New guy with an LCD

J

Jaffa

Guest
Hey Guys,

After a lot of reading, thought and asking some of you guys questions I took the plunge and ordered the Philips 30PF9975 from Digital Direct. Being a complete novice to all of this I was apprehensive to part with so much cash but the end result I'm pleased to report is "Wow this TV is great"!!! Straight out of the box plugged in to the mains and just a normal coax Ariel cable into the back and the picture is already better than my old CRT.

So, now I have to work out how to get an even better picture as I'm sure I can do. What I'd like to know is how best to do this? Should I be running the LCD through a DVD player\digi box? Do I need to get a DVD player that has progressive Scan? Should I be using the Component video inputs for a better picture? What cables should I be using? I know a lot of information is contained within threads that have already been posted here on this board, but its quite hard to filter out what I actually need to do (SORRY). I'm trying not to be too lazy here, so if you could just give me a few pointers than that would be great!!!!

One last thing, to any owners of the Philips 30PF9975, have you used the wall mount bracket to put your TV on the wall? The only reason I ask is that it looks a bit light and flimsy! Is it really safe to put the 30kgs the LCD weighs on to it???

Cheers
:smashin:
 
I use the standard wall mount and its still up there :) It went through plasterboard into brick/concrete though, so depends on what you are mounting to I guess. Its certainly a lot lighter than a plasma - I think its only about 17KG?

Yes, I'd get a digibox (freeview OK) - if only to get proper widescreen pictures. If you have a really good analog(aerial) feed, then that might be OK in 'auto format' mode.

As for settings, it depends what you want to do. IMO this is really a TV for everyman. I personally think you can just slap a SCART socket in from your DVD player / Digibox and be done with it. There is a really good scaler in the set which copes with almost anything you can throw at it. It also increases perceived detail.

So I have my Philips 963SA progressive scan player outputting progressive component to my projector because I wanted maximum quality, and the projector doesn't have a good scaler.

But I have the same DVD player feeding svideo into the LCD and it looks fantastic. I think if you use progressive inputs the scaling is simpler, so you might actually end up with lower quality from a 480p feed - although please don't take my word as I haven't tried this, and am only going from what the 'progressive' TV mode looks like.

so, I'd be happy with what you have, if you have an OK DVD player at the moment. Upgrade to a digibox first, then wait for a bigger step up in the food chain (HD-DVD via PC or HD DVD player) - the screen can take it and it looks great (apparantly), so that would be my recommendation - I'd guess you'd see them for sale in the next year or so.
 
Hi Jaffa

I'm also using the wall mount and its fine. The weight is carried by the two aluminium hooks which are bolted directly into the wall. the flimsy metal bar between them seems to be only to keep them together and at the same height.

Karl
 
Hi Jaffa

My setup includes SKY, DVD and Video all connected using SCART.

The only thing i did was spend a bit extra on the SCART cables. I spent the most on the SCART for SKY, an IXOS cable, whilst the others are slightly cheaper but not much!!

And it's been worth it IMO.

One word of warning, if you're not going to wallmount it. I had to return a THOR SCART because it was so bulky i couldn't get it to connect with the TV on the stand! :-s No biggie as i bought IXOS instead but worth remembering.

SKY does sometimes tend to over process the picture, you'll maybe find that you use progressive scan more on a freeview box too? But on the whole the picture is stunning!!

I'm glad you like the TV and hope you've found the advice helpful.
 
Thanks for all your help felllas, I'm gonna get working on setting it up over the next few days. The biggest task I think I have with this TV is mounting it on the wall. I have plaster board walls so I've got to work out the best way to fix it on without it falling down in front of my eyes!!!!!!

Cheers
Jaffa


:smashin:
 
Thanks for all your help felllas, I'm gonna get working on setting it up over the next few days. The biggest task I think I have with this TV is mounting it on the wall. I have plaster board walls so I've got to work out the best way to fix it on without it falling down in front of my eyes!!!!!!

Cheers
Jaffa


:smashin:
 
Sorry about double posting........it happends every time!!
 

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