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Great Deals, Reviews $800 HDTV Recommendations
Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 6:20PM 
Recently an HD Nation viewer asked for HDTV recommendations in the USD $800 range that would be suitable for console gaming - this person's nephew was apparently hogging the household's primary TV with their extended gaming sessions and it was time for a second set.
After researching the 2010 lineup, I ended up with a list of three TVs in the 40- to 42-inch range that shared some common features.
- 1080p screen resolution
- 120Hz LCD display tech
- HDMI, component, and VGA video inputs
- USB music/photo file support
- Excellent energy efficiency
Modern 1080p televisions include picture size controls that eliminate detail-destroying overscan when displaying HD video sources, and 120Hz LCD display tech helps minimize blurring with fast-action video (including games). Also, LCD televisions that operate at 120Hz (and 240Hz) can more accurately display cinema content that was originally captured at 24 frames per second (most movies).
My recommendations in no particular order:
Sony BRAVIA EX500 (KDL-40EX500)
Features:
- 40-inch screen
- 4 HDMI [2 side, 2 back]
- InstaPort technology
- 2 component video inputs
- USB [music, photos, MPEG1/2 video]
- Swivel stand
Features:
- 42-inch screen
- 3 HDMI [2 back, 1 side]
- 1 component video input
- USB [music, photos]
- Picture Wizard (calibration tool)
- Headphone output
- Swivel stand
Reader Comments (3)
What if you are not into console gaming? Does these recommendations still stand?
AshB: Yes. 120Hz (or 240Hz) LCD tech also makes movies appear more like they do in an actual cinema/theater - providing that frame interpolation is disabled/reduced in favor of frame repeat.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your response. I just noticed that Dell is selling
KDL40EX700 for 50 $ less than KDL40EX500. It is on sale at dell.com. It is about 1000 $ everywhere else.
http://j.mp/9min4Q
The only difference I see are Ex700 is LED backlit and it has few more energy saving features. (it is 107 watts against 180) I assumed the bigger the number the better it is 700 > 500.
With this in mind, which one would you prefer?
Regards
AshB