120hz LCD 1080p worth an extra $1,000

[NpaulTodd]

IS the 120hz worth an extra $1,000 ?

 

[vurbano]

Depends on who you ask

 

[hbk409]

whats the advantage to 120hz, I just recently saw them being advertized. Dont know what advantages there are if any.

 

[cforrest]

If you are a sports buff, I would assume one would want the faster refresh rate so there is less blurring on fast action. I think a lot of LCDs are going the 120Hz route in the next year, after the LCD manufacturers downplayed blurring on fast action. This was their answer to the Plasma critics, double the refresh rate from 60 to 120Hz! Not sure if it's worth a $1K premium though, you will have to check out the displays with and without 120Hz & see if it is.

 

[diogen]

Main advantage of 120Hz TV sets is its ability to show 1080/24p material without jitter while also being able to do that with 1080/60i.

Diogen.

 

[mike123abc]

It is supposed to do a lot of things. Like remove motion blur, remove judder from movies, etc. But, it looks more like a first generation attempt. Different manufactuers seem to have different results with different material.

Ideally it would detect 24p material in the 60i/p material, extract it and show each frame 5x for 120HZ. It would also take 24p material and show each frame the same number of times (some do 2x, 3x, or 5x). It would take 60i/p video and interpolate intermediate frames at 120HZ to smooth out motion.

 

[Friend]

Main advantage of 120Hz TV sets is its ability to show 1080/24p material without jitter while also being able to do that with 1080/60i.

Diogen.

I second that so please make sure before you spend 1000 bucks more that, it is able to take the input of 1080/24p via HDMI else there is really no value of having 120 or even 72 Hz refresh rate.

 

[Ilya]

From Trusted Log » Television

At 120 Hz, the television's refresh rate is double the previous standard rate for displaying video content. By doing so, it can smooth out any residual motion blur that results from fast-moving action found in such content as sports and a scrolling news ticker on the bottom of the screen. Video content is filmed at 30 frames per second, which means such content is best shown at 60 Hz or 120 Hz.

Samsung showed a split-screen demonstration of its 120-Hz technology at an event here in San Francisco, with one side showing the 120-Hz technology, and the other side showing 60 Hz. The difference between the two was noticeable: At 120 Hz, the ticker moved more smoothly and fast-moving video appeared sharper.

The 71 series displays that Samsung is launching in August use a technology called McFi–short for Motion Compensated Frame Interpolation–to create new interpolated video frames and insert them between each frame of video to smooth out fast motion. Samsung's technology looks for any movement, then it creates an average of those movements to insert a frame in between them. Other HDTV makers insert a black frame in between frames, an approach Samsung claims fixes the motion-blur issue, but degrade the panel's brightness.

 

[Ilya]

Here is another good read on the subject from the Home Theater Magazine:

Motion Blur
The bad, the ugly, and the 120 hertz.

 

[NpaulTodd]

Looking at samsung lnt-4665f (60hz) for about $1,500
while the samsung 4671f ( 120hz) is about $2,600

What to do? sports is a HUGE part of my tv , No need for bluray or HD DVD for the foreseeable future ( until they make all in one players at decent price) also Not much if any gaming , Just TV , & HTPC any advice would be appreciated!

 

[diogen]

If movies (BD, HD, DVD) are not a big part of your TV experience and/or judder doesn't make your eyes bleed - forget about 120Hz.

Having said that, I don't believe this higher refresh rate is the only reason there is a $1K difference between those two sets.

Diogen.

 

[Ilya]

My advice: go to a store and spend some time watching different programs. See if the motion blur on a less expensive set bothers you. If it doesn't, then go for it!