Televisions

[dirtydog]

We're looking at getting a new tv soon, most likely an LCD one but what I want to know is what's the difference between "HD Ready" and "Full HD"?

[zsv650]

if your playing games consoles on it go for a full 1080p one with a high resoloution.

[dirtydog]

Will have the Wii connected up to it

[Luckypants]

It seems to be whether the TV can support 1080p HD (Full HD) or 1080i/720p (HD ready). Full HD is better but more expensive and you can only tell the difference with a good Blu-Ray player in my experience. Sky HD is only 720p / 1080i for instance.

[zsv650]

thats not so important then as the wii will only display up to 720p i think if memory serves me.

[Owenski]

does exaclty what it says on the tin.
HD ready is ready for the HD system (so you'd need HD sky or Blueray player to benifit from the HD aspect.
Full HD means that the TV already has all the gizmo's built into it so in theory when the tv networks transfer to digital rather than anologue you'll be capable to recive HD transmissions thus better all round.

But if your prob gonna buy another TV in the next 3 years then I wouldnt worry about it. HD ready is fine. but make sure you go for the 1080dp tv's some have other ratings and these can be so poor there is no difference between a normal TV and a flat screen.

What size Tv are you hoping for? size and useage could mean you'd be better off with an LCD or you may be better with a Plasma.

[dirtydog]

Also may want to connect the laptop up to watch movies

[zsv650]

Also may want to connect the laptop up to watch movies
you'll want a high res then most tv's now are 1366x 1200 i think and they dont cut it i have a 19 hd with a very high res and it display's far better than bigger more expensive tv's also got a toshiba 32 which is a good tv.

[dirtydog]

does exaclty what it says on the tin.
HD ready is ready for the HD system (so you'd need HD sky or Blueray player to benifit from the HD aspect.
Full HD means that the TV already has all the gizmo's built into it so in theory when the tv networks transfer to digital rather than anologue you'll be capable to recive HD transmissions thus better all round.

But if your prob gonna buy another TV in the next 3 years then I wouldnt worry about it. HD ready is fine. but make sure you go for the 1080dp tv's some have other ratings and these can be so poor there is no difference between a normal TV and a flat screen.

What size Tv are you hoping for? size and useage could mean you'd be better off with an LCD or you may be better with a Plasma.

Looking at around 40 inch, unlikely to be buying another tv within 3 years, usage well we've got 4 kids so plenty of usage

[arcdef]

Check that it has the HDMI ports on it as i nearly purchased one the other day saying its HD ready but no ports allowing you to plug anything in! Gimmick!

[wyrdness]

if your playing games consoles on it go for a full 1080p one with a high resoloution.

Why? You won't see any significant difference with a console game.

To answer the OP's question, HD-Ready means that the TV has a minimum vertical resolution of 720 pixels. Full HD means that it will have a vertical resolution of 1080 pixels. Full HD is better, especially with Blu-Ray, though most people won't notice much difference.

If you're planning on watching Blu-Ray movies, have good eyesight, and are buying a large screen (e.g. 40in or more) then go for Full HD. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter a great deal.

You don't need an 'upscaling DVD player' or expensive HDMI cables either, despite what many people claim.

BTW, I have an M.Sc. in 3D computer graphics and work as a specialist in digital TV at Sky.

[wyrdness]

Full HD means that the TV already has all the gizmo's built into it so in theory when the tv networks transfer to digital rather than anologue you'll be capable to recive HD transmissions thus better all round.

Not true.

[wyrdness]

Check that it has the HDMI ports on it as i nearly purchased one the other day saying its HD ready but no ports allowing you to plug anything in! Gimmick!

They're not allowed to have the official HD Ready logo unless it's got at least 1 HDMI port. What TV was it?

[zsv650]

Why? You won't see any significant difference with a console game.

To answer the OP's question, HD-Ready means that the TV has a minimum vertical resolution of 720 pixels. Full HD means that it will have a vertical resolution of 1080 pixels. Full HD is better, especially with Blu-Ray, though most people won't notice much difference.

If you're planning on watching Blu-Ray movies, have good eyesight, and are buying a large screen (e.g. 40in or more) then go for Full HD. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter a great deal.

You don't need an 'upscaling DVD player' or expensive HDMI cables either, despite what many people claim.

BTW, I have an M.Sc. in 3D computer graphics and work as a specialist in digital TV at Sky.
oh you do get gears of war on a full 1080p with a high res and it's clear to see and with ps3 too look's cack otherwise imo. :)

[fizzwheel]

Looking at around 40 inch, unlikely to be buying another tv within 3 years, usage well we've got 4 kids so plenty of usage

We've just upgraded our TV.

Nearest I can find to our model is this

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1078794753.124231358 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccejadehfemdfiicflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=12&sm=0&tm=1&sku=171598&category_oid=

Our has a 50,000:1 Dynamic contrast ration rather than 80,000:1 I dont know what your budget is, but we're really pleased with ours its fantastic.

[dirtydog]

Eye sight isn't amazing (i have astigmatism) might possibly get a blu-ray player as the dvd player has just died on us

[Owenski]

Looking at around 40 inch, unlikely to be buying another tv within 3 years, usage well we've got 4 kids so plenty of usage

your really really unlucky!
I just wrote a massive explanation and then the stupid internet mouse I had decided to click and go back a page loosing it all.

Basically in summary...
Buy a LCD tv thats 36/37inch from LG or Samsung and make sure it has:
Perfect Black Technology (better images)
1080dpi (best quality for all output devices)
at least 2 HD connectors (Shows its meant for the job)
and 1 VGA input (for your lappy)

Thats the best sort of tv's on the market if your using it as a family TV. IMO

[dirtydog]

this is the one i was thinking of

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1078794753.124231358 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccejadehfemdfiicflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=190750&category_oid=

[wyrdness]

your really really unlucky!
I just wrote a massive explanation and then the stupid internet mouse I had decided to click and go back a page loosing it all.

Basically in summary...
Buy a LCD tv thats 36/37inch from LG or Samsung and make sure it has:
Perfect Black Technology (better images)
1080dpi (best quality for all output devices)
at least 2 HD connectors (Shows its meant for the job)
and 1 VGA input (for your lappy)

Thats the best sort of tv's on the market if your using it as a family TV. IMO

I'm going to be pedantic again and suggest that advise that you go for 3 HDMI ports. I also wouldn't recommend VGA for a computer connection to a 1080P TV. If your computer has a DVI connection (and most do these days) then you should use this instead using a DVI->HDMI adapter or cable (DVI and HDMI are essentially the same, except that HDMI carries sound as well as video).

[zsv650]

some video cards are coming with hdmi adaptors anyway so dvi is not that much of a big deal.

[fizzwheel]

this is the one i was thinking of

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1078794753.124231358 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccejadehfemdfiicflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=190750&category_oid=

As said above, we've got the 40" version of that albeit with 50,000:1 contrast ratio. We're really pleased with it, the picture quality is a massive improvement over the 28" CRT we had and I've got dodgy eye sight to...

[Owenski]

I'm going to be pedantic again and suggest that advise that you go for 3 HDMI ports. I also wouldn't recommend VGA for a computer connection to a 1080P TV. If your computer has a DVI connection (and most do these days) then you should use this instead using a DVI->HDMI adapter or cable (DVI and HDMI are essentially the same, except that HDMI carries sound as well as video).


I did say at least 2 HD ports so ner! lol :) ,
Wyrdness I think you've got this covered lol. For me to continue would be like Mr Bean going against Eienstien on a fastest finger first quiz show. ps id be mr bean ;)

[arcdef]

They're not allowed to have the official HD Ready logo unless it's got at least 1 HDMI port. What TV was it?

Dunno, some crap brand morrisons are/were selling and dont know if it had the logo but nothing on the box said it had an HDMI port.

[zsv650]

Dunno, some crap brand morrisons are/were selling and dont know if it had the logo but nothing on the box said it had an HDMI port.
i have a samsung that is hd with no hdmi socket though it's more a monitor than a tv. :D

[dirtydog]

we've got the 40" version of that albeit with 50,000:1 contrast ratio. We're really pleased with it, the picture quality is a massive improvement over the 28" CRT we had and I've got dodgy eye sight to...

So what's the contrast ratio? Sorry for the dumb questions but i'm not exactly a high tech person.

It'll definitely be an improvement on my Bush 28" CRT

[suzsv650]

Go LED

[dirtydog]

Go LED


way above my budget, the LG tv I've linked to is the top of my budget

[fizzwheel]

So what's the contrast ratio? Sorry for the dumb questions but i'm not exactly a high tech person.

It'll definitely be an improvement on my Bush 28" CRT

I'm not entirely sure it has something to do with the difference between the colours. I.e. how black it will show. Its definately noticeable that as you go up in contrast ratio the picture quality gets better.

If you comapre them side by side in currys you'll get a better feel for the difference in the picture quality.

[gettin2dizzy]

I watch 720p on a 120" screen, and from normal viewing distance I can't make out the pixels. Why you'd pay extra for 1080p I don't know...

[zsv650]

i think it's a gamer thing 1080p it is impressive if you get it on a good game i must say.

[dirtydog]

Basically I can get the Full HD LG (80,000:1 contrast ratio) tv that I linked to above for £749 or I can get the HD ready version for £649 (contrast ratio 30,000:1)

[peterco]

Contrast ratio....it is better to go for a high ratio

Contrast ratio (Black quality)


Consider contrast performance – in other words – how well a flat screen can produce deep blacks and peak whites, and everything in between! Contrast is essential to making a convincing video picture, yet it’s something that’s often overlooked in the TV-buying process.
Contrast ratio figures show the ratio of the light intensity of the brightest and darkest possible colours a TV can produce simultaneously. TVs with a high contrast ratio should reproduce dark scenes that actually contain a believable black colour and plenty of subtle shadow detail information. TVs with low contrast ratios will probably ‘grey over’ black areas, making the picture seem flat.

pete