Advice on HD or Plasma Tv ?

[shifty]

Hi Peeps,
The wife has retired, and wants a new TV. :)
I have been looking at the LCD Sony Braveria which looks awsome these are all HD, but I have looked at soem nice larger 42" PLASMA Philips with a resolution of 1024+1000, and others at 1024+768.
Thing is do I go for the plasma at 42" or a HD of 32", is there
a lot of differnce in the picture quality ??.
So all you tech heads, any advice would be nice :).

[Kingy]

I'm toying with the idea of the new Sony Bravia top of the range LCD 40inch but waiting to see the new Panasonic Viera the older model pipped the old sony bravia in a Which best buy guide, but the new Sony Bravia LCD had the best picture quality by far of any of the other tv's in the shop including the Plasma but it was running Batman the Begining on a bluray player and it looked well cool, never seen a tv picture so crisp.
I much prefer LCD, as to my eye they seem to be better quality than the plasma imo. :wink:

[BuLLiTT]

If you want to dabble with HD dvd (blue ray or hdd) then you need a 1920x1080 display to future proof yourself. Sky hd only transmits 1366x768 although bbc promise 'proper' hd at 1920x1080. So it depends mainly on the size of your wallet and wether or not you enjoy home cinema or just plain TV. Plasma delivers nicer colours than LCD but usually at lower resolutions than LCD, Sony do make exceptional LCD panels that do rival plasma but with better resolutions. :) hope Mrs Shifty enjoys her retirement and that you dont get under her feet m8 ! :)

[Wags]

Very tricky decision Shifty.

I'm also in the process of buying a new second TV for upstairs. I have concluded that for 42" or above plasma are better especially if you like movies. Also black levels are superior - many LCDs struggle to match the contrast range of plasma, although the technology is improving. Pioneer and Panasonic are top dogs for plasma.

Below 42" it is a more difficult choice. I'm probably going for a 37" for our needs ( Sky SD and DVD). I have been looking at LCDs as well, but am leaning towards plasma (generally better with standard definition sources).

I was in John Lewis yesterday at BlueWater and the new Panasonic TH37PX70 37" plasma looked sweet. seems that over at AV forums it is getting some good comments.

By the way, you probably know that Samsung manufacture LCD panels for many of their competitors and have a Joint venture and factory with Sony for making the larger panels.

[MaxImus]

i got a 32" Sony Bravia V2000 and its stunning mate, absolutely gorgeous pic, but i would stretch to the W series if u can, very very nice tv, 1920x1080 display both interlaced and progressive pic, and its got two HDMI ports, worth a look, also read What-HiFi for reviews very helpful

[BuLLiTT]

If you want size as well as quality go for a projector, its LCD vs DLP and colours are again better on DLP. depending on length of room you could go from 66" to over 120" !! and as a bonus you just roll up your screen when its not needed so free's up your living room from clutter. :)

[mrcol]

grab a 48" rear screen projection unit, sony bravia ones go for £600, good a pic as an lcd and will do all the crap that you will be able to do on it.

I likes the best and the latest and greatest as much as any other cunt, but thats a few years off before you can even use it. What ya save by not buying technology you cant use now, will allow you to buy better than is available now for less money when that technology is actually up and running.

Too many people around here are drawn in by marketing hype!

[Wags]

Col's right about the hype. That's why it's best IMHO getting a set that although it maybe 'HD ready' is good with standard definition i.e Sky digital (non HD) etc as that is what you'll be viewing most of the time - at least until HD becomes more prevalent. I wouldn't personally get rear projection, but you have to let your own eyes be the judge.

When I look at sets in the shop I always ask them to show a SD source rather that an HD DVD demo disk (which, let's face it makes even a mediocre set look good!). The problem with TV showrooms is that they tend to have 40+ sets running from a single source, which badly degrades the picture and often the TVs are poorly set up anyway.

BTW, you probably know that you can get upscaling DVD players with an HDMI connection now so that you can watch your standard definition DVDs in a quasi-HD way ('improved anyway). Richer Sounds do some which have been pre-hacked for multi-region (no point getting one unless it's multi-region IMHO)

[Envoy]

I've got the Sony Bravia KDF-E50A12U It's a Slimline 50" 3LCD HD ready rear projection television and is really good even better it only cost me £50.

I had an old rear projection , with the crappy plastic screens which my youngest stuck a hoover piper through, after I had beaten him I phoned the insurance, who told me that they no longer supplied the model and I would be forced yes forced to take one of the sony's which I reluctantly :-) agreed to

[BuLLiTT]

nice one Envoy....now wheres that insurance policy...:)

[Kingy]

I think the biggest problem when it comes to picking the best TV LCD or Plasma and which has the best quality picture is down to the subjectivity of each persons eyesight.
What may be a good picture for me on a particular model is not to good for someone else looking at the same model.
And funnily enough thats how I tend to buy TV's, if her in doors and I agree the picture looks good then I tend to buy it.
I have to agree with Col, its not worth keeping up with every next upgrade as HD really hasn't taken of here yet and what we currently get lags behind the technology being sold and whats funny is HDTV has already been superceded by Super HDTV.
Pity we don't live in Japan or Korea, HDTV is standard for most of them.

[shifty]

Thanks for all the advice peeps, I have learnt a lot.:smile:
Her indoors has told me she does not want a 42" plasma, as she thinks it's tooo big "lol".:roll:
She wants a 32", so I think I will be looking at the sony series, I have been doing a lot of reading on the web as far as the quality of the picture in the types of series, and most people say there is not a lot difference at all.

I have a nice dts surround system, so the next thing on the list is a nice dvd player to go with it as the one we have is showing its age now, has the habit of closing the draw as you go to put the cd in, so you have to time it right :mrgreen: , why is it women have no idea about techy stuff when it comes to home entertainment ?.:???:

[Villan]

why is it women have no idea about techy stuff when it comes to home entertainment ?.:???:

Too true...

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Kingy]

Shifty,

I went and did it mate and took the plunge I went into the local Comet paid the cash at 14:00hrs this afternoon and everything delivered to my home by 16:00hrs only just got in before delivery van turned up :roll:

I am know the proud owner of a Sony Bravia 40inch LCD (KDL40V2500 new model) and a Sony DVD home cinema system and a nice glass stand to put it on and for 200squid cheaper than Curry's for the same set up (Result) ;-)

So I may not be on much tomorrow as I have got to remove my old set up and put all the new gear in its place and I get the fun of plugging in the microphone supplied with the dvd system to calibrate the surround sound to the room, what ever next :roll:

[Hellfire]

lol must have been tv buying weekend around the same time in leeds comet i was buying a sony bravia 40" kdl-40w2000 (new model)
i saw that offer kingy with the home cinema system
i did a bit of hagling and internet price matching got the tv and stand for £1350 price of just the tv was £1799 stand was 200 quid so im well buzzing
its got the 1080i and 1080p support for blueray and ps3
tried getting a ps3 thrown in but no chance :( and mrs hellfire was no way buying me a ps3 aswell :(
for now .......... lolololol muhhahahahhaha

[shifty]

NIce one guys,
I will be getting the 32", and when I retire next year I'll get a blueray dvd player & hd all in one :mrgreen: .
Was browsing the web, about blueray, and hd, and the battle going on at the moment between them, but LG have come up with a dvd multiregion player, that plays bluray, and HD dvd's, was brought out in the states last week, so keep your eye open for similar, lets hope they dont take long to come over here, and other companies have the same idea.
It will seem that we wil have the best of both worlds to come.:smile:

Oh and you guys, I was reading a large article on the setup of those tv's, they said you notice a big difference if you go into the menu, and switch it to energy saving, as this takes a lot of the brightness away that seems to light up colour more, by doing this they said the blacks are deeper, and the colour better.

If you want to setup the Bravia with a good picture read these hints on tweaking it, found it very helpful.
The details are here for the older 32" model: [Only registered and activated users can see links]
Here on the same sight for the 40" model, worth reading the 32" before the 40" as he refers you to that from the 40" .
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
Hope you find it helpful :).
Kept this myself, as I might need it to set mine up.

[Hellfire]

thanks shifty very helpful indeed m8

[shifty]

No probs mate, while still looking at specs etc for the sony I want, I also came across a USA forum, all to do with setups on the 40" models, it is long but worth noticing that most use different settings for freview, and there dvd players etc.
Some of the settings might be useful to you, and Kingy.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Dont want to frighten you guys, but a lot of people are reporting cloudiness at the back of the Sony 40" X, and V. series
screens due to backlighting, found this forum thread: [Only registered and activated users can see links]
Just hope we dont get this problem, one guy is on his third Sony 40",................"Blimey".

[Kingy]

You dont have to put the power saving to subdue the brightness and colours all this can be done under custom settings and the use of the advanced mode, you can play with everything then cool the colours and playing around with the white and black etc. The tweaking ability is awesome, lots of different colour modes and bits to play with.

You can also do it in normal mode, I'm running mine on vivid with neutral colour tones, the picture quality well impressive.
What does make a difference is having decent scart leads, I haven't used my old 5 squid ones but splashed out on some new ones heavily shielded and gold connections 80 squid for 2 put Sky digital looks a damn sight better.

As for the cloudiness not noticed it in any mode, I have the light sensor on which keeps screen optimised for light levels etc.

LOL, I didn't realise the thing had a built in freeview decoder got freeview and sat now :roll: wondered why it was taking so long to auto tune the channels.

[Wags]

Kingy, out of interest, what is your viewing distance i.e how far from the screen are you sitting? Does standard definition Sky Digital look OK?

[BuLLiTT]

think we need a sub-heading for home enternainment thread me thinks. I've had a projector for 3 years now and the surround sound has been slotted into my dedicated stereo system...I'm a music nut 1st and foremost and its taken me 3 years to get it the way i wanted it so it does not detract from my music system. first i got a harman kardon reciever which was good for movies but i wasnt happy putting my music through it, i could not afford a high end processor like Tag or Lexicon so i have in effect 3 systems: 1 for the fronts, 1 for the centre and one for the rears, its a head ache sorting it and its time consuming to switch from music to movies but sonically in stereo, SACD or movies it sounds really sweet as there is no post-processing of the music after the source. :)

[r1ncewind]

we also need a ts room called techie lovers. :grin:

[Villan]

I'm just wondering what Maggot makes of all this :-)

[Maggot]

Ha. Maggot looked into an HDTV a while back and decided he couldn't justify the stonking outlay for the amount of tv he actually watches and for a technology that's not actually availble yet to any real extent.

So instead he bought himself a much cheaper standard tv which he's very pleased with thank you very much. :p

[Hellfire]

hdmi leads make a hell ov a difference kingy from scart if your on virgin ask for the new v+ box or sky hd use hdmi
im just looking for a good dvi to hdmi to wire the pc up

[willofgod]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Hellfire]

:stupid: :smile:

[shifty]

Hellfire is right Kingy try getting a V+ box from Virgin.
I enquired about these, but found them to be a bit oif a rip off.
For starters if you are a new customer you can get if fitted for just £25, and £10 a month, which to me is ok.

If you are an existing customer, and want your old box removed to be replaced with the new V+, they will charge you £75 !!!.
If you want a V+ box and keep your old one for say the bedroom, they will charge you £5 a month extra, plus the £10 month for the V+ box,...........so it's £15 extra, dont like them odds one bit.
I wrote an e-mail to Virgin telling them how disgusted I was at the pricing, never know maybe they will let me have one for free :).
The boxes are clever though, as they can record 2 programs at once, while you watch a third.
You can also pause these, if someone comes to the door, or you get a phone call, and it holds 180gb of hd space so very handy.

I have done a lot of reading as regards getting a new HDTV, and have decided that I dont want a Sony or Samsung, after reading the bad reports of the clouding people are getting on these screens.
After much hunting around, and chatting to Wags the other night, I have decided to go for an Evesham 37", which comes with a free 3 year replacement warranty, and the reviews from customers, and top magazines is quite something, plus free delivery.
I have aslo decided to get one of there upscalling DVD players for only £69.99, so all your old dvd collection will look a lot better when going through that HDMI cable. :)
The only other thing I need now is a HDMI swicher box, as the tv I want, has only one HDMI slot, but these can be bought quite cheap.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Kingy]

Kingy, out of interest, what is your viewing distance i.e how far from the screen are you sitting? Does standard definition Sky Digital look OK?

Wags, viewing distance about 6-10 ft away depending on where you sit in the room and Sky SD looks OK, have been tweaking most of the weekend and have played around with more settings and now seem to have a very good picture in all formats.
DVD's on the Sony cinema system look very impressive on the Bravia and using the microphone setup up for optimising the surround sound to the room works really well.

Shifty,
Not bothering with Virgin +, only thing I use of theirs is my broadband as I am fully paid up Sky SD customer and when Sky get a bit more in the way of HDTV programs then I may upgrade.
Already have HDMI cables just in case and the nice thing my TV has two HDMI connectors.
The clouding issue only happens on blank blue screens and sofar not seen it on any blue screen and no sign of clouding when in picture format, usually if you get clouding in picture mode its usually caused by the noise reduction system, thats why most threads you read tell you to switch it off.

[Hellfire]

no clouding here either cudnt be more impressed with this screen its absolutly great
wired it up to pc today with a hdmi to dvi downloaded a couple of hd and blueray rips played them in 1080i and wow looks friggin awsome
playstation 3 needed :):)

[Wags]

Shifty, following our conversation t'other evening here is a review of the Tv i mentioned looked rather nice: [Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Hellfire]

personally i would try and find a decent lcd maybe the same manufacturer do lcd ?

[Wags]

Panasonic only make LCD up to 32" Hellfire:roll: . Beyond that it's only plasma - as pointed out in the review....

[Hellfire]

plasmas look great for the first 12 month then they start to look crap as the gas causes colour loss

[shifty]

Wags seems I will have to wait for my Evesham HDTV, they are so popular there is a two week wait, still I dont mind. :lol:

[BuLLiTT]

Aldi are selling this Thursday a 47" LCD 1920x1024 8ms progressive scan with freeview and wall mount for£1099.99. Superb value me thinks...:) The display is made by LG/Philips.