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King of Groove

King of Groove

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I am thinking of getting a HD televison.

I think the right size for Groove Towers would be 32inch and seems to me that one with 1080p resolution is a good idea from what I've heard.

Trouble is when ever you go in to stores there seems to be so many on display it's hard to decide which is best. Spend too long looking and you act like a magnet for some salesman.

Any suggestions as to which make/model might be best. Are there any websites that do reviews? Any particular tv that stands out?

Budget would be £400 to £500.
 
Hiya Clive Groovy !. If i may suggest , Not orften one buys these luxurious items but so go for a good compromise size screen!. 37" or 42". You`ll be pleasantly surprised by the HD on these. Not sure the make is important either . Maybe Hitachi ?or Panasonic ?. Prices vary fantasticly mate .But these are well within the price bracket you mention. Hope thishelps?. Take care . Hope we meet again soon . Ron
 
mavron said:
Hiya Clive Groovy !. If i may suggest , Not orften one buys these luxurious items but so go for a good compromise size screen!. 37" or 42". You`ll be pleasantly surprised by the HD on these. Not sure the make is important either . Maybe Hitachi ?or Panasonic ?. Prices vary fantasticly mate .But these are well within the price bracket you mention. Hope thishelps?. Take care . Hope we meet again soon . Ron
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Cheers Ron.

It has to be 32inch to fit on the cabinet it would be stood on.

I agree Ron we'll have to meet up again. I'm sure your mate Monkeh can suggest somewhere!!!
 
Good advice would be to stick with well known brands, and from my experience, LCD panels from Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung and Toshiba perform well.

1080P is without doubt the way to go. Any TV described as 'HD Ready' is to be avoided.

I doubt there's a 1080P set out there which doesn't have Freeview built in (which is a must have to be honest). You might however consider this Panasonic:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04H4VFT694GBYA86AFTV

Yes, it's £70 over budget but it has Freesat built in. The image quality via Freesat is vastly superior to Freeview, and it also has the big advantage of offering HD images on a couple of channels. (More to follow eventually)

Of course, you need a dish. You may already have Sky, in which case you might not be interested in Freesat. But if you have a dish and no Sky TV contract then Freesat is pretty much a no-brainer.

You can actually find a Plasma screen at that price (or close to it) these days, though they can be quite power-hungry and also a little noisy.

This Samsung LCD would be an alternative. Great reviews, good price, nice to look at as well:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE3...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1251663155&sr=1-2
 
budfox said:
Good advice would be to stick with well known brands, and from my experience, LCD panels from Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung and Toshiba perform well.

1080P is without doubt the way to go. Any TV described as 'HD Ready' is to be avoided.

I doubt there's a 1080P set out there which doesn't have Freeview built in (which is a must have to be honest). You might however consider this Panasonic:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04H4VFT694GBYA86AFTV

Yes, it's £70 over budget but it has Freesat built in. The image quality via Freesat is vastly superior to Freeview, and it also has the big advantage of offering HD images on a couple of channels. (More to follow eventually)

Of course, you need a dish. You may already have Sky, in which case you might not be interested in Freesat. But if you have a dish and no Sky TV contract then Freesat is pretty much a no-brainer.

You can actually find a Plasma screen at that price (or close to it) these days, though they can be quite power-hungry and also a little noisy.

This Samsung LCD would be an alternative. Great reviews, good price, nice to look at as well:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE3...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1251663155&sr=1-2
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for your advice. Much appreciated.

I've got Sky TV installed couple of years ago. Added Sky Sports last year. Must have realised we were going to whip the Aussies!
 
No benefit to a 1080p screen over a 720p screen at 32" unless you're virtually sitting on top of it (under 6ft), so you may consider getting a better quality TV that supports 720p (or even 1080i) than shelling out for 1080p. So HD ready is perfectly acceptable. In fact under 50", 1080p is just a marketing ploy with minimal benefit to the average viewer.

An old blog post here, but still very relevant.
http://carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/
 
JasonRS said:
No benefit to a 1080p screen over a 720p screen at 32" unless you're virtually sitting on top of it (under 6ft), so you may consider getting a better quality TV that supports 720p (or even 1080i) than shelling out for 1080p. So HD ready is perfectly acceptable. In fact under 50", 1080p is just a marketing ploy with minimal benefit to the average viewer.
Click to expand...

It's not just a marketing ploy. It's a hard fact that the resolution of lots HD material is 1920x1080 pixels. (The remainder being 720P) If you buy a screen with the same amount of pixels then the 1:1 mapping is bound to give sharper results than anything that requires interpolation to fill the screen.

1080i and 1080p both have a vertical resolution of 1080 pixels. The 'i' version resolves half of that resolution in field one, and half of it in field two. Those pixels however are still mapped 1:1 on the screen, meaning that there is full justification for using a 1080 pixels screen to resolve 1080i material.

For 720P use, it's true that the 1080 set needs to interpolate, but then that's true for pretty much evey screen as I'm not aware of any models with 720 pixels of horizontal resolution.

I can't accept the 'if you look close enough' argument. That's what salesmen use to sell old stock, and people who've bought the wrong telly say to their friends.

None of this should ever have come about to be honest. The whole 'HD ready' bit is/was a scam. A ploy to offer 'early adopters' something better than a standard definition screen, but which falls short of being the genuine article.
 
The number of pixels is irrelevant if you're not close enough for your eyes to resolve it.

Also consider that the only source of 1080p material is Blu-Ray or some online downloads / streams. Most of Sky's material is 720p upscaled to 1080i as well.

There are no broadcasters globally that broadcast in 1080p, and the cost of upgrading their equipment to do so is prohibitive.

Anyone buying into 1080p, or TruHD should go and consider what they'll be watching, and go an look at panels side by side of the size they're buying in a typical viewing scenario.

There's also the situation where a good quality 720p display will outshine a cheap 1080p display all day long.

ISF foundation state that Contrast and Colour accuracy are more important than the number of pixels, and a good CRT will give superior picture with no pixels at all.


Another external link, this time from AVS forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=768167
 
Remember to work out how big your room is too, Clive. Different size HD TV's have different optimum viewing distances.

Ours is about 10 feet and if you go closer it really doesnt look so good.
 
If you are only getting a 32" i can not see the point of the 1080p as your eyes can not resolve it. Sky is broadcast at 720p then upscaled to 1080i aswell. Xbox and the like are 720p. Its only blu-ray that you will benefit and by the time we start using Full HD completly you will be ready for a new Tv.
Budfox, i bet you my 720p panasonic plasma, which is not noisy and is no more power hungry than a LCD because when there is black on the screen that part is turned off unlike a LCD where it is lighting up the panel all the time is better than about 80% of Full HD LCD's, especially at Standard Definition, which you watch 90% of the time.
Also if you like football get a Plasma but they dont normally do them in 32" very often.
 
Forgetting the HD resolution argument for a sec, think about physical size, 32" is in reality pretty small for a widescreen tv. If your living room is small it should be fine but go to a tv shop and compare sizes before committing.
 
Steep said:
Forgetting the HD resolution argument for a sec, think about physical size, 32" is in reality pretty small for a widescreen tv. If your living room is small it should be fine but go to a tv shop and compare sizes before committing.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that's bad advice. TV shops are big and a 32" TV in Currys looks pretty small. Bung it in a modest lounge and it's an ideal size.
 
To quote Michael McIntyre "You know you're working class when your TV is too big for your house.."

Working in an environment where I use a lot of TV's of varying makes and sizes, you cannot go wrong with Samsung or LG TVs at your price range, great screens, great performance per £ ratio. Samsung are one of the few companies that actually make the LCD panels..

Carl
 
Why not buy a bracket, and hang it on the wall. Very easy to do. You will be very surprised at the amount of room it frees up.
If I remember correctly the size of a wall hung set, is determined by the viewing distance.
IE 40" TV your viewing distance should be 100" 2 and a half times the TV size.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. Much appreciated.

Once I get a tv I'll upgrade my Sky+ box to a Sky HD one. Now does that make a difference to resolution etc?
 
King of Groove said:
Thanks everyone for your advice. Much appreciated.

Once I get a tv I'll upgrade my Sky+ box to a Sky HD one. Now does that make a difference to resolution etc?
Click to expand...

I upgraded my Sky+ to HD when I bought my TV and there is definitely an improvement on the HD channels.
 
Cheers Marc,does Sky HD box work better with a 1020p tv?
 
Our local newspaper has a colour leaflet from Currys in it.

Their store in Purley Way, Croydon has just been refurbished and has reopened. So they're grand reopening sale on 10th September!

Well there's a Sony 32inch 1080p on offer down by £200 to £399.

The store has loads of offers and is opening at 6am on the day. I finish work at 2.30pm and could be there by 3pm. As they'll no doubt be subject to the usual line of "whilst stock lasts" I've probably got no chance!
 
fabs said:
I upgraded my Sky+ to HD when I bought my TV and there is definitely an improvement on the HD channels.
Click to expand...

It's a pity the TV companies don't use their resources to improve the actual programmes.

All we get at the moment is tedious trivia in high definition.


Steve.
 
KOTG

I would suggest a browse around AVF (not sure about the rules on linking other fori here). You will certainly find all the answers you will ever need there.

As for sky hd. Ive had it since the world cup and love it. Upscaled progs are ok but the docs are stunning. I just watched something on Bavaria and if i was into landscapes i would have booked a trip already.

Be wary of the model numbers on sony tv's as there is a massive difference between them.

Good luck and enjoy your new toys :thumbs:
 
CReid said:
To quote Michael McIntyre "You know you're working class when your TV is too big for your house.."
Click to expand...

That's kinda true...:lol:

Class system aside, I was working in somebody's house the other day, it was a back to back terrace with a small living room.
They had this great big 61inch plasma in there, in front of the fireplace, there was only room for that and a sofa....you had to sit less than 6ft from the screen and it looked bladdy awful..:lol:
I think viewing distance has a huge impact on what size best suits, we used to have a wide screen 32inch crt, which was ok, when that broke we bought a 42inch plasma and it was just too big.
Anyway we ended up with a 37inch Bravia lcd which is the best compromise for our particular circumstances, and a damn fine tv it is too.
There was certainly no consideration given to what cabinet it may or may not fit in, just viewing distance and comfort, and how it fitted into the room as a whole.
 
If you are in a store, flick the tv over to a normal channel (something new, with good reception) and try the sound. Samsungs have crap sound in general so unless you are getting one of the higher end models, should be avoided. There is a Panasonic 32S10 on offer in currys at £489, same price as the next model down but it has been for a while so stock may be low.
And pick a few models you like and then compare prices, richersounds is generally very good.

Sonys also have good sound but tend to be dear for what you are getting.
 
The basic rule of thumb is this:

High budget or money no object, go Panasonic (superior in every way, blacks are deep, pic stunning)
Mid range or lower budget, go Samsung (not quite as good on blacks but contrast superb and excellent overall pic) although Sony and LG have some decent sets within the med-low budget so don't count them out.

Size is your choice and as said, can only be based on the room you're putting it in.
 
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