Samsung HL61A750 specifications :

• Dimensions : 54.7″ x 14.4″ x 37.8″
• Diagonal size : 61 inch
• Resolution : 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
• Image aspect ratio : 16:9
• Dynamic Contrast Ratio : 10000:1
• Color temperature control : Yes
• Analog TV Tuner : NTSC
• Digital TV Tuner : ATSC
• Sound Output : Stereo, 20W
• Connectors : RCA, USB, HDMI, S-Video
• Approx. price : $1800

A 61-inch HDTV which supports Full HD at a price tag of just $1800 is a sweet deal. The Samsung HL61A750 has an all black piano black finish and a thin bezel covering all parts except the bottom part of the display. The power button which is a blue circle sits at the bottom in the middle of the display.

The TV’s exterior is pretty much similar to its ancestors but the remote has got a makeover and now sports a look similar to ancient remote controls which is really disappointing. It has multi-colored buttons, a Enter button and no backlighting. The menu system on the television is same as old version which manages to do the job.

Supporting a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 , you will be able to notice the difference between 720p and 1080p on the large screen size. It supports three picture modes, Dynamic, Standard and Movie. You can also set the color temperature among other settings. There are more settings to tinker with in the Detailed Settings menu which include Black Adjust, Dynamic Contrast, Edge Enhancement and xvYCC color. Movie mode had good preset settings which enhances the cinema experience.

The display has three HDMI connectors apart from VGA, S-Video and other inputs. Performance of the display is sublime and the selling point of the display. Color reproduction is amazingly brilliant and the contrast level is great. The black level can be changed by using LED Control feature at the expense of light output. The video processing capability of the set is fast and accurate. The display when hooked to a PC does not have stellar performance but its acceptable.

Pros :

• Excellent price
• Great performance
• Brilliant color reproduction
• Good connectivity options

Cons :

• Bad remote design
• Poor off-angle performance

Final Thoughts

The Samsung HL61A750 is an excellent rear projection HDTV supporting Full HD resolution. It offers an excellent feature set and amazing performance at an affordable price. The big screen size offers great cinematic experience. There is hardly anything wrong with this set and hence makes it a great buy.

My Rating : 4.25/5

Sony KDS-55A3000 specifications:

• 55″ Rear Projection TV
• HDMI,S-Video,Composite
• Dimensions : 49.6″ x 15.6″ x 36.2″
• 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 1080p (Full HD)
• 2.5 ms response time

Design

The appearance of the TV is not as elegant as some of the other Sony TVs.The speakers are enclosed in a black grill and the projector has been given a silver coating to bring out the contrast between the colors.The dimensions of the TV are very much standard but the TV is a bit bulky as compared to other projection TVs.The plastic used to make the cabinet is of high quality and feels good when touched.

Interface and Features

The remote control is not one the best.Sony has changed the layout when compared to other models and the change has not been for the better.Also the menu system on the television is not as intuitive as one would expect it to be.Its a bit hard to find all the advanced settings and memorize them so as to find them quickly in future.

Manual settings might be a bit hard to find but by no means you can say that they are not present! The TV has a whole lot of settings you can play around with.You can select from 4 picture modes namely Vivid,Standard,Cinema and Custom.Advanced settings like Noise Reduction can be used to wipe out the noise in the picture which works pretty efficiently.Some other advanced settings include Motion Enhancer,Black collector,Color temperature etc.You can get the best by mixing and matching the settings and see the results yourself.

Connectivity and Performance

The TV has three HDMI ports , a S-Video , two video component , RF input , RGB input are the major connectivity options that are provided on the TV which are standard but good enough to support all the devices that you might possess.

The color reproduction on the TV is accurate.White balance setting can be tweaked from the menu to achieve close to perfect results. The black-level performance is amazing.Images are very clear and you can hardly notice the noise in them.The MPEG Noise reduction feature is useless as it crops the video which mars the viewing experience.Sony Motion Enhancer smoothens out the video without artifacts.The contrast of the TV is good.The contrast could have been better.Overall the performance is very good for a TV in its price range.

Pros:

• Excellent color reproduction
• Noise Reduction feature
• Good connectivity options
• Ample manual controls

Cons:

• Menu navigation not great
• Bulky
• MPEG Noise Reduction useless

The Sony KDS-55A3000 is a great buy for the price tag that is sports.The menu navigation and the remote control could have been better.The image clarity is very good as expected from Sony televisions.There are no significant downfalls of this TV and is a great buy if you are planning to buy a HDTV and have a similar budget of around $2000.

The Olevia 537H is a 37″ high-def LCD TV that is under $1000. The 537H offers great video and audio, it is powered by MTK’s state-of-the-art MDDI video processor technology, and features a ATSC/NTSC tuner, super-wide 178-degree viewing angle, 1600:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, and fast response time. On top of that is is very affordable compared to some of it’s competitors.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Olevia 537H:

• Street price: $800 approximately
• 37″ viewable screen
• 1366 x 768 Resolution (16:9 Aspect Ratio)
• 1600:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
• 178-degree Ultra Wide Viewing Angle
• 8ms Response Time

Things I like
The Olevia 537H is a very nice looking TV. Color saturation, skin tones, and color detail all looked good. It doesn’t keep artifacts on the screen for too long (thanks to its quick response time) and in general is a great product considering its low price tag. I really like the built-in speakers that come with this TV. They sound really good and produce very quality sound. A number of people have been saying that the audio generates a little buzz over time. Overall this TV is a really great deal. It delivers excellent picture and audio quality for a low price.

Things I don’t like
The 537H sports an all-black cabinet and a simple, though unremarkable design. Connections reside within a narrow L-shaped space, just above the stand. Very thick cables, such as the HDMI cables, can be difficult to bend and insert into the narrow space. Hopefully you’ll only ever have to plug things into it once or twice.

The other thing I dislike about this TV is it’s glowing blue light on the front of it. This light is quite bright and could be a problem if you situate the TV in your bedroom. The image quality is great during bright scenes but as soon as a dark scene appears you lose all information from the picture. In dark scenes nearly all the detail of the image is lost, becoming a black hole. When using the calibration disc to setup the TV, it becomes readily apparent that the adjustments for color, tint and sharpness were very coarse and hard to use

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Great picture and audio quality
• Excellent response time

Cons:

• Annoying blue light
• Image quality is poor in dark scenes
• Hard to get some cables into the back

Final Thoughts
If you’re in the need of a new TV and don’t have a lot of money to spend the Olevia 537H is a great deal. It has great audio and picture quality, an excellent response time and it doesn’t cost you that much. There are a few things that I don’t like about it but overall it’s a great TV for the price. If you have a little more money to spend I would buy a better TV but if you’re absolutely strapped for cash this is a good one to buy.