Lg Scarlet or Samsung Series 5 40 A550

Akshr

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hello guys.
am really confused which LCD TV to buy

LG Scarlet 42inch (42LG60FR) or Samsung Series 5 40 Inch A550 (LA40A550)

help me make my decision !
 
hello guys.
am really confused which LCD TV to buy

LG Scarlet 42inch (42LG60FR) or Samsung Series 5 40 Inch A550 (LA40A550)

help me make my decision !

Both are quite good displays. I think the LG is a newer series with slightly better specs - 50000:1 CR (30000:1 for the Sammy) and 4ms refresh rate (5ms for Sammy).

On the flip side, the Sammy has been around for a while and so lot of information is available on tweaking and calibrating the panel to make it perform at its best.

Tech specs aside, are you able to compare them side-by-side? Buy the one that looks best to your eyes while viewing the content you watch most (dvd, satellite tv etc) -- and buy the biggest size allowed by your budget.

Cheers
Teja
 
the samsung is a better tv its native contrast and black levels,shadow details are still better then the LG S-IPS panel which might have a better spece like greater dynamic contrast but the true static contrast is still more for the samsung.
 
Thanks guys.
I Compared both TVs at the showroom both side by side.

There was a grand show down between LG vs Samsung vs Sony at the LCD Shop.. Orgazined by the Sales guy. With all people and visitors exited. All 3 next to each other :cool:

The LG Scarlet 40inch and Sony W Series 40 Inch Out Performed the Samsung Series 5 A550 40 in every department ..
In Airtel Digital TV Cricket Match and Star Wars DVD and the DTS demo.

All 3 LCDs were on factory settings. I was dis appointed that samsung was beaten by huge margin by LG60 and all visitors were in awe with scarlet before and after the show down. :confused:

According to reviews Samsung A550 is supposed to be the best. After caliberation or something like that. But what is this ?? THE LG PWNS Samsung 5 head on in/by default ?? :(

In cricket match the grass was really un-natural, very bright and bloated in A550 but in LG60 And Sony W it was natural and nice.
During Anakin Skywalker POD Racing Scene in Star Wars 1 the crowd cheering was very crystal clear on LG60 but on Samsung it was distorted, can't explain it that clearly but you should see it.
 
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Thanks guys.
I Compared both TVs at the showroom both side by side.

There was a grand show down between LG vs Samsung vs Sony at the LCD Shop.. Orgazined by the Sales guy. With all people and visitors exited. All 3 next to each other :cool:

The LG Scarlet 40inch and Sony W Series 40 Inch Out Performed the Samsung Series 5 A550 40 in every department ..
In Airtel Digital TV Cricket Match and Star Wars DVD and the DTS demo.

All 3 LCDs were on factory settings. I was dis appointed that samsung was beaten by huge margin by LG60 and all visitors were in awe with scarlet before and after the show down. :confused:

According to reviews Samsung A550 is supposed to be the best. After caliberation or something like that. But what is this ?? THE LG PWNS Samsung 5 head on in/by default ?? :(

In cricket match the grass was really un-natural, very bright and bloated in A550 but in LG60 And Sony W it was natural and nice.
During Anakin Skywalker POD Racing Scene in Star Wars 1 the crowd cheering was very crystal clear on LG60 but on Samsung it was distorted, can't explain it that clearly but you should see it.

well u will need to adjust the setting manually to get a good picture ,while the sony has a slightly better image processing,in ur case the LG may have a slight better image processing especialy in deinterlacing but the contrast levels of samsung and sony are better.
 
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Thanks guys.
According to reviews Samsung A550 is supposed to be the best. After caliberation or something like that. But what is this ?? THE LG PWNS Samsung 5 head on in/by default ?? :(

In cricket match the grass was really un-natural, very bright and bloated in A550 but in LG60 And Sony W it was natural and nice.
During Anakin Skywalker POD Racing Scene in Star Wars 1 the crowd cheering was very crystal clear on LG60 but on Samsung it was distorted, can't explain it that clearly but you should see it.

OK, something is not right here. Maybe that Samsung was a bad piece or the settings were faulty. The Samsung Series 5 can definitely hold its own against the LG Scarlett & Sony W series.

As 'adder' mentioned, I found the Sammy perform better in dark scenes than the LG (I was comparing 46A550 with the 47LG60), and in normal scenes they were on par. The Samsung's default factory settings tend towards more contrast and color which makes the picture look flat & artificial. You need to tone down the settings and it will look just as good as the LG or Sony.

Check avsforum.com for the recommended settings for the Samsung, LG & Sony, go back to the store and re-test with the recommended settings.

In the end just buy what looks good to you - don't give too much weight to tech specs and third party reviews.

Cheers
Teja
 
Alright, it may be settings then.

Man am so happy that you guys are here in this all newforum !! Teja and adder !

I am still going to buy the A550 40 Inch. I believe it will be better after the calibration and settings.

Especially the tech2 review. They have calibrated both TVs and compared side by side. They said pic was better in A550. besides soo many people can't be wrong.

Tech2.com India > Samsung Series 5 vs LG Scarlet > Features > HiFi & TV > LCD

In LG the New Intelligent sensor thing automatically does the JOB of live calibration .. isn't it ?? that's the reason i guess why LG was doing well against the A550 and Sony.

Today going to shop and will try these settings on A550 if possible
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14113954#post14113954
 
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I personally auditioned the LG Scarlet along with the Samsung and Sony and even a Philips. To my eyes at least the Panasonic PV8 outperformed everyone else and this without even taking the Panasonic's cost into consideration. This was in the 37 to 42 inches LCDs and Plasmas.

Also, I want to mention I found the LG Scarlet to be lagging behind when compared to Samsung and Sony. Panasonic PV8 was the clear winner and do check this model out if possible before making a decision. Its a winner on the price front too going for around 53K in Hyderabad. Only con is its HD Ready and not Full HD, but nothing like it if you can live with that.
 
HEY LG IS BETTER ANY DAY SAYING THIS AS I OWN THE LG SCARLET 42.......
LG IS HAVING A GREAT OFFER (LCD TV+DVD+50MOVIES+HDMI CABLE FREE:eek:)


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hello guys.
am really confused which LCD TV to buy

LG Scarlet 42inch (42LG60FR) or Samsung Series 5 40 Inch A550 (LA40A550)

help me make my decision !
 
HEY LG IS BETTER ANY DAY SAYING THIS AS I OWN THE LG SCARLET 42.......
LG IS HAVING A GREAT OFFER (LCD TV+DVD+50MOVIES+HDMI CABLE FREE:eek:)


Thanks ! LG60 is amazing, i have to agree, impresses me. But this time i am with A550 :) ! And i got it now. Will be at my phone in 3 days.

And btw without the (Cable+DVDs+Player) it Costs 64k ! I know you paid more then 70k ! Have fun ;) ! You can ask the dealer to exclude the so called freebies and xyz offers.
 
hey Teja ! You are right. today after changing settings from normal to cool 2. the green on players shirts and collars and neck and every where disappeared.
The grass looked natural

after calibration it should beat the LG. i suppose... well except for sharpness though. where i think LG is unbeatable by A550.
 
My vote is for the LG Scarlet. I did the same comparison and research a few months ago and then bought Scarlet because:

a) LG is MUCH better with Standard DEF video than Samsung. This is important because most of us in India watch standard def and not HD content

b) LG is cheaper and the spec sheet is better (4 HDMI, Intelligent Sensor, higher contrast ration, better refresh rate)

c) Everyone talks about black levels - but trust me - its not such a big deal unless you are videophile. Normal people can EASILY live with the darkness levels of LG - in fact I can't make out any issue with it even though everyone talks about it!

d) Personally - I like the looks of Scarlet compared to 550
 
a) LG is MUCH better with Standard DEF video than Samsung. This is important because most of us in India watch standard def and not HD content

b) LG is cheaper and the spec sheet is better (4 HDMI, Intelligent Sensor, higher contrast ration, better refresh rate)

well lg spec may be better but its true contrast levels are no were near samsung,black levels may not be important but details in dark areas is where samsung has a noticable advantage.
 
My vote is for the LG Scarlet. I did the same comparison and research a few months ago and then bought Scarlet because:

a) LG is MUCH better with Standard DEF video than Samsung. This is important because most of us in India watch standard def and not HD content

b) LG is cheaper and the spec sheet is better (4 HDMI, Intelligent Sensor, higher contrast ration, better refresh rate)

c) Everyone talks about black levels - but trust me - its not such a big deal unless you are videophile. Normal people can EASILY live with the darkness levels of LG - in fact I can't make out any issue with it even though everyone talks about it!

d) Personally - I like the looks of Scarlet compared to 550


Yes you are right. I also love the scarlet. Its cool, i was extremely tempted to buy it.
But i did not want to make even a small mistake here. SD is bad damn, i know. But DVDs are good.

And in 1-2 years, am sure we will have things better then SD from DTH guys.
And This TV is for at least 5 years.

And about Intelli sensor, i don't need it. I will calibrate it :)
The DCR is just marketing 50000:1 . Nothing else.
A550 has better contrast according to all comparisons.

We now here have the luxury of choice. So I went for A550. I like the looks of A550. Scarlet looks bad for me except for the back and the big white round start button !

I do miss the scarlet. It was also cool.
 
If you are into watching sports then i would advice you against the samsung ,cause it has serious issues with fast moving objects .
 
If you are into watching sports then i would advice you against the samsung ,cause it has serious issues with fast moving objects .

Blackbird, can you please explain a bit more about this? I am at the verge of buying a Samsung Series 5 46" LCD (46A550). It will be used for viewing 50% HD content & 40% DVDs and only 10% DTH.

I tried a couple of HD action movies (Iron Man & LOTR) on both Samsung and LG (720p playback from a laptop thru VGA port) and both seemed to handle the fast moving scenes well. I didn't notice any blurring or judder.

If the Samsung has some problems with fast scenes, then I'd appreciate it if you can give some info on it and also how to test & notice the problems during the demo in the shop.

Thanks
Teja
 
I recently bought the Samsung 5 series 46" and am really happy with it:p It cost me Rs 82.5K in Mumbai
I was considering the LG Scarlett 42" (don't know if a new model has come after that), but the picture was not impressive at all. So the choice was not very tough. The biggest attraction was that this TV was available for Rs 62K. I would have saved around 20K albiet a reduction in size by 4"
Yes, the Samsung showroom setting are awful, especially with DTH content. If you change it, it makes a sea of a difference. When they first installed it at home, I was shocked that maybe it was a wrong choice. But, the change in setting did the trick. Also, I pass my Tata Sky though the Onkyo AVR 705 which upscales the signal to 720p and the rest is handled by the TV. The picture quality does improve noticeably. I would reccomend this if you have an AVR that can upscale. Also, if the AVR is on, the sound is more invovling than thru the TV speakers. Hope this helps!
 
Also, it handles fast moving scenes as good as the others I saw at the showroom. No standout issue as such. The other option was to go for the 6 series at 100Hz, but the cost difference was HUGE! Also, I read enough to convince me that the 100Hz TVs may cause artifacts and hence might not be worth the extra money. I do love this display, especially when watching upscaled DVDs - you are in the picture. The colours are awesome. Asthetically, to my mind, it beats the Scarlett hands down. For the 46" I would recommend a viewing distance of around 10 feet for HD /upscaled content and around 12 feet for SD content. Cheers!
 
I recently bought the Samsung 5 series 46" and am really happy with it:p It cost me Rs 82.5K in Mumbai
I was considering the LG Scarlett 42" (don't know if a new model has come after that), but the picture was not impressive at all. So the choice was not very tough. The biggest attraction was that this TV was available for Rs 62K. I would have saved around 20K albiet a reduction in size by 4"
Yes, the Samsung showroom setting are awful, especially with DTH content. If you change it, it makes a sea of a difference. When they first installed it at home, I was shocked that maybe it was a wrong choice. But, the change in setting did the trick. Also, I pass my Tata Sky though the Onkyo AVR 705 which upscales the signal to 720p and the rest is handled by the TV. The picture quality does improve noticeably. I would reccomend this if you have an AVR that can upscale. Also, if the AVR is on, the sound is more invovling than thru the TV speakers. Hope this helps!

does the onkyo 705 upscale even via composite,i taught only via component,hdmi.
 
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