Is HD Worth It?

[Heedibaa]

Hi folks,

Been looking for a fairly decent Widescreen Tv, just a normal 32" CRT, was thinking of an HD Ready one but the prices are so much higher. Found a few good ones that aren't for around £300-£350, but the cheapest HD Ready I've seen so far is the Samsung WS32Z308P (From another thread, some saying it's not actually HD Ready) for £480 or the JVC HV-32D40 for £600, all the others seem to be LCD's.

So before I buy the far more expensive one I'm curious in the difference in quality, is it really worth forking out another £150+ for the pleasure? Will I be buying an obselete Tv if I don't get one thats HD Ready?

Any info appreciated.
Cheers.

[Starburst]

You will get plenty of use out of a standard telly, infact it'll break down long before SD source material dries up

HD is expensive and don't forget the TV is just one piece of the puzzle, you will need HD sources which will not be cheap either and if the BBC broadcasts HD free you still need a HD STB and no way to record HD unless you have an integrated hard drive until the next DVD replacement appears some next year for serious money

So to put it simply, HD is fantastic and if you can afford it you will be enjoying some stunning television but if you can't then stick with normal telly and reap the benefits in cheaper hardware and more content in a couple of years or so.

[dan1979]

Standard def will be around for a very long time yet, the new HD technology is going to be expensive for a good while after it comes out. Are you planning on getting a next-gen console? Willing to fork out a lot of cash for new players and discs?

Right now if you have to ask if it's worth it then it isn't as you'll have nothing to watch on it that will make the extra expense worthwhile.

If you're asking if HD is a big step-up then yes it is but there's going to be a lack of material (in the UK at least) for some time unless you investigate the non-legal routes of acquiring stuff.

[Heedibaa]

Cheers folks.

I'm not going to be getting a Next-Gen Console or anything, but I'm thinking that I'll probably have this Tv for a good few years so even if I don't get HD when it first comes out it would still be good to have the option of switching to it a few years down the line when it takes off and becomes cheaper.
It would kind of feel like buying an extremely expensive VCR a few years ago when DVD's were still new and expensive themselves!
Decisions decisions!

[bayards]

The Samsung was reveiwed this month in a CRT roundup in one of the tech glossies - it came last and was slated for picture geometry problems! OO er.

H

[HSC]

Is HD worth it...?

Here is my quick evaluation...(via a HTPC. DVD is scaled/post-processed using FFDShow)

DVD vs. HD 720p MPEG2 files
On 32" LCD - Difference is not really noticable
On projection screen - Shapness is more apparent on HD material (only if you look hard)

Sky Movies vs. HD 720p
32" LCD - better colours, sharpness, contrast and no picture anomolies...
Projector - All the above times 10 - Sky looks pants compared to HD


when HD TV broadcasts start (or next gen DVD comes along) I think people with large screens will benefit a lot more. If you choose to jump on the HD bandwagon early on.....
if not - you wont miss a great deal.....

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Originally Posted by HSC

Is HD worth it...?

Here is my quick evaluation...(via a HTPC. DVD is scaled/post-processed using FFDShow)

DVD vs. HD 720p MPEG2 files
On 32" LCD - Difference is not really noticable
On projection screen - Shapness is more apparent on HD material (only if you look hard)

Sky Movies vs. HD 720p
32" LCD - better colours, sharpness, contrast and no picture anomolies...
Projector - All the above times 10 - Sky looks pants compared to HD


when HD TV broadcasts start (or next gen DVD comes along) I think people with large screens will benefit a lot more. If you choose to jump on the HD bandwagon early on.....
if not - you wont miss a great deal.....

Factor in also that the HTPC is providing superior deinterlacing and scaling to anything you will get in-the-box with an LCD/Plasma/Projector etc and the difference is a bit more!

[dan1979]

Originally Posted by HSC

DVD vs. HD 720p MPEG2 files
On 32" LCD - Difference is not really noticable
On projection screen - Shapness is more apparent on HD material (only if you look hard)

Can't really compare it like that, the quality of HD stuff varies a lot, some of the 720p stuff I've watched has been miles better than DVD's whereas others have looked only as good as a decent DVD.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Originally Posted by dan1979

Can't really compare it like that, the quality of HD stuff varies a lot, some of the 720p stuff I've watched has been miles better than DVD's whereas others have looked only as good as a decent DVD.

Pretty much the same as some DVDs are awful and some not. Very hard to put it into words. And there is also the question of buying a very good SD TV, or a very poor HD one where perhaps you may see the improvement HD offers but because of other areas of the image disappointing the overal enjoyment factor is not much better.

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by HSC

Is HD worth it...?

Here is my quick evaluation...(via a HTPC. DVD is scaled/post-processed using FFDShow)

DVD vs. HD 720p MPEG2 files
On 32" LCD - Difference is not really noticable
On projection screen - Shapness is more apparent on HD material (only if you look hard)

Sky Movies vs. HD 720p
32" LCD - better colours, sharpness, contrast and no picture anomolies...
Projector - All the above times 10 - Sky looks pants compared to HD


when HD TV broadcasts start (or next gen DVD comes along) I think people with large screens will benefit a lot more. If you choose to jump on the HD bandwagon early on.....
if not - you wont miss a great deal.....

Perfectly true. The bigger the screen, the bigger the benefit of HD. I have to chuckle when people ask for guidance on buying HD capable small-screen TV's, because they're hardly going to see much difference for the money.

[DanDT]

Would you not recommend 32" sets then? I was looking to buy a 32" one in the near future. I'm sure i'll see the difference.

[rogeralpine]

Originally Posted by Nick_UK

Perfectly true. The bigger the screen, the bigger the benefit of HD. I have to chuckle when people ask for guidance on buying HD capable small-screen TV's, because they're hardly going to see much difference for the money.

...definitely agree, although it does depend how far you sit away from the screen. In a normal lounge I'd expect the distance to be such that less than 32" would be too small an improvement for most people to notice. I sit quite close to my 24" screen and the difference is night and day between HD material and SD material.

[Nick_UK]

A lot depends on the type of screen. CRT sets can be capable of incredible resolutions, but with plasma, CRT and DLP you're limited to the number of pixels on the display, no matter how close you sit.

I wouldn't consider 32" to be a small screen. I was really referring to 21" or less.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Just to throw another random comment to the wind. Sharp 32" LCD 32P50 vs 32GA6.

In many ways I prefer the P50 (960x540 rather than 1366x768). PAL is annoyingly chopped down to 540 lines, but save for some lost information the lack of any resclaing makes for a razor sharp image. 1080i is a very simple half scale, and 720 a third scale. Given that from 3m or so the extra resolution of the GA6 is barely noticeable on this 32" screen, the lower resolution P50 actually looks better to my eyes on HD and SD than the higher res GA6 does.

[Heedibaa]

Cheers for all the info, much of it is over my head though!

Does anyone have any info on the JVC HV-32D40. Says it's HD Compatible but does that mean it has the right connections for Sky as well? Can't find any reviews on it at all, seems to be my best option so far. Looks good and isn't too bad a price.

Cheers.