Flatscreen HD TV advice

[Feelingpink]

I'd like to buy a decent wall-mounted flatscreen TV for my new lounge in the coming 10 days or so (now that the football is over). One of my friends has said that the only truly HD TV available is one with more than 1000 lines (rather than 6/700 or so) - and there are only about three of these on the market. I've no idea if this is an issue or not. I also accept that there will always be new technology around the corner (a year or so down the line, this screen could always go into the bedroom if necessary).

Has anyone any technical comparison sites to recommend, or models which pass muster? As usual, price is an issue. I would be watching regular TV on it via a Freeview/HD box and playing DVD slideshows for clients. Oh, and if there is a killer sound system with it, that would be a huge plus.

[straycat]

I'm afraid I've lost my links which I made when I was shopping for one of these, but I would highly recommend the one I ended up with: (Pioneer PDP-436 (http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=11146&taxonomy_id=62-63))

Depends on desired size / price, of course, but it's an absolutely superb TV - I really can't fault it in any way.

[El Salsero Gringo]

I don't have any advice, but I was very surprised to see a 52" plasma screen in Currys Digital (nee Dixons) for £2k, and a 40-something inch LCD for £1600. Is that the going rate now?

[straycat]

Depends very much on the screen. You can get some phenomenally cheap screens now, but you usually lose out in one way or another - often, for example, the cheaper screens will look pretty good if you have a decent quality picture tp display, but give them, say, and old video, and it starts looking pretty ropey in comparison to one of the good screens...

Not to say a 2K 52" won't be good, but it really pays to trawl those reviews to death before making any kind of decision...

The general concensus is that Pioneer and Panasonic are the ones currently vying for top-spot when it comes to HD ready Plasmas, and you'll get people on each side of the fence swearing by one or t'other. I swear by the Pioneers, because I have one - but I don't honestly know which is better, 'cos I don't have a Panasonic...

[ducasi]

What sort of size were you looking for? Have you any thoughts on Plasma versus LCD?

We had a flat-screen discussion on the forum a month or so ago, where I asserted (like your friend, I guess) that only those screens that can do "1080p" are truly HD. Most can only do "1080i" and "720p" which isn't quite as good, but is still a lot better than standard TV.

Basically the "i" is interlaced and means it only updates every other row of the HD picture each frame, odd rows first, then the even rows on the next frame. The "p" means "progressive" and means that all the rows are updated every frame.

Thing is that there are very few devices that use the "1080p" standard, so it doesn't matter so much, but it might do in the future.

I think your pragmatic idea of buying what's useful now (1080i/720p), and then upgrading to a "1080p" TV in a couple of years when it's more common is sensible.

Straycat264 recommends a Pioneer – I've always had good experiences with them too.

I'd recommend taking some of your DVDs to a shop are getting the TVs demonstrated with them. I'd also suggest avoiding Dixons/Curries/PC World and Comet. John Lewis are good though. (Actually, what I'd do is choose a TV from a shop, then buy it online from Amazon or wherever is cheapest.)

[Feelingpink]

I'm looking for about a 32", since the place it's going isn't that big (about 16' from the screen to the sofa/side of the room) and while I'd like impact, I don't want myself or my guests/clients to feel overwhelmed by it.

I hadn't thought plasma vs LCD.

Thanks for the advice so far, especially the "line" explanation.

[straycat]

At 32", I think I'm correct in saying that LCD is your best bet - quality and longevity tends to be superior - it's at the larger sizes that plasma comes into it's own. I'm afraid I'll be bowing out of the recommendations here, as I don't know which are the better LCD screens.

[ducasi]

Yeah, LCD is what you're looking for. Can't recommend one myself either – I have a 32" conventional television.

Only thing I would say is make sure you get one with a good choice of inputs – as well as (at least 2) SCART sockets you'll want at least one HDMI socket. A DVI (or SVGA) connector to allow it to connect to your computer is handy too.

Oh, although I am wary of buying from them, the comet web site (http://www.comet.co.uk/) has mini-reviews of their TVs so you can get some idea of what's what... (Unfortunately their search tool seems to be a bit flaky at the moment, but take a look at these (http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/category.do?refineSearch=true&web=yes&brand=-9999&loPrice=750&hiPrice=2500&features=&loValues=&hiValues=&categoryId=455&searchStatus=false)...)

[Piglet]

Great thread as I was also thinking of treating myself to a lovely new huge TV, but don't really know what I want.

Does anyone know what is better - a plasma screen or a rear projector screen? I'm not in any rush, but would appreciate any advice...

[clevedonboy]

There are specialist forums with loads of advice - One I ttrust is Avforums - telly related stuff http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=91

[straycat]

Great thread as I was also thinking of treating myself to a lovely new huge TV, but don't really know what I want.

Does anyone know what is better - a plasma screen or a rear projector screen? I'm not in any rush, but would appreciate any advice...

Plasma vs. rear projection... the concensus is that a good plasma beats a good rear projection tv (DLP, for example) on most counts (price and longevity being the exceptions, but longevity isn't really a worry anymore for plasmas)

Size is a particular issue, of course - you can wall-mount a plasma - which has meant that for us, getting a larger TV has freed up a lot of space in the room ('girlfriend friendly', as a good friend of mine pointed out )

First thing to establish are your criteria (size / space / quality / price etc ) - and start making decisions from there...

[Piglet]

Thanks for the brilliant advice Stray!

Not gonna wall mount it and have a reasonably sized living room that could take a huge telly in the corner :D

[straycat]

Thanks for the brilliant advice Stray!

Not gonna wall mount it and have a reasonably sized living room that could take a huge telly in the corner :D

Well then :)
We likes the space given by wall-mounting, 'cos we have a nice wooden floor in our living room (clear out the sofa & a few bits of furniture, and we have a nice dance space)

Besides that - I'm not an expert, but ... (typed out a load of stuff, then found a useful link which says the same thing more clearly and concisely. Here you go (http://www.pcw.co.uk/other/features/2135639/buyers-guide-televisions) :cool: )

Just bear in mind that the best plasmas will beat the best RPs in most respects - but RPs are definitely more cost-effective.

[Piglet]

I think I'm gonna have to put some time aside to seriously consider my options. Can't do the wall mount thing cos although we've a large room we have a chimney breast that sticks out just where the telly sits and it's too much of a nightmare to change the telly's location cos there are so many wires attached to the back of it coming in through the wall at that point. I don't want any more holes in my wall.

Very much appreciate all the advice - deserves more rep, but you'll have to wait a bit....

[ducasi]

Piglet, if I were you I'd probably be considering a 37" or 42" screen. Both are in the domain of LCDs, though at that size plasma is probably cheaper. These TVs all come with floor stands, so you don't need to worry about wall-mounting.

[Piglet]

Thanks Ducasi - can't rep you neither....

Can I just say how wonderful it is to have people who have done all my donkey work for me! I really wouldn't know where to start other than going into shops and looking for the one I feel attracted to! Which I'll probably end up doing anyways but hopefully with more knowledge behind me than before.

[Will]

FP,

Agree with all the above. My summary though.

For 32 inch TV, go LCD rather than Plasma.

It is true that there are only about 3 TV's on the market that do true HD - 1080p. Most do 1080i/720p.

1080i is fine for a 32inch screen. You need about a 50inch TV for 1080p to come into it's own, and so I doubt they'll ever make a 32" with 1080p.

Finally, if you then want the next generation of DVD player so that you can actually put an HD signal through your TV, get Blu-Ray rather than HD-DVD.

Will

[killingtime]

Well Sky are pretty much the only people outputting 1080i. Most other HDTV outputs are all 720p. Interlaced (i) is a strange choice given it doesn't tend to perform as well on fast moving shots (such as action films and football). Your HDDVDs and BlueRay stuff can all output at 1080p which you'd think would scale better to 1080i.

I pretty much only use my HD set for XBox 360 games and a PC (and watching DVDs on this) and 720p does a fine job in that.

What are you mostly using it for? If you watch a lot of regular TV and DVDs you might want to look into sets that do upscaling.

Choices, choices.

[killingtime]

Finally, if you then want the next generation of DVD player so that you can actually put an HD signal through your TV, get Blu-Ray rather than HD-DVD.

Really? I think that war is far from over.

It seems stupid, in the already dubious area of telling consumers they'll need to buy new kit plus pay more for the media and then tell them that their kit might well not be the one that wins out and they'll just have to live with that is crazy.

Samsung apparently developed a hybrid player but licensing problems stopped them releasing it (http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/10/samsung-sez-combo-hd-dvd-blu-ray-player-is-a-no-go/).

[Feelingpink]

FP,

Agree with all the above. My summary though.

For 32 inch TV, go LCD rather than Plasma.

It is true that there are only about 3 TV's on the market that do true HD - 1080p. Most do 1080i/720p.

1080i is fine for a 32inch screen. You need about a 50inch TV for 1080p to come into it's own, and so I doubt they'll ever make a 32" with 1080p.

Finally, if you then want the next generation of DVD player so that you can actually put an HD signal through your TV, get Blu-Ray rather than HD-DVD.

WillThanks for all the tips. At this point, it seems that the general consensus is for an LCD in a 32". However, my concern is that in the link that straycat gave, it says "Contrast and tonal range on LCD screens is generally the poorest of all TVs". The main reason I'm even getting this is to show clients slideshows of their photographs, so contrast and tonal range would be almost top of the list of concerns (rather than action or regular TV feeds which I don't care much about at all).

Hmmm, decisions, decisions. Guess that ultimately a screen of any type will be better than looking at the goldfish.