Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Okay guys... advice please!

I need to shell out for a new TV. The old one is just too crappy now (would you believe it is a big old CRT box tele!).

Not sure about what to do though, as everyone seems to be shouting about 3D and HD. To me, HD is new! 3D? That's something for watching Jaws at Christmas years ago, and trying to make 3D glasses out of quality street wrappers!!!

So anyway, I am trying to figure out what to buy. I want a 42" jobbie to mount on the wall, so that much I know!

So next up is if I go with Feeeview HD, or buy a proper TV plan with one of the companies. So I checked here - http://www.digitalchoices.co.uk/hd-t...e-checker.html and it says where I am, I can get Virgin, Sky or BT (didn't know they did TV! Now I am even more confused!).

So despite my confused head, it comes down to just two questions really...

1) Should I go with just a HD tele, or go for one of the 3D ones (minus the quality street wrappers!)... Does anyone know if 3D tv's show 2D 'normal' tele just as well? Are they as sharpe n stuff?

2) To get 'decent' HD (like sports really!), is Freeview HD good enough, or am I really going to have to pay for a package?

Phew! I would rather clean out my sump with a tooth brush than go through buying a new TV again any time soon! WAYYYY too many options!

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

I'm not sold on 3D but I am a big HD fan and its worth getting a good Tv

Pretty sure you can get HD Freeview or HD Freesat, so go for these as they are free

Depends what you want to watch, as not much on free to view channels now

I bought a lg passive 3d tv. Fantastic tv.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Oooo! great - I can ask you questions then :D

On the 3d TV, when looking at things in 2D, is the TV as clear/sharp as normal 2d TVs ?

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Freeview HD is very good.
ONly 4 HD channels on freeview, though thats plenty.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Cool - do they have sports in HD much? That's my main interest :D

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

first thing's first. CRT telly's usually have a cracking picture so you are going to notice a change there.

depending on your price bracket for a new telly there are flaws.

cheep LCD. don't even think about it if your into sports as the 'lag' will drive you nutz.

good LCD (LED back lit) better as they usually have better driving software and panels but still 'lag'.

Good LCD (LED edge lit) ok'ish but sometimes suffer from the same problems computer screens do and highlight the edges more due to the light being more focused in that area.

pros/cons of LCD/LED great colours and brightness but tend to look a bit false and depending on price range have lag. when i say lag i mean fast moving objects like golf balls, foot balls, runners will have a 'trail' or 'shadow' to them. LCD/LED are cheep to run and consume very little leccy.

now on to plasma.
plasma TV's don't suffer from lag but aren't as bright or vivid as LCD but they do give a lot more tones of black. so if your watching a horror you can see the monsters in the shadows where LCD will just be a black hole. if your watching footy you wont get the 'trails' or 'shadows'. plasma cost an absolute fortune to run. mines consumes around 300 watts an hour where an LCD will be about 70.

now onto digital TV. this again depends on the signal and hardware. cheep nasty freeview boxes are just that 'nasty'. virgin HD is cracking with no dish on the side of your house to get blown about by the wind. i'm not saying anything bad about Sky but i'm not saying anything good.

HD is the doggyzz and more like a good CRT/analogue picture.

you are looking to get a TV with 1080p. 3D is good and yes your 3D telly will still show 2D. to watch 3D you have to have 3D compatible hardware e.g. bluray player or 3D set top box (Sky/Virgin) and the glasses, depending on the brand the glasses are either passive or active.

Yes, the tv is full hd and a great picture at that. Passive 3d uses the same glasses as the cinema and lg updated the firmware on their tv,s so they do full hd 3d. So no expensive glasses and no headaches you get from the active glasses that cost a fortune.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

If you go down the route of getting Freesat HD look at the VU+ boxes, the image and sound quality is second to none and you can get sky HD/3D with all movies/sports for around 8quid a month if your not concerned about it being legit - Not that I would condone such activities:)

Sky Package
http://www.c-linie.com/en/buy_a_cline_for_sky_uk.html

Satellite Box's (I would recommend VU+)
http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/

Bibio did you get those 3d movies to play btw?

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

TBH i haven't even looked at them :-( i'll give them ago 2niht

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Lured in by a misleading title. Thought this was a thread about Bernard Biker Chick getting up to something naughty.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

we wish... BTW where is that mad so and so these days?

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

True for cheap LCD's but a decent one will not suffer from this lag. The key is the refresh rate. Standard 50hz (ie picture refreshes 50 times per second) will be rubbish for sports/fast moving pictures. Something better like 600hz will do the job nicely :D

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

that's all very well if the TV is receiving 600hz but as far as i'm aware all set top boxes are 50hz. the screen can only refresh at what signal it's given unless it can up convert.

like my blu-ray player has an option for 24hz, 50hz and 60hz but engaging 'cinema smooth' on the TV will double/quad the refresh rate but only when being fed with 24/1080p.

my set top box is at 50hz and the tv will output at 50hz with no way of modifying it to a higher refresh rate.

or am i wrong as per usual...

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

My virgin V+ hd box has options for picture feed quality i.e 720i,720p,1080i, 1080p etc. i'd imagine this directly affects the overall quality as if your tv is not compatable with your chosen option, you wont see a picture on the screen. Whether refresh rate is a component of these options i'm not too sure. I can say that I notice much less lag when 1080p is selected, especially when watching an hd channel.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

those settings are only to match the box to a capable tv. so yes you will get a better picture as both TV and Box will be 'synced' better. but don't be fooled into thinking that you are getting a 1080p (progressive) picture from your box as your not. all broadcasts are sent out interlaced as far as i'm aware.

http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics...es/284986.html

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Ah I see... just checked my options on the box and you're correct. The highest quality option is 1080i. I was quoting from memory but clearly I was wrong on that one. T.V is 1080p capable but i only get that watching a blueray etc.
Every day's a school day eh? ;)

As far as refresh rate goes, I did without doubt see a difference when upgrading my old tv from a 50hz model to 200hz. It has a 'dynamic' option in the viera options which panasonic seem to think helps with picture smoothness. Could be just a placebo i suppose...

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

it's no placebo as you are up-scaling the refresh. but you are still feeding it with 50hz.

a TV's picture is only as good as its source. but some tv's just cant keep up when fed with a really good source.

best advice for the OP is go and look in your local retailer for one you like then do some research on avforums for the flaws as every single TV out there has one. i will say one thing stay the feck away from panasonic plasmas just now unless you like the hulk in the background.. lol

Good advice that man

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

I had HD for a its while love it, Bluray is awesome. But last yr i brought a Samsung 3D LED TV Bloody lovely. HD tv is great to watch, But 3D bluray is amazing, and the quality is better than the cinema.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

An LED/LCD would be easier to mount on the wall.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

That sounds great :) Thanks for the info.

I was worried that 3D TVs would look a bit blurry when viewing in 2D mode (don't know why I worried about that, I just did!).

Cheers for setting me straight :)

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

I wouldn't buy a 3D TV just yet as the tech is going to change again soon at some point. That was the advice given to me by someone who is running a 3D company.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Hi Bibio, thanks for the amazingly in-depth response!

So, from what you say it is down to either:

• Good LCD (LED back lit) - But may lag a bit on fast moving stuff like sports (Grrrrr)

• Plasma - Less lag & better for darker scenes, but not as bright, high power consumption

Is that about the size of it?

If so I am torn! coz I don't want too much lag, but at the same time, the power consumption is a consideration too. Then again, my PC has a 600w psu, although I don't think it draws that much most of the time.

Hey, seriously, thanks for all the info! I think I will now go down to the shops and look around - I fell much more confident & informed than before, so feel less likely to get ripped off!!!

Cheers to EVERYONE for their replies :D

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

one more thing i forgot to mention is LCD beets Plasma up till 40'' small plasma panels are not that good. so if your looking at getting a 32'' your better off with LCD.

Plasma panels are also quite shiny so are bothered by light sources where LCD are usually 'frosted' so can suffer higher ambient light e.g. sunlight threw windows.

if you do go for plasma don't be tempted to lay it on its back when transporting it as you will completely burger it.

oohhh and don't fall for the 'LED TV' con. they are not LED they are LCD with LED backlight.

Re: Is BBC HD any good? or should I not bother?
 

Bibio, your ace!

Cheers for all the advice... those sales bods better watchout now... no pulling the wool over my eyes!

I am going to look in the shops, maybe tomrw actually... I am now leaning towards a 38" LCD backlit with LED...

Now... how to get it strapped onto the back of the SV... :D

Or maybe I should take the car? (or hire this guy - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_76xUgRgjZY...+(Reuters).jpg ) :D

If you want to get the full benefit of hd a telly above 42' is recommended. The one I have doesnt have a reflective screeneither so you get minimal daylight glare. I bought mine from amazon as it was the cheapest place for mine and free delivery. I used,the local shops to test drive them!. I settled for a LG 47LW450U. theres newer lg ones out now. Theres a viewing distance guide somewhere on the net that tells you what size of screen to get based on where you sit in the room its going in.