28" Advice needed

I currently have a 21" 4:3 TV and have decided to go widescreen. As a 28" widescreen is the same picture height as my current TV, and with a limited budget I've pretty much decided to get a 28". But which one? I've been into my local Panasonic Shop and Sony Centre and am now even more confused.

On the subject of 50 Hz v 100 Hz the Panasonic guy was inclined to say that as I don't suffer from screen flicker on my existing set 50 Hz would be perfectly adequate. He also said that if most of my viewing was to be digital (DVD, Sky/cable etc) there was not much to be gained by having 100 Hz over 50 Hz. However the
Sony guy said the opposite - that there was more to be gained by 100 Hz with digital input. Who was right? Is 100 Hz justified on a 28" TV?

To be honest the Sony TVs - KV28LS36 50 Hz and KV28FX68 100 Hz - didn't look that brilliant. They were playing a DVD which included shots of a cobbled street and steps which seemed to be shimmering quite a lot. However the KV28FQ70 next to it looked superb but was a bit out of my budget. When I pressed the Sony guy on this he flustered a bit and couldn't really give me an adequate explanation. Could it have been just the way they had it set up?

The Panasonics looked better but on the other hand the Sonys have 2 RGB scarts and Virtual Dolby. Or should I go for a Philips?

[hornydragon]

Where abouts are you??? Have a look at JVC 28" Interiart sets also Toshibas sets the JVC are good for the money what sort of budget are you looking at?

I'm in Exeter, with a budget of about £600 - £700 at a stretch

[hornydragon]

JVC 28X37or 28X67 are good sets for the money TOSH 28Z07 Panny 28DT20 28PL10 also LOEWE Cantis 28" http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/produc...affiliateid=95

[Jack-Deth]

I have a JVC AV28R25EKS. Picture quality great and sound very good, 50Hz 3 x Scarts and cost around £450 . Highly recomend it............

Toshiba 28zd26p, 3 scarts (only one RGB), and prog scan for £514.99 or the jvc 28x37 for £463.99.

Rich

[bonzobanana]

Originally posted by Fred S
On the subject of 50 Hz v 100 Hz the Panasonic guy was inclined to say that as I don't suffer from screen flicker on my existing set 50 Hz would be perfectly adequate. He also said that if most of my viewing was to be digital (DVD, Sky/cable etc) there was not much to be gained by having 100 Hz over 50 Hz. However the
Sony guy said the opposite - that there was more to be gained by 100 Hz with digital input. Who was right? Is 100 Hz justified on a 28" TV?

100hz works betters on digital sources than analogue so the Sony guy was right generally. Of course there may be exceptions on individual sets but 100hz sets digitise each frame and then show the same frame twice to get 100hz. Sometimes they process these frames to try to improve the image or animation and most of the time this works better with good solid images. Thats the trouble with 100hz though its an extra stage of processing where fine detail can be lost in the image. 100hz is very hard to get right and most firms don't do it very well. LG and Thomson are pretty hopeless at it.

[martinthorn]

LG and Thomson are pretty hopeless at it.

My 28" Thomson is quite good at 100Hz (no digital artifacts and
football is watchable !). The digital noise reduction is not great
though and is kept switched off. There is an occasional colour
purity problem at one corner of the TV (about 1cm square).
However, for £425 I spent, I am more than satisfied..

Martin

[bonzobanana]

You'd probably find that the 50hz version of the same set had a better picture and more fine detail in the image.

[martinthorn]

the 50hz version of the same set had a better picture

Maybe so, but it's far from 'hopeless' at 100Hz. It's at least as
good as the neighbours £1k panasonic in that respect.

Colour purity though is a different story.. seems to be a recurring
theme regarding Thomson TVs on this forum.

[bonzobanana]

I'll admit 'hopeless' might be overstating it. But at best its poor and hardly logical to pay more for such a feature at least on 28" sets.