Plasma TV's

Why are they so hot... it's like having another radiator on the wall!!

Because they're made from magnetic fusion plasma. Not really

LCD screens - TV or PC monitors give a bigger electricity bill

than their CRT equivalents.

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because you're not using HD :)

Dunno really but one thing is for sure... NON HD LCD's vs Plasma and plasma wins hands down for picture quality.

HD lcd vs HD plasma and LCD wins... odd that.

however I am looking forward to the new generation of TV's being developed using organic technolgy. they're called OLED screens and they are capable of making them but the thing is that the organics have a limited lifespan so all the development at the moment is about increasing the life of of the diodes. Expect to see OLED's on market in 3 to 5 yrs.

My TV is about 20 years old - I *must* sort something out before the Digital Switchover thingie :-S

Get a cheap freeview receiver? That is if you want to keep the telly!

Thanks, but tried that, it won't tune in - I think our aerial is too old too!

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d'oh!! It all adds up if you have to upgrade your aerial and cabling too. Once the switchover goes ahead the signal strength for some (if not all) channels will be boosted, but I guess that's not much consolation in the mean time. That's the one thing I don't like about digital telly- it's all or nothing. In the future won't be possible to just be able to put up with a slightly fuzzy picture if your reception is poor.

Yeah. We think our landlady should split the cost of new aerial-age with us...

I'm going to go all geeky now and ask about Xbox's!

I have a plasma HD ready jobby and an xbox360 contected to my plasma with a HD cable. For some reason when i flick through the list of (dont know the right term..) 'formats??' eg, TV, DTV, HD, Component....you can only find the xbox under component.

And when im playing GTA4 you get lots of pixalation, dots as if the TV's catching up....if thats how it looks, whats the bloody point of xbox/tv all being HD?....or have i set it up wrong.

How overcomplicated is everything, my nan still has her old woody tele and it works just fine on all 5 channels.

I have 32 SONY CRT
you selct the input from the menu
it could be -scart1 to 3
S-Video front or back

scart 3 same as component audio/composite video or s video/audio from a camera
scart 2 could be a DVD player
scart1 could be freeview box

It's correct you only get a picture on component input - as that's the format you're using.. Component is where you have a separate cable for each of the red / green / blue colour spaces - note the three video connectors you are using. Component can carry signals *UP TO* 1080p, but a lot of equipment will only let you go to 1080i/720p on component as a result of a clause in the DVD format licence.

The pixellation you are seeing could be the result of many things - right down to the choice of video cable you are using (very unlikely over short distances), or could be inherent in your TV with very fast moving images (where every pixel has to refresh). Because a TV is HD doesn't mean it's that good sadly. Many cheaper "HD Ready" sets are actually poor quality - you gets what you pays for.

That said, Xboxes do let you set the output resolution - and it's possible that although you're connected by component, you're actually outputting a standard def-resolution (note the emphasised "up to" above). That's the first thing to check. It'll be under the video set up menus.

You can check this as your TV will probably tell you what resolution signal it is receiving when you first select the component input. If it says 480p, 576i - or anything apart from: 720p/1080i - then change the resolution on the xbox to the highest your screen will accept. (not always true, but HD READY tends to mean 1080i and FULL HD means 1080p).

If you're sure that's not the issue or want more info, let me know and maybe PM me a list of the kit you're using and I'll have a think.

As for plasma vs LCD... THE best TVs on the market for picture quality are the Pioneer Kuro plasmas, by a country mile. They cost a fortune, but look stunning. Unless you're spending 3k+ on a telly though, I'd recommend LCD every day of the week, and also mean you're not going to suffer from screen burn etc.

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I'd say Del's advice on plasma's pretty sensible.

F S how about this one? http://www.johnlewis.com/230430041/Product.aspx?source=35735

Father... summary: you probably can't.

Some questions for you:

What size telly would you like?
How far will your main viewing position be from the screen?
(this is a loaded question - there is a formula to tell you the biggest size TV you should have... nothing annoys me more than seeing professional installers sell people TVs and projector screens far too big for the environment they are in.. you miss lots of the the action and just hurt your neck... there is such a thing as too big folk!)

What will you be mainly watching (sky / freeview, DVDs, gaming)?
What other equipment do you have?

It's quite possible I can help you source something suitable for that price range or similar as I have trade accounts with many different suppliers. I'd recommend sorting your own finance separately though - you don't buy TVs from Barclays, and I've never been a fan of Dixons for finance packages... :)

If you have a look at the spec for that Philips TV, you'll see it's resolution is 1024 x 768. This is below the 1080 lines needed to view hi def and shows how (all) manufacturers are sneaky in their marketing. "has the ability to display" actually means "will down size HD images to fit"...

That said, very few people have any HD sources at all at the moment anyway... hence my questions about what you plan to watch!

I'm sure it's an ok TV and the price *is* excellent. If you just want a large screen, great. If you want something capable of showing HD at the native size, then keep looking.

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I have a version of one of these:
http://www.sharp.co.uk/Compare-all-our-LCD-TVs/LC42XD1EA-42-inch-Full-...

They used to do a 37, although I can't find it linked. The panel is excellent - supports true FullHD 1080p natively and the price is astounding for the set (I paid a grand, at trade price, a little over a year ago).

42" is the largest you want from 10feet, but it's not too big.

What Hifi pan Sharp sets, but ignore them completely. They guarantee a 'best buy' award if you advertise enough with them... 'nuff said.

That any good or would you like more suggestions?

Edited to say: If you are passing Bar Hill and would like to see one of them working, properly tuned (as opposed to the shop "stun" mode), let me know.

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Thanks Del!! Very handy...my plasmas a 44incher LG, bought for about £1600 a couple of years ago from Currys no worries.

(i think its 44" -measured diagonally.)

....way to big, almost embarrasingly to big, but bought on impulse. Now i have a baby i am actually thinking of getting a smaller tele...its a bit hard to ignore.

I have a 32 inch lcd matsui which I use for sky / xbox(not 360)/ps2/and pc input it does have a flicker problem which will be repaired when I can afford it? I got this secound hand for £100,I usually sit about 10-12 feet away from it and it looks ok to me.

I only have a 26incher (awww...) but then thats all I could fit in my tiny house. It only does 720HD, but thats all it should do for a screen that size and my viewing distance.

There are some interesting data here (http://www.carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/) which will help you decide whether you *need* full HD, or whether 720 HD will do for you...

For me it meant I could buy a very good telly with a smaller screen, rather than a crap one with a bigger screen

Agreed completely Morsey... Get the best screen you can, not the biggest.

When they manufacture screens, they're initially enormous sheets which they cut to size. The best bits get cut and used in the best sets - and smaller screens tend to be made from the off cuts! Take that Sharp I recommended... I've seen a couple of the smaller versions of that same set (around 22") that are absolutely useless - whereas others of the same size, with very similar model numbers are perfectly acceptable.

The other thing that is way too often overlooked is the audio aspect of things. I'd rather good stereo than weak surround sound... and if you do have surround - placement and timing is *everything*. There's no point having rear speakers if you're going to put them behind the sofa!

Most half-decent AV amplifiers will let you set the distance from your speakers to your listening position - and some even have microphones included that will set this up for your automatically. If you can do this on your system, it's well worth spending a few minutes getting this right.

I've got a 32" LCD HD ready set up with an upscaling DVD player - kind of wish I had gone for 37" now but any bigger than that would have been silly in my house.

Floyd - you don't want a smaller TV when you have a baby around, you just want more TVs - they will be your friends/babysitters - not very PC but absolutely true!

plasma? less than 500 quid~!! iuf you do find one dont bloody bother... Plasmas are more expensive for a reason!!

LCD's go ten a penny at under 500 but i wouldnt bother with them either

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I was thinking to buy a LG plasma 50" tv with built in freeview hard drive recorder (LG 50PT85) HD ready, resolution: 1365 x 768 to watch from about 10 foot away. Any good Del?

http://www.ex-designz.net/articleread.asp?aid=1787

[quote]If your seating area is 6 to 10 feet from the screen, the recommended size is 32 to 37”. A 42" plasma television is best viewed from 10 to 14 feet. And a 50" plasma screen is optimally viewed from 14 to 16 feet. If you are thinking of installing a 61 or 63” display, your seating area needs to be 15 feet or more away for your viewing pleasure.

[/quote]

LG are making some fairly nice kit nowadays Dagg - the issue is more likely to the the resolution.

Note the 1376 x 768.

The HD standard (used in games consoles and Bluray etc) is images of a size 1920 x 1080. Therefore, if that screen is to show them (?), it will have to downscale the images. Given that 50" is a fairly large set anyway, a low resolution at a large scale might not be as good as you can get.

I should point out that I don't know the set in question - it might be a good set - and you may be very happy with it (what really matters). Personally, I'd go with a screen capable of at least a 1080 resolution (1080i is still very good - and is the resolution Sky / Virgin and Freesat HD services will be using moving forwards).

As for incorporating everything in to one device - it's got it's merits (less kit or clutter) but I suppose you can look at it like laptop vs desktop. One is more convenient, but if something goes wrong, you're pretty much at the mercy of others to sort it out... and you can't just swap out (or upgrade) a small part of it as easily.

Jordan also makes a good point about the size perhaps being a little large for your viewing distance...

In summary: if you really want a massive TV, fair enough - I'd hate to talk you out of it and you end up cursing me every time you look at it! That said, if it's picture quality you want, you might want to consider something smaller with a higher resolution. That help?

I have a 42" plasma that fell into my lap as a bargain on easy payments with my mate. But I use it as my PC monitor (it's meant to be a monitor anyway, early panasonic plasma). Because of the size of my flat my dining table has become my desk meaning I sit about a metre in front of it. I see a lot of pixels. But on my sofa about 2.5 metres away it looks crisp and clean.

Over 37" in a normal lounge is starting to get a bit too big for the space... although we can argue that up to 42 is ok as it's not that much bigger... but beyond 42" in a normal/average sized (12'x15') room is getting showy really.

best thing is go to a showroom (you need to window shop before buying cheaper on the net) and know before you go which wall it's going on at home. Then think how the furniture will be rearranged once you regain the tv space and how far you will be mostly. If it's say 10' then in the showroom view the tv at head height from the "home distance".

The HD standard (used in games consoles and Bluray etc) is images of a size 1920 x 1080.

Barely any games released at the moment actually run at 1920x1080. The current generation of consoles can't really handle it that well without sacrificing graphics quality more generally. I think all but Gears Of War run at 720p, and the console upscales them to 1080p if you're set to that resolution, so you won't see any difference at 1080p even on a huge 42 inch+ screen

Thanks for the replies.