Televisions

[-Ralph-]

OK, what do I get?

LCD? LED? Plasma? Plasma uses 3x more electricity?

3D or don't bother? I won't use it but all the TV's I'm looking at seem to have it.

Smart TV / Web enabled? Or just get a media centre PC with HDMI output instead?

Must have Freesat built in, I can't get Freeview.

[andrewsmith]

LED is the way forward if a bit steep atm

I can't think of any brand apart from Samsung that do integrated Freesat on the TV.
Get the freesat box with the recording features extra cost but opens you choice a lot more

[tigersaw]

Plasma - subjective, I dont like them at all, I can see the dots making the picture up even at a couple of metres. From personal experience they go wrong more.
LED - thinner, but no better picture, in fact most LED are the cheaper edge lit ones which are worse (IMHO) than LCD.
3D - I just don't get it at all.
I have a philips, sony and a couple of LG's. I think the LG's are better by a mile. My latest LG can play media from a USB, but its pretty pointless. The sound is rubbish on all my TV's. The 42" LG was £389. It hasn't got freesat, but I do have a HD freesat box that cost under £100, that records al well.

[grimey121uk]

Most LED's, infect all of the cheap ones are crap, they advertise it as a separate technology altogether when in reality it's a LCD with a different kind of "bulb" at the back

3d is pointless, let's be honest normal hd has little content and hasn't really taken off however there is a more fundamental flaw besides wearing glasses, 3d is an experience and only work when the screen fills your peripheral vision so in reality a 40" screen 12ft away doesn't really work


Go for plasma or LCD, I prefer LCD however the gaps in the technologies are closing in on each other.
Don't listen to the stereotypical comments like plasmas have better black, yeah a £1500 plasma will have better blacks than most lcds however a 400quid plasma has worst blacks than my first LCD from 5 years ago which cost me a fortune at the time

[DJFridge]

I would agree with tigersaw about the 3D - total waste of time until it works without glasses. We've got a couple of Pannys, a Samsung and an LG, all LCD. The Pannys were a bit more money and the picture is a bit better. While I think of it, I'm sure their expensive sets have Freesat built in. Just to confuse me though, the place we were on holiday had a decent LG with LED (all over the back, not just round the edges) and the picture was phenomenal.

So, apart from the anti 3D message, I can offer you no useful advice at all. Sorry!

[Bluepete]

Panasonic Viera.

Every time.

Pete ;)

[Shawthing]

Full HD 1080p. Get the biggest you can as if you are any further than about 3 times the height of the screen away from it your eyes cannot resolve the full quality of fullHD.

100Hz 600Hz .IMO a waste of time and money. Tries to average the frames to 'in theory' smooth the picture flow. Can hardly notice any diference on my Samsung and causes 'Artefact' in picture when broadcaster fades video into each other by alternate frames.

[Dunn-y]

I've got a Samsung 32" LCD 1080p TV. Has plenty of sockets in the back with very good picture quality, alot better than my old Philips anyway. The only problem I found was that all the extra settings like the different Noise Filters actually made the picture quality ALOT worse. Also most new TVs, if not all of them, have the backlight set up to maximum with makes blacks look grey. Mine was set to 20 backlight, first thing I did was put it down to 4.

Anyway, 3D hasn't really taken off yet so don't waste your money on it. Unless of course the TV you want has it built in anyway.

I've heard Plasmas have better picture quality than LCDs but aren't very good in brightly lit rooms and are more prone to screen burn in. I personally don't like them.

LCDs are very good for the money and would be my first choice if you didn't want to spend loads of money on a TV.

LEDs are better than LCDs if you get the right sort of LED TV. A proper LED TV has better blacks, as it turns off the pixel rather than try and block the light like in an LCD which is why you never get a black, black. They also use less power, but all this comes at a price.

I think the screen for the new PSP2 (Vita) is a good example. It has an OLED screen which is meant to be one of the best types of screen available, very rich colours and deep blacks. Not seen one in person obviously but from what I've read on OLED screens, it's one of the best types.

[DarrenSV650S]

Do your research online before you buy. Don't make a decision in the shop. Don't cheap out, get the highest spec you can afford. I made that mistake with a cheapo 32" and the picture was terrible.
This is a really good site for detailed reviews - www.hdtvtest.co.uk

I was looking in to LED tvs but they seem to cause more problems than they solve in terms of picture quality.


One detail most places don't list is input lag. If you use your tv for xbox/ps3 you will want to pay attention to this. Most LED tvs I looked in to had high lag, samsungs are really bad for it. The only ones I found in my price range with decent times were the panasonic plasmas. Anything over 40ms and you will notice it. The cheapo LG 32" I mentioned above had seriously bad lag. The site above lists the tested lag times.

Oh and the higher end panasonic plasmas have got freesat

[Bibio]

Panasonic Viera.

Every time.

Pete ;)

yup. i have a plasma one that spins the meter rather nicely and warms the room in the winter but my lordy lord what a picture. there is no ghosting or pixelation even fast scenes like football, racing and explosions are still rock solid. i have it hooked up to a virgin HD box, panasonic blu-ray and a yamaha amp all connected via HDMI with 2x 5.1 infinity speaker systems.

i hate pixelation and ghosting with a passion and can notice it from a mile off. LCD is ok till you get to about 40'' then plasma just pizzes all over it.

so if you are looking at a 32 then go LCD if you want bigger than 40 go plasma. word of warning, do not buy cheep plasma or LCD as it will spoil your entertainment. panasonic are the best in the game for plasma while i would say that samsung are the best at LCD.

but with all TV's its the source that affects the final picture, the best tv in the world will look crap if you feed it with a crap picture to begin with.

[Bri w]

As with anything technical I buy I read all the reviews etc and in the end went for a Sony 40" Full 1080p HD. As Bibio says crap in crap out. After a few months of the basic Sky we got Sky HD. I watch lots of sport, and flicking between the HD channel and the 'normal' version will soon show the difference - get HD. Got the Sony Blu-ray thrown in with the deal coz I was buying two other smaller flat screens for t'other rooms - WOW! Blu-ray is fantastic, especially if you get a decent sound system to go with it.

Sister bought a big flat screen LCD after seeing mine but she bought cheap. You get what you pay for so, again as Bib says, "don't buy cheap as it will spoil your entertainment."

[maviczap]

Well I've got a Toshiba flat screen, I can't comment on if its better than the other suggestions, as this is my first flat screen.
However I've got a Toshiba HD/DVD player, and on that channel to playback from DVD's the picture isn't that great, poor I'd say

On the SKY HD channel the picture is flippin marvelous, smooth lines, great detail

I built my own PVR, and have got a HD Tv tuner card that picks up Freesat, its good, although it doesn't record reliably like my Sky+ box. I've got a 80cm sat dish with a quad LNB, with feeds for all my Sat recievers. I also installed a Blu Ray drive in this PVR, and that knocks my Upscaling DVD player into a cocked hat. The Tv tuner card has an HDMI output.

But thinking about buying a one of these, as my the hard drive on my Toshiba has given up the ghost.

Panasonic Blu Ray + Hard Drive with twin Freesat tuners

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003H9N7GU/ref=asc_df_B003H9N7GU4261716?smid=A3J62AHBEFELBP&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B003H9N7GU

[daveyrach]

Panasonic Viera.

Every time.

Pete ;)

+1
My mum has one of these honestly its like looking through a window even when you are a couple of feet away!

If you can get their Blu-Ray home cinema aswell, makes ordinary DVD's look amazing!

[-Ralph-]

OK great, thanks for the replies folks.

Since I can't get freeview, and I hate multiple remote controls and clutter from separate boxes I'm going to go look at the Panasonic Viera Plasma and stuff the electricity bill. If we switch it off when not using it, we'll not use any more eleccy than we use now, and it's no worse than my wife leaving the house lit up like a xmas tree and the current media centre PC switched on for 24hours after playing a DVD or using iPlayer.

[-Ralph-]

Question about the Viera...

Is is only compatible with 'FreeSat' services, or can it receive any free to air european channels assuming the dish is pointed in the right direction?

We are in a rented house, but when we buy if possible I'll get a Freeview aeriel installed on a high mast for UK TV, and use the sat reciever for French/Spanish channels.

[andrewsmith]

You can detune the box to pick up everything, I do pick up a lot of the european channels for free when I've done it

[maviczap]

You can detune the box to pick up everything, I do pick up a lot of the european channels for free when I've done it

Can you pick up Eurosport on on your detuned Freesat?

I can pick up the old analogue signal on my old analogue reciever, but not on my PVR's TV tuner card on digital signal?

[-Ralph-]

Yep, my research on the web this morning seems to agree that Viera is the way to go. Going to Currys/PC World look at one of these today...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-viera-tx-p42vt20b-42-full-hd-plasma-3d-tv-08160381-pdt.html

Leicester have display stock and stock ready to stick in the boot of the car there and then, so I might come home with a new TV :)

It's the 2010 model, but £550 cheaper than the 2011 equivalent VT30 model, and I'm not technophile enough to care about the difference, if it was the best TV last year, that's good enough for me.

[DarrenSV650S]

Don't know if you're interested but the input lag for the VT20 is 47ms. That ruled it out for me. As you say, because it's last years model it has the G13 panel rather than the G14. Don't know what difference that makes though

[Dr. M]

Just to add my bit. Back in the day Pioneer used to be a league ahead of everyone else, no one could compare to the quality and finish of their TVs. Granted you paid for it too but as they no longer make TVs I guess that was all irrelevant :)

These days the "Pioneers" are Samsung, their technology is by far the greatest, esp their LED tv's, if you want superior build quality with crap loads of features you'll probably never use, they're the people to go to.

Also another thing, which ever tv you find, buy from John Lewis. They're customer service is by far the best, no hassle at all if you ever need any support and also you have the added bonus of 5 years guarantee with them at no extra cost! They don't advertise it much but they price match anywhere online or in store on the condition that they have a shop/ warehouse open to the public anywhere in the UK.

Hope that has been ever so slightly enlightening :)

[Dave20046]

Very generally speaking I'd go with panasonic if I could (although have bought 3 LGs recently as they were super cheaps), I'd go LED, the power consumption would be less and there'd no chance of a cathode tube (or whatever they are called) popping, research it a bit though as I think there are a couple of types of LED telly, one proper and one not so much.
Don't bother with 3D

John lewis, costco or richer sounds would be my bet if you want free/cheap warranty . Wouldn't give any money to the dixons group , plus they'll go under as soon as whoever's propping them up runs out of cash

[Jabba]

om Samsung that do integrated Freesat on the TV.

We have a 42" sony with integrated FreeSat. Picture quality is excellent - even in non-HD it's better than the 32" Samsung we have.

Sony everytime for me :thumbsup:

[Jabba]

Also another thing, which ever tv you find, buy from John Lewis. They're customer service is by far the best, no hassle at all if you ever need any support and also you have the added bonus of 5 years guarantee with them at no extra cost!

This :thumbsup:

PS: Get a BlueRay player whilst you're at it. We got our Sony TV with few Sony BR player for about £850 last year - fantastic.

As the others have said, get the best you can afford. Cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, and the better quality stuff will last longer too.

[-Ralph-]

TV bought, thanks folks.

[maviczap]

Well.............................................. .................................................. . whats it like then :D

[hindle8907]

Plasma every time for me unless smaller than 40", Plasma offers better blacks, richer colors. processes SD content much better.
If you want to comprise PQ over a few pence per hour then go for LCD/LED but plasma is always an all round winner in my book.

Pop a review of the TV in the auido visual thread :)
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=144668

[Gordon B]

Another vote for Patrick Vieras here.

Was sceptical about plasmas but had ours for two years now and its brilliant.

[andrewsmith]

Can you pick up Eurosport on on your detuned Freesat?

I can pick up the old analogue signal on my old analogue reciever, but not on my PVR's TV tuner card on digital signal?

I think I did mate.

I'd have to go it again and have a look if it does I'll be leaving it there

[empty]

The panasonic plasmas (the newer ones in the last few years) are very good - we've got one in our TV gallery at work (a TX-P50S21) and, while it isn't a grade 1 CRT monitor, you'd be surprised how close it is. We got it as it is a bit hard to spot stuck pixels on a 17" CRT!

Above 42", Plasma is the better technology, providing you have a living room/viewing area that doesn't have lots of ambient light, otherwise the contrast ratio goes down lots.

If you use the screen for gaming the Panasonic Plasmas have less than 1 field delay (approx 20ms), but you do run the risk of burn in, but they are much better than before. Some of the LCDs are now getting close, but LCD does require more processing to prevent smearing and black trails.

For smaller screens, LED edge lit LCDs (aka LED TVs) are thinner but you'll probably get better picture quality from a CCFL screen, all things else remaining the same. Always ignore any spec that describes "dynamic contrast" - this works by dimming the backlight on the LCD, which is fine provided you aren't looking at something like a night sky or similar. The more expensive LED backlights have a matrix of LEDs which work better, but with the dimming you can get haloing around small bright parts of the picture.

Regarding power consumption, yes a Plasma will probably consume a bit more overall, but it isn't massively so - plasma screen consumption depends on the content on screen (full white = max power draw), whereas LCD screens tend to be more constant. All large screens consume quite a bit of power.

MT (Broadcast Geek)

[johnnyrod]

I just got an LG LED backlit (not edge lit) 47". The contrast is incredible, stuff like Terminator where everything is black is just amazing, and this is in SD. It totally kicks a plasma. So much so you can see when a piece of film has been touched up or if it's just been shot, it's almost unforgiving in that respect. I'd recommend it. Go to a shop and look at some, try Richer Sounds for no-BS sales guys who do give a monkey's, and the prices are pretty decent as well.

[Bibio]

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-viera-tx-p42vt20b-42-full-hd-plasma-3d-tv-08160381-pdt.html



if thats the one you got you will not be disappointed.

[maviczap]

Obviously not, as RALPH must still be glued to his new set, as he's not posted any reply yet ;)

http://blog.tabini.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/square-eyes.jpg

[johnnyrod]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/led-tv/lg/42lv355t/lg-42lv355t
or if you must have 3D then
http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/lg/42lw550t/lg-42lw550
which is "cinema 3D" i.e. the glasses are a few quid a throw (like in the cinema) whereas the "active 3D" like the Panasonic and many others needs the chunky £80 (or whatever they are) glasses. We've also recently trawled the telly market, that's why I'd say go for an LED one, don't worry about this 200Hz nonsense, and go for Samsung (can come with very cool Smarthub thing if it's your bag) or LG. For my 2p.

Caveat emptor!

[-Ralph-]

Thanks for all the advice folks! Decision made and TV bought.

if thats the one you got you will not be disappointed.

It was indeed that TV, and yep, very, very happy with it. Like someone said earlier, just like looking through a window into the world in front of the camera. Like looking at real life after putting in a new pair of contacts after a few days of wearing your glasses. I've never seen a television picture like it. Colour reproduction is amazing, it doesn't get upset by fast movement like I've seen on a lot of flat panels (for instance scrolling backgrounds such as the camera following a football that's just been booted down the pitch, or during close ups of a car during a grand prix). It is very detailed with an HD picture, but at the same time very natural. Can't fault it myself.

Certainly the best picture on display in Curry's that day, from all the other LCD/LED/Plasma TV's that were fed with the same HDMI feed. There were some LED's that were better than some Plasma's and vice versa, but the Panasonic Viera's beat the lot. It's clear why they have won so many awards from the various magazines.

Obviously not, as RALPH must still be glued to his new set, as he's not posted any reply yet ;)

Awwww, did you miss me? Just been busy with work that's all. :D

[maviczap]

Naaaa, just you're charming wit and repartie :p

[Bibio]

feed it with a blu-ray signal via hdmi and be prepared to be even more astounded. i have an older panny plasma and it still gobsmacks me when watching a blu-ray movie.

[Reeder]

Ahhhhhh a plasma panasonic. Good choice sir.