I have a 37" Samsung LCD tv that really sucks. Now it's about 2-1/2 years old but here is the story. After about 11 months it had some problem with a line in the screen. It was repaired under warranty after 2 tries. The Samsung Authorized Rep that fixed it scratched it up and I almost when legal with the matter.

Anyway, about 6 months later the thing started to fail to power on so we usually leave it on 24/7. Then it started not wanting to switch from different sources and blacking out etc. After it was about 23 months old, I started seeing a water stain looking mark on it. Now about 30% of the screen has these shading dark marks in it. I really don't know if it can be fixed without a panel replacement.

So I went to look at some new sets today and there were about 5 sets out of all the new flat panel TV's that I was looking at. A Sanyo, Samsung, Vizo, and a few others had these marks. Some could be noticed from over 20' away. When I pointed it out to the sales manager, he claimed that it must have happend over night because the sets are cleaned daily and they were not like that the previous day.

I'm guessing that this is the NATURE OF THE BEAST and that ALL LCD TV's will suffer this fate unless the company has done something to avoid it. There are a couple of sets that I have NEVER seen this problem in, they are as follows:

• Sony
• Phillips
• Panasonic

I have not gone out of my way to check all brands for this problem but as I am considering a replacement for my deteriorating set, I would like to know if someone has any suggestions for me...

 

I was going to say a Samsung, that's going to be my next TV. I have a 42" 1080p Toshiba Regza, that I've had for about a year and a half now and I have never had any problems with it. I really like it, I do however wish I would have gotten the step up from mine with a higher refresh rate.
All the Samsung TVs that I have checked out I really like and I think they have the best resolution. From what I've read, if you really wanna fork out the bucks, Pioneers are supposed to be some of the best HDTVs.
Stay away from plasmas, they're being phased out this year.

 

honestly plasmas are alright.... most of them (good brands) dont have any major problems, and will last you probably 6-7 years under normal use. lcd's will last longer but after 6-7 years you want a new tv anyway right?

 

My Vizio has no problems what so ever...... I always suggest to people Vizio and Panasonic.... Both make exellent Flat Panel Tvs....

 

I have a Samsung plasma in my family room and it's been doing real good. I think it's about 18 months old now. Vizio was the disposable brand when they 1st came out but now they are leading the pack. I have not heard that plasma's are going to be phased out but I heard the LED's are going to be the next generation sets.

As far as life expectacy, I have had other TV sets (CTR's) for 20+ years. My brother gets a TV and believes they should not be turned off. He leaves his on until the blow, and last about 25+ years. I would expect a plasma or LCD to last 10 to 12 years, not 2-1/2 that I experienced after 2 repairs. Not to mention the repairs that I have not had done to it.

The plasma that I currently have has a blown speaker in it. Not sure how that happened but I have seen my wife and daughter sitting there listening to some music show with the sound over 75%.

 

I've heard that plasmas have gotten better, when I was buying my TV, Best Buy recommended LCDs over the plasmas. I don't like the plasma's screens either with the glare, where LCDs don't have that at all. I think for a specified theater room or something where you don't have abundant light, a plasma would be better than an LCD, but I would get an LED before I got a plasma.

 

I have two Panasonic Viera Plasma TV's. A 50" 1080P in the family room and a 42" 720P in the MBR. When I get a Blu-Ray player it will go on the FR TV, hence the 1080P resolution. HDTV signal is 720P so that's why I went with that in the MBR (plus a little savings on initial cost). I compared 51" LCD & 50" Plasma side by side and the Plasma had a much better picture without the tiling associated with the LCD's. Both of my rooms are not too bright so the Plasma was a better choice for me. I didn't look at the LED's because of cost.

If you have a room where you can control the lighting and natural light then the Plasma will not create any problems with glare. Regarding burn in, the Panasonic has a feature where it redistributes the Plasma on the screen so burn in is not a problem. My son has left the DVD player on twice and when you first turn the set off you will see a ghost image. It goes away however when you come back at a later time.

For me the Panasonic was a good choice.

 

My plasma does not have a glare problem in the family room. The room has lots of natural light but maybe it's the angle I have it set at.

Both of my sets are suppose to have features that prevent burn in. But the problem that I have is not burn in, it's just some blotches that have developed in the set. Sick! The crazy thing was seeing the same type of blotches in NEW SETS at the store yesterday.

 

when you guys talk about which company sucks, your probably also insulting like 3 other company. for example theres not many companies that produce the lcd panel. they all share.
for example sharp and sony are good, well sharp probably produces the panel, and sells them to sony, same panel, different electronics, similar quality. there are probably only a couple companies that produce lcd panels.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/y...ly-be-a-sharp/

 

I have 3 Samsung LCD TV's 2 x 32" and 1 40".

I bought the 40" used and never had any problems.

The 32" used had problems with sparkly bits on the LCD panel, I was told it was a common problem, but at the service center the problem could not be replicated and it never came back.

I had the same 32" model I purchased new, that one had problems with the remote sensor not always responding, until the TV had warmed up after about 15 mins or so. Numerous visits to the service center did not resolve the issue and I just learned to live with the problem. I could not really get mad at the Korean customer services girl either because she was so pretty, although that did not really help the TV, it gave me a good excuse to go back and hoping to be served by her.

Now I am looking at buying a replacement 32" TV and after comparing all the makes out there, I find myself seriously considering the Samsung again. Despite reliability issues, they really do make the best looking TV's (picture and the actual unit itself.) I looked hard at other makes but just could not get excited about them.

I would really like a nice LED with DNLA built in so that I can wireless stream video from my PC and have decided to wait and put up with my old set a little longer. Hopefully Samsung might have iron out some bugs by then.

 

Today I hard something about 3d tv. Maybe I'll wait a few months to see what that is all about.