[Richdog]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Ah another person with the same viewing distance as me! They do exist! Nice to see someone backing up my comments about SD - yeah it doesnt look great but its perfectly watchable for me. Try 2001 and Casino Royale - that should impress you!

Just ordered a Blu-Ray drive for my PC so will be watching Hi-Def by the weekend... it really isn't too close to the set though, and SD really doesn't look too bad, and added to this it's natural for the brain to "get used" to what you're watching in a pretty short space of time. As bit rates improved and higher def becomes the norm (as well as better digital freeview/sat feeds) then this TV can only get better. Hi-def, though, is simply stunning, and from 6.5 feet away the effect is simply immense. I'm SO glad I didn't bu a 42" now.

[cwog]

Re Sat feed splitting

Do a Google on Stacker/Destacker

and let us know if you succeed

[Jim Di Griz]

Originally Posted by Richdog

Just ordered a Blu-Ray drive for my PC so will be watching Hi-Def by the weekend... it really isn't too close to the set though, and SD really doesn't look too bad, and added to this it's natural for the brain to "get used" to what you're watching in a pretty short space of time. As bit rates improved and higher def becomes the norm (as well as better digital freeview/sat feeds) then this TV can only get better. Hi-def, though, is simply stunning, and from 6.5 feet away the effect is simply immense. I'm SO glad I didn't bu a 42" now.

Well Im glad you can argue for that viewing distance with me as well now! Ive had a few people on the forums disagreeing with me about the viewing distance. I have explained that the THX and SMPTE recommended viewing distances for a 50" are 6.9 and 6.4ft respectively but some people wont listen! . SD isnt great but SD isnt great anyway. Looks fine to me anyway.

Its all about the hi-def for me and if you sit at the correct viewing distance its all the better!

[Richdog]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Well Im glad you can argue for that viewing distance with me as well now! Ive had a few people on the forums disagreeing with me about the viewing distance. I have explained that the THX and SMPTE recommended viewing distances for a 50" are 6.9 and 6.4ft respectively but some people wont listen! . SD isnt great but SD isnt great anyway. Looks fine to me anyway.

Its all about the hi-def for me and if you sit at the correct viewing distance its all the better!

I really don't see what there is to argue about anyhow... the viewing distance is not too close, even my ultra-fussy girlfriend was impressed. HD was perfection, SD more than tolerable... that's all there is to it.

[JanBosman]

About Jim Di Griz's viewing distance:

I always use this site to check how far I have to sit for the best experience

Viewing Distance Calculator

Good site to explain to people why you are sitting so "close"

For 50 inch, the recommended viewing distance according to
THX is between 5.6 ft and 7.9 ft. So your viewing distances are superb guys

[rewerb]

Originally Posted by Fattage

Short answer is no. I looked into this and the problem is that there is a voltage running from the receiver to the dish which controls the polarisation of the LNB.. not quite sure what that means but the bottom line is you need a sperate feed for each receiver... in the end I gave up trying to crack it and put another cable in

Polarisation is vertical or horizontal. If two TVs share the same cable they have to use the same polarisation. Which means the second TV in the chain is limited to half the channels (half are veritical, half are horizontal). So it will work, but to access all the channels you need a seperate feed.

[BYF]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Well Im glad you can argue for that viewing distance with me as well now! Ive had a few people on the forums disagreeing with me about the viewing distance. I have explained that the THX and SMPTE recommended viewing distances for a 50" are 6.9 and 6.4ft respectively but some people wont listen! . SD isnt great but SD isnt great anyway. Looks fine to me anyway.

Its all about the hi-def for me and if you sit at the correct viewing distance its all the better!

I think I was one of the ones who disagreed with you in one thread about screen size/viewing distance but that was regarding SDTV as the main use. THX and SMPTE viewing distances go out of the window with SDTV due to poor bitrates and the amount of rescaling going on which greatly softens the picture. For HD though 6-7 feet is great

[rgb31]

can someone please tell me what is the last firmware version of the g10 ?

[Jim Di Griz]

Originally Posted by JanBosman

About Jim Di Griz's viewing distance:

I always use this site to check how far I have to sit for the best experience

Viewing Distance Calculator

Good site to explain to people why you are sitting so "close"

For 50 inch, the recommended viewing distance according to
THX is between 5.6 ft and 7.9 ft. So your viewing distances are superb guys

Thanks Jan!

Its my own fault for not bothering to post the link earlier I suppose though!

I just hope the next person who questions me about my viewing distance bothers to tap their details into the viewing distance calculator first...and then starts rearranging their seating!

I have seen some odd things on the forum though - like people watching 42" tvs at a range of 10-11ft!

[PuntNL]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Thanks Jan!

Its my own fault for not bothering to post the link earlier I suppose though!

I just hope the next person who questions me about my viewing distance bothers to tap their details into the viewing distance calculator first...and then starts rearranging their seating!

I have seen some odd things on the forum though - like people watching 42" tvs at a range of 10-11ft!

I am one of those odd people . I have a 42" G10 and usually sit about 9 - 10 feet from it... Quitte happy with it though... If everything would be HD, I would probably also bump my screen size up to like 50"..

For people already over break in period of 100 - 200 hours have you guys bumped up the contrast a lot? I have spend over 100 hours on my tv now and have contrast in cinema mode (normal temperature) bumped up to 38, think that is about right for me..

[gizlaroc]

Seating distance is personal.

I sit 9ft from my screen and find that 42" always looks stunning with SD, where as at 6ft it often looks pretty poor.
Again with the 50" 9ft can be a little too close with anything but the very best SD material.

It comes down to whether you want to sit back and never think "ooh, this looks poor." or not.

If everything was HD then a 60" at 8ft would be perfect.

[gizlaroc]

Also, sometimes I just want to watch the TV, not be on bloody set!!

[JanBosman]

I ordered a 46 inch G10, but I think I'm going to sit about 8ft from it. I can still move the couch though, move it closer with HD and further with SD

[gary965]

I think viewing distance is totally personal and also down to the way you room is set out. We have a 3 and a 2 seater sofa so it is physically impossible for everyone to be 6 feet away, indeed the closest is about 8 feet away and the furthest about 15 feet away. My 50" G10 looks great in every seat.

[Jim Di Griz]

Well the most important thing for me was blu-rays and maybe HD through freesat later on.

I dont watch that much SD anyway so I didnt consider that at all. (Most TV is pretty awful lets be honest!)

I find DVD's very good at my range unless they are ropey transfers of course!

Plus I wanted the blu-rays to be in my face - even if they were in 2:35 format (which most are)!

The 50" at this range does make a difference from the 42" I had...I tend to get 'lost' in the film more now and thats what you want when watching films!

Mind you - 60" at this range would be ridiculous!

[Fattage]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

I dont watch that much SD anyway so I didnt consider that at all. (Most TV is pretty awful lets be honest!)

How could you say that... my life would be empty without the quality acting and scriptwriting of Eastenders....

[PuntNL]

@Jim di Griz (and others), did you already put up contrast a little or are you planning to after break in?

[Jim Di Griz]

PuntNL - well I have, a bit.

Ive now got brightness and contrast both on 50% exactly. Sharpness on blu-rays is zero (thanks for whoever recommended that) and about 20-30% on TV stuff.

Coming up to four weeks this Friday. Reckon Ive gone way past the 100 hours though! Probably more like 200 hours.

Im not paying for a blu-ray calibration disc though...hopefully one will appear on a film I buy - Ill just use the old DVD THX one when the time comes. (Ive got plenty of films on my blu-ray list that take much higher priority than a calibration disc!)

[gizlaroc]

I always crank my constrast right up when I get a new set to help it bed in quicker.

[Jim Di Griz]

Originally Posted by Fattage

How could you say that... my life would be empty without the quality acting and scriptwriting of Eastenders....

Totally agree!

About the only thing Im watching on TV right now is the confederations cup - is that available in HD on freesat? I need to get a dish put up soon at any rate!

[Fattage]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Totally agree!

About the only thing Im watching on TV right now is the confederations cup - is that available in HD on freesat? I need to get a dish put up soon at any rate!

Have a look here freesat - Home

Only the BBC and ITV are on HD and the programmes are very limited at the moment (ITV only has a few programmes per week and is not a seperate channel like BBC HD) but the quality is first rate... it's worth slinging a dish up but you don't get the same channel choice as with Freeview...

[Nixer]

Hi guys. Quick question. Does this set output 1080p via Vga?

Cheers

N

[Jim Di Griz]

Originally Posted by Fattage

Have a look here freesat - Home

Only the BBC and ITV are on HD and the programmes are very limited at the moment (ITV only has a few programmes per week and is not a seperate channel like BBC HD) but the quality is first rate... it's worth slinging a dish up but you don't get the same channel choice as with Freeview...

Thanks Fattage (interesting name )

Yeah, I know theres not much in HD right now but I presume that will increase as time goes on. Im a bit more concerned with reading on another thread that it wasnt possible to record built-in freesat on a PVR? Anyone know anything about this? (Im totally in the dark on PVR's but want to get one pretty soon).

I realise this is a bit off-topic but it does relate to the built-in freesat on the G10!

[Fattage]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Thanks Fattage (interesting name )

Yeah, I know theres not much in HD right now but I presume that will increase as time goes on. Im a bit more concerned with reading on another thread that it wasnt possible to record built-in freesat on a PVR? Anyone know anything about this? (Im totally in the dark on PVR's but want to get one pretty soon).

I realise this is a bit off-topic but it does relate to the built-in freesat on the G10!

Fattage is my kids "affectionate" name for me.. not very respectful but quite accurate!

I have a Panny HDD recorder which I only have set up on a HDMI link at the moment. I understand that if I connect the unit to a SCART as well, the HDD will record from any tuner built into the TV using the VIERA link. I am going to try connecting this up at the weekend so I'll let you know how it works next week.

[Boris360]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

Thanks Fattage (interesting name )

Yeah, I know theres not much in HD right now but I presume that will increase as time goes on. Im a bit more concerned with reading on another thread that it wasnt possible to record built-in freesat on a PVR? Anyone know anything about this? (Im totally in the dark on PVR's but want to get one pretty soon).

I realise this is a bit off-topic but it does relate to the built-in freesat on the G10!

If you just want to watch Freesat but have no intention of recording it, you can just watch it on your G10's inbuilt freesat tuner, that'll save you money but you wont be able to record any of the channels.

If you want a PVR that can record HD as well as SD, you need something like a Humax 'Foxsat' PVR.

From your question it appears that you think that the PVR is just a recording device. It's not. A PVR has it's own tuners so it records the signal from them and not the TV. If you get a Foxsat, you'll be able to record, pause and rewind live TV (both HD and SD). Buying this though would completely negate your need for the inbuilt
Freesat tuner on the G10.


It's exactly the same situation as buying a TV with built in freeview. If you want to record the freeview on these sets you need a PVR which then makes the inbuilt freeview tuner redundant anyway.

[Jim Di Griz]

Originally Posted by Fattage

Fattage is my kids "affectionate" name for me.. not very respectful but quite accurate!

I have a Panny HDD recorder which I only have set up on a HDMI link at the moment. I understand that if I connect the unit to a SCART as well, the HDD will record from any tuner built into the TV using the VIERA link. I am going to try connecting this up at the weekend so I'll let you know how it works next week.

Thanks! Would definitely appreciate it. From your comments and Boris360 it seems that a Panasonic HDD will do me - I dont want more tuners and Im not bothered about recording HD particularly. So what do you use the HDD for - if Scart will record off the TV whats the HDMI link for?

Sorry - im a real newbie on this stuff! I just need something to record the odd programme off the in-built freeview/freesat tuners. Upcoming series 3 of the Wire on BBC2 is one that springs to mind! I take it that the TV would have to be actually switched on to record anything off the in-built tuners though?

[Fattage]

Originally Posted by Jim Di Griz

. So what do you use the HDD for - if Scart will record off the TV whats the HDMI link for?

Sorry - im a real newbie on this stuff! I just need something to record the odd programme off the in-built freeview/freesat tuners. Upcoming series 3 of the Wire on BBC2 is one that springs to mind! I take it that the TV would have to be actually switched on to record anything off the in-built tuners though?

I got the HDD about 3 years ago, its the DMR EX75 when I bought my old TH37PX60. The HDMI allows for upscalling of DVD's and it has built in DVB and analogue tuners. I mostly used it as a recorder but due to where I live, DVB doesnt work so I got Sky+ which pretty much made the HDD redundant other than as a DVD player

You are correct in that it will only record the channel being watched on the TV and the TV has to be on. I think the biggest advantage I will get if I connect it up is the pause live TV option. If I'm watching something on Freesat I'm hoping I can use that function for when nature calls or the wife decides to strike up a conversation during Eastenders or Corrie... can't miss those!!!

Having said all that you may consider Sky as an alternative to a PVR... then they put up the dish which you can use for freesat too...

[Jim Di Griz]

Ive had Sky 3 or 4 times down the years - not bothering again! The football is nice (and was the main reason) but its just not worth it for me for the amount of time I actually watch it.

Ill keep an eye on the Panasonic HDD range and see if something looks suitable though.

[Big_Dan_C]

Originally Posted by Nixer

Hi guys. Quick question. Does this set output 1080p via Vga?

Cheers

N

do you mean recieve a 1080p signal through VGA - no unfortunately.

[MrSoapsud]

I have mentioned before that I have recorded a Freesat program on my very old Panasonic DMR-HS2 (analogue only) via the SCART connection. Q-Link is the technology. There is also the Viera link stuff but I guess that only applies to newer kit? The TV has to be on or on standby, and while the recording is happening you cannot use the TV tuner for anything else. I have something scheduled for Sunday night because I already have 2 things programmed on the Humax!

I was really pleased about this because I had assumed the old Panny box would become a bit useless after our analogue signal is switched off in November. (It plays DVDs/CDs too I guess.)