HD TVs

[pammy]

Although not looking at the HD bit yet, I do fancy an lcd for when we move house in Jan. This seems a good deal. Is it?

http://www.soundandvisiononline.com/moreinfo/index.asp?product_id=10972

 

[scotth_uk]

Hello Pammy,

I have no idea if they are any good, but that seems to be about the right price for it.

http://uk.shopping.com/xFS?FD=0&KW=KDL-32U2000U

Scott

PS - Make sure you know what you are up for by running it without a HD box. I can't stand looking at LCDs and Plasmas when fed by normal signals. They look very blocky.

 

[SEM]

It's a Sony.... best LCD's on the market, I'm very happy with mine...
Bear in mind Sky is going to cost £10 a month more for the 10-12 HD channels to watch HD broadcasts... sucks

 

[pammy]

PS - Make sure you know what you are up for by running it without a HD box. I can't stand looking at LCDs and Plasmas when fed by normal signals. They look very blocky.

Thanks for that Scott - I didn't realise that was an issue. I only have the normal Sky+ atm and don't plan to immediately switch to HD.

Maybe it should wait until I do the HD as well then. Can't see the point in suffering a poorer picture quality.

SEM - I generally like Sony TVs, had them for years but I'm trying to think about being in the new house etc and me having to try and move the current WEGA jobby that I have which is massive and needs two to move. So I thought this LCD would do the trick. But similarly I like to future proof if I can. Looks like the WEGA will be staying a bit longer.

 

[nickg]

I've got a 43" pioneer plasma and the picture with sky+ is fantastic.
(but it depends on how far you sit from the screen - further away is better).

 

[Doodle]

I've just had a bit of a splurge on stuff for the house, as the wife has now left and moved back to her mother's.

40" Samsung LCD, hooked up to Sky HD...watching the Ashes last night and the picture is pin-sharp. Loving it!

(In fact, thinking about spending, I could be very tempted to shift the SL and our MX-5, and have that SL60 off you Nick!)

 

[pammy]

I've just had a bit of a splurge on stuff for the house, as the wife has now left and moved back to her mother's.

Sorry to hear that m8 - welcome to the club

 

[scotth_uk]

I've got a 43" pioneer plasma and the picture with sky+ is fantastic.
(but it depends on how far you sit from the screen - further away is better).

I don't believe that plasmas suffer so much from the issue that I am referring to. I think that plasmas and lcds are awesome because of their size, form factor, etc.


BUT....

I really, really, really, really don't understand why people rush out and swap their perfectly good glass tv for an LCD, when they only ever look good when you drive them properly. Sure, the colours and vibrance are amazing, but what about picture quality? 'Pixelation' is what I am talking about.

Surely standing in any Comet, Dixons, etc and watching these 40 and 50 inch plus screens displays how bad they look displaying an SD signal? The pixelation is unbearable in my opinion. They are so precise at displaying what you feed them, that you see every MPEG compression artifact, and every pixel as a square. Glass TVs are not capable of displaying such clarity, so in a way they 'improve' the perceived viewing quality. i.e. Straight lines look straight, not jagged.

Every time I sit in front of someone else's new pride and joy, all I see is a blocky picture. I'm clearly in the minority though.

Ever put an LCD computer monitor in the wrong resolution and it looks wrong? That's how I feel about driving hi-res panels with low-res signals.

The only large, flat TV that I have seen that impressed me from a clarity perspective is the monster LG that was on display in most of the larger Dixons. What was the secret? I small computer underneath the screen driving a HD picture from a hard disk on the machine with the appropriate interface.....

 

[Doodle]

Sorry to hear that m8 - welcome to the club

Thankfully (although I'm not sure this is the right term) mine doesn't involve any other parties. We've just had a really crappy time in terms of family life since we got married, and she couldn't cope with it.

In 18 mths we lost both grandparents on my mum's side, her brother (all fairly sudden), my mum got diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I temporarily became a full blown desk-chewer and got signed off work for a month with a nervous breakdown. Only problem is by moving back home, she's having to work 14hr days to make ends meet, her mum ignores her irrational behaviour and isn't making sure she gets the help she needs, so instead of sorting herself out, things just seem to be getting worse.

Right...now back on topic

 

[SEM]

Sorry to hear this DT, Some rough year you had...!

On topic: And engineer told me the number of calls he goes to for people who bought a big TV, getting it home...seeing the picture is really bad, only to find they have not gone the HD skyway which was on show in store!! doh!

 

[Doodle]

I must confess, it makes me wonder how they ever expect to sell any TV's on picture quality given the output of the shared signal in most of the stores.

 

[jaymanek]

I must confess, it makes me wonder how they ever expect to sell any TV's on picture quality given the output of the shared signal in most of the stores.

So true, I workled at currys for 4 years... most of the time the difference in picture quality was due to the dodgy co-ax cables used and the 49p splitters... often 20-30 tv's were connected to one dvd player...

 

[idouglas@sandiw]

Hd Tv

I guess you can only go on your own experience. I recently bought a 32" Panasonic which gives me good non HD picture quality and has been positively commented on by friends. Maybe that's because of the screen size relative to the room and viewing position. You might care to take a look at the following link.

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/index~modelcode~HIT-26LD6600.htm

Good luck in your search.

Ian

 

[AdamG]

I recently bought a Toshiba 32WLT66 lcd tv. After looking at several screens at around its price bracket £600-£700 I found the Toshiba to have the crispest image with normal definition feed. I think a lot of it is not the screen but the processor that controls it. I agree about the dodgy feeds in some shops. The place I finally went to buy it had one of the worst feeds yet and I the toshiba looked awful but when I set it up at home it looked sweet.

Cheers

Adam

 

[Carrotchomper]

I have recently bought a 32" LG LCD TV and think it is brilliant (Not least because it was mainly paid for by Mr. Insurance after a flood!!!). Even with digital terrestrial the picture is excellent.

I am toying with the idea of upgrading my Telewest to the TVDrive, which costs £10 extra a month and allows you HD programmes. I think they lag rather behind Sky with the amount of programming available though.

Does anyone have experience of one of the new DVD players which "upscale" normal DVDs to HD- Are they any good? I've seen one for about £150 which seems like a bargain.

 

[mobeyone]

How many HD channels are there at the moment?

 

[pammy]

I think about 10.

 

[splang]

42" lcd from argos apparantly for 699£ . Don't know if any good though.
I bought a LG 42" for £1299 and VERY pleased with it (both sd and hd signals look ace)

Let me know if you want to know more.

 

[Pietre]

I have a 37" Viewsonic with a home cinema setup you can share, but the trip home is a bugger from sunny Pompey.

 

[GregE240]

Although not looking at the HD bit yet, I do fancy an lcd for when we move house in Jan. This seems a good deal. Is it?

http://www.soundandvisiononline.com/moreinfo/index.asp?product_id=10972

Pammy,

The guy who runs this company is my best friend. It will be a good deal.

He also owns DigitaldirectUK.