selection out there. It seems like a good time to invest in one (well it is never good considering the rate new tech replaces old tech and prices keep falling) BUT I did notice a lot of excellent sales in my local TV stores today (46" Samsung 3D HDTV @ £850 down from £1200!)

BUDGET = £800 - £1000

My main requirement will be a good versatile balance between performance for games, 3D support, non HD material quality and full HD blu rays

It is the Samsung LE37 A457C1D I will be upgrading from - main features 720p HD/10,000:1 contrast ratio

I play a lot of games on my xbox/playstation/PC and the current samsung 37" I use has too much processing lag for FPS games (I am mega fussy). There is a game mode option but there is still noticable input lag compared to playing on a CRT (I play Halo/guitar hero on my 10 year old CRT screen!). ANY improvement on this and I'll be content since it is borderline (hopefully technology has improved a lot and the problem is no longer significant)

I also watch a lot of blu rays and television series. From what I've seen in store 100Hz/"mega contrast ratio" and full 1080p support do the trick, lol. All buzz words but it really seems that simple.

NOW with the not so important factors

3D support. If buying a 46" 3DTV with all the glasses/hardware will cost the same as a 58" 1080p screen, then forget about it. Personally, I really like 3D but I do not wish to compromise too much on good old fashion image quality/contrast ratio/response time for 3D

SOUND - is not an object! it really doesn't matter if the TV didn't come with any speakers, I have a good sound system that I can hook anything up to

PLASMA vs LCD vs LED - from what I have seen in store, LED displays offer the best image quality. No idea how these three technologies are rated when it comes to gaming though...

AESTHETICS: I am 10x more interested in performance than how it looks. Slim displays with glass frames look great but I wouldn't pay extra for them! (you seem to get these features on every tv now though, so if I end up with a nice looking television as well as a good performing television then so be it)

Final details

I want to buy in store rather than online but if prices were significantly cheaper, I would be willing to get on amazon/ebay or wherever necessary. In the UK, COMET has always had an excellent selection at competitive prices almost as cheap as buying online (with the benefit of being able to "try before you buy")

46" will be the starting point for screen size, anything less and it won't be much of a "generation leap" from my 37" Samsung!

This is a big investment for me and I will really value your suggestions/input. It will definately make me feel more confident when I get around to buying one

 

[Mark_69]

The price doesn't matter but the product must to be Samsung ! trust me.

 

[wildpluckings]

The price doesn't matter but the product must to be Samsung ! trust me.

Oh you are preaching to the converted, I've always trusted Samsung for quality displays. Although I have now been in store and settled with a 42" Toshiba LED screen. The image quality is superb and it cost half my budget at £529. I was also considering a 46" Samsung 3D LCD, but it was a few hundred more expensive and the image quality (for 1080p content) was actually worse - probably because LED is newer tech.

I think the Toshiba one was cheap because it has terrible sound (laptop speakers terrible), no freeview HD, no internet connectivity, no 3D support - all features I was not looking for though! The picture is excellent and the videogame input lag (most important factor) is better than my old tv. This LED television will serve it's purpose very well over the next year while 3D technology matures (I definately want to invest in it eventually)