I was wondering whether anyone could help me make a decision about which Sony 32” TV to buy?
I have been looking around and have decided upon one of these two:
Sony KD32DX51
This is a 50hz screen with a built in Freeview Tuner. Only has 2 SCARTS
The other is:
Sony KD32DX200
This is a 100hz screen with a built in Freeview Tuner with 3 SCARTS.
My main issue is the 100hz. I am use to 50hz and have found the 100hz models can look smeared etc. They can however look stunning with films.
I will mainly be watching DVD’s and playing Xbox games on it so would this lessen the risk of smearing and a pixelled look?
I also realise that to use Freeview I need a decent aerial etc. This applies to both of these and I guess I can run on analogue for a bit although I may suffer from a poorer picture on the 100hz set.
The costs difference for these would be approx £220. I am edging
towards the DX200 because I feel maybe I should be getting the ‘latest’ screen technology and not simply buying technology I have had before if you know what I mean!
I know in the end it is my decision but can anyone offer me some advice or tips?!

[Brainboy]

I too am used to 50Hz, never saw a flicker in my life and am swithering about Sony's!

I looked at the KD32DX200 yesterday in Sony Centre and the DRC50 setting looked the best for football - having had a v bad experience with a Loewe 100Hz and football I am verging towards a simple 50Hz set. The KD32DX200 has three easily switchable settings 50Hz, 50hz with DRC and 100Hz with DRC. To me DRC50 looked ok for football or fastish motion shots - I watched the Man U disallowed goal on Sky Sports News through a freeview box - the long left to right panning shot seemed ok on the 50 a little sharper on 50DRC but the pitch pixelated quite badly and broke up at the 100HZ setting.

Am I alone in thinking 100Hz is a waste of time and money and good 50 Hz is still best?

[MartinImber]

Get the aerial sorted ASAP and don't bother with analogue

Try both on News24 and see which you prefer, does the DX200 mess up BBC to 88C?, does the DX51 flicker?, does the ticker bar run smoothly when in both 100Hz mode and 50Hz mode with the DX200?

Then try ABC1 and see which takes the NTSC->PAL conversion better and which hides SDN bitrate shortcomings best.

I hope this helps with your choice

[Himji]

I'm going through a similar hell myself. Never thought about the consoles on a 100hz tho, I hope somebody can provide an answer for that!

In the end I've decided on a 100hz withought the freeview (the integrated ones are too much for my budget) and then buy a seperate box when I want it.

BTW, I know somebody using an indoor (albeit a very large one) aerial and watching on freeview

Thanks for the replies so far.
One other question sorry if it is stupid...
This applies to both TV's I guess.
Can I output the Freeview signal into my video and feed some analogue cables to my Receiver to produce PLII sound?
This is resaon I ask I guess is that the Freeview unit is built in.
Do I simply output from a SCART socket into my VCR and then feed the sound into the Receiver?
At the moment I have an analogue (TV) signal into my VCR and that outputs sound into my Reciever

Thanks.

[Nick_UK]

100Hz TV works by digitising the TV signals, feeding them into a "frame store" which basically stores a complete picture, and then scans that same picture twice to give 100Hz.

Storing a complete picture requires quite a lot of memory, and manufacturers often cut corners to reduce the amount of memory required. This can lead to pixellation of the picture, giving poor resolution, and grey scales that appear "stepped", instead of a smooth transition from black to white.

Having said all that, Digital TV can also suffer from the above problems, but when I saw my friend's Toshiba 28" 100Hz set, the pixellation and grey scale stepping seemed to be worse than I had seen on Sky on an ordinary CRT set.

[Grif]

I've got the dx200 and can recommend it....very happy so far. Now the TV is run in I tend to use it on DRC50 all the time. I do notice flicker occasionally...when the screen is very bright and plain. Scrolling banners or text are virtually unreadable on the other 2 100hz modes (not that this bothers me). My VCR is connected via scart and I can get freeview surround sound (PL11) via an optical out from the back of the TV to the reciever. HTH.

Thanks. Thats helpful.
Does anyone know if the DX51 have an optical out as well?
Also do you think Grif that you are effectively switching off the 100hz processing if you are running it in DRC50 mode most of the time?

[Grif]

Switching from 100hz to 50hz yes, but not switching off the processing...thats DRC (Digital Reality Creation). It has a non DRC 100hz mode also.....but for me, this just shows how good DRC is, so I never use it.

[MartinImber]

AFAIK no optical on the DX51

For recording Sony GX500 or Humax 8000T will solve that little issue

Damn I was close to a decision then.
Will I be able to output the Freeview sounds signal as analogue Stereo sound through a SCART into my VCR then into my Receiver for PLII sound? (on the DX51)
I suppose then other way is out of the phonos from the back of the TV (if it has any) then straight into my Receiver?

Sorry for the persistent questions but if I can't play Freeview sound into my 5.1 setup (to get PLII) then DX51 will not be for me.
I don't really want to have to buy additional equipment to get it to work either...
Buying a TV is beginning to turn into a nightmare!

[MartinImber]

There should be stereo audio outs. Also available through a Scart