need expert help on choosing my next tv experts only !

i,m looking to buy a new tv in about 2 weeks time and what i need is expert advice on what to buy as to hdtv and plasma / lcd ,basically what’s best as i have browsed the net and looked at all different types and specs and there are allot of different opinions and i,m completely lost . my most basic requirements the tv must have are

1 ) 42 " or bigger
2 ) wall mountable
3 ) pip
4 ) pc impute
5 ) external impute box for scarts ( min 3 ) etc
6 ) and most important exceed £2500

any expert help you can give will be much appreciated !

 

You're in bind, I'm afraid..

There are no existing HDTV that come in under your requirements (think double price). You can either dispense with size or HDTV. Remember also that PIP will be useless in a short time unless you get a tv with twin digital tuner..

 

Hi Acobat
Have a look at the Pioneer PDP-435FDE (HDTV Ready ) Richer Sounds are selling them for £2499 but you would need to buy a wall bracket aswell.

http://ws4.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PION-PDP435FDE

 

Well if you want impartial expert help you have certainly come to the right place, just don't expect everyone to express the same opinions. First thing is to forget LCD because you won't get one that big for that budget, and you wouldn't want one anyway (contrast and motion blurr). Second thing is not to heed anything that a salesman tells you.
Dealing with your specific points:

1 ) 42" or bigger
42" or 43" is where you will find the best choice and value.
2 ) wall mountable
all plasmas and lcds can be hung on solid walls, but need care with studded (hollow) walls.
3 ) pip
this is a normal feature
4 ) pc imput
this is a normal feature
5 ) external imput box for scarts ( min 3 ) etc
This could be a deciding feature - is this important?
6 ) and most important exceed £2500
presume you mean not to exceed £2500

There are a couple of other questions:
Do you want it to be hi-def compatible?
Do you need an integrated TV with built-in TV tuner and speakers?

If you only want an integrated analogue tuner, then the PDP435FDE that SamirP suggests would be a good solution as long as they are not graded or imported units. Only thing is the 435XDE is only a little bit more, and adds a digital TV tuner, a VGA input, and many people say it has a better picture.
However, do try to see a Panasonic VIERA TH-42PV500B before you buy.

 

My recomendations would be not to go with old technology such as Plasma (Screen Burn-in, Huge Power requirements, shorter life, picture brightness degrades from day 1, bad for HTPC - PC use)

LCD is the way to go, at present you can purchase a 40" Relysys LCD from ebuyer.com for £2000 + VAT, this Summer Samsung, Toshiba, Philips will all be releasing 37" - 42" LCD panels at youre 2.5k price point, some will be able to display 1080p HD, try that on a Plasma.

 

It would also make sense to consider a 45" or 50" DLP rear projection TV. You cannot hang tham on the wall, but you will get a bigger picture for the same money. There is no simple answer as to whether they give you a better or worse picture than a plasma, but you would be best advised not to spend anything until you had seen one first.

If you want to connect a plasma to a PC, a standard definition one with 480 lines native resolution (sometimes still called "high-definition compatible") will not be suitable, but a high def one with 720 or 768 lines would be fine.

 

acrobat,

As you have posted in the High definition forum I take it that HDTV ready is an essential part of the requirement for you. There are several new plasma screens / TVs just about to be released so if you can hold off the purchase for a bit longer there will be considerably more choice.

Remember that for Sky HD the plasma must have a DVI socket with HDCP or an HDMI socket and must be able to display 720p and 1080i @ 50Hz into one of these sockets. A number of the existing panels do one or other but not both.

I don't agree about plasma being old technology and the list of its apparent defects. Screen burn used to be an issue - it is very much improved now and from my experience the latest Panasonics are virtually bomb proof in this respect. The degradation in picture quality from day one is also not an issue - sure the light output does reduce from day one, but properly set up / calibrated the reduction in output is so minimal that you can forget it. Bad for HTPC / PC use?? I have seen numerous installs where this is working very nicely though it does need thought as to how to implement it. Finally, I quite agree that you won't find a plasma at anything like your price point (or any??) that will display 1080p now.

 

Plasma certainly isn't "old technology." Here in America the HD plasmas give by far the best HD image quality of the progressive screens. Sony and Pioneer being the best.

The only place I notice burn in is at the airports with their plasma flight info screens. No suprise there considering the static content.

 

move off axis wiv an LCD and your stuffed mate...then there is slooow response rate..add asu see fit.

LCD certainly as of now aint the way to go..

dil

 

Thanks for those who have replied

I did post it in hi def. tv because, after watching gadget show on tv they said there was a problems with getting quality pictures with standard plasma / lcd and that you are going to get better quality with hi def, and they said that’s the direction the technology is going. also the tv i'm looking for needs to have a separate media box i think thats what it's called as i said in the last message i want to wallmount it ( space issue ) , so the separate media box will mean less cables running down the wall from it, and pip would be nice but i am willing to compromise to a certain degree.

And the price i set was just a guild, what i thought was enough to get a middle of the road tv, not a cheapo one, but not one that is going to cost the earth if you can excuse the phrase.

Any way keep the replies coming in i am reading them all and taking note of what’s being said and i have decided to hold of buying at the moment till I’m a bit more informed enough to make a proper decision.

also if want email me at acrobat28031980@aol.com

 

Panny PV500 fits all of that, its just not available yet....Pio 435 FDE and XDE do too...................But I'm no Expert...................

 

HD: Where does that leave the rest of us, then?

 

I think it is your opinion which is a little off axis, here.

<12ms response time is plenty good enough, and a number of LCD sets provide this now.

Take a look at Philips 9986 being fed with hi-def material or good quality DVD and you will see what I mean.

Don't judge hi-def capable sets by watching Freeview (especially BBC channels)....

 

Show us an LCD that will achieve 3000:1 contrast!

 

Tony feed anything HiDef and it looks good......the 9986 really isnt that special and you should always judge a screen on the lowest quality pic you will commonly use and if that happens to be VHS so be it BBC FV and Sky channels are what most poepl wtach so having a creen that looks great with a format thats not widely available and pants with the ones that are is a really DUMB way to buy a TV there have always been stunning demo clips.....a bit like listening to white (or PINK) noise on a stereo, helps you set it up but thats about it

 

If I only ever watched VHS, or Freeview I would not have spent £2800 on the TV.

I have a perfectly good CRT for that.

I would not pay significant sums of money on an AV amp if I was only ever going to listen to the radio.

I did not spend £50k on my car with the intention of only ever driving at 30mph, either...

I think your logic is a little inverted....TBH

 

SO you only watch HD? Must get pretty boring...........................

 

No - it gives me something to moan about, actually.

Seeing the crap signal put out by BBC on Freeview, just by comparison with C5 when showing CSI....Grrrrr

Its got me on the slippery slope of investing in HTPCs, Quali-TV boxes and all that stuff, as well as meaty DVD players, etc etc etc....

Too much time spent reading specs now.

No time to get bored....

 

LOL You could have just bought a better TV............... (one that works for what you watch....)

 

I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait
I must not rise to the bait.....

 

I think it is your opinion which is a little off axis, here.

<12ms response time is plenty good enough, and a number of LCD sets provide this now.

Take a look at Philips 9986 being fed with hi-def material or good quality DVD and you will see what I mean.

Don't judge hi-def capable sets by watching Freeview (especially BBC channels)....

Hi Tony

I wouldnt really know Toney, cos my rubbish opinion only gets me one of the best set ups of anyone on this forum...

 

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=LNR328WX/XAA

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=LNR408DX/XAA

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=LNR238WX/XAA

 

That's an important point. If you run a display in a dark room with dark walls it will measure differently to light walls; a small room will be worse than a large room; it goes on and on.

If you are going to have a spec to make meaningful comparisons, you obviously have to take the measurements in exactly the same way. Use a test method that isolates the performance of the display from interfering factors. The only way to do that is whatever method achieves the best possible results. If you do the test in ambient light, everyones test conditions will end up being slightly different, and the results will be levelled and meaningless.

So what I am saying is that it doesn't matter if you don't get to see 4000:1 in use, we still want to know what the display itself will manage in isolation. If we don't focus on that then the manufacturers will not be encouraged to make their dispalys any better in areas where we do need improvements.

 

TonyB: I had already assumed that you owned an LCD, but it's good to have the confirmation. There seem to be two themes of reply on this forum: those from owners who almost invariably recommend what they have decided to buy; and those from dealers with a rather better informed and more impartial view of all the products available.

Somebody, somewhere has to buy LGs and Tinys and so on, so they will always get a few positive votes. Heck, I even know an otherwise intelligent colleague who bought a Vauxhall Signum! It takes all sorts.

It just doesn't mean that someone looking for some well-informed impartial advice, from what is perhaps the best place to get it, should be pursuaded to spend a lot of money on a type of product that I have never heard any real expert recommend.

 

If you bought a TV comparing brochure specs against price it would have to be a Tiny every time. Fortunately, the wiser people use the best method available - sit yourself in front of a screen and test with your own eyes (and ears, where appropriate).

You also need to take previous experiences with makes into account, which is why I would not even consider a Philips, because every Philips product that I've ever owned in the past has met its demise long before its time. The last Philips product I owned was a CD recorder for the PC which was so bad that US consumers took out a class-action lawsuit against Philips and won - unfortunately European buyers got no compensation.

I do have to chuckle when people say their Philips is the dog's whatsits - I wonder if they will still say that in 3 years time ?

 

Philips make great products....if they work, way too much problems with all their televisions etc. My computer boxes stopped working after a year

I do know one thing about lcd and that is that it's much brighter and less pixelated when fed good material. Plasma's might have a bit more natural look at the moment, but the glass reflection and noise around moving objects is (just like most lcd's) still not great (and i got the latest panasonic plasma). Plasma is usually also better with lower level signals but feeding a 1080i signal to an lcd through dvi or hdmi will looker better than practically every plasma, i can guarantee you that...they are just a lot more expensive still

 

I have no interest in what anyone buys innit LCD/Plasma/CRT/..I give my expert opinion freely based on my eyes and the great tutelage of many retail and install experts here...so there.

There is such a thing as objective measured outomes. This means you can love any old ..oh lets say a Tiny for arguments sake ... you want, and con yourself into thinking you have wicked PQ when actually you have no idea of what constitutes good PQ right?

The old adage about Hi-Fi stereo applies: If you love the "sound" of your dodgy £100 all in one package OK for you and all dat But dont claim its objectively "good" sound. Period.

Dil