Ok, sell it to me. There seems to be an increasing fashion for big or even huge television sets. We have a couple of 32" sets and a smaller 19" I think. Even the 32" ones seem a bit too big to me to be honest.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a bit of TV now and then but I'm not a daily watcher. In fact when I lived alone I didn't possess a television. Out at work all day and generally doing something else in the evening and at weekends I didn't really feel the need, but my wife likes to watch TV sometimes so I didn't have a problem getting one when she moved in.
However, I notice that a lot of people have flipping huge tellys nowadays. Some of them take up a thumping big section of wall or an entire corner of a room. Don't get that.
What's the attraction? It's bad enough being subjected to strictly-come-iced brothers-no-talent-factor-house-enders-street without it filling an entire room !
What's the deal here?
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>> What's the deal here?
Perhaps some people want to watch standard TV pap on a big screen, but for anyone who watches movies or sport a big screen is definitely better.
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When I first subscribed to HD via Sky, I didn't notice a lot of difference and was discussing it with one of the chaps at work...he advised that my then t.v. (size in the 20's) wasn't big enough..so off I went and bought a 37 inch one (which I know in the big scheme of things...pardon the pun...isn't that big, but it was for us)...and..
...yee-hah, tremendous pictures, a lot more clarity.
I will admit that in our London house it looked a bit daft, too big for the room (but served a purpose)....fortunately, down here in pasty land things are a bit different, so we'd have needed a bigger telly anyway.
I even managed to get it past 'er indoors that when I got the bigger telly, we'd need surround sound as well...now that was well worth it, don't regret that.
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>> need surround sound as well...now that was well worth it, don't regret that.
The very late Sony widescreen tube I have in here, passed on by movie-inustry SiL and daughter, not only has a very good sharp image but very good speakers with effective stereo, which also works well on the radio earphones.
But I agree the thing is a bit of a monster, weighs a ton too.
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I had surround sound, not a cheap system, but recently replaced the telly with a smart LG CV which is fantastic and took the opportunity to move to one of the better LG soundbars - I much prefer it to the surround sound, which has now been decommissioned.
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Our new 46" TV is the biggest our room will comfortably take, as I said above it has the same dimensions as the 40" set it replaced. They are a bit like windows, big ones are usually better. The boss being a tennis addict helps. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 16 Jun 13 at 18:41
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As AC said, if you're into sport the bigger the better, nature programmes also benefit. We have a 37" in the lounge and the picture in HD is stunning. I'm a bit gutted because just after we bought it I saw a 42" for the same price.
Humph really ought to get rid of those black & white sets of his, I know the licence is cheaper but still...
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I expect I could still manage to fall asleep in front of any size of TV within half an hour of switching the thing on. Admittedly, I have the attention span of a gnat.
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26" here, the height of a 20" 4x3 screen, so small even by pre-flat-panel standards.
We (she) mainly watch drama anyway and it makes little difference to that.
They seem to assume everybody has a giant TV - the captions on the F1 are a bit small now. That could be a factor in people upsizing.
My pal has a 50" in a standard sized sitting room and I find it looms, even when switched off. When it's on, I can't get used to the people having bigger heads than in real life. Weird, who wants that?
Might go to 32" if the current one pops.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 16 Jun 13 at 18:50
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Not sure how big mine is (!) - think it was 32" - plenty big enough. I want an edge to edge one...Mrs RP has other ideas.
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Mrs D'B watches a lot more TV than I do. I go around the house switching the things off when there's no one else in the room. She then complains "I was watching that !" when of course she wasn't because she wasn't even in the room. She likes all these drama things which involve murders or cutting up dead bodies. Not really for me. Maybe I should be worried about her fascination for programmes which give complex examples of how to do away with people...
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To be honest if it ever became a choice between a radio and a telly, it would be a radio a 1000 times. I drove back home the other evening from a meeting - Radio 4's evening menu was superb...
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Televisions sets have never been so good and we're awash with channels even without a subscription, unfortunately the programmes have never been so dire.
And now the BBC have lost the rights to Moto GP after this season, one more little viewing pleasure gone.
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In my line of work, I find the size of the television shoehorned into the front room is often directly proportional to the 'scrote factor' of the owners of said set.
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The concept of a geriatric scrote sounds interesting, I must try it. :-)
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Got a 32inch in the lounge, plenty big enough.
I have 19inches in the bedroom, Nicole seems happy with it.
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I haven't bought a TV in a long time. Do they still actually sell them quoted in inches?
I'd have thought that they would have gone over to metric by now.
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The spec for my TV is 46" or 117cm take your pick. :-)
www.sony.co.uk/product/tv-117-46-lcd/kdl-46r473a
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 16 Jun 13 at 20:50
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>> I haven't bought a TV in a long time. Do they still actually sell them
>> quoted in inches?
>>
>> I'd have thought that they would have gone over to metric by now.
>>
Even the metricated Swedes tend to use inches to measure tellies!
www.mediamarkt.se/mcs/productlist/LED-TV,90952,388528.html?langId=-16
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"I have 19inches in the bedroom, Nicole seems happy with it."
Really, Zero? You expect us to believe that?
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Another scrote here = 42" I always preached against big tellies, until we got one ;)
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>> And now the BBC have lost the rights to Moto GP after this season, one
>> more little viewing pleasure gone.
>>
Tell me you're not serious............please.
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>> >> And now the BBC have lost the rights to Moto GP after this season,
>> one
>> >> more little viewing pleasure gone.
>> >>
>> Tell me you're not serious............please.
>>
Afraid so.
It won't be on British Eurosport either, so unless you've got BT Broadband where apparently you can watch it it's a Sky subscription or nothing.
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The better the quality of the picture, the more acceptable (and impressive) a big screen is. I would have said 42" was over the top until I actually saw one in a moderate-sized room.
And then I bought one.
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I think a good few of the folk here were brought up on CRT TVs and have a small screen mentality. As some have said, once you go big screen the penny drops and it all becomes clear. :-)
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>> I think a good few of the folk here were brought up on CRT TVs
>> and have a small screen mentality. As some have said, once you go big screen
>> the penny drops and it all becomes clear. :-)
It would seem to be an advantage to have the small screen mentality. Enlightenment will involve brass.
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isnt the measurement taken across the diagonal? another rip off britain idea ... i mean have you seen the size of wagon wheels lately?
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Down the local tip last month they had three pallets full of CRT TVs of all shapes and sizes covered in plastic and ready to go where ever old telly's go. All with silver bodywork too so relatively modern as the old clunkers go. Most or all probably still worked, you can't even give the things away anymore.
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i worked at a recycling plant a few years ago, the fronts of the old CRT screens used to be cut off with a diamond cutter and the phosphorous coating was reclaimed.. the rest of the tube was crushed and mixed with the black stuff for road dressing...so i was told
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I should also have said the size if the telly is also inversely proportional to the size of room in these scroaty abodes.
I'm sure none of you lot are scroaty, nor do you have almost a full wall filled with Jeremy Kyle.
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Anybody got a telly mounted on the wall above the fireplace ?
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The horizontal centreline of the screen should be just below your eye height while viewing, we don't have any chairs high enough for a TV that far up a wall. :-)
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>> Anybody got a telly mounted on the wall above the fireplace ?
>>
whats a fireplace?
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>> >> Anybody got a telly mounted on the wall above the fireplace ?
>> >>
>>
>> whats a fireplace?
>>
Something people who own chainsaws have.
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>> Anybody got a telly mounted on the wall above the fireplace ?
Come to think of it, a guy I know has had his fireplace removed and had a big telly mounted on the wall where it used to be. I hadn't made the connection before but he also has a Nissan Pathfinder ( massive ), a huge caravan, lots of big tattoos ( at least they're not visible when he has a shirt on) and a shaved head ( sort of excusable as he's severely follically challenged ). His wife is fairly "big" too. I guess he just likes big things. I'd not really rush to call him a scrote, quite a decent chap actually, but I suppose on reflection he does have a lot of the kit.
:-)
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i was watching the snooker on a neighbours very large telly a few months ago......from about 80 yards away through my 'christmas present' binoculars :)
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>> i was watching the snooker on a neighbours very large telly a few months ago......from
>> about 80 yards away through my 'christmas present' binoculars :)
>>
". . . and that concludes the statement for the Defence, Your Honour"
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I don't have an oversized one but the both the wife and I find it adequate.
However, back to tellys...we went up to 32 when the 26 inch Samsung started giving trouble. I now use the Samsung as a monitor. Great to watch Youtube in ' big ' . A 19 and a 15 make up the rest of the entertainment in Teddy Towers. Like Mrs Humph, mine likes detective/murder/forensic trash. I come on here at 2100hrs to avoid it Bin there, done that in real life.
Them next door have one on the chimney breast. It is at eye height....if you're standing up !
I don't knoe how you can sit and watch it with your neck cranked up and from the side settee you can't make out the screen properly. Only been in once, we were invited for a meal on their first Christmas there. All we got was a couple of plates of Indian nibbles between the four of us and an evening of Fools & Horses DVDs. A show I can't stand. Had to sneak out for chip suppers afterwards with stiff necks !
Ted
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>> you can't even give the things away any more
I got my 32" CRT for nowt through Freecycle, a quick check of the model number revealed it sold new for 1100 quid around the turn of the millenium. Decent stereo sound and a subwoofer so loud I have to turn that bit off when the kids are in bed as the bass carries right through the house. 100Hz picture too, the image quality on Freeview appears to my untrained eye to be better than on daughter's 22" flatscreen job upstairs. Like AC's though it weighs more than a washing machine.
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A 40" LED TV here, with full HD - the picture quality is, even in SD, amazing compared with our old Panasonic LCD 32".
The overall dimensions side/side/, top/bottom, is much the same, but the new TV is so slim that it releases lots of space on our TV stand.
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We have a flat panel TV called a Thomson Scenium we bought in the sales about five years ago. It is 68cm I think, which is about 28in. It is about 4in thick because it has proper speakers and a glass front. We bought it because it fits in a window recess. I made a stand for it out of a few bits of scrap MDF so it stands in the little stone sink in the window recess that was once our house's only sanitation arrangements. That was the only carpentry project I have ever undertaken. It has good sound and a subwoofer but it doesn't matter much because we only use it for local news and occasionally Poirot, Sherlock Holmes or Minder or Louis la Brocante, the French equivalent of the Uk thing about antique dealers that starred the little bloke with the sawn-off legs and 60s haircut. We did watch the Olympics opening ceremony though and taped it as well.
I'm with RP - radio every time. I'd be bereft without Radio 3, 4, 4 Extra and our local 24-hour Jazz station, which does without presenters.
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 02:22
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>> isnt the measurement taken across the diagonal? another rip off britain idea ... i mean
>> have you seen the size of wagon wheels lately?
>>
Wagon wheels are circular aren't they? So don't all diagonals measure the same?
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>> However, I notice that a lot of people have flipping huge tellys nowadays. Some of
>> them take up a thumping big section of wall or an entire corner of a
>> room. Don't get that.
It helps to cover up defects in the wallpaper.
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We don't seem to need or want a bigger TV than our 26" LCD or we'd have been motivated enough to upgrade. Mrs F has mentioned a larger screen (only 32"- 40") on an off over the past couple of years but we never seem to bother.
The best picture to my eyes was a 32" Sony last of the flat/wide CRT models... like Dave-TiD's I guess. Funnily enough there was a fully working one in an auction last week went for £4. As we now have a larger sitting room than when we went over to LCD a few years back to save space in our previous small cottage sized rooms I thought about buying the Sony.... except it was silver and we'd want black.
We have a fireplace and I can't think why you'd want a large LCD TV over it... where would the Rembrandt hang?
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42" Flat screen thingy here and because it's so light it fits in the corner just nice it won't take a bigger one unless i moved it forward which i don't want to do.
Now if that was those old square things it would need a fork lift to shift it so blinkin heavy was the 28" Sony..
I like movies and mostly action films so with the surround sound and a quality picture on a larger screen sets the mood for me.
The bedroom occasional tv is 24" wall mounted swings out of the way flat screen thing cheepo works fine.
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Big room requires big telly, and big telly in big room requires big sound to fully appreciate.
Much depends on what you watch, we never watch popular tv dross, if you're going to watch telly it might as well be something enjoyable and get the best from the experience.
Similar question could be asked of big car buyers, who could manage perfectly well with a much smaller car most of the time, its their money and they can spend it as they wish.
So long as its their own money buying these things why the references to social group of buyers of big telly, or is it a case of certain animals not deemed equal enough to own and enjoy certain things.
Whats disturbing is the amount of telly that some watch, and the way that propaganda is educating them together with the rest of the MSM....eg pensioners the current recipient of the finger pointing in the divide and rule game of who's not paying enough or who's getting too much.
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>> or is it a case of certain animals not
>> deemed equal enough to own and enjoy certain things.
>>
I don't see it as that, I see it as those who plan things reasonably efficiently and properly prioritise....looking down their noses at those that don't.
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>> So long as its their own money buying these things why the references to social
>> group of buyers of big telly, or is it a case of certain animals not
>> deemed equal enough to own and enjoy certain things.
You can do what you like if you are paying for it and it doesn't impinge on other folk.
If I want a big TV I'll get one, brass permitting. It would certainly be a less irrational use of money than a 14 year old roadster.
I don't judge people by the size of their TV. We can watch any amount of dross on our little one, and do. Anybody else get lumbered with "The White Queen" last night?
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>>Anybody else get lumbered with "The White Queen" last night?
The missus watched it (whatever it was) must have enjoyed it too cos she bemoaned the fact that y'all have to wait a 'whole week' to see the next part!
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>> >>Anybody else get lumbered with "The White Queen" last night?
>>
>> The missus watched it (whatever it was) must have enjoyed it too cos she bemoaned
>> the fact that y'all have to wait a 'whole week' to see the next part!
Same here!
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>> I don't judge people by the size of their TV. We can watch any amount
>> of dross on our little one, and do. Anybody else get lumbered with "The White
>> Queen" last night?
I saw it coming, laid the seeds of diss before it arrived, and then dissed it so successfully in the first 5 minutes it got turned over.
Planning.
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The Duchess watched it as well. I have no feedback on the amount of pleasure derived. I was in the bath listening to the Welsh warbler Jenkins presenting a Classic FM prog in a rather silly voice.
I did enjoy Saturday's Dutch Coronation concert on Sky Arts 2. Andre Rieu in form and a huge crowd, mostly in orange kit.
Thanks, Dutchie !
Ted
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>
>> Whats disturbing is the amount of telly that some watch, and the way that propaganda
>> is educating them together with the rest of the MSM....eg pensioners the current recipient of
>> the finger pointing in the divide and rule game of who's not paying enough or
>> who's getting too much.
LOL, talk about propaganda....
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 09:55
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I think I should at least attempt to drag this back from the sociological commentary precipice over which it all now seems to be dangling.
To make my position clear, I don't really have any opinion or a prejudice as to who should or shouldn't have a big TV. I'm much more interested in discovering what the attraction of these things is to those who have already got one or would like one.
We all have our ways of life and I suppose I'm just not interested enough in sitting watching TV often enough to devote a lot of room space or money to the pastime.
In truth, I tend to fall asleep in front of any broadcast which requires me to sit uninterupted in front of it for more than about 45 minutes ! A fancy big TV would seem to be something of an indulgence in my case.
Like some above, I prefer to listen to the radio mostly as that enables me more easily to do other things at the same time. I'm not good at sitting still I'm afraid.
Couldn't imagine having a TV in the bedroom either. That would just feel a bit weird to me, but I know some do.
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www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Article/How-Far-Should-I-Sit.php
I'd want to be more than 3.5 feet from a 26" television, or 8.5 feet from a 65" television.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 10:03
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>>>I'd want to be more than 3.5 feet from a 26" television.
Yes quite. Our nearest chair to our 26" puts you 6ft away and I find that too close. Of course the PC monitor is 23" at a viewing distance of 2.5ft but you are usually viewing smaller windows within that screen. If I watch a full screen video I push the chair back.
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>> I think I should at least attempt to drag this back from the sociological commentary
>> precipice over which it all now seems to be dangling fallen headlong over.
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I wonder what you call a big room GB?
I'm always amazed at the daft (i.e. large) sizes advised by the viewing distance vs screen size guides. This one for example says the furthest chair in our average size sitting soom at 15ft from TV requires a 60" screen.
www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/image-files/tv-viewing-distance-02.jpg
Some may choose that size but it isn't required.
>>>Couldn't imagine having a TV in the bedroom either.
When we renovated the last house I put a TV distribution system feeding into every living/bedroom.... because it seemed to be what people were doing.
In this new place we just have one TV and don't miss the rest... far too much to do including of course media via the laptops for the teens.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 10:01
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Next door have a tv wall monted in the kitchen they use while prepping food or just to chill out.
We have tv aerial points in kids bedroom no tv yet he's a bit young.
I used to have one in my cellar which is a workshop ideal when ex wife had her friends round i could watch my stuff in peace.
Radio's a simple clock radio picks almost everything up but the choices are wonderfull just got my grandad a shortwave travel radio he loves it.
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>> I wonder what you call a big room GB?
>>
>> I'm always amazed at the daft (i.e. large) sizes advised by the viewing distance vs
>> screen size guides. This one for example says the furthest chair in our average size
>> sitting soom at 15ft from TV requires a 60" screen.
We sit 15/16ft from the telly and our 50" is about right, we would have gone bigger but prices escalated too much any larger than that.
Our problem is volume, our living room has 13ft ceilings so overall volume means typical telly sound capability just vanishes (as does heat hence our ridiculous gas bills), hence the need for separates surround sound.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 10:34
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I wonder why TV as a concept is not yet obsolete. Now it is nothing but a big screen to which you can connect your other digital devices.
I hardly watch TV nowadays. At most I just watch catch up services in my PC. For family watch, I just plug my laptop to TV via HDMI.
Big TVs are good for playing games and some movies though.
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>> I wonder why TV as a concept is not yet obsolete. Now it is nothing
>> but a big screen to which you can connect your other digital devices.
>>
>> I hardly watch TV nowadays. At most I just watch catch up services in my
>> PC. For family watch, I just plug my laptop to TV via HDMI.
>>
>> Big TVs are good for playing games and some movies though.
>>
Everything you described IS TV as a concept.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 11:14
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>>>Our problem is volume, our living room has 13ft ceilings so overall volume means typical telly sound capability just vanishes
Even with a normal size sitting room that is an issue I want to address here, more than the picture size. I've always had a proper (i.e. old fashioned) hi-fi and like to hear music through it. The hi-fi speakers are in the wrong place to use for TV amplification so I've never bothered to watch the ever increasing collection of music DVDs people buy as presents... music through standard LCD TV speakers is a joke.
I don't need surround sound but 2 speakers plus sub would be nice.... it's just fitting that around the TV to look neat that's put me off so far.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 11:26
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I have my telly wired up to my old Arcam amp running a pair of naff Sony speakers, I only use that set up when we're watching a film though, as the tellies speakers aren't too bad really.
I have considered going for something like:
www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SC-HTB65EB-K-90W-Soundbar-Black/dp/B00C0U8O42/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371465121&sr=8-1&keywords=panasonic+sound+bar
or even:
www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SC-HTB20EB-K-240w-Soundbar/dp/B0084A5ZPI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371465121&sr=8-2&keywords=panasonic+sound+bar
But I'll stick with what we've got for now as it sounds quite okay.
My main sound system is a Sony micro Hi-Fi system running a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze B2's through which my PC is also connected for listening/watching Youtubes, we had a mid 60's Stones event o'er the weekend :)
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Subs not a problem FL, our active sub sits beside us and makes a useful coffee table/table lamp stand, the rush of air from the thing during some film scenes adds to the effect.
No we don't have close neighbours and the house is well insulated...;)
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>>>Subs not a problem FL, our active sub sits beside us and makes a useful coffee table/table lamp stand
Agreed subs can easily pass as furniture.. ours on the main hi-fi is about a 14" black cube and takes our pile of magazines as if a table (magazines weight helps to damp it a bit too).
>>>telly wired up to my old Arcam amp.
I really ought to just buy a physically small amp and give this a go. I already have spare Mission speakers of a similar size/quality to your Monitor Audios so fed with an old ebay amp they would probably do 90% of what I want... the sub can always be added.
>>>we had a mid 60's Stones event o'er the weekend
Good man. I often set a youtube playlist on the laptop and feed its output to the hi-fi.
As our amp connections take some reaching at the back I bought a 20ft 3.5mm to phono lead which sits permanently connected and coiled on the floor ready to reach any seat in the room where someone has their Ipod or laptop.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 12:10
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>> >>>Our problem is volume, our living room has 13ft ceilings so overall volume means typical
>> telly sound capability just vanishes
>>
>> Even with a normal size sitting room that is an issue I want to address
>> here, more than the picture size. I've always had a proper (i.e. old fashioned) hi-fi
>> and like to hear music through it. The hi-fi speakers are in the wrong place
>> to use for TV amplification so I've never bothered to watch the ever increasing collection
>> of music DVDs people buy as presents... music through standard LCD TV speakers is a
>> joke.
>>
>> I don't need surround sound but 2 speakers plus sub would be nice.... it's just
>> fitting that around the TV to look neat that's put me off so far.
as the hound said, a sound bar with a sub is the best compromise, some pretty good ones around.
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>>>as the hound said, a sound bar with a sub is the best compromise, some pretty good ones around.
Visually 100% perfect and 75% there on sound too so I guess a very good compromise.
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This has just reminded me, we have an old ( well not that old in the scheme of things I suppose ) CRT flat screen TV as well, 26" I think, which has been relegated to being the monitor for my son's PS3. It has surround sound and multiple settings for the type of sound too. Much better sound quality than our modern TVs. I remember it being a pleasure to watch / listen to music on it when it was our main TV. The new ones are tinny by comparison. Heavy thing though.
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I find that withour Toshiba as well Humph - seems worse on the Humax thingy.
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>>>I remember it being a pleasure to watch / listen to music on it when it was our main TV. The new ones are tinny by comparison.
Yes indeed some of the last larger CRTs had very good TV sound.
I was given the Led Zep Celebration Day** double CD which has a bonus DVD of the concert. No point in watching the DVD with such dire sound from our current TV.
** 2007 reunion concert... www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO2CNc4mDHI for those that like such things.
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We don't watch much TV (excepting during Tour de France) but even if we did neither of us wants a set that dominates the room. A 21 inch flatscreen fits nicely on the shelving unit and is visible from settee and armchair space enough for four of us.
Sound is dire though - invariably play it over the hi-fi.
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>>We don't watch much TV
Nor us, radio on in the morning and through the day if someone's in. Early evenings involve cooking, eating, helping with homework etc. Later, I tend to go for a swim, son plays games on his PS3 and herself irons or something until about 21.00 or so when she sits down and watches something about multiple murders or people sitting around in country houses in period costumes agonising about unrequited love or whatever. I get back a bit after that and tend to flatulate about on here or somesuch before bed.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 12:55
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Having been deprived of TV in youth by parents who didn't want an 'idiot's lantern', I became quite keen on it when I grew up. But it soon palled. A great timewaster for many.
I watch it daily though, in a highly critical spirit: news/propaganda, current affairs, proper history, the odd interesting documentary, movies often on DVD. Can't abide costume drama series or any of the popular schlock much of which is quite simply loathsome. Herself is even more austere about it than I am.
I'm a long-time admirer of The Sopranos, but even that palls when you've seen it all a couple of times. And it's so amoral and somehow convincing that one ends up feeling threatened by the pervasive atmosphere of brutality and evil... echoed by much of the news and current affairs coverage actually.
I flatulate here to take my mind off work.
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www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Article/How-Far-Should-I-Sit.php
Excellent ammunition in my fight to have a bigger TV. It shows I should have a 48"-er. However, I haven't examined all the earlier posts in detail but I don't think anyone mentioned economy. My Panny 32" already uses 75 watts. If this goes pro rata I shall be consuming 113 watts and I shall be able top point out to her that we won't then need the central heating on.
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>>Having been deprived of TV in youth
An interesting point is that you may have learned to learn using a different brain hemisphere (I don't know which) than people who have learned using TV. For myself, I watched nearly none till I was 39.
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I have a 22" 1080p probably about four years old now, it is more than fine. I note that people seem to be happy having a massive 50" screen in their living room yet listen to music on a £50 thing from Aldi.
Personally all my gadget money is spent on my HIFI, it keeps its value a lot better too! A good amp will last 30 years or more. A TV is out of date after three years.
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I never listen to a radio: our CD player has been sitting unused since the Xmas before last.
If the radio is on in the car it, irritates me.
These days I am an old grump, as I cannot abide modern or semi-modern pop and the inane babble with which it is interspersed, on virtually any radio station.
Is it worth purchasing a soundbar just to improve a TV's sound for general programming?
SWMBO watches a lot more TV than I do, as I similarly cannot abide everlasting soap operas.
I listen to TV output through Sennheiser wireless headphones for programmes in which I wish to hear the dialogue clearly.
A pair of Sennheiser wired phones perform the same function when viewing "stuff" on my laptop.
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>> These days I am an old grump, as I cannot abide modern or semi-modern pop
>> and the inane babble with which it is interspersed, on virtually any radio station.
Try Classic FM, the "Classic" bit includes a multitude of different music, most of it easy listening. I find it good for relaxed chilled out driving, which I suppose makes it useless South of Preston. :-)
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>>Is it worth purchasing a soundbar just to improve a TV's sound for general programming?
Probably not - if you're quite happy with the quality of sound from your TV's speakers (some are awful!)
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I think the fact that these things are so cheap is partly why TVs are getting bigger - 32" branded smart TVs are available for under £300, but manufacturers need to show year on year growth in sales. If prices are deflating then selling a bigger verision helps combat that I suppose - and have you tried buying a TV smaller than about 32" recently? The choice in most retailers is tiny, pushing you to buy a larger one...funny that!
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Good observation PeterS.
Imagine being an electricals or computer retailer trying to grow your turnover - they really are very dependent on a constant stream of new products as the old ones get both cheaper and even more commoditised.
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Roger,
Like you I find the babble/music interface annoying except for a few bits of radio 2 (Pick of the Pops and Desmond Carrington). Classic FM's OK though.
There's nearly always something worth listening to on Radio 4. The Archers has me reach for the off button and drama rarely engages but otherwise even Women's Hour often has stuff of wider interest. Five live fills the gaps and is particularly useful at am and pm drive time where a pace that's a wee bit faster the Today/PM gives a good overview of days news etc.
The best stuff though is that you'd not planned to listen to and just stumble on; Archive hour, a programme about Autistic spectrum and getting best from sufferers with contributions from ADHD people and the kidscape lady from her perspective.
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We watched the coronation in 1953 on a 5" screen. The case was about the size of a large refrigerator.
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>> We watched the coronation in 1953 on a 5" screen. The case was about the
>> size of a large refrigerator.
Well, as they've just released the Coronation footage in a re-mastered digital form, why not recreate the experience on this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SSLC06Jwkg
Bet it's got a great freeze frame function.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Mon 17 Jun 13 at 15:43
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We bought a 42" Panasonic flat screen a few years ago to replace a 28" CRT.
'Twas either that or a trip to Specsavers.
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46" panny in the lounge, but its a fair sized room and I don't think it looks out of place.
The kids have a 32" sony CRT in the playroom. It was gifted by the out-laws (well, was told I could pick it up or it was being tipped). Its a chunky old beast, but the biggest difference is that the sound quality is so much better than any flat screen
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In my locale some 'trendy' eco homes were built, ground source heat pumps, miniscule gardens, with soft wood high maintenance ' summer rooms'. In the show house, above the inefficient living flame gas fire, was hung a 47" flat screen tv. How we laughed. Some are still for sale 5 years on, long after the builder went belly up.
I've just bought myself a 32" flatscreen LCD thingy second hand to watch my newly acquired boxed set of ' Breaking Bad' which I became addicted to in the US. The best TV series ever. Compulsive viewing and saving me a fortune in beer!
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>> There's nearly always something worth listening to on Radio 4. The Archers has me reach
>> for the off button and drama rarely engages but otherwise even Women's Hour often has
>> stuff of wider interest.
The Archers has gone off a bit (a lot) but the plays are often brilliant. Better pictures on the wireless than on a big telly, for sure.
I've tried to like Classic, music is mostly OK but when I've learnt the ads I have to turn off.
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>> Roger,
>>
>> Like you I find the babble/music interface annoying except for a few bits of radio
>> 2 (Pick of the Pops and Desmond Carrington). Classic FM's OK though.
>>
>> There's nearly always something worth listening to on Radio 4. The Archers has me reach
>> for the off button and drama rarely engages but otherwise even Women's Hour often has
>> stuff of wider interest. Five live fills the gaps and is particularly useful at am
>> and pm drive time where a pace that's a wee bit faster the Today/PM gives
>> a good overview of days news etc.
In the days when I was on the road a fair bit I used to listen to Terry Wogan on R2.
I did find that if a decent (to my ears) bit of music was played that I drove faster or slower according to its tempo!
A bit of rip-roaring jazz and I would definitely speed up, thrashing my company Ford Anglia, or was it a MkII Viva?, around a bit! (Long ago = less traffic = my excuse!)
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>>However, I notice that a lot of people have flipping huge tellys nowadays.
>> Some of them take up a thumping big section of wall or an entire corner of a room. >>Don't get that.
>>
You mean this sort of telly ?
Sharp brings giant-sized 90in TV to Europe
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22942738
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I've been holding off on this one, and I think I'm now right in saying that I can proclaim myself as Chav King of this forum.
My telly is 50". If anyone here is more shameless than that, I'll send you the crown in the post. In slight mitigation, it was Mrs A who decided we needed such a beast after seeing one at a considerably-richer-and-more-successful-than-us friend's house. I thought our 28" widescreen CRT was fine and would serve another 10 years or so, but I'm glad she insisted.
It's been great watching Spartacus and Game of Thrones on it recently.
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"Mrs A who decided we needed such a beast after seeing one at a considerably-richer-and-more-successful-than-us friend's house. "
Don't let her see this then!
tech.uk.msn.com/features/harrods-%C2%A3600000-tv-and-other-super-luxury-gadgets#image=1
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Watching telly is cheaper than going to the pub!
I am still shattered, appalled and amazed at the prices of quite ordinary drinks in quite ordinary pubs!
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Who says anything about having to listen to modern pop? Most the stuff I listen to is at least 30 years old, but I do like a lot of the American punk/emo/ska bands.
I certainly don't listen to the dribble on Radio One.
I was drinking with a mate in a pub in Didsbury on Sunday, only had four weak pints as I am working yesterday but it seemed dead compared to a Saturday night, and I did wonder why we were paying nearly £3 a pint when we could have got four cans for that. However even a quiet pub has a lot better attomsphere than being sat in the lounge.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 18 Jun 13 at 15:48
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"However even a quiet pub has a lot better attomsphere than being sat in the lounge."
Quite right. You aren't paying for the beer you are paying for the pub. Its the same with a cafe or a restaurant - you could never go to in a cafe and and take a thermos* with you or always eat at home but life would be pretty boring.
* I remember sitting outside at a greek cafe on holiday some years back. A couple who I recognised as staying at our hotel asked if they could join us, sat down and produced a vacuum flask and told us that they were not paying cafe prices!
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>> * I remember sitting outside at a greek cafe on holiday some years back. A
>> couple who I recognised as staying at our hotel asked if they could join us,
>> sat down and produced a vacuum flask and told us that they were not paying
>> cafe prices!
A thermos of ice cold Ouzo from a flask? You have to admit thats quite classy.
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>> I was drinking with a mate in a pub in Didsbury on Sunday, only had
>> four weak pints as I am working yesterday but it seemed dead compared to a
>> Saturday night, and I did wonder why we were paying nearly £3 a pint when
>> we could have got four cans for that.
You could have gone to this pub in Didsbury - here:-
tinyurl.com/kcz4sxe
And you would only pay around £2 a pint.
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A spoons in Didsbury? words fail me.
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>> A spoons in Didsbury? words fail me.
>>
More than one in fact!
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>> A spoons in Didsbury? words fail me.
>>
I had an illicit full English brekkie there one morning last week. Sat outside in the morning Sun.
!st class grub ! Next to the new tram stop as well.
Ted
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>> Who says anything about having to listen to modern pop? Most the stuff I listen
>> to is at least 30 years old, but I do like a lot of the
>> American punk/emo/ska bands.
>>
>> I certainly don't listen to the dribble on Radio One.
>>
>> I was drinking with a mate in a pub in Didsbury on Sunday, only had
>> four weak pints as I am working yesterday but it seemed dead compared to a
>> Saturday night, and I did wonder why we were paying nearly £3 a pint when
>> we could have got four cans for that. However even a quiet pub has a
>> lot better attomsphere than being sat in the lounge.
>>
>>
>>
Depends on the lounge!
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OTH I did enjoy sitting outside a bar in Estepona Port, with a group of friends, sipping a reasonably priced drink and listening to my pal Peter Charles singing Sinatra, Elvis & Diamond classics. BTW: He's very good and was a semi-pro in the UK.
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>> I am working yesterday
>>
Rattle, can you please put me out of my misery?
Are you working yesterday, or did you work tomorrow?
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>> Is he making you tense?
>>
"I certainly don't listen to the dribble on Radio One."
He's making me dribble.
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Well, you are knocking on a bit.
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Well, I have just spent £51.15 with Amazon on a "refurbed" Samsung Blu-Ray player.
It meshes nicely with the Samsung telly, with extra functions designed in.
I tested it yesterday with a DVD of Mama Mia ( ;-0 ) and realised that the sound on the TV for music ain't good.
With both hearing aids in my tabs I can listen to ordinary TV speaker output, although it's sometimes a strain to pick up all the speech. I am leaning towards getting a cheapish sound-bar, probably Samsung again, as there is device compatibility inbuilt and some of their soundbars can connect wirelessly with the TV. This would free up the need for the optical out from the TV to be used - a help as I use it for output from the TV generated sound to my wireless headphones.
I also have a, direct from the back of the Humax, output to my headphones, for actual TV programming, which I use much more as the sound volume level is much better than from the TV direct.
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Big TVs, huh!
I remember watching an England v Scotland football match on a colleagues Sinclair television back in the eighties -
www.thevalvepage.com/tv/sinclair/ftv1/announc.htm
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Sun 23 Jun 13 at 13:27
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I think I said somewhere above I replaced a home theatre system with a quality soundbar (LG to match the telly) and am really impressed with it.
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I saw the very large LG 84" Ultra HD TV in Richer Sounds when passing yesterday. It's huge - but a very good picture. No price shown. Looked it up when we got home - a bargain at £17000!
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>>Well, I have just spent £51.15 with Amazon on a "refurbed" Samsung Blu-Ray player.
It meshes nicely with the Samsung telly, with extra functions designed in.
I tested it yesterday with a DVD of Mama Mia ( ;-0 ) and realised that the sound on the TV for music ain't good.>>
When I got my 42in Panasonic about three years ago, I realised that the sound was really quite good considering the comparatively small speakers - but only providing you were behind the TV as the sound was directed either downwards or behind...:-( It proved especially problematic as the TV is housed in a corner alcove.
So I bought a Charlie Roth 2.1 speaker system and the difference was remarkable.....:-)
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>>So I bought a Charlie Roth 2.1 speaker system and the difference was remarkable
D'you mean wunna these effendi:
www.amazon.co.uk/Roth-Audio-CHARLIE-RCP3B-Wireless/dp/B003QP2UKE
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Currently bidding on eBay!
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>> Um, what for?
>>
A sound bar ;-) Shhhhh !
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>> D'you mean wunna these effendi:
www.amazon.co.uk/Roth-Audio-CHARLIE-RCP3B-Wireless/dp/B003QP2UKE >>
Yes, those are the ones I bought about two-and-a-half years ago. Very clean sound output and greatly improved enjoyment of watching the TV. Just a pity that much of the TV's sound system quality is wasted due to the nature of the positioning of the speakers...:-(
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My 2 year old 42" Panasonic Plasma is in a corner but I'm more-than happy with the sound - for general use.
I'll have a look at that Roth Charlie thing though as I could put it out of sight man, behind the idiots lantern ;)
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I'll have a look at that Roth Charlie thing
I suggest you look at the reviews before wasting your time!
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>> I suggest you look at the reviews before wasting your time! >>
See:
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1328386/Review-Roth-Charlie-2-1-dock-speakers.html
I paid around £130 at Dabs.
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ISTR it was a Roth that Richer Sounds demo'd to me when I was looking at soundbars - around £100 I think. Didn't sound bad, but it's pretty pointless trying to evaluate how it will sound in your room when in a shop... I just wanted an idea of how the tone would improve.
EDIT: This was it www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/roth/sub-zero/roth-sub-zero
I specifically didn't want separate speakers and the LG has a wireless woofer which is good. www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/lg/nb3530a/lg-nb3530a
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 24 Jun 13 at 18:15
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I've been a hi-fi enthusiast for many years - the Roth speakers have proved more than adequate for the task.
Vastly superior to part of the sound being directly downwards on to the glass stand top and the rest behind into the corner of the room - most confusing sound despite the menu setting available of the TV being placed up to/further than 30cms (approximately 12 inches) from a wall..:-)
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Big Tellys - Why? - Armel Coussine
