Better to buy Full HD or HD Ready - help, Im confused!

cjb22

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Ok, Id really appreciate some help on this.

Im a little confused by all the jargon and the terms Full HD and HD ready and am in the market to buy a new TV to replace an awful 27" Matsui CRT for my parents.

The TV will be watched from a distance of between 4-7metres.

(As I understand it, Full HD (1920x1080) is approx double the resolution of an HD tv that is not labelled 'Full HD'.)

However Im not sure that buying a Full HD TV will be the better choice.

The reason for thinking this is that my parents will mainly watching television via an aerial NOT a satellite dish, although they do already receive and watch digital Freeview via their aerial.

They will never have cable and its very unlikely that they will be receiving signal via a Satellite dish, mainly due to the fact that satellite dish is impractical because the signal is obstructed by trees.

The TV will never be used to play computer games and very seldom do they watch DVD's.

Im not sure if in the future they will watch Bluray - its possible. I hope with a larger and nicer TV this will encourage them to watch more films, so perhaps it might be an advantage to buy a BluRay player.

So with these viewing habits could they actually receive a better quality picture by not buying a Full HD TV - what I mean by this is it not true that most of the TV signals they will be receiving be at 720 resolution - and DVD's will also be at this resolution, so whats the point of a full HD TV which will have to upscale the image and a possible degradation in image quality. I saw 2 Panasonic LCD TVs, running side by side showing a music channel - I would suppose being broadcast at 720 resolution.

The image on the HD Ready model was clearly superior to the Full HD model - in terms of resolution anyway - i.e. there was greater definition on the HD Ready Model - I would suppose this was a result of the image on the Full HD model needing to be processed and upscaled.


Im not sure if there can be a definite answer on this.


Part 2 of my question, what LCD TV would you recommend with these factors in mind:

- 42" (although might consider 37" - although there is a viewing distance of between 4metres and 7metres, so I think 42" would be more suitable)

- The TV MUST be from Argos, because it will be purchased with Nectar points (100,000 of them) - although its not a problem if it exceeds the value of the Nectar points.

- I don't want to buy something nasty although Id hope that It wouldnt be necessary to buy a Panasonic or Sony and pay alot more. It does'nt need to be a top of the range product but id prefer it to be a good product - whatever the new tv is going to be, will hopefully be a vast improvement on what they have at present.

- Maximum price willing to pay - £600


Many thanks to anyone who can advise me on this
 
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Frankly it sounds like their requirements are pointing towards a CRT TV?

I can understand getting an LCD for the size, but the picture isn't going to be better than on a CRT I wouldn't think.

Perhaps a 32" LCD like a Samsung would be best?
 
sure, i can understand why the picture quality may not be better, but it will be bigger - and that's important.

27" is way too small for a viewing distance of up to 7-8metres.

Im surprised that you think a 32" would be of sufficient size?

What do think would need to change in their viewing requirements to warrant a change to a LCD as opposed to purchasing another CRT?
 
The Panasonic TH42PX80 42" plasma tv is the perfect tool for the job and is still just about avaialble for the budget, but alas not from Argos.
 
sure, i can understand why the picture quality may not be better, but it will be bigger - and that's important.

27" is way too small for a viewing distance of up to 7-8metres.

Im surprised that you think a 32" would be of sufficient size?

What do think would need to change in their viewing requirements to warrant a change to a LCD as opposed to purchasing another CRT?

Well I'm thinking that if you get a huge LCD/Plasma the PQ will be worse on SD than a CRT due to the screen size. For example, a 1080p screen will have to upscale that much more than a smaller screen and you really will be able to see the pixels.

My Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ80 is great on some transmissions (on digital), but on those that aren't as good it looks very pixelated. Not really tried analogue as the signal is proper rubbish where I live.

The Samsung 32" TV I have looks much better on weaker SD signals due to it being 720p and a smaller screen = less upscaling
 
so its good to have your opinion as it also rather confirms my thoughts - and I was'nt at all sure about my ideas concerning the upscaling business.
So with a FULL HD there isnt really much point and it would be better to go for HD ready. If the picture was only a little bit better but bigger than the present 27" CRT then everyone is going to be happy.
 
I'm not sure if the picture will actually be better, but a 32/37" 720p screen will be bigger and shouldn't be too bad.

Perhaps ask for some SD demo's in a shop to see what you think?
 
what sort of PQ improvement could I expect to see (bearing in mind that its a MATSUI 27" CRT), from a 37" LCD 720 Resolution, if any from a viewing distance of 4-6 metres playing:

DVD's
Blueray
 
so just to recap:
don't go for Full HD and going for larger than 37" might well be a problem - in terms of there being no visible improvement in the PQ.
?

Well if thats the case, then it means saving a bit of money
 
I'd advise to test and see what you think. Sitting a decent 32" CRT next to a decent 32" LCD and you are more than likely going to see that the 32" CRT looks better on standard definition.

SD is not really what LCD's are optimally designed for viewing

EDIT: Pop a Blu Ray in, or even an up-scaled DVD and the PQ improvement will be plain to see.
 
sorry, u mean a bluray or an upscaled DVD will have a much better PQ on a 37 or 42" NOT Full HD LCD than on a 27" CRT?
 
UPSCALED DVD - what exactly is this?
I mean all the DVD's that I have now would all of these be non-upscaled?
How can I tell which DVD's are upscaled or not?
 
Yes. For me any HD content looks fantastic on an LCD or Plasma designed for it, but that's not exactly what you asked in the first post :p

A decent 1080p Plasma playing 1080p high def content (imo) looks better than a nice 32/37" 720p LCD playing the same content in 720p, but I assume you are looking for the best compromise so a 32/37" LCD is just that.

Someone correct me if I'm talking insanity :)

EDIT: A Blu Ray player (they all generally upscale DVDD) or an upscaling DVD player using image enhancements to upscale the image to 720/1080p :)

Makes it look better
 
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