Large Screen Smart 3D TV

[bugbear]

Hi, BB

They still work the same as CRT's

Pete

I'm not so sure.

Maximum brightness in a LCD is very well defined (LCD set to OFF, backlight on). There may be issues (tone)mapping the video signal to the available gamut, but those decisions are more aesthetic than technical.

In a CRT the whole thing is much more touchy feely, since the limit for brightness is set by your judgement of excessive beam divergence - i.e. brightness interacts with focus in a way that simply has no meaning for a pixel based display.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Well its the method I have always used with success since working as a TV engineer.
True there are differences in pixel displays but its a good starting point,
I still get asked to setup TV's for people, mostly because they are set so poorly in the first place.

Pete

 

[nev]

Regardless of what anyone says including me :? If you want a decent picture... Go to a shop and look at them, from the distance you will be sat at most of the time. Everyones opinion will differ as to what is a decent picture and the only one that counts is yours

Trouble is, the shops have funny lighting, rigged signals (e.g. blu-rays chosen because they're REALLY crisp), and the TV sets are often set up to be super bright, at the cost of realistic/natural colour.

Even my (older) TV has a settings preset called "shop" (or "demo", IIRC), and it's unwatchable in my lounge on that setting.

BugBear

Good point, but what other options are there?, apart from small independent TV /hifi shops that simply do not have the buying power of multinationals and therefore uncompetitive on price. Of course one can consider good service worth paying for!

I also forgot to say have a look at the picture with the signal you're going to be watching most of the time. eg freeview or freesat and flick through the channels you watch most of the time, some are better than others. grab the remote and have a good play, and if they dont let you - tell em where to put it

 

[SimonB]

Not seen it mentioned, but consider audio quality too. The super thin TVs are appealing, but clearly leave little space for speakers and audio can be compromised. Some manufacturers now offer 'sound bars' to compensate. If you don't want to go down that route then consider a fatter panel which will likely have better sound quality.

Also when viewing/demoing, try to insist on watching some standard definition material (assuming you ever watch it, eg non HD Sky, Freesat etc, DVDs) - new models seem optimised for HD and will look better anyway with an HD source, but not all panels have decent SD processing. If you have an upscaling DVD/BD player then DVD quality might be less of a concern.

Also wasn't sure if your original question was answered, BluRay players can play DVDs - if you're in the market for one then consider Oppo, very good machines.

 

[bugbear]

Regardless of what anyone says including me :? If you want a decent picture... Go to a shop and look at them, from the distance you will be sat at most of the time. Everyones opinion will differ as to what is a decent picture and the only one that counts is yours

Trouble is, the shops have funny lighting, rigged signals (e.g. blu-rays chosen because they're REALLY crisp), and the TV sets are often set up to be super bright, at the cost of realistic/natural colour.

Even my (older) TV has a settings preset called "shop" (or "demo", IIRC), and it's unwatchable in my lounge on that setting.

BugBear

Good point, but what other options are there?

None that I know of. When I was trying to make a fully informed decision about buying a TV (a coupla' years ago) I concluded that it was impossible to be fully informed, and I would be forced to rely on reviews and brand reputations. This did not make me happy.

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

I went to Amazon and John Lewis websites and did a search on "LED" TVs sort by rating.

It unanimously came up with the Samsung. I wanted 40 inch which is big enough for our lounge. Then I bought it from John Lewis to get 5 years guarantee free...bought a soundbar too which is "ok" but not a patch on my real AV amp etc....a stand with two shelves as I didn't want it wall mounted.

It arrived on time they gave me...they took the old TV away (best £9 I have ever spent..you should have seen their faces...it weighs a TON)...set it up and it's drop dead gorgeous!

The pictures (when you set it correctly) is fantastically real...the SMART bit is intuitive and well thought out...it impressed me so much I bought a laptop to go with it from Samsung, a Tablet and a phone and they all knock spots off the competition. My son has even threatened to ditch his Apple stuff!

The "All Share" interaction is a really handy feature...but it takes a bit of setup.

It's WIFI enabled, has FreeSAT and FreeVIEW built in...all the iPlayers...and you can add apps.

Really pleased with it.

It's the THIS ONE and it's a lot cheaper now than when I bought it back in October!!

Hope this helps Mike

Jim

 

[andersonec]

Do some reading up at your own leisure on sites such as these,

http://www.techradar.com/news/televisio ... ear-709255

http://www.trustedreviews.com/best-tv_round-up

http://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/TVs

Andy

 

[Gerry]

Anything above 42" go for a Plasma. True blacks, High contrast ratio, Infinite viewing angle and less motion blur. Only the top end LED backlit LCD tv's can match the performance of a half decent plasma screen at those sizes. Try watching an LCD with the sun shining on it and the picture is just about impossible to see correctly. A Plasma with it's higher contrast ration and individually lit pixels is way clearer.

Gerry

 

[Lons]

Anything above 42" go for a Plasma. True blacks, High contrast ratio, Infinite viewing angle and less motion blur. Only the top end LED backlit LCD tv's can match the performance of a half decent plasma screen at those sizes. Try watching an LCD with the sun shining on it and the picture is just about impossible to see correctly. A Plasma with it's higher contrast ration and individually lit pixels is way clearer.

Gerry

I'm with Gerry and I used similar reasoning when we bought ours.
Also noticeable with fast moving action and sport is that the plasma is distinctly more smooth than the LCD I have. Not so sure about how it compares againt high end LED in that respect.

Bob