Small TV / monitor recommendations

Discussion in 'Geek Cave: Computers, Tablets, HT, Phones, Games' started by purr1n, Dec 3, 2018.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Need small TV / monitor recommendation. Looking for 30-32" size. HDMI input, DVI would be nice too. For my son's room and Nintendo Switch. One pet peeve: no crushed blacks. We are used to plasmas. Willing to sacrifice this given desired cheap price, but decent performance in regards to dark greys and blacks would be nice.
     
  2. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    We've had pretty good luck with the Vizio brand. Both my twin boys have them and they've held up to a lot of Xbox use. I also have one in the bedroom. The black/grey has never drawn attention to itself for being wonky, but I've never had a plasma either. The one we have in the bedroom does have an annoying buzz in one of the speakers at bass frequencies but I EQd it down so it isn't much of an issue. In general though, the Vizio brand is pretty high bang for the buck.
     
  3. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    32" monitors are typically WQHD or UHD, which isn't great for the Switch.

    The BenQ EX3200R is a good FHD gaming monitor with a fast VA panel (good contrast, poor viewing angles), but it's curved.

    What will the typical viewing conditions be? Dark room? Sitting in front?
     
  4. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Other option is el cheapo LG 720p short throw projector. Does a big ass screen with crappy blacks but when you have an 80" screen in the dark on your wall you DGAF.
     
  5. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    That VA panel looked like a good option. IPS looks nice and rich too but won’t have as good contrast ratio. Better viewing angle though, but VA isn’t so bad. Not sure if IPS options exist within this criteria.
     
  6. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Remember when 30-32" was a big TV?
    What price range would you consider?
     
  7. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    For switch you need something with low input lag. If you have a costco membership their 32 inchers are usually great and you can return it within 90 days if it has black crush. If you can find the samsung 32 (1080P) model, that's probably your best bet. Here's an alternative (vizio): Link

    Both brands that costco has have low input lag and are not washed out. Do not buy LG lower end models, they're horrible. TCL is also a good brand and they carry them at best buy.
     
  8. MLegend

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    @purrin What type of viewing condition is your son going to be in? Is the display going to be next to a window with natural light coming in or is it going to be in a dark room? One thing you're going to have to accept, regardless of what you end up getting, is that it won't have the performance of a plasma tv in any way, other than peak brightness.

    I'm hesitant to recommend the Dell 3218HN because it has a glossy panel, however, if that isn't an issue and you're looking for something on the cheaper side with low input lag, then that specific model is probably your best bet. It's an IPS panel so it won't have the contrast of a VA or plasma.

    Just remember to make sure the HDMI color range is set correctly in the switch's video options when you set up the display that you decide on. Most tv's, generally, only accept limited range (16-235) while monitors accept full range (0-255).
     
  9. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    I wouldn't recommend VA since while they have great contrast ratio compared to TN and IPS, they do crush the lowest blacks and change color/gamma noticeably side to side/horizontally, which wouldn't be good for multiple people. TNs have come a long way, where most of the color changes are vertical instead of horizontal, but they're still mostly 6-bit panels with dithering to perform like 8 bits so the equivalent of delta-sigma. That pretty much leaves IPS, which I do think resolves the best out of conventional LCD.
     
  10. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    You'd think the Switch's "Auto" option in the color range setings would actually work, but it's pretty much set it to limited every time for me, even on computer monitors. Set it manually.
     
  11. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    I recommend against < 49" TVs: they're pieces of crap.

    It's hard to make recommendations without a budget and viewing conditions :)
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    ^ I'm starting to get this sense. Might get a used Pioneer Kuro for the living room. Shift a couple of TVs around the house to give my son the 42" plasma. A cheap projector would be a good alternative.

    Looking at cheap LCDs or even moderate priced LCDs: they just seem like variations of shit with crap latency / response times and washed out shadow detail (important for some games). I hoping LCD tech moved forward. It hasn't. I lament the death of plasma. Too bad Japanese companies, Panasonic in this case, suck so bad at marketing. They should have learned Korea / American marketing techniques of Samsung and LG.

    Video games, YouTube, Netflix / DirectTV (online). Usage will be PM and mostly in the evenings and at night. Direct view, so viewing angle will not be of concern.
     
  13. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Plasmas also had the disadvantage of being heavier than their skinny counterparts. You could go to Best buy and get a TCL for about $900. It has full-array local-dimming for better contrast and Shadow detail. Not as good as the newer OLEDs, but still a really good value.
     
  14. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    “Burn in” was the death of plasma. To the naive masses, they always had this problem, even if for most content, the majority of people wouldn’t have a problem. That and most just don’t care about picture quality and leave their TVs in scorch mode when they take them out of their boxes.

    I couldn’t even find someone to gift my 50” 9th gen Kuro plasma to 3 mo the ago, I ended up just taking it to goodwill, which was a damn shame, but I didn’t need it anymore.


    As for new TVs, it’s OLED or bust for me, but alas, they don’t come that small. You might find a decent 1080p ~30” VA panel monitor, or some of the TCLs are ok. It’s kind of l a shame nobody makes high end smaller TVs, but the same thing happened to phones
     
  15. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    If you're considering a used TV and shifting others around, have you looked into OLEDs instead? May be worth the cost to step up.

    I used to have a plasma. I loved the contrast ratio, limited blur, etc., but it was too dim, had a grainy quality to it, and didn't "pop" like LCD.

    OLED to my eyes is like plasma on steroids. Has that superb, crystal clear clarity of LCD (no grain), pops, and seems to do the infinite contrast ratio thing even better than plasma.

    Was absolutely worth every penny, and I even downsized a few inches without regrets!
     
  16. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Yep. My LG OLED just smashes my Panasonic plasma from 2012 (VT series). That "infinite" contrast ratio is just amazing.
     
  17. Clemmaster

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    I was gonna recommend the TCL R617, too, but figured 55” would be too big if you’re shooting for 32.
    At $699 it’s a great value.

    LCD monitors/TVs improved a lot in many areas (contrast, color volume and factory calibration, response time) but they still fall short in viewing angles.
    Also the bread and butter is 55” now and moving towards 65” in the next couple years.

    Monitors don’t benefit from the same scale of manufacturing, so companies don’t usually put much money into improving them.
    In recent years we’ve seen Samsung and LG join the market, which drove the prices down on IPS and VA displays.

    I have the C27HG70 and despite it’s shitty uniformity, poor viewing angles and terrible QC*, I still very much enjoy it for what it is (a gaming monitor with great colors and perfect size/resolution).
    (*) I'm on my 4th unit and this one still has 1 dead pixel, but it's only visible in very specific conditions (the pixels are so small and the coating makes it hard to see from an angle - good thing the panel is curved).

    Finally, what really killed the Plasma is its power consumption. IIRC, the European Union passed a law that pretty much prevented Panasonic from selling Plasmas after the VT50 or 60...
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Too cheap to step up to OLED and too used to the value proposition of plasmas. TVs are usually used at night, so no need for laser bram brightness.

    I think I'll go to TCL or Vizio 32" for $200 just because I am cheap.
     
  19. MLegend

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    I agree with Clemmaster, but if you have to have a 32" then I recommend checking out rtings.com to see how different displays measure, just to get a better understanding of what you might be getting before putting your money down on the product. Keep in mind that unit variance is still a normal thing.
     
  20. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Adorama has some smaller OLEDs that are for video editing or location monitoring. They cost a ton though. The 5" display is $700 and the 17" is $3900.
     

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