I'm looking for a new TV in the early to mid 40" screen size - Plasma, LCD and LED. Also a DVD home surround system which must have the speakers in built in tall stands.
There are just so many out there and my head hurts.
My main concern is quality and reliability followed by price (flexible) and a passing interest in power consumption. Certainly the £2000 tellies are a no no.
Any anecdotes would be appreciated.
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Just bought a new TV, Full HD. The world cup is really good in HD.
Cant offer any advice tho, only one person on here is qualified enough to answer that question, and only his one is the perfect TV. So you'll have to wait for that answer.
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FC, you don't want a DVD home surround thingy. You want a BluRay one. Sony & Panasonic seem to be the big boys at present.
JH
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Do these have surround speakers as I have just fitted 4 speaker sockets in the walls with all the wiring under the floorboards? Do the play standard DVDs as we have a vast collection?
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FC, "Do these have surround speakers " - it's up to you! You can buy either a full surround system with an integrated Blu Ray player, amp and speakers or you can buy separates. Your choice. If you want to connect via the wiring you've put in then I can't see any problem with that.
Incidentally M&S do a 5 year warranty & free delivery too.
JH
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I bought the first model (by a wonderful coincidence the one I wanted) to be released about three months ago of the new 2010 Panasonic range. See:
tinyurl.com/3adtg3q
Brilliant TV with wireless and internet capabilities, the THX calibration standard means one or two presses of the remote control's menu buttons ensures a superb picture and it has both Freeview and Freesat HD tuners.
There's also a five year warranty, although unlikely to be needed. Most problems are down to careless handling by couriers, which is why I always use a local independent audio/visual outlet.
As the new models use a smaller power supply unit (PSU), energy consumption is very good for a 42in plasma set.
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When I bought my 32" Panasonic LCD 3 years ago it was very expensive @ £850,
I've always been led to believe that Plasma TV's are power hungry?
Personally, I wouldn't go for LED just yet.
If you choose from among the Panasonic & Sony jobbies, you won't go far wrong,
And, the more you pay, the more you'll get (usually)
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We've got a Sony 40" LCD and can't really fault it, must be nearly 5 years old now and no signs of anything going wrong.
Sound system wise you will not better going separates with a receiver/amplifier at the heart of it and remarkably inexpensive, it's the speakers that'll cost, all 6 of 'em.
It costs more to set one up in the first place but once done the big benefit is that you can replace only items that go wrong or need upgrading.
A lot depends on how close your neighbours are, good sub does travel.
Could be worth a weekday visit to a Richer Sounds demo room before you decide and judge for yourself.
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>> There's also a five year warranty, although unlikely to be needed. Most problems are down
>> to careless handling by couriers, which is why I always use a local independent audio/visual >> outlet.
John Lewis for those that don't know do five year warranty on all TVs. And as Stuartli will know, a plasma set needs to be transported upright and how many of us can do that in the car. Better to get a TV delivered and it's someone else's responsibility until it's put in place.
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right now latest fad is 3d tvs with various manufacturers all introducing their take on 3d, theres a interesting development of the sharp quatron range where they introduced a extra yellow color making the colours far more striking, the latest panny tvs are lot more improved from the prev generation of plasma, yup its confusing but you need to get a decent demo of the tv and read some reviews of the sets themselves
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>>John Lewis for those that don't know do five year warranty on all TVs>>
I won't say why in a public forum, but there's a reason why I would buy locally rather than from said outlet or similar (and I fully acknowledge that it's one of the best, if not the best, in the business).
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sat 12 Jun 10 at 00:12
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Please let me know via a Mod.
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I recently had to replace the lounge telly and the bedroom telly when they both expired within a few weeks of each other. My criteria was bang for buck, the largest telly at the lowest price. I'd love to be able to watch the football without glasses but even with a 50" Panansonic in the living room, the scores are still too small. It's a conspiracy to make us all buy big new tellies.
The Panasonic is great, it was £703 at the time and worth every penny. I was going to get the same model but 42" for the bedroom and as we were choosing it my wife noticed that the LG model next to it in the shop was almost identical but £40 cheaper. I was reluctant because I didn't want to have to learn two different menus and wotnot but we went with the LG and as it happens I prefer it. The interface is so simple and clear compared to the Panasonic. Beautiful graphics and completely idiot proof.
I couldn't give a crap about quality, they both look the same to me, they're both blurred without my glasses and brilliant with them. But surround sound was absolutely crucial for me. All thin tellies have crap sound. Every single one. Our house is all open plan so the sound competes with the fish tank and the fridge and the kids and the other tellies. We went with Panasonic in the lounge for the simple reason that it had an ipod dock so it was like getting a twofer. Absolutely brilliant, it enriches the whole tv experience a thousand times. Can't watch telly without it. Plus you can listen to the ipod and play Wii at the same time which keeps the kids quiet when we're having parties. You absolutely have to have surround sound. The surround sound in the bedroom works without the telly being switched on so I have that piped into my office and listen to the telly while I'm working without the power drain of the screen. Cool.
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...All thin tellies have crap sound. Every single one...
This accords with my experience.
One 'half way' solution is a sound bar.
This a long, narrow box comprising of six speakers - three x three -and an amplifier.
Speakers are about 3".
The box is designed to lie on its side in front of the telly giving improved sound quality and a limited stereo effect.
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www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/denon/avr2310/deno-avr2310-blk
These av receivers are tops not just the denon mine is pioneer with tannoy speakers had it 4 years not upgrading till it goes bang.
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This is what I was warbling on about earlier:
www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/sharp/htsb200/shar-htbs200
A mere £120, instead of £600 for an AV receiver.
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My 32" Panasonic 100 Hz LCD has got great sound (for a flattie) that's why I forked out £850 for it.
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I have to admit I don't do the football thing at all, so that may bias what I'm about to say, but be aware that not very much is actually broadcast in surround sound, depending on your provider, so you'll only really get it when watching your DVDs.
Or Bluray, but that's a whole new ballgame, ha ha, when it comes to sound, as there's three or four new audio standards available, and not all players support all the standards and not all receivers decode them. And you have to decide on 5.1 or 7.1 which affects the speaker numbers.
You can't even assume that carrying the sound over a straight hdmi or optical cable will give you the best of these formats either.
Bit of a minefield (if you actually care) over this - a given player and receiver may or may not work with some or all of these, in increasing order of quality allegedly.
Linear PCM (LPCM) - up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio. (mandatory)
Dolby Digital (DD) - format used for DVDs, 5.1-channel surround sound. (mandatory)
Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) - extension of Dolby Digital, 7.1-channel surround sound. (optional)
Dolby TrueHD - lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. (optional)
DTS Digital Surround - format used for DVDs, 5.1-channel surround sound. (mandatory)
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio - extension of DTS, 7.1-channel surround sound. (optional)
DTS-HD Master Audio - lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. (optional)
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>> www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/denon/avr2310/deno-avr2310-blk
>>
>>
>> These av receivers are tops not just the denon mine is pioneer with tannoy speakers
>> had it 4 years not upgrading till it goes bang.
Have you checked if this is compatible with the dolby coding from Freesat? or freeview?????
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>>Please let me know via a Mod.
Stuartli
I would much appreciate the same. Mrs CS has been looking to buy a Panasonic 37" LCD F/V HD set from there, or possibly a small local stockist.
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A group test of HD Freeview TVs here:
www.reghardware.com/2010/06/10/grouptest_freeview_hd_tvs_intro/
It implies that the Panasonic includes adverts in the programme guide, can anyone confirm?
Last edited by: Arctophile on Sat 12 Jun 10 at 10:56
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Some of major retailers stock under-specced models of the big brand tellys.
A typical example would be a cheaper power supply.
The corners are cut on engineering parts which are not listed in the brochure, but the model number is always slightly different.
Hence you will see "Exclusive to Comet' or 'Exclusive to Currys'.
If this worries you, make sure you get the exact model number as shown on the manufacturer's website or in the manufacturer's brochure.
The smaller retailers tend to have the full-spec models, which are usually a few quid more.
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WHICH have just given a Best Buy rating to three of the new Sony's with built in HD Freeview, the 40EX403, 503 and 703, all have 5 stars for the HD picture.
I bought a 37" as soon as they came out in March, in fact a couple of days before Freeview HD broadcasts went live here, it is great.
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>Most problems are down to careless handling by couriers, which is why I always use a >local independent audio/visual outlet
I assume then that the local independent audio visual outlet goes to china or korea to pick them up from the factory in person?
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>>I assume then that the local independent audio visual outlet goes to china or korea to pick them up from the factory in person?>>
Why do you always assume the worst?
..:-)
The employee whose duties include delivering to customers always takes maximum care to ensure large screen TVs are delivered securely and upright.
That's why, he believes, that his outlet (the main Panasonic and Sony repair agents for a large area of the North West) has never had to replace a screen panel to date.
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how do they get to his shop?
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>>It implies that the Panasonic includes adverts in the programme guide, can anyone confirm?>>
It does on the Freeview EPG. It takes up a modest area of the left of the programme guide.
I'll send a message via a mod for those who asked.
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Many thanks for all your inputs.
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...for all your inputs..
Inputs, that's another thing.
I expect your new telly will have about a dozen.
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Have you checked if this is compatible with the dolby coding from Freesat? or freeview?????
I don't have or would use freesat or freeview sky + in this house had it now 12 years and much better for me.
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An alternative are the remarkable AudioEngineA 2 or AudioEngine A5 speakers, which produce a quality of sound that completely defies their size. See:
www.audioengine.org.uk/
Reviews at:
www.whathifi.com/Review/Audioengine-A2/
www.whathifi.com/Review/Audioengine-A5/
Far superior to most flat screen TVs' sound output.
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>> Please let me know via a Mod.
Ah, that explains the "report message as offensive" flag that arrived in my mailbox. I thought Stuartli had pressed it by mistake when replying to a post.
Will send the email shortly.
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>> that explains the "report message as offensive" flag
...although these days the link is just labeled 'report message'. So presumably that's how we report missing apostrophes, amongst other things...
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>> Will send the email shortly.
Fullchat, your email address bounced it back as not deliverable.
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Oh dear!
Checked my settings, they look ok.
Have you got a.....@b............k....co.uk
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Yes, I'll try it again in case it didn't like me bcc'ing it to you with other people's addresses.
Failing that, mail me on VxFan_mod@car4play.com and I'll then reply back with Stuartli's message.
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Also take a look at Richersounds for the tv - great prices and you can see the sets at their shops.
(IMHO I've only seen a couple of flatscreens that have a picture quality to rival my Panasonic CRT. Whilst I do envy their small footprint, I don't want to watch a bleary, smeary, un-naturally coloured picture - or is that just the 'shop' display option that apparently exists in these sets?)
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>> a bleary, smeary, un-naturally coloured picture - or is that just the 'shop' display option
>> that apparently exists in these sets?)
Yes it is. The distribution system that the big chains use to feed video into the sets is far from good. They look much better at home. Better in fact than your CRT.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 12 Jun 10 at 22:23
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>>Please let me know via a Mod.
Many thanks, DD.
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Yes it is. The distribution system that the big chains use to feed video into the sets is far from good. They look much better at home. Better in fact than your CRT
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> if that is the case how come most tv shops only show cartoons on their tellies then rather than something like a moving ball on a billiard table?
i will keep my rear projection sony crt thank you very much
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...i will keep my rear projection sony crt thank you very much...
My independent telly man reckons the best LCD/Plasma screens have only recently begun to approach the quality of the best CRT tubes.
I quite like the look of LED.
Only seen one in a shop, but it looked bright and crisp in a cartoony sort of way.
Could be like the decor in McDonald's - instantly attractive but tiresome after a while.
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>>- or is that just the 'shop' display option that apparently exists in these sets?)>>
Shop interiors are much brighter than your own home normally, so sets are set up to over emphasise picture quality otherwise the display would look "washed out".
Panasonic has a "Shop Environment" settings in some cases in its TVs' menu that has to be Disabled when set up at home
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One of the things that attracted us to the Sony LCD is the ability to see the full picture clearly from extremely oblique angles almost side on to the screen, some other makes and types once you got out of the main front catchment zone the picture all but disappeared.
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Update:
Well on your recommendation Stuartli went out and bought the Panasonic TX-P42G20B with the Panasonic Blu Ray Surround Sound System hoping to beat the potential VAT increase.
Best deal by a mile on the telly was Richer Sounds and the 5 year warranty was 10% of the price which came in inclusive just over £900.
They did not stock the sound system as they tend to do the better separates and I wanted something with speakers on stilts.
No immediate VAT increase, dooooh :-(
As I mentioned at the top I had put all my cables under the floor with sockets in the walls before having a wood floor laid and I know find it will take an ethernet connection. Oh well it will also take a wireless adapter at a price.
All I have to do now is RTFMs to make the most of the equipment.
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if burying cables put them in a plastic tube and a string running through so you can add extra wires
anyway wood flooring is so last year dorling
straw is the new in ;-)
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I watched the first two England matches on an LG and they were dire.
I'm watching on the Panasonic at the moment and we seem to be playing well.
I think that says it all.
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"I now find it will take an ethernet connection"
You could always use tinyurl.com/34camp8
or
tinyurl.com/y87nvgg
I'm sure I've seen the Netgear stuff for substantially less and 4 ports covers tv, Bluray & Humax ( or similar) all for the price of one wireless thingy.
JH
Last edited by: Tooslow on Wed 23 Jun 10 at 16:14
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I have the netgear 4 port powerline adaptors for my tele. They work, but I am disapointed with the throuput. Intially it came up as a 40mb connection, but suffered from severe lag causing severe stutter on streaming live video from the home server pc.
Had to rearrange the adaptors so they were plugged into wall sockets, not extension strips, and now get a solid, but not brilliant 68mbs. However when you have the PVR, the Blueray and the TV all requiring an ethernet netwrok connection, the 4 port powerline makes sense.
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Fullchat, hope you are enjoying the Panny - they really are excellent products. That's why those who work in audio/visual outlets usually pick one for their own home use...:-)
By the way, my five year warranty was free.
I use an Ethernet switch and Ethernet cables to connect two computer systems and the Panasonic to my broadband connection (the older computer system has the media server software on it as I've only just added a new system).
One benefit is that you can watch the BBC iPlayer on a 42in screen rather than a monitor.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Wed 23 Jun 10 at 22:41
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Several things matter; And the biggets thing is what you will watch on it.
1) Size...
Big is not always best. It depends on the room you will have the thing in and how far from it you will watch the screen. From memory, and therefore probably inaccurate, it is something like..
2m - 30"
3m - 42"
3.5m - 50"
4m+ - 60"+
2) Angle....
The best picture is when the television is the same hieght as your head and straight in front of you. Viewing angle can be improtant if someone will try to watch the television significantly off to one side.
Plasma typically has a wider viewing angle.
3) refresh rate
More is better. The faster the scren refreshes the better fast moving action will look.
4) Pixels
"HD Ready" [spit] means naff all.
picture signals have two variables in this area refresh approach can be interleaved or progressive and pixel numebr typically 720 or 1080.
1080 is more pixels and therefore better detail. Interleaved (interlaced) refreshes alternative lines where as progressivee does them in order typically making "p" better for fast moving action.
5) Contrast Ratio
More is better. Loads more is loads better. Just becareful and spot the difference between a calculated or constructed contrast ratio and an actual ratio.
6) Connectivity
Does it have the right number of the right connectors for however many things you will plug into it ?
7) Built in Freeview tuner.
Be careful. Most signals are currently MPEG2. In the near future they will be MPEG4, driven my efficieny needs and HD. You cannto watch an MPEG4 signal with an MPEG2 tuner. So for all of you who bought a television with a built in Freeview tuner more than 4 months ago, tough you;re going to need a set top box anyway.
Typically discounted units udner perform on one or more of the above compared to the latest models.
No FM2R
p.s. I can't believe they gave you an edit button
p.p.s. No, I still can;t type.
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Fulchat's new Panasonic has both Freeview and Freesat HD tuners - we've had Freeview HD in the North West since near the end of last year, although it was a month or two before Freeview HD equipped TVs or PVRs went on sale.
My Panny delivers particulary good displays (it's set up with the THX configuration) on Freeview, including HD, although in fairness I do get a 100 per cent quality signal from Winter Hill (it's about 15 miles from where I live and can be seen if I walk about a mile up the road).
Freeview HD sets are equipped with DVB-T2 tuners; information on the specification etc can be found at:
technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7097233.ece
A plasma can be viewed almost from side-on compared to an LCD, although some of these are improving in this respect.
>>So for all of you who bought a television with a built in Freeview tuner more than 4 months ago, tough you;re going to need a set top box anyway.>>
I can't make any sense of that comment nor, I suspect, is it accurate.
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>>>So for all of you who bought a television with a built in Freeview tuner more than 4 >months ago, tough you;re going to need a set top box anyway.>>
>
>I can't make any sense of that comment nor, I suspect, is it accurate.
Well I can understand not making sense of it with my dodgy typing and grammar, but its is mostly accurate.
MPEG4/DVB-T2 transmissions started late last year I think. I seem to remember reading that the first televisions with an inbuilt T2/4 tuner were available around Feb or so this year. So if you bought a television before Feb (ish) with a built in Tuner its probably DVB-T/MPEG2. Consequently you are likely to need to attach a setup box and use an external tuner rather than the internal tuner.
As far as I am aware there were no T2/4 equipped televisions available before this.
Ok, Feb is 5 months or so rather than 4, but its close enough.
I have been cautioning about this for about 2 or 3 years, which is about how long its been a known thing. It just didn't seem to get "real" until actual broadcasts were available.
Its not dissimilar to the situation with DAB radio really, in that finally the country seems to be starting to deal with the implications of switching off FM and continuing with DAB only even though that also has been coming for some time.
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Fullchat has bought the same Panasonic model as me - it has both a Freeview and Freesat HD tuner with DVB-T2 technology in the case of the former transmissions.
I've had mine since around the middle of March.
>>MPEG4/DVB-T2 transmissions started late last year I think>>
If you read my previous posting again, you will note that I stated Freeview HD transmissions commenced from Winter Hill in December but, unfortunately, suitably equipped TVs only arrived about six to eight weeks later and STBs even later...:-)
By a happy coincidence, Panasonic's first 2010 TV release from its wide range was the one that I had decided would be exactly right for my requirements (TX-P42G20).
Transmissions are on Channel 50 for BBC HD, 51 for ITV1 (some people use only this channel for ITV1 as it's often either enhanced or full HD) and 52 for Channel Four.
Some people have been having problems whenever having to re-tune Freeview channels as a number of Welsh channels are included following the introduction of HD. The secret is to only plug in the TV aerial when the 21-68 tuning bar scale reaches 53, which eliminates the (perhaps) unwanted channels.
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>> >>>So for all of you who bought a television with a built in Freeview tuner
>> more than 4 >months ago, tough you;re going to need a set top box anyway.>>
>> >
>> >I can't make any sense of that comment nor, I suspect, is it accurate.
>>
I made sense of it, built in Freeview HD, I dont count Freesat beacuse either you have to invest in additional hardware or you have Sky in which case you might as well have Sky HD.
I bought a Freeview HD Sony at the end of March just a view days before Stockland Hill went HD, plug and play works a treat through the same old aerial.
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No FM2R - have you just appeared from elsewhere??
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Welcome "back" NFM2R - yes the edit button has been a feature of this and HJ's site for a couple of years now - but is only live for a few minutes !
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Thanks PU. Obviously its all been happening while I've been in the shower.
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>>No FM2R - have you just appeared from elsewhere??
More REappeared, I think. Used to be in HJ, but time, temper and tolerance got short so I dropped off.
More time these days and had just been irritated by some garbage written in answer to a question in the Telgraph motoring bit so went to HJ's site. Got waylaid by comments about "the other site" and so looked around for it.
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>> Got waylaid by comments about "the other site" and so looked around for it.
Have they not been edited out yet?
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>> A plasma can be viewed almost from side-on compared to an LCD, although some of these are improving in this respect.
Panasonic LCD TVs with IPS (In Plane Switching) panels can be viewed at wide angles - 178 degrees I think. Ours has IPS.
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Let's hope my 12yo 21" £100 CRT TV linked to a 4yo £20 freeview box which serves the job perfectly well (and has better sound than my Parents new Panasonic Veira flat thingy) keeps going a while yet!
God, I'm such a luddite...:-))
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...(and has better sound than my Parents new Panasonic Veira flat thingy)...
A £1.99 market stall radio has better sound than most flat thingies.
And that includes Panasonic, Sony, and any other so-called premium brand.
Flatscreen tellys = rubbish sound.
And yes, I have got one.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Wed 7 Jul 10 at 22:06
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www.qacoustics.co.uk/q-tv.htm
unfortunately mine is on a stand which uses a wall bracket & the VESA holes so I can't use this solution :-(
JH
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>>Flatscreen tellys = rubbish sound.<<
Sometimes Sir, you talk out of where the Sun don't shine, not often, but sometimes :)
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...Sometimes Sir, you talk out of where the Sun don't shine, not often, but sometimes :)...
True, true.
But I've not come across a flatscreen telly with what I would describe as a good sound.
Improving it is easy enough with the application of a few hundred quid, but, out of the box, flat screen tellys do not a mellifluous sound make.
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>>flat screen tellys do not a mellifluous sound make.<<
Hehe! I'll have to look that word up, friend ... The thing is, with these flatties, ya get what you pay for, usually,
If one pays say £400 for a 32 incher, the sound can be disappointing, to say the least but,
if one pays £800, the sound quality can be very good IMO.
But then 800 smackeroonies is a lot of spondulics to most people, too much really, for a telly.
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>> Improving it is easy enough with the application of a few hundred quid
For a small TV like the 19" in our kitchen you can improve the sound for less than £20 by just hooking up a pair of PC speakers to the TV's headphone socket. Not everyone would call the result 'good', but it's definitely an improvement.
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...you can improve the sound for less than £20 by just hooking up a pair of PC speakers to the TV's headphone socket...
Good idea - hadn't thought of that.
I've got a £175 mini-system attached to the 19" Samsung flatscreen, which is the telly in the lounge of the caravan.
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Help me choose my new TV - Zero
