All current HD ready LCDs already old hat ?

jonandjen

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I'm trying to decide on a new HD ready LCD TV to be the centre piece of a new home AV system. It has now dawned on me that all current LCD tv's (with the exception of the new Toshiba WLT58's) are already behind the curve as far as futureproofing. Assuming that most people will want to connect a HDMI enabled DVD player, and will be wanting to do likewise with forthcoming Sky HD, all the current LCD market (as they all have only 1 x HDMI input) will be virtually useless come spring 06 (and the release of Sky HD).

I know there are now (just about possible but at significant extra cost) ways round this predicament (like buy a HDMI enabled Receiver such as Yam 4600 / 2600 or Denon 3806, or the new Meridian HDMI switcher), but this is not the point. Surely when you are forced to shell out upto £2K for a decent HD ready LCD, we could at least expect it to last us a few years without the need to upgrade rather as it seems at the moment, a few months.

History is seemingly repeating itself here. Those of you who bought a CRT tv with only one Scart input all those years ago, will perhaps appreciate where I'm coming from. :mad:
 
Thought about unplugging and replugging the other unit? Hardly makes them useless as you say......
 
Granted it would work but hardly practical. It would be like going back to the days before remote controls !!

Also, would wear the knees in me jeans too quick !! :D
 
Fair point! Its probably a bit like SCARTs at first. Two or three will become a feature. I think I have seen switching boxes as well- may make it easier, particularly if there are hidden cables.
Cheers
 
For goodness sake just buy a TV and in three or four years time buy another..If you are looking for the ultimate future proof perfect TV. WAKE UP!!! You are never ever ever going to find it..........
 
The sad truth, especially in an area like this, stuff is being improved upon all the time.

(Just be glad you weren't one of the people who bought an HDMI-less TV and are now hoping Component sees them through for awhile!)
 
chriszzzzzz said:
For goodness sake just buy a TV and in three or four years time buy another..If you are looking for the ultimate future proof perfect TV. WAKE UP!!! You are never ever ever going to find it..........

very blunt and very true, you will never get a future proof anything, otherwise manufacturers would just give up spending money on R&D which is after all their most expensive "must have" just think if they made a set that was bang up to date and then stopped the R&D to produce new stuff, how cheap would that set be.
 
chriszzzzzz said:
For goodness sake just buy a TV and in three or four years time buy another..If you are looking for the ultimate future proof perfect TV. WAKE UP!!! You are never ever ever going to find it..........

Read the post! He said most current LCD'd will be short of at least one HDMI input by early 2006 - we are talking months not years. And I agree. I already have an upscaling DVD player with HDMI. So if I buy a TV now, I will immediately use the only available socket. Within 6 months I want to add Sky HD and possibly XBox 360. I don't really want to have upgrade my amp just to get HDMI switching! I can buy a switch box which accepts two inputs for £225 online. There are also 4 input switch boxes for £300+. The manufacturers know this. 2 HDMI inputs are a minimum I'd say, if not, then you must factor the cost of a switchbox into your budget when buying a TV.
 
chriszzzzzz said:
For goodness sake just buy a TV and in three or four years time buy another..If you are looking for the ultimate future proof perfect TV. WAKE UP!!! You are never ever ever going to find it..........

"Calm down, calm down" :D (only joking!!)

If you read the post properly you may have actually got my point. I wholeheartedly agree that you can't wait around for ever for the perfect time to buy. My point is that three or 4 years would be a perfectly acceptable time before needing to upgrade, but not three or four months. When Sky HD comes out in (probably) Feb 06 I will need two HDMI inputs (one for DVD and One for Sky HD). All, yes all current LCDs (with the exception of the new Tosh WLT58 range) have only one HDMI input.

All ways round this other than twills99's very helpful but slightly impractical (just unplug it) suggestion mean significant additional expense. This is surely a bit hard to bare when you have just spent a significant amount of your hard earned on the TV.
 
HeweyBoy101 said:
I can buy a switch box which accepts two inputs for £225 online. There are also 4 input switch boxes for £300+.

I imagine like most things they'll come down in price to more reasonable levels as more manufacturers produce them and more people want them.
 
If you want to connect a Sky HD box and a Blu-Ray/HD DVD recorder, the recorder could feature a HDMI input that has a passthrough function when in standby mode which would enable you to daisychain the two devices. (And allow digital quality recording of the Sky HD signal, copy protection permitting...)
 
Well I have a PC hanging from My 1 DVI and I reckon the HD/Blue ray Drives will be available for PC first, Someone will do a Satellite HD Tuner card, Company's like ATI have lot's of Stuff that's HD orientated
My thinking is a Media pc is about the best way to go !, i appreciate it may not be for everyone..
 
clarky1 said:
thats a damn good point about only 1 hd connection though

Yes, except that there are very few UK sets out there with more than one COMPONENT input, despite many people having at least two component sources - DVD, X-box/PS-2. Multiple component switching usually comes courtesy of an AV amp. The same is bound to happen with HDMI. Amps are already out at well under £1000 which include HDMI switching. In 2006/2007 this will have trickled down to the mid range machines (note what happened with component switching and auto setup routines). So, yes, one HDMI is a pain, but it follows an established practice and it will play into the hands of the amp/receiver manufacturers.
 
yep, lack of component is a much more immediate issue IMO, but at least switchers are slightly cheaper.

I'm looking into this, and will have DVD player, Xbox 1 (for XBMC), Xbox 360 (BTW doesn't use HDMI), maybe Tivo (via component converter for less cabling) etc etc.


TBH, the Toshiba is a genius move, and I'm only considering it because it has 2 HDMI sockets, although I'm concerned they might be noisy inputs.

but I think DVD players with HDMI are overrated, so I'm only looking at Sky HD then maybe a PS3 if its a good bluray player (otherwise a dedicated bluray player and the PS3 can go component).

So I don't see more than the need for 2 HDMI, and something will have a passthrough eventually.

Frankly if you are looking for a TV now, I don't see the lack of HDMI inputs as a reason to stall - most new ranges have just come out, so it'll be the spring before anything new
 
HeweyBoy101 said:
Read the post! He said most current LCD'd will be short of at least one HDMI input by early 2006 - we are talking months not years. And I agree. I already have an upscaling DVD player with HDMI. So if I buy a TV now, I will immediately use the only available socket. Within 6 months I want to add Sky HD and possibly XBox 360. I don't really want to have upgrade my amp just to get HDMI switching! I can buy a switch box which accepts two inputs for £225 online. There are also 4 input switch boxes for £300+. The manufacturers know this. 2 HDMI inputs are a minimum I'd say, if not, then you must factor the cost of a switchbox into your budget when buying a TV.
I did read the post, and my point is still the same. In six months time at the rate of R&D there will be something else that could be 'waited' on before making a decision. Once Sky is up and running and HD DVD is common place then the switch boxes will be cheap as chips.
I agree its a problem initially and realy only a problem for those who must have it all as it appears. However for the majority of people the need for multi HDMI switches is a minor one.
Others are waiting OLED, some for SED etc etc. My point was merely that you will always find an excuse to wait a bit longer, but, at some point that decision will have to be made.
 

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