New TV - Help please.

After seeing the camera and GPS thread, I realize there are many of you that have so much more knowledge than me when it comes to electronics.

So I am taking a calculated risk here and asking for your help. Shabbs, Wprager, Number Twenty Nine come to mind as experts, but I am sure there are lots more that I am forgetting or haven't heard from yet.

I am looking at getting a new TV for the living room. Obviously plasma is out of the question because of all the light in this room, so let's here the LCD vs. LED debate.

These are the 2 TV's I am looking at, but would love to hear other options if there are better ones out there.
Sony Bravia KDL60EX500 - 60" - LCD technology
Sony Bravia KDL60EX700 - 60" - LED technology

Thanks in advance.

I can get the EX500 for $1600.00 plus taxes; the EX700 for $1950.00 plus taxes.

Between those two only, I would get the LCD one. The LED one uses edge backlight technology and the LCD will offer better picture quality.

Some of the higher end plasma's from Panasonic have pretty good anti-reflection on them. Is the room that bright?

shabbs wrote:Between those two only, I would get the LCD one. The LED one uses edge backlight technology and the LCD will offer better picture quality.

Some of the higher end plasma's from Panasonic have pretty good anti-reflection on them. Is the room that bright?

Thank you and yes, the room is pretty bright. The plasma is in the basement.

The LED one - EX700 - also has the option of internet video, but I can't see myself using that too much. Is there a practical application for it?

Normally I'd say go for the LED over the LCD, but not sure in this case:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1256801

One guys says the 500 has much better PQ than the 700, but another poster says the 701 is much better than the 501. No idea what the x01 models are compared to the x00s.

The thing to realize here is that both TVs use an LCD panel -- very like the exact same one. So the image is identical. But in order to see the image you need a back-light. The 700 uses a LED light source arranged around the panel, with a special diffusing panel "spreading" the light around. There are other ways to arrange the LEDs, but this one produces the thinnest TV (not as thin as the OLEDs though, which don't need a backlight).

Now, I can see Shabbs' objection to the backlight source being a tube that runs around the edge of the panel, but I don't know if the 500 is any better -- there is (I think) a single bulb sitting in the middle of the panel, with a diffuser spreading the light over the entire panel.

I don't know about you, but maybe an edge light source can be diffused more evenly than a single light source in the middle?

CockRoche wrote:The LED one - EX700 - also has the option of internet video, but I can't see myself using that too much. Is there a practical application for it?

If you have a PS3 connected to it, probably not much. I can watch youtube and other streaming video sites via my PS3.

Great informed opinion; thanks.

My brother in law has a Pioneer Elite plasma (they don't make them anymore) in his living room. I've never seen a picture that good, and there's no glare whatsoever.

Since that's not an option for you, and since your room is bright, I would lean heavily toward the LED for the brighter picture and better contrast.

That's a pretty good price, too -- does that mean returning it would be difficult?

wprager wrote:My brother in law has a Pioneer Elite plasma (they don't make them anymore) in his living room. I've never seen a picture that good, and there's no glare whatsoever.

Since that's not an option for you, and since your room is bright, [1]I would lean heavily toward the LED for the brighter picture and better contrast.

[2]That's a pretty good price, too -- does that mean returning it would be difficult?

[1]You said LCD earlier? That is the last thing I need, to be confused.

[2]I'm not sure I follow?

The better picture for the LCD one will be due to the edge backlight technology on the LED one. This edge backlight can introduce uniformity issues resulting in a poorer PQ. The other LED tech is full array with local dimming. That one would be the best choice of them all but they are hard to find and of course, more pricey.

Shabbs, while I agree that full-array is better than edge, the 500 model does not have full array either.

I'm on the trailing edge when it comes to TV with my 65" CRT HDTV - lol

The movers HATED moving that one :-)

for TV's I buy one generation behind. eg. I bought the CRT HDTV when Plasmas were out and LCD's were just coming in.

Today I would buy Plasma, with LCD's out a while and LED, 3D coming in.

wprager wrote:Shabbs, while I agree that full-array is better than edge, the 500 model does not have full array either.

The point I was making was that the LED will suffer from inconsistencies that the "standard" LCD won't, resulting in a better PQ.

I am going to admit that I am getting a bit lost in this discussion.

Let's try this. If you had to pick one TV with someone else's money and all you cared about was having the right TV for your living room, which would you choose?

Sony Bravia KDL60EX500 - 60" - LCD technology - $1600.00
Sony Bravia KDL60EX700 - 60" - LED technology - $1950.00

Haha.