Home audio & video forum: Need some suggestions choosing an HDTV

Many consumers are overwhelmed with the picture settings on the new HDTVs. I spent a year looking at all the different HDTVs in a large cross section of environments. Like you, I was really taken by the Vizio units. I played with the controls on all the prospective sets, 42 inch or bigger. Brightness, contrast, sharpness and all the active variations available in different sets can be tweeked to make a good picture on any set, in any room. Many sets I viewed and considered were on the lower end of the price range and were so terribly mis-adjusted, they really had horrible pictures. I found this to be a trick the salesmen use to influence what you'll buy. Some even go as far as degrading the picture by feeding analog signals to the set and naturally it looked lousy. I read many reviews and found at least two negative comments for every set. I settled on the Vizio 47 inch and couldn't be happier. I have installed hundreds of sets for clients along with sound bars and reciever/amplifier setups for home entertainment systems. Sony, Samsung, LG, and dozens of others were all comparable when set up correctly. Other considerations such as weight, mounting options and types of input/output connections can make or break any particular installation. Reflected light can also become an unanticipated problem that is not found until things get installed and can sour the whole experience. The 47 inch Vizio unit runs for around $600. to $700. Check for auxilary audio outputs and how many HDMI inputs to meet your requirments.

I would recommend the Samsung UN46EH6000 and the Toshiba 46L5200U LED's...both are a great value for a reasonable price if you seek out a deal. Their colors and viewing quality are quite impressive for the $700-800 range.