37" LCD's

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

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Joined
17 Oct 2002
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Hi guys,

Looking at a 37" LCD and the Toshiba Regza 37XV505D seems great value at £500 and seems to get a decent write up. Is it any good? Is there anything better for the budget?

Is there anything significantly better for a few hundred quid more? I'd rather not spend £700-£800 unless whatever this budget gets you is appreciably £200-£300 better than the Toshiba.

Any thoughts?
 
37LG3000 for £399

Once the correct settings are put into it its a Brilliant tv for the money.
 
Fox, the Toshiba Regza 42AV635DB 42-inch Widescreen (Full HD 1080p LCD TV with Freeview) is available for £35 more at a popular jungle based seller. Or would that be too big? Are you decided on a 37" TV?

A few hundred more (£800) gets you a nice Panasonic plasma. It will have better image quality. Plasmas do generally offer better picture quality than LCD but at this budget, an entry level plasma is unlikely to offer anything significantly better than the LCD Toshiba tv's imo.
 
[TW]Fox;14597348 said:
Mostly just freeview with the odd (once a month tops) xbox session.
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Panasonic x10 series without a doubt or possibly the new LG plasma as a second choice. The panasonic 37 should be less than £600, but if I rememebr correctly the 42 is not a lot more (£50-80). A flat panel may look massive at first, but will soon shrink as you get used to it in your room.

I'm not a fan of the toshibas, I just think they are fairly average sets. Think of them as the new astra or seat leon, with the LG being something a bit better with its own problems (mainly image retention), thus would be like a civic type-r with no torx (;)), and the panasonic would be like your car.

If you are mainly watching tv with some gaming then a plasma is the only way to go, especially with the superior SD picture and better motion handling, and the 720p panasonic screen is the perfect choice. Don't get hung up on 1080p and 200hz/100hz motion handling, as ever the spec sheets are full of twaddle from the manufacturers trying to make their sets stand out from the rest, and the difference between 1080p vs 720p at normal viewing distance is nigh on impossible to tell anyway. Especially avoid dynamic contrast figures as they mean absolutely nothing as there is no set test, so the manufacturers can essentially make it up
 
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Great info guys. Panasonic seems good. Is it the TX series thats the good Panasonic Plasma?

Apparently the Toshiba has a light sensor and auto adjusts contrast etc to suit light conditions in the room. Does the Panasonic do this also?
 
[TW]Fox;14598620 said:
Great info guys. Panasonic seems good. Is it the TX series thats the good Panasonic Plasma?

Apparently the Toshiba has a light sensor and auto adjusts contrast etc to suit light conditions in the room. Does the Panasonic do this also?
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Yea its the TXP37X10 & TXP42X10 you're looking for. Commonly just refered to as the X10's.

Most TV's have that tech that the Toshiba one has. For the Panasonic its called ECO mode, which changes the brightness and contrast depending on the ambient lighting.
 
If you want the best picture quality for that kinda price then go with the Panny 37 X10 range, don't worry about it being 720p since it'll be better than most screens that display at 1080p.

If you wanted to spend more, then there is the S, and G series also, but they are more suited to people who want the best picture and Freesat built in etc. On the other hand look for the L and V series for the LCD equivalent.
 
[TW]Fox;14598620 said:
Great info guys. Panasonic seems good. Is it the TX series thats the good Panasonic Plasma?

Apparently the Toshiba has a light sensor and auto adjusts contrast etc to suit light conditions in the room. Does the Panasonic do this also?
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Yuk, auto adjustment just like the auto dimming on the new samsung sets.

Plasmas do wash out during the days and are not ideal, but are perfectly livable with these lighting conditions anyway. But when the lights dim they really come into their own.

Once setup you won't have to play around with the set, and buying a tv for some gimmicky feature is like basing your car purchasing decision on the fact one has heated seats whereas the other is better in every other area.

Have a look in store to see what you think of the aesthetics of each set, but beware of picture quality comparisons in stores as the LCDs will most likely look better under the bright lights, and you will be accustomed to the OMG BRIGHT COLOURS AND SHARPNESSEZ settings. It takes a while to get used to an accurate and much pleasing picture that will be setup once home.
 
I quite like the auto adjustment, it means that it's viewable in a bright room and doesn't burn your face off when it's dark.

The weird contrast 'enhancement' that LCDs do by dimming the backlight based on what's on screen can die though, it looks horrible.
 
[TW]Fox;14600643 said:
Is that yuk as in its a bad feature or a typo for yup the Panasonic has it?
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It's a bid feature from a purist point of view. Think of it as similar to the "bass boost" button on tacky hifis. Gives a bit of a wow factor in a dark/light scene, but the constant changing (and it is noticable) distracts from the picture, and ultimately the artificial "enhancement" is tiring.
 
Maybe the 37" might be little different but just got the 32" Regza myself, the picture is very very nice but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired when using it through my PC via HDMI but not too shabby turning on "Surround" fixed this a little. The "dynamic" (light sensor) picture mode is also not too hot. The 32" versions offer very good value for money (mine was 280) not sure how the 37" stack up in comparison for VFM though.
 
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One point to consider with plasmas is the reflectiveness of the screen when on compared to LCDs. I much prefer a plasma and have an older Panasonic which is brilliant, but if you're putting the TV in a room where light from the Window will stream onto the screen then this can be a right pain with the plasma I've found.
 
[TW]Fox;14598620 said:
Great info guys. Panasonic seems good. Is it the TX series thats the good Panasonic Plasma?

Apparently the Toshiba has a light sensor and auto adjusts contrast etc to suit light conditions in the room. Does the Panasonic do this also?
Click to expand...

Absolute waste of time.

You won't beat a Panasonic for Freeview watching (other than a Pioneer). plasma sounds ideal for you.
 
[TW]Fox;14629348 said:
£522 for the TXP37X10B. Good deal?
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not really, you can find the 42" for an extra 35 quid.

Also the Toshiba is not bad, my Misses bought it a few weeks ago and she is happy with it. I have not seen it up and running.
 
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