Which to buy: Philips 32PF9986 or Sony KDL-V32A12 ?

[sparkas]

Got to buy a new TV as my old one just gave up after many years of service.
After reading a bit on the net and checking local stores it seems to come down to these 3 models Philips 32PF9986 (or 37PF5520) and Sony KDL-V32A12.

I have not seen anything about the new Sony LCD (KDL-V32) on the forums here, so my question is: does anyone have any first hand experience here and can provide some recommendation which of the two LCD TVs is the better choice?

I'm going to use a sat receiver (component) and dvd player (composite), both connected to the TV via scart or possibly composite & component (none of them has a HDMI or DVI connector).

Cheers,
Simon

 

[daxie]

why the old philips???

why not the newer 9830?
Why not a panny 500?
why not a hitachi 7200?
why not a lg lx2r (or lp1d)?

All looking better than the sony imo.

 

[Shin Gouki]

If you hav'nt seen anything about the V32 on this forum then you must be blind as a bat mate.

 

[sparkas]

@ daxie

1. True, the Philips 32PF9830 is the newer model but also more expensive and doesn't offer a lot more than the old model (in terms of TV picture quality).

2. Panasonic TX32LXD500. nice TV but anyone trying to attach a computer or game console will have difficulties (no DVI, would be a nice goodie to have at least one of the "nextgen" connectors like HDMI & DVI)

And even if the Sony doesn't look "apart" (taste can vary ), it does have a nice feature list and the image is quite good as well (as I read here in another thread).

@ Shin Gouki
My fault, didn't use the search function on the board.

Altogether I'm none the wiser, it has rather given me more choices to torment myself with . I got to admit I'd like to buy the Panasonic but without DVI or HDMI at all I'm not to sure it would be the best choice. So Philips 32PF9830 seems to be the only sensible compromise othen than investing more time before making the final decision.

 

[freekb]

@ daxie

1. True, the Philips 32PF9830 is the newer model but also more expensive and doesn't offer a lot more than the old model (in terms of TV picture quality).

2. Panasonic TX32LXD500. nice TV but anyone trying to attach a computer or game console will have difficulties (no DVI, would be a nice goodie to have at least one of the "nextgen" connectors like HDMI & DVI)

Altogether I'm none the wiser, it has rather given me more choices to torment myself with . I got to admit I'd like to buy the Panasonic but without DVI or HDMI at all I'm not to sure it would be the best choice. So Philips 32PF9830 seems to be the only sensible compromise othen than investing more time before making the final decision.

If it's computer connectivity you want, you do NOT want the 9830, only does up to 1024x768 apparently.
Good choices for PC connectivity are the LG and Hitachi's recommended earlier.

 

[Bluestraw]

If it's computer connectivity you want, you do NOT want the 9830, only does up to 1024x768 apparently.
Good choices for PC connectivity are the LG and Hitachi's recommended earlier.

I didn't see this confirmed ANYWHERE! Just one person who couldn't get their PC to connect.

At least it WILL do 1280x720, as this is 720p which is definitely supported!!

 

[bizarrefish]

Don't forget that with a DVI to HDMI conversion cable you can still get PC into these other displays, albeit with a bit more hassle! but from what I have read you dont get any degradation of image as long as the pixel ratio is proportional to the panels native resolution.

 

[RavMike]

@ daxie

2. Panasonic TX32LXD500. nice TV but anyone trying to attach a computer or game console will have difficulties (no DVI, would be a nice goodie to have at least one of the "nextgen" connectors like HDMI & DVI)

Altogether I'm none the wiser, it has rather given me more choices to torment myself with . I got to admit I'd like to buy the Panasonic but without DVI or HDMI at all I'm not to sure it would be the best choice. So Philips 32PF9830 seems to be the only sensible compromise othen than investing more time before making the final decision.

The panasonic TX32LXD500 does have an HDMI connection, and PC connectivity... Doesn't it

 

[sparkas]

Actually I was trying find out more on the Panasonic TX32LXD500 but unfortunately for me the PDF manual on Panasonic's home page is corrupted and can only be viewed up to page 9 or 10. I wish could read he whole manual to get more technical details on it as well as find out what connectors are available but unfortunately it doesn't work here. (tried already different browsers)

yeah, I wish I could!

 

[daxie]

The 9830 has not been reported to have a full 1x1 pixel mapping... True

The panny does it 1:1 on a VGA. 1:1 through dvi-hdmi has not been reported succesful, and thus is doubtful.

If you want pc connectivity, then the 9986 should not be in your list either.

If you want pc connectivity, the sony shouldn't be either. The V series don't even have a regular VGA!

I have seen all of the ones I mentioned. I didn't see the sony yet.

The LG was, in spite of it's lower price, verrryyy good. Plus it offers 1:1 with DVI or with VGA. Has all the connections you'll need. Sound is a tad less then the others, but probably nothing you'll notice. I don't see the use of spending the extra money on the others.
Panasonic is second on my list. Has also all the right buttons, only no 1:1 through DVI. But DVI will die out by next year too, and VGA gives great results too. Plus: extra scart and better sound compared to the LG
The Hitachi is third on my list. Standard TV quality was a bit less than the other two, but could be due to bad settings. Great of it are super connectivity, even better than the LG. Good sound too. Bad to me is the design, plus it's nearly unavailable.
Philips is last. Firstly, the ambilight thing I think is nice for a baby to watch, but other than that? Secondly, why on earth are they asking so much money for it? Thirdly, picture quality wasn't better than the LG, nor the hitachi, nor the panny in my opinion.

Sony I will watch next week.

daxie

 

[bizarrefish]

The two that are on my short list are the Panasonic and the Sony, I'm choosing to upgrade my 32" CRT Sony to a 32" LCD, I could afford larger but I feel the flat panels are still early days yet until native 1080i is supported so at least this way in a few years I can relegate the 32" to the bedroom and go larger in the living room. Could also mean I leave the LCD and get a projector so covering both eventualities. I could also just sit and wait but you can play that game constantly and not get anywhere and with the new consoles coming I want them to look good.

There is another lengthy thread on here regarding the Sony V series which is worth a good read, a lot of good arguments and facts on there. I dearly would like PC connectivity which I know can be done on a HDMI cable but the VGA connection on the Panny sounds like a winner. I aim to try and find somewhere to view them both side by side.

 

[sparkas]

Well, in general what I'm looking for is excellent picture quality and secondly good connectivity. In the end the TV will be mainly used for sat and dvd viewing and only 10-20% of the time connected to a pc.

Lets disregard connector for the moment, how does the Panasonic or Sharp compare to the Sony or Philips model when it comes to picture quality?

 

[bizarrefish]

From reading articles and this forum I would currently (without viewing any of them) rate them in this order based on PQ:

1. Sony
2. Panasonic (very close to Sony)
3. Sharp
4. Philips

This is only theory and its based on the fact that the Sony and Panny are very new as well. Sharp's Aquos range are renowned as well but recently Philips tend to be trailing.

Just my two pence worth and its only from reading, not from experience of any of them. Its also very dependant on personal taste I have found as well from listening to everyone, so many debates here, one persons chalk is the others cheese!

 

[freekbear]

I didn't see this confirmed ANYWHERE! Just one person who couldn't get their PC to connect.

At least it WILL do 1280x720, as this is 720p which is definitely supported!!

The philips manual states (for the 42" at least) PC resolutions supported: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768.
"1280x720p" is listed as an hdtv resolution and still won't give you 1:1 pixel mapping.
1368x768, 1366x768 and 1360x768 are all viable 1:1 candiates for a 1366x768 panel, anything else is unlikely to be considered 'good' knowing that there are decent TV's out there that do work at those resolutions.

 

[freekbear]

Panasonic is second on my list. Has also all the right buttons, only no 1:1 through DVI. But DVI will die out by next year too, and VGA gives great results too. Plus: extra scart and better sound compared to the LG

DVI die out by next year? I don't think so. The PC industry still hasn't got rid of VGA, despite DVI being around for a while. HDMI hasn't made an appearance yet on PC's - so I'd expect DVI to be around for a LONG time. Yes - HDCP/HDMI is a convincing reason for the PC-industry to start supporting it if they want to keep the HTPC game going but there's bugger-all content out there that requires it and therefore no customers demanding or needing it.
Even not considering the PC industry there's all the DVI DVD players out there... those consumers do want to keep their toy connected over DVI.

Even though HDMI is supposed to backwards compatible, apparently it isn't always that straightforward (according to some)

 

[Bluestraw]

The philips manual states (for the 42" at least) PC resolutions supported: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768.
"1280x720p" is listed as an hdtv resolution and still won't give you 1:1 pixel mapping.
1368x768, 1366x768 and 1360x768 are all viable 1:1 candiates for a 1366x768 panel, anything else is unlikely to be considered 'good' knowing that there are decent TV's out there that do work at those resolutions.

But the spec sheet DOES quote 1366 x 768 as a valid PC resolution! So who's right and who's wrong... Who knows?!!

1280x720p surely will give you 1:1 mapping, just using a smaller portion of the screen, right??