LCD TV Guru's please

Bennah

Bennah

Bennah

Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2004
Posts
7,223
Location
Sunny Manchester
Hi there,

Right, Im in the mood of spending a little cash on a new TV for my bedroom. Choosing which one is bloody too hard these days with the huge selection you can choose from.

Its going to be in my bedroom, hopefully I can get it wall mounted above my desk to save some space. I'l be around 8ft-9ft away from it when sitting in my chair or on my bed.

I would be using the PS3 for gaming and dvd's etc. Planning on using the built in freeview for standard tv watching.

Idealy, I would have to sound outputted to a AV AMP that will be then connected up to some nice speakers. Talk about the sound setup will come later.

Now, Im new to the whole LCD thing. Im still using my trusty CRT that Ive had for years but space is becoming an issue and with having a PS3, a new TV is a must.

Whats the difference in the outputs that you can get from the different sized TV's? Full HD and HD Ready?

I have been looking around briefly and the Pannsonic 32" LXD70 is a decent TV for the cash. Got £800 or so to spend. Heard that Toshiba do a decent 37" too but not sure which one. Are 37" panels good these days?

Helpfull comments, suggestions and ideas would be appreciated...

Thanks
 
Full HD means the TV can output 1080p. HD Ready would suggest that it can only do 720p/1080i, so its not Full HD, which personally i would avoid at this stage to make it more future proof (of course depending on the size of the TV, 720p will be enough).

If you have around £800, i would recommend the Samsung LE40M86BD (sometimes its M87 instead of M86, the difference is a silver bar along the bottom of the TV, no technical differences). Its 40", so it could be a bit too big for a bedroom. You can get the same brand i.e. the Samsung LE37M87BD as well which is just the same but 37". However, there are reports that Samsung use cheap screens on the 37" versions, dont hold me to that cause it may be sorted now.

If its just for gaming, then the 37" Hannspree's are pretty good apparantly. I would take a trip to Avforums as that is really the only place you will need to get all the info on LCD TV's.

Hope this clears up some things, im sure more people here can help you :)
 
I have been looking at those Samsung screens. Ive measure up 40" though and it seems too large from where I will be sat / lay most of the time. Also heard about the 'inferior' 37" panels too.

So 40"+ is the only size really I can get 1080p output?
 
The 37" Samsung i mentioned does 1080p, so i think quite a few 37" LCD TV's will do 1080p. The only way to find out is to look at the TV's spec sheet or the "Full HD 1080P" sticker on the screen.
 
Ah ok, thanks. Just depends on the quality of the 37" panels then. Im pretty sure theres a Toshiba REGZA thats good a good panel and does 1080p.
 
I have LE40M87BDX arriving tomorrow, after I have spent lots of time reading and checking prices I think I got a good deal and I also ordered a tilting bracket to arrive tomorrow too :D

Will post some pictures once I put it up Saturday..
 
Hi Bennah

Yes bracket is for the wall mate, I paid £49.98 for the bracket? Can hold upto 80kg I think the tv is only 26kg without the stand..

Or was you asking about the LCD cost?
 
Nope, the bracket cost.

Be sure to post pictures. Would be intresting to see how the bracket fixes to the wall and the tv.

Thanks
 
No problem, I'll take a few with my camera as we go along, got a mate coming round to help lift it into position and drill the holes through the wall etc..
 
tweakinfreak said:
No problem, I'll take a few with my camera as we go along, got a mate coming round to help lift it into position and drill the holes through the wall etc..
Click to expand...

How much did you pay for the TV? I got the LE40M86BDX for £719.99 including delivery. Same thing but fully black instead of the silver bar on the M87. Should be here Friday :)
 
I think it was £739 all told, how ever the price seems to jump up and down on a daily basis...

I have the Silver strip which suits me as I have a silver colour 5.1 system :)

I'm only running Sky+ and DVD's at the moment but I have checked Avforum for the correct settings so I'll be setting that up as soon as I turn the screen on
 
tweakinfreak said:
I think it was £739 all told, how ever the price seems to jump up and down on a daily basis...

I have the Silver strip which suits me as I have a silver colour 5.1 system :)

I'm only running Sky+ and DVD's at the moment but I have checked Avforum for the correct settings so I'll be setting that up as soon as I turn the screen on
Click to expand...

Cool. What settings are you going to use for Sky+ and the DVD player (you using the DVD player through SCART?). Looked on AV myself, but can't decide between them all!
 
If it's a Samsung, disable all of these (first go into Movie mode though)

Dynamic contrast
Active Colour
Black Adjust
Power Saving
DNI-E
Movie Plus
Edge Enhancment

Colour Tone Cool1/Normal/Warm 1 (depending on screen type)

Contrast 90
Colour 48
Sharpness 20-30
 
Hi Badbob

Are those the best settings for Sky+ and DVD (Scart) ?

Nymins yes I had the same confusion, was going to try a few and see what suits best? :)
 
You can have seperate settings per input. But usually the same general settings above are a good start, you'll have differences in brightness per input, also play with colour space- most leave it to auto, as wide pushes blue. However on my HTPC input it pushes red, so I leave it to wide. On the DVD it's set to auto. XVYCC does funny things to the colour, I'd leave that to disabled.

The set suffers from red push so go into White Balance and reduce R-GAIN a bit. Not too much, just to take the edge off the red.

Sharpness setting has to be set quite low- display some small text, go right up to the screen, cycling up and down- you don't want any haloing around the text, nor do you want the edges incredibly blurred.

Check for banding in 50hz material, and with SCART inputs. I have horizontal banding with 50hz through HDMI.
 
Well just got a call from my other half, she said the TV has arrived!!! :D:cool:


Apparently the delivery gys said let it stand for 24hrs and also make sure it reaches room temp before turning it on for the first time?

Sounds OK but can someone confirm please?
 
tweakinfreak said:
Well just got a call from my other half, she said the TV has arrived!!! :D:cool:


Apparently the delivery gys said let it stand for 24hrs and also make sure it reaches room temp before turning it on for the first time?

Sounds OK but can someone confirm please?
Click to expand...

It should be ok to use right away i think.

Really annoying, i bought the M87 from a e-tailer, but it got lost in the post (don't ask how lol) and i got refunded. About half an hour ago it turned up, but i had to refuse cause i ordered another one from someone else and its coming on Friday :( It was only a few meters away from me damn it!
 
tweakinfreak said:
Lost in the post? :) I won't ask!

Ah what I bet that was a nightmare to say no lol........
Click to expand...

I know, i have no idea how it could get lost. Well the delivery guy said the postage sticker and consignment sticker must have came off the box during transit, and they're not allowed to open it to see the receipt.

Really annoying to have to turn it away when its right at my door. This other one better come on Friday. Tis difficult getting a large TV shipped to Northern Ireland :D They gave me a 4 hour time slot for delivery on Friday, so at least they are fairly certain it will come.
 
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