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After owning a DVD player and surround speaker`s now for a few months i`m now looking to complete the whole home cinema experience by getting myself a new tv (the one i`ve got is on its last legs).
So can anyone recommend a good one?
I`m thinking currently of one of the Sony Wega range, but does anyone else have a widescreen tv that they can recommend? and will knock my socks off....sort of speak:)
I`m probably not the only one out here looking for a new tv so it will be good to have some TV reviews on here so people can have alook and help them shop for one.
And to be honest i haven`t a clue on which one to get, they`ve all got their gadgets and vary in price, and i know the old saying "you get what you paid for" but thats not always the case, with big names sometimes being sub-standard and often some not really known names being quality products.
So help out this lost bloke here as he looks around the highstreet for a new tv:)
So can anyone recommend a good one?
I`m thinking currently of one of the Sony Wega range, but does anyone else have a widescreen tv that they can recommend? and will knock my socks off....sort of speak:)
I`m probably not the only one out here looking for a new tv so it will be good to have some TV reviews on here so people can have alook and help them shop for one.
And to be honest i haven`t a clue on which one to get, they`ve all got their gadgets and vary in price, and i know the old saying "you get what you paid for" but thats not always the case, with big names sometimes being sub-standard and often some not really known names being quality products.
So help out this lost bloke here as he looks around the highstreet for a new tv:)
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Welcome to the Guitar Breakthrough forum.
Choosing a TV for home cinema is a tough call. I'm in the middle of doing this myself.
Here are some things you will want to consider:
Wide screen. Almost all digital TV and all DVDs are widescreen, so it makes sense to get a widescreen set. That
doesn't mean the end of black bars, though, as you'll get them at the sides for old 4:3 TV and Academy Ratio movies, or thin ones at the top and bottom for 2.35:1 widescreen movies. A 1.85:1 ratio movie will pretty much fill the screen.
Flat screen. There are cheap widescreen TVs out there that are anything but flat. Unless you like goldfish bowls don't save pennies here.
SCART sockets. Here's a tough one. You need RGB capable
SCART sockets for digital STBs (Sky/OnDigital/cable),
as well as DVD, TiVo and games consoles. But almost every TV
on the market has only a single RGB capable scart socket (2 that do not are the Tesco Wharfedale 890/M8 and some of the new Panasonic range). And don't get a SCART switchbox -
none of them are fully wired inside so such things as widescreen switching will stop working. Interestingly if you buy a Toshiba TV then you will want to connect your DVD player by Svideo (thanks to some strange processing of RGB inputs in Toshiba TVs), so this is less of a problem.
Integrated digital tuner. Lots of manufacturers have these
now, and they make sense. Without digital TV you will never
get a TV picture that actually uses the wide screen you have paid for. Old analogue TV is strictly 4:3 (or 14:9 now for those programmes that digital viewers are watching in widescreen). You get 12 months free OnDigital with most of them just now as well. And after that you'll still get all the free to air channels, including ITV1/2 in widescreen.
50Hz/100Hz. Personally I think 100Hz is a waste of money. To show an interlaced 50Hz picture at 100Hz the TV has to use a lot of digital trickery to `guess' what the picture should look like (simply showing the interlaced fields twice will cause objects to move forwards and then backwards!). As you'd expect most TVs guess wrong and you can get some very strange effects with scrolling text or fast moving objects like footballs. 100Hz sets also often suffer from an effect known as posterisation, where pictures look like they have been recoloured in large blocks of solid colour with visible lines between them. If you're lucky you can correct most of this by switching off ``digital noise reduction'' and correcting the factory set brightness and contrast levels (they are set artificially high to make the TV stand out in the shop). But if you can hear the 50Hz hum, or the flicker really bothers you, then there are now 100Hz TVs that do a fair job.
Surround sound. Ignore the cheesy ``virtual surround'' sets you can get. The built in speakers in TVs are too poor and close together to get proper stereo, let alone hear sounds magically appearing behind you. And you probably don't want to pay extra for built in ProLogic either if you're considering DVD - you'll want to go straight for the superior 6 (and now 7) channel DTS or Dolby Digital. There are some Philips and Toshiba sets with Dolby Digital, and Hitachi and Panasonic make sets with built in DTS surround.
It usually works out cheaper to get a stereo TV and an external surround system (either a home cinema receiver or an all-in-one setup like the Videologic Digitheatre DTS).
CRT or RPTV? Rear projection TVs are a lot more expensive than CRT TVs (but not much more than 36inch CRTs), so if you've got an enormous living room you might want to consider one. I find the brightness and contrast very poor on most of them - they have to run much brighter to project the picture onto the screen. Because of this they run much hotter and can break down. Epxensively.
Plasma? Plasma TVs look great. But very expensive. And don't forget even if the screen is flat enough to hang on the wall, the other boxes needed to drive it can take up a lot of space (just open up the front of the stand!).
Where can you see these TVs? Well, you can try Currys or Comet, but beware that they are rarely set up correctly there and usually fed video through a large low quality distribution system. If you're prepared to spend a lot of time adjusting each TV yourself and switching off the silly stretchovision mode these shops always use, then go ahead. Otherwise go to somewhere that really knows what they're talking about.
My personal favourite at the moment? The Sony KV-32DX20.
Nice flat 50Hz screen, integrated digital tuner, stereo,
RGB scart. I have yet to see the new Panasonic models with
DTS like the PG50, or their new IDTVs though.
Here are some things you will want to consider:
Wide screen. Almost all digital TV and all DVDs are widescreen, so it makes sense to get a widescreen set. That
doesn't mean the end of black bars, though, as you'll get them at the sides for old 4:3 TV and Academy Ratio movies, or thin ones at the top and bottom for 2.35:1 widescreen movies. A 1.85:1 ratio movie will pretty much fill the screen.
Flat screen. There are cheap widescreen TVs out there that are anything but flat. Unless you like goldfish bowls don't save pennies here.
SCART sockets. Here's a tough one. You need RGB capable
SCART sockets for digital STBs (Sky/OnDigital/cable),
as well as DVD, TiVo and games consoles. But almost every TV
on the market has only a single RGB capable scart socket (2 that do not are the Tesco Wharfedale 890/M8 and some of the new Panasonic range). And don't get a SCART switchbox -
none of them are fully wired inside so such things as widescreen switching will stop working. Interestingly if you buy a Toshiba TV then you will want to connect your DVD player by Svideo (thanks to some strange processing of RGB inputs in Toshiba TVs), so this is less of a problem.
Integrated digital tuner. Lots of manufacturers have these
now, and they make sense. Without digital TV you will never
get a TV picture that actually uses the wide screen you have paid for. Old analogue TV is strictly 4:3 (or 14:9 now for those programmes that digital viewers are watching in widescreen). You get 12 months free OnDigital with most of them just now as well. And after that you'll still get all the free to air channels, including ITV1/2 in widescreen.
50Hz/100Hz. Personally I think 100Hz is a waste of money. To show an interlaced 50Hz picture at 100Hz the TV has to use a lot of digital trickery to `guess' what the picture should look like (simply showing the interlaced fields twice will cause objects to move forwards and then backwards!). As you'd expect most TVs guess wrong and you can get some very strange effects with scrolling text or fast moving objects like footballs. 100Hz sets also often suffer from an effect known as posterisation, where pictures look like they have been recoloured in large blocks of solid colour with visible lines between them. If you're lucky you can correct most of this by switching off ``digital noise reduction'' and correcting the factory set brightness and contrast levels (they are set artificially high to make the TV stand out in the shop). But if you can hear the 50Hz hum, or the flicker really bothers you, then there are now 100Hz TVs that do a fair job.
Surround sound. Ignore the cheesy ``virtual surround'' sets you can get. The built in speakers in TVs are too poor and close together to get proper stereo, let alone hear sounds magically appearing behind you. And you probably don't want to pay extra for built in ProLogic either if you're considering DVD - you'll want to go straight for the superior 6 (and now 7) channel DTS or Dolby Digital. There are some Philips and Toshiba sets with Dolby Digital, and Hitachi and Panasonic make sets with built in DTS surround.
It usually works out cheaper to get a stereo TV and an external surround system (either a home cinema receiver or an all-in-one setup like the Videologic Digitheatre DTS).
CRT or RPTV? Rear projection TVs are a lot more expensive than CRT TVs (but not much more than 36inch CRTs), so if you've got an enormous living room you might want to consider one. I find the brightness and contrast very poor on most of them - they have to run much brighter to project the picture onto the screen. Because of this they run much hotter and can break down. Epxensively.
Plasma? Plasma TVs look great. But very expensive. And don't forget even if the screen is flat enough to hang on the wall, the other boxes needed to drive it can take up a lot of space (just open up the front of the stand!).
Where can you see these TVs? Well, you can try Currys or Comet, but beware that they are rarely set up correctly there and usually fed video through a large low quality distribution system. If you're prepared to spend a lot of time adjusting each TV yourself and switching off the silly stretchovision mode these shops always use, then go ahead. Otherwise go to somewhere that really knows what they're talking about.
My personal favourite at the moment? The Sony KV-32DX20.
Nice flat 50Hz screen, integrated digital tuner, stereo,
RGB scart. I have yet to see the new Panasonic models with
DTS like the PG50, or their new IDTVs though.
No sorry, my TV is a bit useless so I cant recommend it. The best thing to do is to go to High Street find the TV you want to buy, then mail order it. Theres a big difference with the crispness of widescreen TVs, some have really noticeable lines, the best have none...you have to see them to really be able to make an informed choice.
If your thinking of a Sony model then visit your nearest Sony Centre and check out the quality there!
If your thinking of a Sony model then visit your nearest Sony Centre and check out the quality there!
After owning a DVD player and surround speaker`s now for a few months i`m now looking to complete the whole home cinema experience by getting myself a new tv (the one i`ve got is on its last legs).
So can anyone recommend a good one?
I`m thinking currently of one of the Sony Wega range, but does anyone else have a widescreen tv that they can recommend? and will knock my socks off....sort of speak:)
I`m probably not the only one out here looking for a new tv so it will be good to have some TV reviews on here so people can have alook and help them shop for one.
And to be honest i haven`t a clue on which one to get, they`ve all got their gadgets and vary in price, and i know the old saying "you get what you paid for" but thats not always the case, with big names sometimes being sub-standard and often some not really known names being quality products.
So help out this lost bloke here as he looks around the highstreet for a new tv:)
So can anyone recommend a good one?
I`m thinking currently of one of the Sony Wega range, but does anyone else have a widescreen tv that they can recommend? and will knock my socks off....sort of speak:)
I`m probably not the only one out here looking for a new tv so it will be good to have some TV reviews on here so people can have alook and help them shop for one.
And to be honest i haven`t a clue on which one to get, they`ve all got their gadgets and vary in price, and i know the old saying "you get what you paid for" but thats not always the case, with big names sometimes being sub-standard and often some not really known names being quality products.
So help out this lost bloke here as he looks around the highstreet for a new tv:)