TCL 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED HDTV $699 FS (Amazon and Costco)

Crakarjax touched on this, but there's a ton of mis-information floating around about 120 and 240Hz TVs. We need to stop throwing around bad information so we can actually help each other make informed choices.

1) 120Hz is a TV spec, not a software setting. A 120Hz TV shows 120 frames per second (fps). With a 24fps movie, it will display each frame 5 times consecutively. A 60Hz TV shows 60 fps. A 60Hz TV relies on 3:2 pulldown to cram a square peg in a circle hole (making a 24 fps movie display on a 60 fps screen...if you're not keeping track, 60 is not divisible by 24). Basically, every third frame is tripled instead of doubled.

2) The "soap opera" effect is a setting in the menu of some (not all) 120 and 240Hz TVs. Common names are Motion Plus, True Motion, "120Hz mode," etc. Instead of showing each frame 5 times, it will interpolate frames (i.e. guess) to create new information that doesn't exist in the source data in an attempt to smooth out motion. This fills in the gaps between the "real" frames in the movie to produce that weirdo "super smooth" look.

3) The chances are very low (if not totally non-existant) that this is a true 240Hz display. Instead, it's most likely a "240Hz effect" tv. The difference is that a 240Hz TV displays 240 fps while a 240Hz effect TV shows 120Hz, but simulates twice the frames by quickly strobing backlighting to double the perceived frames. That being said, there's no real advantage to 240Hz displays until we have a) an HDMI spec that supports 48 fps video and b) 48fps Blu-Ray players.

4) All this 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio junk is marketing fluff and not based on anything measurable in real life. Manufacturer's can whip whatever number they want on a TV as there is no standard.

In short, it's not your fault you don't understand 120Hz technology because the tech industry has been extremely misleading. As there's no immediate benefit of 120Hz panels vs 60Hz panels while browsing TVs at stores (even though 24fps video most definitely looks better on a 120Hz TV), the "soap opera" effect became the selling point to distinguish 60Hz from 120Hz. And, honestly, for some things the "soap opera" effect isn't that bad. Just realize that it's a software feature that is made possible with 120Hz panels, not the benefit of 120Hz over 60Hz.

Not that great of a price when you can get a Sammy in the same size for probably $200 more.

I liken TCL to Olevia and Vizio. Both sold a lot of TVs because the quality was pretty good at lower line price levels.

Unfortunately, Olevia couldn't survive selling for that cheap. As for Vizio, they were the #1 selling TV brand for a while. Now that they have established themselves, their prices are in Samsung and Sony's ballpark. I saw a 55" Vizio for $899 at Wal Mart regular price. The Sony was $999. For $100 I'll go with the top tier brand.

For a 55 inch off brand, I'd expect it to be in the 500-600ish price range.

I seriously doubt this is using a Samsung panel. I heard they are using some third party chinese branded panel.

I've had my TCL 43'' LED TV for a few months now and had no issues whatsoever. It's a great simple LED TV for the money. I think they also use Samsung panels which is nice. I wish they had a 65''.

Quote from charlie310 : I love how there are so many people who believe or make-up these lies. Yes, there are suppliers of LCD/LCD-LED parts and many manufacturers will buy from the same supplier. Does that make all TVs the same? Why does Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic charge double, triple, or quadruple the price for the same size TV? I guess those people deserve a TCL TV. I have a 5-year old 40" Samsung 720P 60Hz 8ms, and I'd never replace it with a TCL even if I got it for free. For one, my TV will probably last longer than a brand new TCL. But the most important thing, my TV still has BETTER PICTURE QUALITY.

They charge more for proprietary software, proprietary color rendering software, proprietary apps/menu controls and proprietary algorithms for anything 120hz and up. There are only something like 3-6(?) screen manufacturers world wide. So even companies like Sony buy all or some of their screens from other manufacturers.

There is little difference in the actual screens. There is a great difference in color reproduction softwares.

Quote from charlie310 : I love how there are so many people who believe or make-up these lies. Yes, there are suppliers of LCD/LCD-LED parts and many manufacturers will buy from the same supplier. Does that make all TVs the same? Why does Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic charge double, triple, or quadruple the price for the same size TV? I guess those people deserve a TCL TV. I have a 5-year old 40" Samsung 720P 60Hz 8ms, and I'd never replace it with a TCL even if I got it for free. For one, my TV will probably last longer than a brand new TCL. But the most important thing, my TV still has BETTER PICTURE QUALITY.

People that go with TCL do not necessarily look for the best possible picture quality, or the latest and greatest options available, they just want a basic LED TV for a low price. I'm very satisfied with the picture quality of mine, especially for the price I got it for.

Look at the reviews on this TCL LED TV [amazon.com]at Amazon for example. They better than on most Samsung TV's :-)

Here's another website worth looking at for reviews.
http://www.avsforum.com/products/...y/led-hdtv

Quote from zackiv31 : Well I bought one, so quit your bitching and I'll let you know by Friday. $350 48" 1080p = no brainer... gonna look beautiful right in front of my crapper.

What's the verdict? Samsung panel or just false hopes of Samsung panel in every TCL thread?

Fry's has it for $688..
http://www.frys.com/ads/page11#AdNavi