Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: Mrs Pingu on 29 September, 2008, 12:53:30 pm
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I'm not buying a new telly yet, cos Pingu won't let me. But our current one does occasional weird stuff and I'd quite like to be semi prepared so that in the event of its death I know what to look for.
Having looked back at some other tv threads on here I see that Sony Bravias are quite highly thought of.
Just having an idle look on the Sony website and having narrowed it down to one size of screen, there were lots and lots tv's listed in their guide - it all seemed a bit daunting.
How would one go about narrowing it down?
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As you will have seen from one of the other threads, there are several models in the Bravia range, from cheap to expensive.
IIRC I posted a link explaining the difference, I'll just go and hunt it down for you...
EDIT: Here you go... eBay.co.uk Guides - Sony Bravia Model Numbers (http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Sony-Bravia-Model-Numbers_W0QQugidZ10000000001216097)
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Our telly-choosing process was:
Go to Comet and look at them all.
Decide Sony Bravias have the best pictures and look OK when switched off
OK, so it's a Bravia. the other factors were that we wanted 26 or 32" - no bigger. Anything bigger would have been too dominant in the room, plus at 40" and above we'd have been thinking about plasma
Given that constraint, the Xs & Ws are ruled out as they are 40" and bigger. So we decided on S (with the Bravia engine) and we decided on the dark grey case (2010 variant). So: KDL26S2010U it was :)
Could have gone for a V I suppose, but at the time they were quite a bit dearer
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Spend the money on bikes instead - lots more vfm entertainment-wise
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The mistake I made was not to ask to look at the remotes. The one for my Toshiba is cheap and nasty. My sister's Panasonic otoh, is a joy to use.
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Me? "That's the size I want, that's the colour I want, can we go now?"
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That's my shopping strategy for anything
Well, there's the occasional "How much? Let's go."
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My purchase was based on picture/sound and then
Price
Resolution
Inputs
Inputs are very important to me.
I have a lot of AV sources, with PS3 and HD Satellite, I use Component leads for that (only one input, so I swap leads a lot). Computer connects through DVI socket, and there's a spare SCART on the back as well.
If you want to make the most of your new HD TV, then you'll need to figure out what you'll be watching. I couldn't be bothered getting a built in freeview decoder, as I knew I'd be using HD AV sources.
I went for a TV with 1050 vertical lines, as I use it as a monitor now and again, and even though I could have a got a larger TV with 720 lines, I wanted the extra resolution rather than screen size.
I'm looking to get another TV soon, but I think I'll hold out for a cheaper 1080p TV first.
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Don't buy one. It's all crap anyway.
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Don't buy one. It's all crap anyway.
;) ;D
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eBay. Does this one look all right? What's his feedback like? Oh, pretty good, OK then.
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I guess you've probably seen the "LCD TV tomorrow" thread... We got our 26" Bravia (T3000) from Amazon (more or less the cheapest price at the time - early Sept.), and we're very happy with it. But something to beware of... I notice the model we bought is now £100 dearer on Amazon, because it's no longer sold direct from amazon, but via the amazon 'marketplace' by a third party... It's still listed as current on the Sony website... perhaps some websites (on marketplace?) up the price once the big retailers stop selling it...? Still, if you don't mind 'smaller' website retailer there always seem to be good prices out there...
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We are working up to going big scree, possibly for Christmas time.
Master Manotea, recently departed for university, will be severely annoyed!
The other question is in which room to put it, as we have two living rooms, one for the grown ups and one for the kids...
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The other question is in which room to put it, as we have two living rooms, one for the grown ups and one for the kids...
The grown-up one. Let the kids make do with a black and white portable which loses its vertical hold every so often.
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The other question is in which room to put it, as we have two living rooms, one for the grown ups and one for the kids...
The grown-up one. Let the kids make do with a black and white portable which loses its vertical hold every so often.
The problem with that approach is we'll suffer an invasion of hulking teenagers who's viewing preferences do not coincide with ours...
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Our telly-choosing process was:
Go to Comet and look at them all.
Going to Comet = bleurgh! ;)
Rear projection? What does that do then ???
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The other question is in which room to put it, as we have two living rooms, one for the grown ups and one for the kids...
The grown-up one. Let the kids make do with a black and white portable which loses its vertical hold every so often.
The problem with that approach is we'll suffer an invasion of hulking teenagers who's viewing preferences do not coincide with ours...
Not if you take all your clothes off to watch it.
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Rear projection? What does that do then ???
Nothing to do with your behind looking big - they're the humungous ones you see in pubs, literally projecting an image onto a screen. Not I would have though for domestic use.
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An ex-bro-in-law came up with an early example when he worked in a telly shop in the 1960s and 70s.
I reckon this old heap of garbage originated in the early 1950s. It didn't have a CRT - or at least, if it did, a tiny one, the B & W picture from which was projected onto a translucent screen to give a picture about 11" in diameter. Best watched with the lights off.
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Rear projection? What does that do then ???
Nothing to do with your behind looking big - they're the humungous ones you see in pubs, literally projecting an image onto a screen. Not I would have though for domestic use.
I have one. And I don't live in a pub. Well, not all the time. It's a Samsung 45 inch HD thing. It's actually surprisingly skinny - probably about 30 cm deep at the back, so far less than a CRT, though LCD and plasmas are, of course, thinner. Essentially, it's a projector in a box with a big screen at the front. Served me well for the last 3 or 4 years. I preferred the picture quality to a plasma, which always looked a little harsh to my sensitive little eyes. Anyway, I like it and it works well in my cinema-for-a-living room (as a bonus, there are also no feral youth munching crisps and making calls on their mobile during a movie, either).
I suspect they're a niche product now, given the ubiquity of plasmas and LCDs in that size range.
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How would one go about narrowing it down?
Go to John Lewis.
Buy what looks good and is affordable.
get 5yr warranty with it - pay about the same as at Comet; more than via interweb but with 5 yr warranty thrown in.
We got a Panasonic 26" - I think it should have been 32"; Mrs m says its fine.
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It's been quite interesting having a squint at all of this tonight.....
The old one will probably wobble on for the next 10 years now just to spite me! ;)
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Go to John Lewis.
Buy what looks good and is affordable.
get 5yr warranty with it - pay about the same as at Comet; more than via interweb but with 5 yr warranty thrown in.
John Lewis - "never knowingly undersold" - so will price match for exact same product.
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Going to Comet = bleurgh! ;)
Indeed, especially as it was in a particularly featureless wasteland bit of Swindon :)
But you can have fun laughing at the poor fools who actually buy stuff from there, as opposed to going home and finding it on t'web for half the price. I think our TV was about £300 more in Comet than we paid :o
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Going to Comet = bleurgh! ;)
Indeed, especially as it was in a particularly featureless wasteland bit of Swindon :)
But you can have fun laughing at the poor fools who actually buy stuff from there, as opposed to going home and finding it on t'web for half the price. I think our TV was about £300 more in Comet than we paid :o
I went into a local electrical store to see the TVs first, before buying online (as you suggested :) ). I really wonder how they sell anything. It was about 5.30pm (closing time 7 or 8pm), and I was the only person looking at the TVs. There was a posse of staff gathered around chatting and ignoring me pacing out the size of our living room, peering at TVs etc. I hunted someone down and asked about bases, and he gave a short answer and that was it... No - can I help? What are you after? Perhaps I had 'online purchase' written all over my face. The prices were vastly more than online, but what staggered me was the total lack of any interest in selling any of it it... Perhaps if they cut their prices more and tried harder to shift it, things would improve...
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I suppose that they want to be there even less than you do. At least you have the option of going home and never returning :)
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We had a similar problem a while ago, I found a small TV retailer and rental shop in Preston which had a recent ex-rental 32 inch Cathode Ray Tube JVC for £89, the sound is good, but it is huge, but it was going into the corner of a large room with windows at each end and a big fireplace in the middle so it all makes sense. Result, big telly now at no cost to the planet and the chance to pick up a good HD 1080p set when they are a good price. By that time I may be tempted by a projector.
Damon.
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Just wondering... will the bandwidth of digital TV via aerial ever be sufficient to broadcast in HD - 720p or 1080p? And if it does, will it be when analog dies and they turn up the digital transmitter broadcast power?
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Just wondering... will the bandwidth of digital TV via aerial ever be sufficient to broadcast in HD - 720p or 1080p? And if it does, will it be when analog dies and they turn up the digital transmitter broadcast power?
Yes, to both. There are already some HD Freeview trials but the extra bandwidth available when analogue goes may help a bit
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It's been quite interesting having a squint at all of this tonight.....
The old one will probably wobble on for the next 10 years now just to spite me! ;)
Bloody hell, I started this thread over 3 yrs ago and the damn thing's not dead yet! ;D
It's getting close though & I think even Pingu has resigned himself to a new one.
Thing is it's quite difficult trying to sort out from the reviews what's got a good picture and what's not.
It's likely to be a Sony or a Panny, the last few Sony reviews I've looked at weren't that great though... apart from the 3d set that said it had shit 3d but a great 2d picture.
It will be 32" (no room for anything larger at Pingu Towers) and doesn't need 3d or good speakers (as it goes thru the amp anyway).
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OK:
Panasonic TX-L32E30B or
Sony KDL-32CX523 or
LG 32LV550T
Any comments? I'm leaning towards the Panasonic at the moment, but that'll probably have changed by tomorrow morning...
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I can highly recommend the latest Samsung models.
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At one point I inherited a Panasonic 28" widescreen CRT TV and it was the dogs nadgers in terms of sound and picture quality.
Far better than the Toshiba HD set we have now - but that fits in the living room and works well with HDMI/VGA inputs.
Having had some poor experiences with Sony electricals, I'd be tempted to lean toward the Panasonic.
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And having had 2 truly appalling examples of poor reliability and crap service (2 months out of warranty and its totally useless, we don't care) we won't touch Panasonic, so take your pick. We've got a lot of Sony stuff, but they failed on the AV amp as their amps can't cope with the output of their own blu-ray players on SACDs (but Onkyo amps can). Sony UK are not great communicators, though... We are still aiming at a Sony TV after the TV folk eventually get off their fat lazy incompetent arses and give us HD Freeview (and maybe then I can stop shouting LIARS! at the TV every time the BBC advertise something as being in HD...) However, we looked at the KDL EX524, which ticked all the boxes, and recently we saw one in a shop, thought it actually looked quite nce, and then I grabbed the remote, and promptly dropped it. It is such an appalling un hand-friendly shape! Sharp corners on the back, and a concave rear. What idiot designed that? We're hoping for a new model soon, and hopefully WITHOUT stupid analogue options which are no use to man nor beast, but clutter up the remote and add needless cost.
Don't forget that some of the options are about the method of screen backlighting. We want an LED backlit one for its somnewhat enhanced energy efficiency. We also want internet connectivity, and the ability to record to an attached USB hard disc. This will save buying a new HD hard disc recorder for the few progs that are actually HD and worth the trouble to record in HD. the function of a telly seems to hve changed, its now for watching Youtube and iplayer, as well as viewing your photos. I spent an excessive amount of time watching Youtube videos of new Zealand steam engines, as our blu ray player already has access to this stuff.
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we didn't want a large tv dominating our living room so we looked for the smallest size available ( is it 19"?) and then saw what Argos did.
Then we looked at reviews online, moneysavingexpert.com etc and bought the one that was the winner
It's not the greatest tv in the world but then again it's just a bloody tv
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Wowbagger's page 1 post was right but there are DVDs, so...
I'd want iPlayer capability (most have wireless LAN connectivity so you can get to the Internet through your broadband router) and the lowest possible energy consumption - lower than our current 28" CRT, anyway. Beyond that, it's all about the picture. Most are still terrible in the shop displays* I see although they have improved in the last 5 years.
Full HD is probably essential for Blu-Ray discs and for futureproofing (are any SD or 1080i tellies still sold?) but, having watched SD and HD material on my parents' 32" full HDTV, I'd need a bigger screen than that to be able to appreciate the difference between them.
*apparently a lot of this is because the spotty oiks in Currys don't know how to adjust the picture properly, but would you take that chance?
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I've been very happy with Panasonic. One more than 12 years old and a new one about one year old. Samsung otoh - poor quality and nonexistent service. It was supposed to be under warranty but 3 attempts later we left it with them and wrote it off.
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We have a couple of Sonys (1 year old now) a 40 inch in the lounge and a 32 in pcolbeck juniors room for Xbox. Very pleased with them. They are LCD not LED but seem fine to me. I don't have Blue Ray or HD Freeview yet in this area but the picture looks good. Excellent clear electronic program guide and good iPlayer integration. I don't do home cinema so cant comment on how they work with AV amps etc.
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I don't see the Samsungs scoring very highly in the best buy type tables.
I'm not that fussed about iplayer/internet/you tube etc capability because we've already got all that on our recent HD PVR purchase. The only time we'd be watching directly thru the telly tuner rather than the PVR is if the PVR or the amp went 'woof', but most of the tellies I'm looking at will have it anyway.
I've read enough telly pr0n to have seen all about the calibration nonsense and that's another reason why it's probably pointless going to Currys to look at the picture, they're unlikely to have it set up properly as you say RZ (I wonder if John Lewis will be any better - I have to go in there today anyway so will take a look). This was an area where the CX523 didn't appear to rate particularly highly - not as tweakable as some.
I'm also aware that nothing's going to look as good as a CRT for SD broadcasts becuase of the upscaling, but nobody makes CRT's anymore (well not in the real world anyway) so that's a moot point.
We don't have a BluRay player and are unlikely to be getting one in the future - I'm not even sure our DVD player has been on in the last year!
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We got a 1080p lg earlier in the year and are happy with it. JLP were very good at advising and knew how to set the things up of. We got good advice there.
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Oh and I did think about a Panasonic but the gits put adverts in their EPG and thus squash up[ the space left for the EPG.
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OK:
Panasonic TX-L32E30B or
Sony KDL-32CX523 or
LG 32LV550T
Any comments? I'm leaning towards the Panasonic at the moment, but that'll probably have changed by tomorrow morning...
As per Sam's comment, look up Samsung UE32D5520 (ok, not THE latest 6000 series, but not that old, and they supply the panels to Sony anyway). Do you mean E30B or E3B for the Panasonic btw?
If you check trustedreveiws you'll see a Sammsung was runner up (the 32" 5000). It has no built-in freeview tuner though.
I've got a similat shortlist to you, basically because I also got the HD Humax, so an HD TV would be good, plus we've lost the analogue signal now, so if we're recording 2 channels (1 from each mux) want a TV with built-in HD tuner to watch the third.
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I meant the E30B, hadn't seen the E3B, more confusion! JLP has an E3 same thing?
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We're finally thinking of retiring the CRT, so it's interesting that this thread has been resurrected. AVforums (http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/1113353-lcd-matrices-differences-what-models-placed.html) has some useful stuff (admittedly some of it a rather idiosyncratic translation) about the origins of the LCD matrices used by each manufacturer, along with various examples of how to work out who made your particular model, regardless of the badge. Vestel seem to be the manufacturer of choice for a number of the cheaper panels, and carry many badges. It appears Sharp no longer make panels below 52" in house. Sony have just sold their stake in matrix manufacture back to Samsung, but will probably continue to use the Korean matrices until someone else gives them a better deal, or they go fully OLED or FED (if they can ever get that mass produced). There's also a very useful set of diagnostics on there which allow you to translate the incomprehensible list of letters and numbers each manufacturer uses to create the model name. I find that the most useful bit of that is knowing which letter the manufacturer uses to designate the cheap/decent/good/expensive/we-saw-you-coming ranges...
At work, we currently have a demo of the Sony PVM-2541 OLED, which is a good panel, but still quite small and stupidly expensive. It knocks the spots off our £16000 Barco LCDs, whilst being a mere £4000 or so. Domestically, I think it'll be a while before such good panels are affordable, especially in 40-42", which has become the 'sweet spot' for domestic panels.
Setup in the shops is rubbish. If you demo, then switch as much of the processing off as possible, and consider doing something boring like taking a test disc or usb key.
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I meant the E30B, hadn't seen the E3B, more confusion! JLP has an E3 same thing?
The E30 and the E3 are (I think!) different - though without going on Panasonic site I wouldn't be confident what the difference is. I asked 'cos the 30 is that bit more expensive than the 3 - I'd been looking at the 3 myself.
Right, the 30 has 200hz refresh rate and 900 lines resolution, the 3 50hz and 300 lines, and the 30 has smarter screen driver software, so is the higher spec unit.
The 30 is £150 more than the 3 on the JLP website. £500 as oposed to £350-400 for the others you're (and I'm) looking at - oh except the LG which is comparable and has 500hz refresh, so the "best" spec. There are lower range LG's with lower refresh rates. Looks like the final "T" means freeview HD tuner - and the 550 is the latest range too.
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*apparently a lot of this is because the spotty oiks in Currys don't know how to adjust the picture properly, but would you take that chance?
Having briefly worked in a place with a far higher standard of oik than Currys, my understanding is that they often do know how to adjust the picture, but adjustments are made in order to maximise sales of the models they want to sell, and that means utterly hideously bright and over-saturated pictures, and to hell with the aspect ratio, because that's what lusers seem to want. This is also the basis of sticking the latest Disney movie on a continuous loop, because animation tends to be extremely forgiving of this sort of abuse.
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We have a couple of Sonys (1 year old now) a 40 inch in the lounge and a 32 in pcolbeck juniors room for Xbox. Very pleased with them. They are LCD not LED but seem fine to me.
No affordable* mass market TVs are LED rather then LCD. They're all LCD or plasma, but some LCDs have LED rather than cold cathode (which is basically a type of fluorescent lamp) backlighting. LCD, being a subtractive technology, needs a mega-powerful backlight. Plasma is an additive technology, i.e. each pixel makes its own light.
OLED TVs will arrive on the mass market one day and are fantastic; these have an LED for each pixel so are like plasma but with much lower power consumption.
*read this and weep (http://gizmodo.com/5499700/lgs-15+inch-oled-tv-on-sale-in-uk-for-3000)
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Hmm to JLP (with their "free" 5 year warranty) or not?? The LG32LV550t is an "online exclusive" (exclusive how?- I guess they mean online only) on JLP @ £529. At Amazon with stadard warranty it's £402 - and an extanded warranty to 5 years is an additional £110. :-\
OTOH aren't TV's supposed to last a "reasonable time" - something arounnd 6 years - without fault?
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Went into Tesco's and bought one - don't want a massive screen I think ours is 19".
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Hmm to JLP (with their "free" 5 year warranty) or not?? The LG32LV550t is an "online exclusive" (exclusive how?- I guess they mean online only) on JLP @ £529. At Amazon with stadard warranty it's £402 - and an extanded warranty to 5 years is an additional £110. :-\
OTOH aren't TV's supposed to last a "reasonable time" - something arounnd 6 years - without fault?
When I bought mine a couple of years ago I got John Lewis to pricematch with the cheapest bricks and mortar store price that I could find and I got the 5 year warranty 'free'. Not sure if they still do this though.
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Hmm to JLP (with their "free" 5 year warranty) or not?? The LG32LV550t is an "online exclusive" (exclusive how?- I guess they mean online only) on JLP @ £529. At Amazon with stadard warranty it's £402 - and an extanded warranty to 5 years is an additional £110. :-\
OTOH aren't TV's supposed to last a "reasonable time" - something arounnd 6 years - without fault?
When I bought mine a couple of years ago I got John Lewis to pricematch with the cheapest bricks and mortar store price that I could find and I got the 5 year warranty 'free'. Not sure if they still do this though.
Recently it's been pricematching an equivalent package - so they'll pricematch a competitor with the cost of the competitors 5 year warranty included - see my example above of the JLP vs Richer Sounds example. £529 at JLP with "free 5 yr warranty", £512 at Richaer Sounds with £110 5 year warranty cost included.
They also do this with most domestic appliances - offering a 2 year gurantee against Comet/Curry's 1 yr so not equivalent.
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Hmm....well I went to JLP and had a nose around.
They were showing the 2 Ronnies, so ancient old SD pictures - lookit all the upscaling artefacts!!
They didn't have the LG so I couldn't look at that.
The Sony CX523 was sat next to the Panasonic E30B. The CX523 looked crap next to the Panny. (The black was purple and stripey).
There was an EX523 across the way which looked much better but I don't know if it was just better set up or if it was the extra cash. Not really what I was intending to spend anyway.
Another telly which caught my eye was a Samsung UE32D5520R. The blacks on that screen were *really* black - it was a sight better than the CX523 anyway!
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Our LG 40" plasma packed up in less than two years, wont be getting another one of those.
We went for Sharp LCD this time.
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Hmm....well I went to JLP and had a nose around.
They were showing the 2 Ronnies, so ancient old SD pictures - lookit all the upscaling artefacts!!
They didn't have the LG so I couldn't look at that.
The Sony CX523 was sat next to the Panasonic E30B. The CX523 looked crap next to the Panny. (The black was purple and stripey).
There was an EX523 across the way which looked much better but I don't know if it was just better set up or if it was the extra cash. Not really what I was intending to spend anyway.
Another telly which caught my eye was a Samsung UE32D5520R. The blacks on that screen were *really* black - it was a sight better than the CX523 anyway!
Interesting - I'd sorta narrowed my choice to the Samsung too (if we get a 32, wife may prefer smaller so a panny 24-26 it would be then I think - cardboard cut-out time tomorrow maybe!), and it's quite a good price. The EX and the LG are just a bit too spendy for me.
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In the absence of the LG to look at, I suspect it'll be a toss up between the Samsung & the E30B. Pingu still has to come & look, but I suspect in the absence of him seeing one as being glaringly obviously better than the other he'll either let me decide, or go for the cheap one....
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FWIW, we have 3 large-ish TVs dotted around Lowe Towers, and they are all Panasonics.
I did some research around the time I bought them, and that was the final outcome.
I would buy the same again.
I think they all came from JL doon in George St too.
Not sure if you can see Durris Tx from where you are, ( I think you may be on the wrong side of the hill ) but it's now transmitting the HD mux.
None of ours do Freeview-HD ( too old ) but they do other HD well.
One has freesat HD built-in,which works well, and the others get their HD feeds from external boxen.
--
Ron
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We get a picture if we switch the box to the BBC1HD channel so I presume so...
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How do we choose a new TV?
a) wait till old one doesn't work.
b) decide a small budget
c) go to Tesco and pick up a box with a picture of a TV on the front and a "special offer" price tag within 20% of (b)
Come home happy!
Plug it in
Never think about it again until (a) above repeats itself.
:thumbsup:
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Philistines!
I bet you drink paint stripper and listen to mp3's ripped to 64kps too. ;) ;D
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How do we choose a new TV?
a) wait till old one doesn't work.
b) decide a small budget
c) go to Tesco and pick up a box with a picture of a TV on the front and a "special offer" price tag within 20% of (b)
Come home happy!
Plug it in
Never think about it again until (a) above repeats itself.
:thumbsup:
A man after my own hert! (I don't have a telly but have similar philosophy for other goods.
Await need.
Define budget.
Source stockist.
Find item which has criteria which satisfy on short list. (Availability, ize, price specs)
Decide these thingsare all much of a muchness and will do job.
Purchase.
Enjoy.
Move on, don't mither.
If item fails/disappoints,
COMPLAIN LOUDLY and tell all your friends.
It probably won't.
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We've just bought a 32 inch Samsung for £300 from PC world. Paid a little more to get an LED backlit version, mainly for weight saving as it is mounted on an "arm"
Picture is excellent - sound a little weak.
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
How?
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HDTVtest appear to put all their calibration settings on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/HDTVTest
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Ah ha! I was reading the review of the Samsung there (which has annoyingly gone up £50 overnight whilst still out of stock at JLP! - Matching Richer Sounds I guess) but didn't twig that the settings were actually part of it.
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Ooh, that's a bit cheeky isn't it...
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I thought so! And it makes the decision less clear cut as the Samsung (which has the best overall reveiws at it's (former) price point) is now closer to the LG and Panny E30B. Bugger!
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I bought an LG about 15 months ago and I like it, but I'm not very particular. Nobody looks green and the picture is the right way up so I'm happy. I have no idea what all that calibration nonsense is.
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Ha, I just saw the Cx523 in the Sony centre and it looked a million times better than it did in JLP so now it's back on the list.
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
How?
By default they're usually on "display" settings rather than "home" or "movie" settings, which are dimmer.
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
Hah, now you're in my domain... (http://tech.ebu.ch/publications/tech3325)
That's where I've been spending most of today. Unfortunately, the colour analyser (http://www.dk-technologies.com/products/selchart.php?prodgroup=colour) I'm using is a bit costly for home use. ;D
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I got as far as page 8 before I gave up.... You are a much more cleverer person that wot I is, Redshift.
And for the original question, why not consider the Sony 524, not just the 523?
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I got as far as page 8 before I gave up.... You are a much more cleverer person that wot I is, Redshift.
And for the original question, why not consider the Sony 524, not just the 523?
The EX range are Sony's LED lit (as opposed to ccfl), and are about £100 more expensive (than the CX) as a result. So a 32" Sony EX is around £500, whilst the competition are around £400 for similar (and in some cases "better") spec - the Samsung at £429 has a 100hz refresh rate and the Sony's a 50hz one.
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I got as far as page 8 before I gave up.... You are a much more cleverer person that wot I is, Redshift
Nah, I'm just looking at the pretty pictures, mate... ;D
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The "Click" programme on BBC News Channel has what they call a "handy guide to buying the right TV" some time in the next few minutes. I think Click is repeated quite often, and it's prolly on i-player too.
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The "Click" programme on BBC News Channel has what they call a "handy guide to buying the right TV" some time in the next few minutes. I think Click is repeated quite often, and it's prolly on i-player too.
It's here too... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/5063066.stm
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
How?
Perhaps there should be an entire channel devoted to the Test Card.
(http://blog.propermusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/test-card.jpg)
Having been a Sony-only person for over 30 years I bought a Panasonic a year ago, and am pretty happy with it. Picture endlessly tweakable, sound slightly better than average, looks good when the signal is poor, even on HD Freeview.
But I agree with an earlier comment that the Panasonic EPG is just terrible. And the EPG is an important part of the TV IMO, this alone would make me look elsewhere next time I buy (unfortunately in Curry's etc the EPG is not something you can view).
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Dragged Pingu kicking & screaming to look at tellies today.
We haz ordered the Samsung, not a 32" as planned but a 37" :-[. None in stock at JLP so on order, damnit.
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That'll be my choice too (only I'll stick with a 32") when they come back into stock.
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Calibrate it. You'll be amazed at the picture and energy consption improvement. Same with all TVs when first brought actually.
Hah, now you're in my domain... (http://tech.ebu.ch/publications/tech3325)
That's where I've been spending most of today. Unfortunately, the colour analyser (http://www.dk-technologies.com/products/selchart.php?prodgroup=colour) I'm using is a bit costly for home use. ;D
A Spyder calibration jobbie will do most and offer significant improvements for very little outlay. Oh and just to state the obvious to anyone not in the know, while the settings for Person A's telly will look great, it might not as good on Person B's who has the same telly. That said they will go a long way to helping than nothing. The reason for that is panels will have their own unique trait but also the viewing environment plays a big part. If you google your model number, someone like HDTV Test or AVForums will have some calibration info for it.
Seriously worth doing though. Also you'll need to do it for each source too if your TV has source dependant settings.
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How do you choose a new tv?
Apparently you go to the shops with your partner & choose a bigger model than the one you were originally contemplating ;)
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And it's here! :P
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Perhaps there should be an entire channel devoted to the Test Card.
There really should. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get a proper test card, short of playing one off a DVD designed for the purpose, and often even then. It's not like it would take up much bandwidth. TV-ify one of the radio channels or something.
And when BBC HD launched they deliberately put up a munged testcard with the colour levels all wrong to avoid confusing the viewers, or something. :facepalm:
On the other hand, how many people actually know what to do with one?
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I think the clown looks like a cheap blow-up sex doll.
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Pedobear wasn't available.
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And it's here! :P
Go on, do tell what TV & size ended up in your abode? :)
Frere
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As I mentioned upthread, the 37" Samsung. Couldn't get it to see a signal from the dvd player earlier but i'll not lose any sleep over that right now.
It's nice to be able to read the PVR EPG without squinting though. :-)
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OK, so for those looking at this model of Samsung be aware there is no Scart input on the telly.
It does come with a Samsung proprietory Scart to 'Ext RGB' convertor but it's not all that great. It's a bugger to plug into the back of the telly (according to others on Google) and ours didn't work at all last night, and intermittently when Pingu & I were troubleshooting it earlier.
However, I just had a good fiddle with it and routed the Scart lead thru the little cable tidy thing and it's worked for the last 5 mins so hopefully everything is pointing in the right direction. It's not a very well designed interface though.
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OK, so for those looking at this model of Samsung be aware there is no Scart input on the telly.
It does come with a Samsung proprietory Scart to 'Ext RGB' convertor but it's not all that great. It's a bugger to plug into the back of the telly (according to others on Google) and ours didn't work at all last night, and intermittently when Pingu & I were troubleshooting it earlier.
However, I just had a good fiddle with it and routed the Scart lead thru the little cable tidy thing and it's worked for the last 5 mins so hopefully everything is pointing in the right direction. It's not a very well designed interface though.
Yes I read about that too - it's a feature to keep the unit slim. Perhaps a reason to upgrade to a blu-ray player next :-)
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Just before Christmas we had to replace our very old TV as it conked out. After a bit of research we bought a Samsung UE32D6530 LED HD 1080p 3D TV from John Lewis. It has a good rating from Which. It has a great picture and enough connection points for our PS3, the ancient VCR and the cable TV box. It also has integral wifi which is great for getting LoveFilm direct to the TV.
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They really need snappier model names. Who (except for the most geeky IBM sysprog) would drive an Audi UE32D6530?
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Trouble is with a market shelf life of 6-12 months, they'd run out names quickly!
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Just got my new 110" HD TV up and running. :smug:
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Have you bought a projector?
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Yes. It is rather good. It replaces a normal (SD) one. It will go up to 128" from its current mounting, but that would be silly, wouldn't it ;D