New TV advice please you clever lot......

[454697819]

I am finally gettin up to date with AV equipment as i am currently 26 yrs behind, given that i am 22 thats not bad going. and i kno wyou lot know a bit about these things or two!!

First one is

http://www.asda-electricals.co.uk/shop/product/philips/32pfl5522.html?

and the other one is

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4HSP&CategorySelectedId=11229&NavigationKey=11229,392020000

so basically want a 32" for no more that £500...

im heading towards the samsung as i have seen them and they are very good quality, but i know that philips are fairly good too.

the phillips is in asda because we have lots of asda vouchers, but id be quite happy to use them on groceries and put the cash to the samsung if its significantly better?

Cheers All

Me

[sv-robo]

so basically want a 32" for no more that £500...


, but id be quite happy if its significantly better?

Cheers All

Me

would imagine the surgery would cost a lot more than that;)

[454697819]

would imagine the surgery would cost a lot more than that;)

reductions arent that expensive so i've heard...;)

[sv-robo]

=D>:)

[ThEGr33k]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134965

Its 37" for £375. Its an amazing TV for the money, Id deffo recomend one.

there is a 30" version, they seem to be otu of stock but when its in they usually sells for about £300, if you want to hold on and wait for that.

:thumbsup:

[northwind]

Kind of a shame everyone got so carried away with LCD, really, I got my big CRT for about half your budget and it's got a better picture than any LCD I've seen in this price range... There's no end of LCDs that are "HD" but still can't deal with black, so you get very hi-rez rubbish pictures.

Hannspree make good monitors, as do LG, the newer Samsung ones are pretty nice too- what works in monitors tends to work in TVs. Panasonic used to be great for CRT but I've not been very convinced by their LCDs.

[fizzwheel]

I got my big CRT for about half your budget and it's got a better picture than any LCD I've seen in this price range

Agreed I've still not seen an LCD / Plasma TV that has a better picture than my 28" JVC CRT that I bought a few years back.

The only ones that come close are the hideously expensive LCD ones.

[rigor]

Agreed I've still not seen an LCD / Plasma TV that has a better picture than my 28" JVC CRT that I bought a few years back.

The only ones that come close are the hideously expensive LCD ones.

Pop over and see my Panasonic 42" Plasma ;) Lovely picture and nice dark blacks :D Expensive though :p

[454697819]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134965

Its 37" for £375. Its an amazing TV for the money, Id deffo recomend one.

there is a 30" version, they seem to be otu of stock but when its in they usually sells for about £300, if you want to hold on and wait for that.

:thumbsup:

Iv found this...

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=294304&sourceid=2459&CAWELAID=125731064

its a 32" version, I used to deal in bussiness with misco and i ordered 2 of the 37" hanaspree units for some care homes, they were good i have to say.

As for CRT i would but the size doesnt allow, and i cant find a supplier anymore.

If im honest i dont have a 360 or playstation 3 neither do i yet have HD tv.. so even if the picture isnt the best im not bothered i will have save £180!

cheers

Me

[TSM]

Pop over and see my Panasonic 42" Plasma ;) Lovely picture and nice dark blacks :D Expensive though :p


Yep ive got a 42" philips plasma, not too happy with the blacks when there are complete dark scenes, but at least its equal around the screen unlike LCDs, aparently plasmas have to precharge the gasses in the cells and it apears as a dark grey. Mine is only 720p but will accept a 1080i input if needed, not as if i have a HD DVD or SKY HD or anything else HD, just simple freeview.

When watching during the day you dont notice it, only when the room is dark.

I did have someone see the picture and they thought it was HD signal, which it was not.

Plasma does not display the mpeg artifacts as much as LCDs do, the screen is realy bright and movment is realy realy quick without bluring.

I generaly think its better than most LCDs.

Only cost £650 from JL with delivery and 5yr warranty.

[Bluepete]

I have used www.soundandvisiononline (http://www.soundandvisiononline) for years, you can't beat them. Look at this page of sale TV's

http://www.soundandvisiononline.com/listview/index.asp?page=3&pcid=131,135,136,137,138,62,77&order_by=price

[russg]

the samsung is ok crap sound though
________
AMATEUR HARDCORE (http://www.****tube.com/categories/59/hardcore/videos/1)

[ThEGr33k]

Iv found this...

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=294304&sourceid=2459&CAWELAID=125731064

its a 32" version, I used to deal in bussiness with misco and i ordered 2 of the 37" hanaspree units for some care homes, they were good i have to say.

As for CRT i would but the size doesnt allow, and i cant find a supplier anymore.

If im honest i dont have a 360 or playstation 3 neither do i yet have HD tv.. so even if the picture isnt the best im not bothered i will have save £180!

cheers

Me

Yea thats the one! If you want to wait then i can vouch for never having any issues with Ebuyer. I ordered mine at 3pm got it next day at 9AM! :thumbsup: Granted it cost £15 but that aint bad imo.

Picture on mine is EXCELENT! None of this different colour crap people have mentioned, no dead pixels, looks "WOW" in HD (XBox 360 and Sky HD). Got to be the best bang for buck of any TV ive ever seen!

Yep ive got a 42" philips plasma, not too happy with the blacks when there are complete dark scenes, but at least its equal around the screen unlike LCDs, aparently plasmas have to precharge the gasses in the cells and it apears as a dark grey. Mine is only 720p but will accept a 1080i input if needed, not as if i have a HD DVD or SKY HD or anything else HD, just simple freeview.

When watching during the day you dont notice it, only when the room is dark.

I did have someone see the picture and they thought it was HD signal, which it was not.

Plasma does not display the mpeg artifacts as much as LCDs do, the screen is realy bright and movment is realy realy quick without bluring.

I generaly think its better than most LCDs.

Only cost £650 from JL with delivery and 5yr warranty.

Plasmas are a little better than LCD's for the most part. 2 advantages LCD's have is No power supply buzz when screen is white, more pixels for better deffinition (reason they are used in computer monitors...) and price.

One major advantage plasma have is no drag when pictures move but tbh its not that bad in HD. Oh and BTW if you did hook up Sky HD and changed beteen normal and HD you would INSTANTLY notice the difference! It is IMENCE. Infact do it on the computer. Put screen res to 640x380 then to 1080x768 and see the difference ;)

You could get nearly 2 37" hannspree's for that £650. :rolleyes:


So basically:-
-LCD for high res low power use.
-Plasma for brighter colours no pictura drag + generally bigger screens (IE 42"+ are almost all plasma.)

[TSM]

Plasmas are a little better than LCD's for the most part. 2 advantages LCD's have is No power supply buzz when screen is white, more pixels for better deffinition (reason they are used in computer monitors...) and price.

One major advantage plasma have is no drag when pictures move but tbh its not that bad in HD. Oh and BTW if you did hook up Sky HD and changed beteen normal and HD you would INSTANTLY notice the difference! It is IMENCE. Infact do it on the computer. Put screen res to 640x380 then to 1080x768 and see the difference ;)

You could get nearly 2 37" hannspree's for that £650. :rolleyes:


So basically:-
-LCD for high res low power use.
-Plasma for brighter colours no pictura drag + generally bigger screens (IE 42"+ are almost all plasma.)


There dont always have more pixels on LCD, due to the nature of plasmas they will not display a pin sharp image like LCDs. When IBM first brought out a plasma 19" screen it was ment to be as a computer display for stock information.

I know that if i had a proper HD source it would be better, but there is not enough stuff on the Sky platform to justify me moving to SkyHD, at the moment only C4 has gone HD from the standard 1-5 lineup.

Plasmas dont buzz that much with bright screens anymore, actualy i cant even notice it on my TV and ive got sensitive hearing. Aparently its very dependent on the quality of your power line, also the older the screen gets the more power it needs to try and light the plasma cells and so makes more noise.

The power issue is also a battled one, while LCDs use a constant ammount of power regardless of whats on the screen, plasmas tend to use less with dark images and more with very bright images, so overall it will equal out over time.

Because its not possable to create the plasma cells to small, screens start usualy at 42"+, there have been a couple 38" but its rare.

[ThEGr33k]

There dont always have more pixels on LCD, due to the nature of plasmas they will not display a pin sharp image like LCDs. When IBM first brought out a plasma 19" screen it was ment to be as a computer display for stock information.

Because its not possable to create the plasma cells to small, screens start usualy at 42"+, there have been a couple 38" but its rare.

That all goes together... A typical 42" Plasma has 1024x768 which isnt quite HD if you want to get technical... but they get away with it... So imagin the res of a 20" plasma!?!?!?

My LCD monitor (i know its stightly different...) is 1680x1080 Much more than a TV which is silly big. :D


CRT's FTW! They make the best Monitors IMO. MASSIVE res no latancy crisp images... Only issue is Eye dmg power use and size :(

Strange that they dont make em any more :roll:

[kwak zzr]

Samsung 10/10

[TSM]

That all goes together... A typical 42" Plasma has 1024x768 which isnt quite HD if you want to get technical... but they get away with it... So imagin the res of a 20" plasma!?!?!?

My LCD monitor (i know its stightly different...) is 1680x1080 Much more than a TV which is silly big. :D


CRT's FTW! They make the best Monitors IMO. MASSIVE res no latancy crisp images... Only issue is Eye dmg power use and size :(

Strange that they dont make em any more :roll:

1280x720 is 720p

reason that they cant make plasmas take true 720 at 42" is that the pixels can only be made to a minimum of about 0.3mm which with about 3 pixels (one of each colour) comes to about 92cm. The res of that 20" plasma i mentioned eariler was ok because it could only display black/orange so only required 1 pixel for the single colour.

Plasmas were being made for the home market before this hype for consumer HD, so at that time there was no need to have HD panels even if they could be made, but now with HD resolutions it shows that you need around 50" to get proper 720 or for realy realy big panels you can get true 1080.

True, LCDs have higher resolution, but when you are sitting far away from the screen like you do when watching TV then the dot pitch does not need to be so small. It then becomes harder and harder for manufacturers to make driving circuits to control the huge ammounts of pixels.

There are LCD tvs with large pixel panels, sonys 52" LCD has a 6Mp panel which is around 2000px high. For LCD tvs is better to have high pixel count and then use digital processing to give the sense of smooth, on plasmas because of their nature are just smooth from pixel to pixel.

When i looked for a TV a couple of yrs ago i was gona get a 42" CRT but the depth was huge. So now nearest comparison to CRT TVs is either CRT projectors or plasma TVs.

[dizzyblonde]

I got a big telly. I got Sky. I got a Hi-Fi. I got em all connected. They work all together. Brilliant.

That is all

[metalmonkey]

The major issuess with with LCD and Plasma is that they don't have the contrast ratio of CTY units, the main prolem being the black range and display black as they totally turn off, so the resluting contrast ratio is less.

I don't watch much TV it is mostly crap that is on any way, would be nice to have a big screen for moives....When I left working in TV they still hadn't decided on what format HD should be taking i'm Bear can shed more light on that, so I haven't bothered buying anything more to point space for big ass tv.

I like the look od the sumsuange TV's so would probally go for one of them, though get thr 32" as its sounds system is 20 w RMS, though to be honest a bad speakers on a TV can be solved with a half descent sounds system, comes doen how much u wanna pay for it all.

[TSM]

The major issuess with with LCD and Plasma is that they don't have the contrast ratio of CTY units, the main prolem being the black range and display black as they totally turn off, so the resluting contrast ratio is less.

Yep, still a problem. LCDs seem to have light leakage around the edges of the screen where the bulbs are and also at certian viewing angles you see more light, with plasmas you get a constant back ground grey (the cells are pre-charged) which is darker depending on how expensive yr panel is.

Never trust manufs contrast ratio figures, they normaly give values for white/black which is not real viewing, they also have many other variables they tweek to get the best around. Plasmas are usualy rated at 15000:1+ while LCDs are around 5000:1 and getting better by the day.

Best thing is to look at one, i would recomend trying to test one in a dark room to see how movies will look on it.

[pencil shavings]

unless you are going to be running true HD or blueray/HD DVD you are better off NOT getting a HD tv. if you screen is 1080p and your imput is only 720 (thats max for sky hd channels etc) then you are going to have the problem that your tv is way to good for the image.
same problem occurs with high end speakers, they can be good enough to make the cds sound poor, because it exposes shortcomings in the recordings.

plasma, go for pionner for the best, fujitsu 2nd best and panasonic 3rd. but for me, while the pionner has the most realistic image, i find the fujitsu to be more pleasing on the eye simple because it isnt as realistic.

LCD go for Loewe, very very expensive, but they are by far the best on the market.

for a 32" IMHO you should get LCD, plasma for bigger sizes. (pros and cons of each have been covered already)
this is because the draws backs to LCD are not as noticable on smaller screens.


BUT, hands down, no contests, for best picture you want a projector. in my shop we have a £60,000 home cinima demonstration room with a 102" (if i remember correctly!) rigid projector screen. the quality is arguably better than cinima becuase it is on a smaller scale. it is truly emence!
:winner:

[2mths]

My 2penneth...
I was about to wibble something about not worrying about HD but pencil shavings has done it for me.

The recommendations above are fine - if you have a large budget and that's half the problem with buying something like this, workign out what is best for YOU (your needs vs your budget taking into consideration your preferences).

Me and my sis' bought our parents a Panasonic 37" plasma recently. Did what was needed (not HD), good reviews and easier on the pocket than I was expecting. It was right for us, possibly not for lots of other peeps.

[Balky001]

I just bought a 37 inch Samsung LCD which has decent contrast ratio and 720p. I managed to get it for £530 (was in the shop at £699) and I am very pleased with it. The 32 inch Samsung in your link it a decent TV - one of my friends owns one and the only criticism he has is the sound quality is average. I was going to spend a lot more but once you are out of the 'buying' mode (hooked aon the tech diffs than you'll never really notice) then I don't think the difference between a £5000 TV and a decent £5-600 is worth worrying about in the real world as long as you are happy with it. and you can chage it more often!

[wyrdness]

unless you are going to be running true HD or blueray/HD DVD you are better off NOT getting a HD tv. if you screen is 1080p and your imput is only 720 (thats max for sky hd channels etc) then you are going to have the problem that your tv is way to good for the image.

Not quite correct. We (Sky) broadcast HD in 1080i, so you'll get the best quality from Sky HD with a 1080 panel. Any decent HDTV (even 720p panels) will make standard definition broadcast TV look pretty bad.

As pencil shavings says, you'll get the best quality with a good home cinema projector, but they're not really suitable for normal TV viewing. I use mine for DVDs and Wii games and it's great.

[TSM]

Not quite correct. We (Sky) broadcast HD in 1080i, so you'll get the best quality from Sky HD with a 1080 panel. Any decent HDTV (even 720p panels) will make standard definition broadcast TV look pretty bad.

As pencil shavings says, you'll get the best quality with a good home cinema projector, but they're not really suitable for normal TV viewing. I use mine for DVDs and Wii games and it's great.

1080i is good an all, but for most films and sport i would prefer 720p over 1080. As you said, if you have 1080 or 720 source its better to have a panel that does not need to scale the image to fit.

We capture lots of stuff off the HD platforms in the US and UK and 720p is better because we dont have to de-interlace the images.

[coombest]

1080i is good an all, but for most films and sport i would prefer 720p over 1080. As you said, if you have 1080 or 720 source its better to have a panel that does not need to scale the image to fit.

We capture lots of stuff off the HD platforms in the US and UK and 720p is better because we dont have to de-interlace the images.

Almost!

You are better off giving any video display the best available video source.
With a Sky HD box, this is 1080i!
The deinterlacing chip in the Sky HD box is a very cheap, basic one and the majority of plasma screens will have a better one built into them.
You are also best off using the component video connection rather than HDMI on most screens!

unless you are going to be running true HD or blueray/HD DVD you are better off NOT getting a HD tv. if you screen is 1080p and your imput is only 720 (thats max for sky hd channels etc) then you are going to have the problem that your tv is way to good for the image.
same problem occurs with high end speakers, they can be good enough to make the cds sound poor, because it exposes shortcomings in the recordings.

Well - kinda! As said before - it depends on the deinterlacing and scaling chips in the screen.
I have not been at all impressed by any of the 1080p screens I have seen or installed - I think you are much better off going for a better quality 720p set than a cheaper 1080p one.
As for high end speakers - so what if it shows up badly recorded CDs!? If it's bad, at least you know it's bad - the same goes with video! They will - of course - show off well recorded sounds/images!

plasma, go for pionner for the best, fujitsu 2nd best and panasonic 3rd. but for me, while the pionner has the most realistic image, i find the fujitsu to be more pleasing on the eye simple because it isnt as realistic.


In my experience the Fujitsu 58 series panel is much better than anything that Pioneer have ever produced and is, IMO, the best plasma screen on the market.

I have been on training with The Imaging Science Foundation (http://www.imagingscience.com/) who think the same.
The Fujitsu also has more adjustment available on it and is most accurate as standard than any other panel currently on the market.
Pioneers are too bright and colourful and the current Kuro range seem to have trouble creating true, sharp images! The blacks are blacker than black, the whites are whiter than white and the colour balance is unnatural! They create almost a cartoon version of life!

LCD go for Loewe, very very expensive, but they are by far the best on the market.

Loewe are good but don't make their own LCD screens - when I used to sell them, they used Sharp panels, re-boxed them in s flashy frame and put their own software in them. Still good screens but way overpriced!
Look at Sharp and Panasonic for good LCDs at more sensible prices.

for a 32" IMHO you should get LCD, plasma for bigger sizes. (pros and cons of each have been covered already)
this is because the draws backs to LCD are not as noticable on smaller screens.

Well - that's a bit of a no-brainer, really. LCDs start at 12" and now go up to similar sizes to Plasmas, whereas the smallest widely available plasma screen is Panasonic's 37" models. The rest start at 42", with most manufacturers also doing a 50". Some do a 60", 62" or 65" and Pansaonic do an insane 103" model which I will happily sell you for just under £50,000!!!
It does need a site survey from Panasonic which is a non-refundable £350.


BUT, hands down, no contests, for best picture you want a projector. in my shop we have a £60,000 home cinima demonstration room with a 102" (if i remember correctly!) rigid projector screen. the quality is arguably better than cinima becuase it is on a smaller scale. it is truly emence!
:winner:

Indeed - Projection still creates the best image and is capable of creating the largest images. With cost - you can spend as much as you want! Proper home cinema projectors start at around £1,000 and tail off at around the £1,000,000 mark! This of course, does not include a screen and a Stewart Screen can set you back as much as £45,000! Let alone the sound system to go with it, the room to put it in, the light control and the installation costs!
Projectors also have issues - they don't work so well in light rooms and if you use them for day to day TV viewing, be prepared to replace the bulbs relatively frequently!

Not meaning to pick on you pencil shavings - you just put a lot of info that I was going to mention into your post!

Home Cinema is a minefield and no magazine will give you the definite answer (bear in mind that most of their revenue comes from advertising!) and Comet/Currys, etc. are NOT professionals and their showrooms are not like your living room so are an awful place to look at television screens... Factory settings are also set to look good (well - overly bright & colourful!) and catch your attention in places like this. If you leave your plasma panel at factory settings, you could be cutting it's lifespan by up to 50% and will definitely not be getting the best image from it.
To do it properly, look up a professional in your area or at least go to a small independend dealer who will be more likely to give you proper advice.

Sorry it was such a long post but it's what I do for a living!
Between my business partner & I, we have over 20 years experience in the industry so know a fair bit and I hate seeing people get the wrong advice.

HTH

[TSM]

Almost!

You are better off giving any video display the best available video source.
With a Sky HD box, this is 1080i!
The deinterlacing chip in the Sky HD box is a very cheap, basic one and the majority of plasma screens will have a better one built into them.
You are also best off using the component video connection rather than HDMI on most screens!

I agree on component video, it also allows me to get rid of the HDCP when trying to capture in the computer. I use a Component to HDMI convertor and a blackmagic HDMI card. I would use a DVDO scaler to make SD stuff better but we cant justify the costs at work without seeing the quality diffrence first.

[wyrdness]

Home Cinema is a minefield and no magazine will give you the definite answer (bear in mind that most of their revenue comes from advertising!) and Comet/Currys, etc. are NOT professionals and their showrooms are not like your living room so are an awful place to look at television screens... Factory settings are also set to look good (well - overly bright & colourful!) and catch your attention in places like this. If you leave your plasma panel at factory settings, you could be cutting it's lifespan by up to 50% and will definitely not be getting the best image from it.
To do it properly, look up a professional in your area or at least go to a small independend dealer who will be more likely to give you proper advice.

Sorry it was such a long post but it's what I do for a living!
Between my business partner & I, we have over 20 years experience in the industry so know a fair bit and I hate seeing people get the wrong advice.

What is the Home Cinema industry like to work in? It's something I'd love to do as I'd like a slight career change at some point in the next couple of years. At the moment, I'm an engineer at Sky, working on the firmware for the next generation of HD boxes, so I have a pretty good technical knowledge of digital TV.

[pencil shavings]

Almost!

Not meaning to pick on you pencil shavings - you just put a lot of info that I was going to mention into your post!

HTH

:thumleft:

Ive only been dealing with this technology for 2weeks now, so sorry if ive got info wrong!

I forgot who mentioned it about the sky HD feed being 1080i, isnt that the equivilant to 720p, as i said?

[coombest]

What is the Home Cinema industry like to work in? It's something I'd love to do as I'd like a slight career change at some point in the next couple of years. At the moment, I'm an engineer at Sky, working on the firmware for the next generation of HD boxes, so I have a pretty good technical knowledge of digital TV.

I love it!
It's hard work and working for myself, it's difficult money-wise, hoping that we get enough work to survive and to expand the business (one of those catch 22s - need money to advertise and market the business better but need more work to earn more money to be able to do that!!!).
It is good fun though as it's basically playing with big boy's toys all day and efectivey spending other people's money for them!
I do like that fact that working for myself, I can sell what I want and what I like & believe in - I would gladly have any of the systems I install in my own home (although the smaller ones would have to go in the bedroom or somewhere else to keep my big living room system!)
I also quite like my boss and he lets me have whatever time I want off!!!;):smt037

:thumleft:

Ive only been dealing with this technology for 2weeks now, so sorry if ive got info wrong!

I forgot who mentioned it about the sky HD feed being 1080i, isnt that the equivilant to 720p, as i said?

Sky HD has the option to output 720p or 1080i.
It's the 'i' and 'p' parts that really matter here as they stand for interlaced and progressive...
Basically - progressive sends the picture, (horizontal) line by line, for every screen refresh (frequency, eg. 50 & 100Hz) and interlaced images do half the image per screen refresh, every other line, odd lines first, then even lines.

Plasma and LCD panels cannot display interlaced images, hence incorporating a deinterlacer to convert them to progressive scan images.

Interlaced images can be displayed on (most) plasma screens with a screen resolution smaller than the image being sent to it. Hence stating on the spec of screens that they work with 720p & 1080i even though they may have only 768 physical horizontal lines.

If the deinterlacer in a video device is better than the one in your screen, you are beter sending the progressive image. If it's better in the screen, then you're best sending the interlaced image. The one in the Sky box isn't great and it also has the advantage of providing a 1080i output for a screen to scale down from... Bear in mind that you can't add things that aren't there but you can reduce things down. Think of jpg images on your PC - if you enlarge it, the picture isn't very good but if you shrink it, it will stay the same or often get better!

Whereabouts do you work? Must be somewhere reasonable to have a projection system of that scale on dem!? I assume you are enjoing the job!?

[pencil shavings]

Whereabouts do you work? Must be somewhere reasonable to have a projection system of that scale on dem!? I assume you are enjoing the job!?

Im working in Sevenoaks in Guildford, weve got 2 dem rooms set up, really nice. yeah its a good job, im only working here part time over christmas hols from uni but its really good. I got the job through my mate who works there whos Dad used to manage the store. Ive only ever done lighting before - rigging/derigging for confrences and shows and the like so this is a new area for me. but yeah, very interesting.

[ASM-Forever]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134965

Its 37" for £375. Its an amazing TV for the money, Id deffo recomend one.

there is a 30" version, they seem to be otu of stock but when its in they usually sells for about £300, if you want to hold on and wait for that.

:thumbsup:

Interesting!

Having recently broken the TV in my bedroom(my parents were right as it transpires....no ball games indoors:rolleyes:), this does look like a bargain.

I was at John Lewis today(ok not the cheapest shop for price comparison) and most of the TV's i was looking at were roughly £1000. They were mostly 32" as well.

So my question is does anyone actually own one of these TV's and are they actually any good? Normally with something like this i wouldn't venture from the 'main brands'.....i've never heard of Hannspree before!

As i only really use my bedroom TV for games.....it doesn't have to be as good as my lounge TV.

[Bluepete]

i've never heard of Hannspree before!

Jog your memory?

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t48/conker51/Hanspree.jpg

James Toseland? :D

[Viney]

Sod all this, you need one of these bad boys :)

http://www.1staudiovisual.co.uk/catalog/panasonic-th103pf9-black-inch-plasma-display-p-2008.html?referrer=froogle

[Bluepete]

I honestly don't think I have a wall strong enough to support that beast Viney!

[wyrdness]

Sod all this, you need one of these bad boys :)

http://www.1staudiovisual.co.uk/catalog/panasonic-th103pf9-black-inch-plasma-display-p-2008.html?referrer=froogle


No, for a BIG, high quality picture, you need one of these (https://www.forumhifivisual.co.uk/Vision/Projectors_and_Screens/PANASONIC_PTAE_2000_TRUE_HD_1080P_LCD_PROJECTOR_PT AE_2000_1924.html)

[wyrdness]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134965

Its 37" for £375. Its an amazing TV for the money, Id deffo recomend one.

there is a 30" version, they seem to be otu of stock but when its in they usually sells for about £300, if you want to hold on and wait for that.

:thumbsup:

It's also £375 (inc delivery) from Amazon, and they have a much better reputation for customer service than ebuyer.

The cheapest that I've seen the Hanspree 37" is here (http://www.directtvs.co.uk/Hannspree_37_Inch_LCD_HD_TV_JT02-37E2-000G_/version.asp?refsource=adwords).

Mrs Wyrdness wants a TV (we don't have one at present), so I'm very tempted by this.

[chazzyb]

I know v. little about the subject, but if I were in the market, I could be tempted by this...

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HITA-L37V01U

I have a 32" Tosh CRT telly, bought at vast expense (£1500 from memory) 6 or 7 years ago, so I'd not get away with replacing it yet. Anyway, it's got a Dolby 5.1 decoder built-in with outputs for all the speakers. But it's huge and takes up SOOO much room!

[Viney]

I wouldnt buy stuff from richers sounds...ever! I use to work across the road from the London brideg branch. Watched loads of happy people carrying boxes to thier car, then 2 days latter seeing them all come back! Thier stuff, although they state is not seconds, im not so sure!

As for Ebuyers Custome service. I had a great experience with them when a HDD didnt arrive. Gave me a full refund no worries at all.

[northwind]

Sod all this, you need one of these bad boys :)

http://www.1staudiovisual.co.uk/catalog/panasonic-th103pf9-black-inch-plasma-display-p-2008.html?referrer=froogle

TVs should be measured in inches, not yards :cool:

[John Burt]

£43,269.00 Gulp, thats about double what my first flat cost - and no I'm not like 6000 years old or somrthing.

[trickywoos]

Has anyone mentioned this beauty before????

http://www.aurea.philips.com/default.aspx?lang=en_gb

Ok, so I may have, but still think it's an amazing tv!!!! LOL!!!

Also my friend has a Hannspree, and it is top notch! Absolutely fantastic quality for little price!!

[chazzyb]

I'm not like 6000 years old or somrthing.

Have you got anything we can verify that statement against? :p

[ThEGr33k]

Interesting!

Having recently broken the TV in my bedroom(my parents were right as it transpires....no ball games indoors:rolleyes:), this does look like a bargain.

I was at John Lewis today(ok not the cheapest shop for price comparison) and most of the TV's i was looking at were roughly £1000. They were mostly 32" as well.

So my question is does anyone actually own one of these TV's and are they actually any good? Normally with something like this i wouldn't venture from the 'main brands'.....i've never heard of Hannspree before!

As i only really use my bedroom TV for games.....it doesn't have to be as good as my lounge TV.

Yes I have one of the 37" Hannspree ones. Looks VERY good on normal Telly, if you are playing HD (Xbox 360/PS3) then it works brilliant! Got sky HD hooked up as well simply amazing. The speakers suck but then they usually do nowadays, they are supposed to be used with surround sound systems.

So IMO they are great. No point paying more money for a name IMO. :thumleft:

*NOTE* If you read the reviews on ebuyer then youll see they are well liked.

[$tevo]

Was in Currys and PC World at M6 J9 just before Christmas -one of them had a monster lcd telly by the entrance that had a burnt in screen - there was a permanent shadow of a previous demo they'd obviously left on too long. Never ever seen a crt screen with a burnt in screen and very surprised to see an LCD one in this condition on display in a showroom!

[ThEGr33k]

Was in Currys and PC World at M6 J9 just before Christmas -one of them had a monster lcd telly by the entrance that had a burnt in screen - there was a permanent shadow of a previous demo they'd obviously left on too long. Never ever seen a crt screen with a burnt in screen and very surprised to see an LCD one in this condition on display in a showroom!

Sure it Was a "LCDTV ready for the HD" not a plasma? 8)

[kwak zzr]

it warns you on lcd that it can happen.

[$tevo]

Yeah, it wad definately LCD. Would have thought that a telly wouldn't hang around in a showroom long enough for that to happen :(

[mikew]

I'm tempted to get one of these Hannspree TV's but exactly how poor/bad is the sound? I've not got Sky, surround sound etc - just a freeview box, do I need to consider a surround sound box just to get some decent noise out of this tv? If so what has anyone else used with the Hannspree?

PS Why the Hell are these so much cheaper than anything else?

Thanks

Mike.

[ASM-Forever]

I'm tempted to get one of these Hannspree TV's but exactly how poor/bad is the sound? I've not got Sky, surround sound etc - just a freeview box, do I need to consider a surround sound box just to get some decent noise out of this tv? If so what has anyone else used with the Hannspree?

PS Why the Hell are these so much cheaper than anything else?

Thanks

Mike.

I'm getting one in the next few days, so i'll let you know. :smt117

Having said that i'll fit some surround sound speakers anyway. :p

[wyrdness]

I was just about to order the 37" Hannspree when I thought that I'd take a look at the Richer Sounds web site and saw this in the sale:

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HITA-L37V01U

It's only available in-store, so I phoned a few of the local branches (they're open on New Years Day). Only one had any in stock but said that they were all reserved for customers. Some of the reservations ended today, so they said to try again tomorrow. So just before closing time (4pm) I drove down to the shop and asked again if they had any (there were none on display). They said that if they had one that wasn't collected by 5 mins before closing then I could have it. So I waited for 15 minutes and got one :D

Full 1080p HD panel and built in digital tuner for under £500 - not bad at all.

[mikew]

Thanks ASM...

OK this may sound like a stupid question but till you ask you dont know the answer...

Where does a surround sound system plug into on one of these lcd tv's? On my old fashioned (but broken) tv there's sockets specifically for the subwoofer & two external speakers so the whole lot is integrated into the tv. I've never seen an external surround sound system so I've no idea how they work eg does the tv's remote control the volume or do you end up with yet another remote to lose? (Yeap, been there, lost them & had to buy replacements till the kids owned up where they'd hidden them).

Mike.

[tigersaw]

Funny thing with surround sound - and invite coombest to comment on this - is delay. LCD TV's seem to have a processing delay, meaning that if you have a surround sound system hooked up to your DVD along with the TV, the sound can be slightly ahead of the picture. I'm sure this is recognised in the industry, else why would my philips DVD have an option to delay the sound, something like 1-20 milliseconds available, but its not explained fully in the manual, just mentioned regarding setting lipsync.

[coombest]

Funny thing with surround sound - and invite coombest to comment on this - is delay. LCD TV's seem to have a processing delay, meaning that if you have a surround sound system hooked up to your DVD along with the TV, the sound can be slightly ahead of the picture. I'm sure this is recognised in the industry, else why would my philips DVD have an option to delay the sound, something like 1-20 milliseconds available, but its not explained fully in the manual, just mentioned regarding setting lipsync.

LCDs do seem to have a little more delay than other types of screen BUT the delay is an inherent issue with having speakers separate from the screen - NOT the screen itself! ALL screens of any type can have this issue.
This is why most surround amps (pretty much all separate amps and anything over £100) have loads of software to do this.
It's just down to knowing exactly what to do with it. It also becomes easier and much more exact with experience!
Which is why I have a job!

[tigersaw]

LCDs do seem to have a little more delay than other types of screen BUT the delay is an inherent issue with having speakers separate from the screen - NOT the screen itself! ALL screens of any type can have this issue.
This is why most surround amps (pretty much all separate amps and anything over £100) have loads of software to do this.
It's just down to knowing exactly what to do with it. It also becomes easier and much more exact with experience!
Which is why I have a job!

I understand about delay due to room accoustics and speaker distances, but I still think there is a considerable delay within the LCD TV itself. The reason I discovered this is because I connected speakers to the DooVDee player, and found the sound came out of them well ahead of the same sound from the TV's own speakers. Looking at the block diagram of the TV I noticed a circuit in the audio chain labelled as 'Audio delay'.I doubt this is mentioned to people buying surround-a-sound systems, that there may well be timing issues by attaching external audio systems.Never had this problem with good old glass tellys and dolby pro logic. :)

[metalmonkey]

If you had mega amounts of money the best would be a 35mm film projector, which the thx sound system (thats what its now I think) for watching moives, film has the best contrast ratio of all, that why its looks ace!

But eventually everything will digital in cinema uk wide, film projecters will be a thing of the past!

But as with all these it depends on how much you want to spend! Which brings me to....I think projectors are ace, I was 18 living in New York, when had a projector and watched star ship troopes on it. It was very cool, moives outside in the summer is great.

But how much would a reasonable HD home projector cost now? As for sounds systems, quality of the sound is far more important than how loud it goes! Compoment is the way ahead, but how do you get the xbox or sky to compent?

[wyrdness]

I understand about delay due to room accoustics and speaker distances, but I still think there is a considerable delay within the LCD TV itself. The reason I discovered this is because I connected speakers to the DooVDee player, and found the sound came out of them well ahead of the same sound from the TV's own speakers. Looking at the block diagram of the TV I noticed a circuit in the audio chain labelled as 'Audio delay'.I doubt this is mentioned to people buying surround-a-sound systems, that there may well be timing issues by attaching external audio systems.Never had this problem with good old glass tellys and dolby pro logic. :)

There's a delay in LCD / Plasma TVs caused, at least in part, by the deinterlacing circuitry. CRT TVs don't need to deinterlace.

[wyrdness]

But how much would a reasonable HD home projector cost now? As for sounds systems, quality of the sound is far more important than how loud it goes! Compoment is the way ahead, but how do you get the xbox or sky to compent?

The Sanyo Z5 is a reasonable HD (720p) projector.
http://www.ivojo.co.uk/sanyo-plv-z5.htm

If you want 1080p, then you're looking at nearly 2 grand, but the picture will be amazing.

[454697819]

I'm getting one in the next few days, so i'll let you know. :smt117

Having said that i'll fit some surround sound speakers anyway. :p

likewise, mine shoudl be here by the end of the week, i already have my phillips surround system.,... yum... great on the Wii

[Dave The Rave]

Am I justbeing stupid or are you guys saying that if I buy a plasma TV (wanna do so soon) my surround will not work with it? Or should I say will be noticably ahead of the picture on TV? Or are we talking very marginal difference that is acceptable? I dont wanna spent over 1k on a TV and that realise that my surround wont work.

[ASM-Forever]

Am I justbeing stupid or are you guys saying that if I buy a plasma TV (wanna do so soon) my surround will not work with it? Or should I say will be noticably ahead of the picture on TV? Or are we talking very marginal difference that is acceptable? I dont wanna spent over 1k on a TV and that realise that my surround wont work.

Its normally marginal( IMHO you wouldn't usually notice it) and if your surround sound system is any good, it will compensate for it anyway.

I wouldn't worry.

[tigersaw]

Am I justbeing stupid or are you guys saying that if I buy a plasma TV (wanna do so soon) my surround will not work with it? Or should I say will be noticably ahead of the picture on TV? Or are we talking very marginal difference that is acceptable? I dont wanna spent over 1k on a TV and that realise that my surround wont work.

You probably would not have noticed.
(but you will now :o)

[ThEGr33k]

I'm tempted to get one of these Hannspree TV's but exactly how poor/bad is the sound? I've not got Sky, surround sound etc - just a freeview box, do I need to consider a surround sound box just to get some decent noise out of this tv? If so what has anyone else used with the Hannspree?

PS Why the Hell are these so much cheaper than anything else?

Thanks

Mike.

They are cheap because they want to get into the market, what better way? Make cheap good quality products and when they come to getting another they will come back to you.

The speakers with this system are no worse than any other similar TV, I was mearly saying that if you want a fully emersive experiance then youll want to get surround sound.

About the delay, ive never had an issue! Other than with sky on the odd occation losing sync, but thats sky for you. :confused:

Get a Hannspree and im sure you wont regret it... You cannot for that money!

[ASM-Forever]

Get a Hannspree and im sure you wont regret it... You cannot for that money!

Thats my logic.....for a third of the price, you can't really complain.

[Blue Flame]

About the delay, ive never had an issue! Other than with sky on the odd occation losing sync, but thats sky for you. :confused:


The HD boxes have a 'delay' function in the set up to cope with this issue.

[melody]

I've been meaning to get a new TV since I moved into my house.

If I get one of these Hanspree ones, how easy (or difficult) are they to set up and connect to my Sky box and DVD/VCR?

[454697819]

I've been meaning to get a new TV since I moved into my house.

If I get one of these Hanspree ones, how easy (or difficult) are they to set up and connect to my Sky box and DVD/VCR?

as i have the dvd player, virgin box and the wii i use a scart switching box, about 12£ from argos etc, probably better ways but cheap enough.

let u know about the hannespree, when I get one...

[rob13]

Ive just bought a Toshiba 37x3030d. Cracking TV and available from Comet for £650

[$tevo]

Upscaling dvd players seem all the rage now to complement HD tellys - do they make a noticeable difference or is it all hype?

[Bluepete]

Upscaling dvd players seem all the rage now to complement HD tellys - do they make a noticeable difference or is it all hype?

My PS 3 upscales standard DVD's. I think it looks a bit better, but not by a vast amount. I think the telly needs to be bigger, only 32 inch JVC LCD at the moment!

[gettin2dizzy]

We've got a 42" Samsung LCD plugged in to NTL box with a scart. There's so much ghosting it's distracting. Is this a trait of LCDs or the scart connection?

[wyrdness]

We've got a 42" Samsung LCD plugged in to NTL box with a scart. There's so much ghosting it's distracting. Is this a trait of LCDs or the scart connection?

Are you using RGB scart or composite scart? There's normally two scart sockets on the set top box. One is for TV, the other for video recorders. The TV one supports RGB or composite, the other only supports composite. There should be a setting in the set-up menu to choose RGB or composite for the TV scart. This should be set to RGB.

I haven't worked with NTL set-top boxes for a while, so I hope that my memory is correct on this. It's certainly like that for Sky boxes and I remember getting a very bad picture when I plugged a TV into the VCR scart on an NTL box.

[gettin2dizzy]

Are you using RGB scart or composite scart? There's normally two scart sockets on the set top box. One is for TV, the other for video recorders. The TV one supports RGB or composite, the other only supports composite. There should be a setting in the set-up menu to choose RGB or composite for the TV scart. This should be set to RGB.

I haven't worked with NTL set-top boxes for a while, so I hope that my memory is correct on this. It's certainly like that for Sky boxes and I remember getting a very bad picture when I plugged a TV into the VCR scart on an NTL box.
:thumbsup:
It's plugged in to the TV scart. It's really bad on dark scenes. Credits for instance with a black background and white writing it's really noticeable.

[wyrdness]

:thumbsup:
It's plugged in to the TV scart. It's really bad on dark scenes. Credits for instance with a black background and white writing it's really noticeable.

Have you checked the set-top box set-up menu for an RGB scart option?

[gettin2dizzy]

It keeps crashing - useless kit.

Apparently samsungs are rubbish with scart inputs....bummer.

[mikew]

Ahem... after much deliberation I went off to buy one of these tvs you've all been discussing. They've sold out and it says they are now discontinued - lol.

He who waits....loses out!

Mike.

[ASM-Forever]

I'm pretty sure Amazon have quite a few available.

















This might not be true. :p

[fat_brstd]

If you want a really good tv for under 500 quid i would go to richer sounds (the hifi people) tell them your in the vip club and you got an email telling you that you could get a HITACHI L37V01 for 499.99.

The big thing that makes this tv so good is that its a 37inch which is big enough and it is fully 100% HD as in it can do a 1080P signal.

That is currently the highest quality signal that any tv can take at the moment and will be for a long time. It means that if you do get a bluray player/ps3 you can actually get all you can out of it as they are already offering titles in 1080P which have to be scaled down on lower res (720P or 1080I) units.

[ThEGr33k]

The HD boxes have a 'delay' function in the set up to cope with this issue.

Yea they do but its on some channels its in and out of synch. The 20 ms delay puts it miles out. Its not very often it happens, Like I said I think its Sky's end. :mad: