First "non-CRT" TV Purchase - advice needed

jonmitch

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Hi Everyone,

Firstly, many apologies for what must be a very old subject. Despite being what I consider to be still young, I haven't yet dragged myself into the modern era of flat-panel TVs ... until now.

I have - up until recently - been happily watching my Sony Trinitron CRT TV (about 32" - can't tell you exactly the model number). Sadly, it went the way of a lot of these old CRTs recently, so I am looking for a replacement.

There are a few important things to note, and criteria :

1) We hope to move in a year or so. At that point I was either going to get a lovely big Plasma (depending on room size) or a small (32" or therebaouts) for general TV and a Projector for Films, etc. The demise of the current TV has brought this decision forward. Sadly, as we don't know the size or shape of the rooms in any future house, this is leading me away from the large Plasma route at the moment. We are very fortunate at the moment in that we are in a flat, but with a HUGE lounge. Very likely that a new house will have more (but smaller) rooms.

2) I'm a fussy *******. I'm an Engineer in the Broadcast Industry, so when I see MPEG artefacts or general cr*ppy pictures it really annoys me (and detracts from what I'm trying to watch).

3) Currently, we don't get Freeview HD, and can't put a Freesat dish on the flat. Therefore, 100% of my viewing is from SD sources (though I will admit that I would probably get a BluRay player with a new HD TV).

4) I was extremely happy with my CRT, and have yet to see anything that even comes close to the quality when displaying SD images. Sure, they look great with HD, but varying from utter s**t to almost acceptable with SD pictures.

5) Any TV must be capable of displaying my DVD collection, existing SD transmissions (Freeview), as well as my "Museum of Sh*te" as the missus calls it (BetaMax, LaserDisc, CED VideoDisc, etc ...). The last few are a concern as for the most part they are only available as Composite PAL feeds ... which I believe are about as bad as it gets with new flat panel TVs.

Due to not knowing exactly what my future requirements will be, I don't want to spend a fortune. However, I don't want to be always wishing I'd spent a bit more. So far I've looked at some LGs and some Samsungs, some Sonys and some Panasonics. Nothing has made me say "wow" yet, closest (rating "just about acceptable" with SD) was the Panasonic (the TX-L32D25B - LED TV). But it is expensive. We're entering 42" inch Plasma territory, financially.

It is quite possible that a lot of the picture problems I'm seeing are down to the way they are set up in the shops. However, none so far have agreed to demo a 32" TV. One told me that they don't waste their time demo-ing anything less than a 42" as no-one would see a difference. A similar example of rubbish came from another retailer (no names, but they offer a very good 5 year warranty ...), who stated whilst discussing the merits of Freeview HD vs Freesat HD, that no-one (not even SKY) transmits anything in 1080i - it is all 720p. I'd be glad to be proved wrong, but I think that's b*ll*cks.


So, I'm at a loss. So far, I've seen nothing to make me want to part with my hard-earned cash - certainly in the 32" range. Should I be considering going up to 42" to get a Plasma ? Is that going to solve some of the issues (Black detail, motion) but then highlight the SD upscaling artefacts more than a 32" TV would ?


Apologies for the jumbled mess. Pretty-much sums up my mind on this subject at the moment. Any thoughts, comments, or recommendations gratefully received (other than "go on ebay and get a replaceemnt CRT" - which I have thought seriously about but doesn't really meet the "wife-acceptance-factor").

Thanks,

Jon
 
Hi Jon.

Im sure there are people more qualified than myself to advise you here (i dont profess to be an expert in the overly technical but ive worked with and owned enough televisions to have a rough idea) but i'll put my two cents in.

Firstly, NEVER judge a television by how it performs in the shop. 99% of the time they're set up badly, configured wrong with poor input sources with contrast jacked up to the max to stand out like a beam of light going into space. Some TV's (such as my 32 inch Panasonic) even come with a Shop or Home setting to choose from when you unpack them, selecting shop makes it look utterly hideous.

Secondly, as for your Plasma question, ive never owned one so i cannot develop an opinion, but most people ive met who own them swear by their quality but mostly on HD performance i find.

It would've been handy if you gave a rough price guide in your post as to a rough ballpark of what you'd be comfortable spending. I own the Panasonic TX-L32S10B, 32 inch, Full HD LCD TV. I bought it about a year ago about for £330 from Dixons and ive been very happy with it. But i wont sell it to you too much as its been discontinued, there are still a few ones knocking about but at very inflated prices (targeting people who wanted one but werent quick enough) as im seeing new ones go for almost £600. And today in 2011 its not worth £600. But it looks like you've done alot of research, looked at alot of TV's and maybe even been overloaded with info and now dont want to buy anything LOL!

I think the attitude of the shop who told you they wouldnt preview you a 32 inch TV is disgraceful. Im in business myself, im a trader of goods and in my view, in a recession, with places closing down and jobs being lost, you go the extra mile for your customer in a bid to make a sale. Any place which refuses to do so deserves to go out of business in my view. And their comment of "nobody broadcasts in 1080i" is absolute rubbish i think. I have Sky+HD and i can assure you Sky Sports broadcasts in 1080i, and absolutely magnificent it is aswell. Sky Atlantic HD, Sky One HD, Comedy Central HD etc all broadcast 1080i on Sky.

Seeing as you'll mostly be on SD i'll focus on that. Standard Definition seems to vary alot with LCD TV's, even on my Panasonic in SD i dont think its as good as on my old Toshiba CRT. Sometimes colours can look like they're running, picture noise etc but alot of tweaking and adjustments and it is acceptable (SD through HDMI on Sky is poorer quality than via a Scart it must be said) and on most channels after alot of fiddling its perfectly adequate. To me, the higher spec the TV is, the more it will show up the flaws of Standard Definition. A friend of mine says his 37 inch LG is "ruthless" in how it shows up the flaws of SD, but is magnificent on HD. Of course some channels do have a lower bit rate than others (Dave for example on freeview, has a lower bit rate than BBC One for example, so Dave can look a lower quality) But i did have to mess about with different settings for about 3 days before i was comfortable with it. Most TV's, especially Panasonic and from what ive read, LG have ALOT of personalisation options. Helping you to get it how you want it.

If i was you, and didnt know the dimensions of any future room of a future property, i'd stick to the 32-37 inch area. Even if its not your main TV in your new house you could find a use for it, or if its a good one could fetch probably half its money back on ebay if you wanted to go down that route. Or you could save some money, go for a 26" which could be a bedroom Tv in a new house or something. I dont know, im just guessing. As for DVD's i would recommend investing in a HD Upscaling DVD Player or a Blu Ray player as you mentioned (which upscales DVD's also) which will give you a clearer, more "solid" look to the picture and quality on your new TV. The other stuff may be tricky but most LCD/LED etc have many connections on them, yes composite is pretty poor. I tried composite with a playstation 3 at one point as i was waiting for a new HDMI cable and it was very poor, it was like when you used to watch analogue TV and the aerial had been moved to the wrong place, that snowy look.

Its been said to me that if you'll use it mostly for SD then a more basic HD Ready (720p) TV is probably best. As a big Full HD will be wasted without HD input and will only show up SD flaws even more. And could strike the right balance between SD quality and making use of that Blu Ray player you want to buy.

Here's a few ideas of my own.

Samsung LE32C450

Samsung LE32C450 32-inch Widescreen HD Ready 50Hz LCD: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

HD Ready, 32 inch, only £260 on Amazon (may be available for less if you hunt even more, possibly down to the 200 mark). Due to Samsung's new LED and 3D stuff they're bringing out, the price of this normal LCD has dropped alot despite not even having been out for a year yet. Ive never been a devotee of Samsung personally, im not keen on the style with the rosey black and strip of plastic round the screens but obviously many are as they sell millions of units a year. I have seen one of these in action as my mother's best friend got one just before Christmas, and i was the one volunteered to go and set it up (dont you just hate people who spend all the money on stuff they dont know how to work? lol) and it looked pretty good to me, i never went over it with a fine toothcomb but the SD Freeview looked decent, nowhere near as much ghosting and noise as on my Panasonic, the blacks were acceptable but not as good as your CRT i dont think but certainly didnt detract from viewing.

Just had a look at the Panasonic LED you mentioned, the spec looks tremendous but its an awful lot of money for something which in my view would be wasted without a good HD source. And it comes with Freesat HD but you'd need a dish which you said you cant have. So that would be (at least at the moment) wasted also. Although im sure its Blu Ray performance would blow you away.

LG have a similair TV, the 32LE4500 which is going for less money. About £400 on Comet for example Buy LG 32LE4500 | 32" LED TV - LCD TVs | Comet

Looks very good, ive ordered my first LG TV today (a 22 inch LED).

I dont know if any of these suit what you're looking for, but i would say always bear in mind if you buy online from someone like Amazon, you can always send it back if you dont like it (within 30 days i think with them). While there is an argument for "you get used to it the longer you watch it", if you did spend money on something, set it up, played with it all day and still decided you really didnt like it you could send it back. Think of it as doing your own test on a 32 inch because the shops couldnt be bothered. I personally just wouldnt spend money on an ultra high end television unless i had the means to get the very best out of it.

Ive probably been talking right gibberish here and i apologise for having wasted your time by writing all of this.

All the best

Jamie :)
 
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