Is this a good LCD TV?

[Brent]

I'm looking to upgrade my TV set, currently I have a 27" CRT TV. My budget however lies in the 37" LCD range, 720p. So I'm only looking at 37" LCDs, it is the max I can afford.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889198002

This TV above from Zenith looks good I think in the specs department, has good reviews on the egg and elsewhere. Anyone familiar with this brand have any feedback? Can't beat the price IMO, $549 with free shipping. I think it'd make a great new TV, thoughts?

 

[ATimson]

I find it interesting that (at least in the specs listed on Newegg; the ones direct from the manufacturer might be slightly different) it doesn't support 1080i in; I've found on my 32" LCD (different company, same resolution) that it tends to get a better picture downsampling from 1080 instead of upsampling from 720.

Other than that it seems a decent enough TV, especially for the price.

 

[Brent]

I don't need 1080p, 720p is sufficient for 37"

Anyone used Zenith TVs before?

 

[Amaris]

Zenith is a mixed bag. At one time they were excellent, and then they couldn't keep quality control. So you're taking a risk, but I think you have slightly better odds of coming out a winner on that deal, and yes, I've owned a Zenith TV before.

J.

 

[ATimson]

I don't need 1080p, 720p is sufficient for 37"

I'm not talking about the screen resolution; I'm talking about what it accepts as an input. If you look, the screen resolution is 13??x768; it has more than 720 lines of height. So any image the TV takes in is going to have to either be stretched up to 768 lines from 720 (or 480), or, if it takes 1080 lines, shrunk down from 1080 to 768. And I've found that, at least on my TV, shrinking down from 1080 looks better than stretching up from 720.

 

[Brent]

Budget also determines what I can get though, i can't afford 1080p, for the distance I'll be sitting away from the TV, 720p will be sufficient for me.

 

[ATimson]

There's a difference between "input resolution" and "display resolution". The latter is dictated by your price range, as you said. The former isn't.

 

[Arrqh]

And I've found that, at least on my TV, shrinking down from 1080 looks better than stretching up from 720.

This will pretty much always be true; downsampling always yields better results then upsampling.

But not accepting 1080i/p as an input is strange... according to one of the comments there, it does accept 1080p even though it's not listed in the specs so that could just be an error on Newegg's part (it's been known to happen). So it's probably worth checking out the manufacturer's site for the specs.

 

[Brent]

I'm not familiar with the differences you guys are talking about, about input resolution

 

[Chindogu]

And I've found that, at least on my TV, shrinking down from 1080 looks better than stretching up from 720.

This will pretty much always be true; downsampling always yields better results then upsampling.

But not accepting 1080i/p as an input is strange... according to one of the comments there, it does accept 1080p even though it's not listed in the specs so that could just be an error on Newegg's part (it's been known to happen). So it's probably worth checking out the manufacturer's site for the specs.

The specs at CNet.com do indicate that it does have 1080i/p input.

 

[Arrqh]

I'm not familiar with the differences you guys are talking about, about input resolution

LCD screens and TV's have a set resolution because the number of pixels they have is constant. But they should be capable of various resolutions as input and then scaling them to the correct resolution to match the screen.

In other words, if you have a 720p TV of any decent make it will accept a 1080p/i input and downscale to 720p for display. The TV in question here is a little bigger than 720p. So if you have the choice between a 720p or 1080p signal, the latter is better because downsampling a larger image always yields better quality then upsampling a smaller one. Even though the TV can't display the full 1080p, that input signal will yield the best quality.

It was a point of concern because any good, modern HDTV should be able to accept and process all HD compatible signals regardless of it's screen resolution. But since as Chindogu pointed out the TV in question does accept all the inputs then it's not really an issue.

 

[Saturn0660]

looks good. its like the LG 37LH20. LG makes kickass Tv's

 

[Brent]

Thank you all for the feedback and information, it has helped.

 

[FordSVT]

Zenith is a mixed bag. At one time they were excellent, and then they couldn't keep quality control. So you're taking a risk, but I think you have slightly better odds of coming out a winner on that deal, and yes, I've owned a Zenith TV before.

J.

We had several Zeniths growing up, one of them a "classic" 27 inch floor model. Big brown thing, a "big" tube in the early 80s, but that was when Zenith was an American company. It was a sturdy beast, took it's final breath in the late 90s after it was given to a friend of mine in university who needed a TV. A few drinks later and there was a lamp in the screen....

Then, as you said, their QC went down hill in efforts to match the prices of their Asian competition, and the rest is history.

looks good. its like the LG 37LH20. LG makes kickass Tv's

Yup, a Zenith today is just an LG TV with a different label on it. LG makes a good TV, I wouldn't worry about buying one.

 

[Saturn0660]

Zenith is a mixed bag. At one time they were excellent, and then they couldn't keep quality control. So you're taking a risk, but I think you have slightly better odds of coming out a winner on that deal, and yes, I've owned a Zenith TV before.

J.

We had several Zeniths growing up, one of them a "classic" 27 inch floor model. Big brown thing, a "big" tube in the early 80s, but that was when Zenith was an American company. It was a sturdy beast, took it's final breath in the late 90s after it was given to a friend of mine in university who needed a TV. A few drinks later and there was a lamp in the screen....

Then, as you said, their QC went down hill in efforts to match the prices of their Asian competition, and the rest is history.

looks good. its like the LG 37LH20. LG makes kickass Tv's

Yup, a Zenith today is just an LG TV with a different label on it. LG makes a good TV, I wouldn't worry about buying one.

It's so funny to. I've sold LG on that fact alone. They are like "whats LG?"
They own Zenith i say... I'll take it....

 

[FordSVT]

I had several GoldStar products over the years, VCRs and stuff like that. Cheap but did their jobs. I didn't even realize that LG stood for the same "Lucky Goldstar" until this thread prompted me to read more about them. I knew about the Zenith thing before.