# Which brand TV to buy? (Multiple choice) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 18, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402 "2012-11-18T13:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/21 "2012-11-20T02:07:46Z")
I have a 55" Panasonic plasma and a 54" LG plasma. I’d give a _slight_ edge to the LG, but I love them both. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/22 "2012-11-20T05:07:14Z")
I’ve had Samsung, LG, and Sony TVs that have all performed well and lasted a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/23 "2012-11-20T05:18:10Z")
I voted Sony, cause that is what I own in a 52" I didn’t buy it due to the name. I bought it after shopping at a bunch of different stores and looking at tons of sets all playing the same Blu-Ray demo disc. The Sony had hands down the best display from both up close and almost 20’ away. I suggest you do the same thing, go to lots of places and watch the sets from at least as far away as you will be sitting in your house, further if you can manage it. Buy the set that has the clearest picture. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/24 "2012-11-20T05:49:56Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The general rule of thumb right now is that Panasonic is making the best plasmas on the market, and Samsung has the best LCDs. Pretty much what I came in to post. If you believe the reviewers, anyway. I have a Panasonic plasma and am very happy with it. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/25 "2012-11-20T06:45:01Z")
Sony! My father’s choice of TV since forever, and now mine. Neither of us have had a single issue. They don’t die, they get replaced with bigger and better. I currently have a 46" Bravia LCD TV. Running full 1080 HD on bluray is insane. Everyone who’s seen it always ooh and ah. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/26 "2012-11-20T13:19:28Z")
I have a Panasonic and a Samsung. Both seem to be perfectly designed televisions. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/27 "2012-11-20T14:18:09Z")
I’m going to also suggest NOT going into a box store and comparing sets side by side. You have no idea what the settings on each of the televisions are, the lighting conditions are nowhere near what they are in your house, and the sets are typically optimized to make you pick one particular set over another. Read the reviews by the experts - they’re paid to rigorously test sets, they have stardardized metrics by which to measure the different variables, and have carefully reviewed far more models than you’re going to be able to compare inside a Best Buy. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/28 "2012-11-20T16:07:34Z")
I’d agree with that. Stores calibrate some of them to be as bright and high contrast as possible, so the screen ‘pops’ when compared to others. You’re probably not going to watch TV with these settings at home. I’d go with Samsung or LG as I’ve had good experiences with them, though I’m sure some of the other brands are good too. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/29 "2012-11-21T02:47:46Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I’m going to also suggest NOT going into a box store and comparing sets side by side. You have no idea what the settings on each of the televisions are, the lighting conditions are nowhere near what they are in your house, and the sets are typically optimized to make you pick one particular set over another. Read the reviews by the experts - they’re paid to rigorously test sets, they have stardardized metrics by which to measure the different variables, and have carefully reviewed far more models than you’re going to be able to compare inside a Best Buy. > [@Terraplane](#): > > I’d agree with that. Stores calibrate some of them to be as bright and high contrast as possible, so the screen ‘pops’ when compared to others. You’re probably not going to watch TV with these settings at home. Plus they show HD videos for optimal picture. Ask the salesman to switch to just a regular TV channel. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/30 "2012-11-21T13:08:08Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > I’d agree with that. Stores calibrate some of them to be as bright and high contrast as possible, so the screen ‘pops’ when compared to others. You’re probably not going to watch TV with these settings at home. I think this is some sort of urban legend. I worked for BBY for years and knew people at plenty of other retailers and nobody did any sort of adjusting the settings to make the tvs look better. Not at the store level. It was pretty much take them out of the box, hook up a source, plug em in, and turn em on. The settings on the sets at the store are the same as the unit a customer pulls out of the box at home. And 98% of customers never change those settings. \*manufacturers may have them preset to look good in a showroom however ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/31 "2012-11-21T13:26:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Plus they show HD videos for optimal picture. Ask the salesman to switch to just a regular TV channel. Goodness - why would you do that? If you’re buying an HDTV, you’re going to want to phase out any SD sources in your life - if anything, ask for them to switch to a digital HD broadcast station. But if you’re going to do anything, ask them to switch every set to the Cinema setting. And turn off all the lights in the store. And plug them all into exactly the same source. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/32 "2012-11-22T00:19:28Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Goodness - why would you do that? If you’re buying an HDTV, you’re going to want to phase out any SD sources in your life - if anything, ask for them to switch to a digital HD broadcast station. But if you’re going to do anything, ask them to switch every set to the Cinema setting. And turn off all the lights in the store. And plug them all into exactly the same source. Because I’ve known people – no, NOT me – who were devastated when they got the TV home and saw that the regular TV shows didn’t look the same as the nice HD video in the store. (Of course, it’s not so easy to phase out the SD sources in Thailand. We’re a little behind the times.) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/33 "2012-11-22T00:47:19Z")
I’m staying with my CRT set-organic LEDs will be out around 2018…there will be a lot better options around then!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/34 "2012-11-22T14:45:37Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Goodness - why would you do that? If you’re buying an HDTV, you’re going to want to phase out any SD sources in your life - if anything, ask for them to switch to a digital HD broadcast station. But if you’re going to do anything, ask them to switch every set to the Cinema setting. And turn off all the lights in the store. And plug them all into exactly the same source. You know what I like to view when testing a screen? Plain black-and-white text. Are the letters sharp and monochrome, is there no color fringing on the edge, etc.? So bring up the menu! HD natural images are a terrible way to judge a screen. They all pretty much look the same in a store. The types of images that show differences the most are generally not available. E.g., explosions, flashes, etc. are a good way to judge motion artifacts. But they love to show things with lots of trees and such. Even a football game is pretty low demand on a set. So, yes, looking at SD images on an HD set is actually not a bad idea. I’ve seen it many times where some sets handle SD really poorly, because they are poor sets in general. ---
**Author:** ![ed\_anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@ed\_anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed_anger)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/35 "2012-11-22T14:51:52Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One thing though. Do NOT get a “Smart TV”. Get a dumb TV and an external box. The people who make external boxes have every reason to improve their product. The TV makers have every reason to sell you a new TV. You smart TV will be stuck at the capabilities you have right now. Maybe one or two updates will happen over the course of the first year, but after that , the Execu-Droids will kill the upgrade program, and your “Smart” TV will get, reletively speaking, dumber and dumber. It will be like being stuck with a computer that cannot use a current web browser, suck on Mozilla 0.96. > > You can get a Roku and a Logitech Harmony remote and produce a much Smarter TV. this. bundling items together that are on different upgrade paths is dumb. better to get a tv based on the display, and whatever content source you can upgrade separately. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/36 "2012-11-22T17:15:53Z")
I want to point out that a major difference between the top two choices, Sony and Samsung, is whether the screen is matte (Sony) or glossy (Samsung). At least as of a year or two ago, and not sure about the others. No poll is going to tell you which you prefer, so anyone using this poll to select their new TV should take that difference into account. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/37 "2012-11-22T17:23:34Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > It’s time to go TV shopping. I have all the particulars pretty much sorted out except for which brands to gravitate toward and which to avoid. > > If it matters, I will be getting an LED Smart TV sized around 50-54 inches. > > Please select any brands you would feel comfortable buying. > > Thanks! > > mmm We bought a 42" Vizio 3D last year, and have been quite happy with it (my only complaint is lack of web browser app). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/38 "2012-11-22T17:25:57Z")
We just got a 46" Sony HD TV, so I voted (in more than one way) for Sony. It replaces a 26" Philips, which has been fine. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/39 "2012-11-22T17:27:03Z")
It’s less a matter of which brand, and which models. Do your homework CAREFULLY - most makers have an ‘invisible line’ of models that are the same size and share a model number… you have to get into the suffix letters to distinguish them. Often a line has a top-end, latest-tech, max-features model, AND a lowball model that has almost nothing in common with its big brudder. If you think you’re getting a MX1000 at a killer price, it’s probably an MX1000C. I’ve been extraordinarily happy with Panasonic and Samsung. Pick and choose other brands very carefully by model and trusted reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402/40 "2012-11-24T07:52:36Z")
Did you ever get a TV, **Mean Mr. Mustard**? I chose Toshiba and Samsung simply because I’ve owned a Toshiba for the living room for 5 years and a Samsung for the basement for 4 years and neither have crapped out. It’s less of a question of what brand to buy and more of a question of which one gets better reviews. Before you buy a particular model of a TV, check out that particular make and model on Amazon and if it has 100+ reviews and 4.0+ stars (4.5 stars+ is preferable) then you know you’re in good shape. Also be sure to read the nature of people’s praises and complaints. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-brand-tv-to-buy-multiple-choice/641402.md?page=3)