Living room, big tv required...help!

ironman · 26 Aug 2006 at 20:33

Right i'm a bit of a noob when it comes to tellies but time has come to get something new to replace an ageing sony trinitron crt. Requirements are that it is wall mountable, big - 42"+ and high definition enabled. Budget is not so important but as long as its not anything silly like over £10k.

What are the options i'm looking at, best to go with plasma or lcd? Also I hear there are two grades of high definition?

Thanks

solpadeine118 · 27 Aug 2006 at 19:18

Your best bet is to see what you think of the picture quality yourself with some display sets in the high street. Then I would suggest going to Avforums. There you can be deluged with information, if you have the time to read it all. I have just had two weeks off work so I had a lot of time on my hands and also some money to spend. I did a lot of research and went for the Panasonic TH42PX60. Its a plasma and has twin HDMI as well as VGA for connecting a PC. I went around the shops and in my opinion there was simply no comparison with SD signals - the plasmas were much better than the LCDs. Even with HD they were slightly better. Another very nice plasma that (in my opinion) looks even better than the Panasonic (I mean the style of TV frame, not the picture) is the Pioneer PDP-436SXE. However it only has one HDMI connector and (allegedly) is more prone to screen burn than the Panasonic.
So that’s several misspent hours on AVforums distilled for you....

footman · 27 Aug 2006 at 19:19

I have the Panasonic plasma 42" Viera and its awesome.

squiffy · 27 Aug 2006 at 19:31

Go for a projector, DLP is great but make sure you demo one. Especially since you want 42"+

chaparral · 28 Aug 2006 at 22:00

I have a pioneer 436xde 43" plasma which i can't fault..but they have stopped being made by pioneer about 1 or 2 months ago...

The best plasma's to look out for are

The new pioneer 427 & 507..
The panny 42px600 & 50px600 and the new PH9 series panels only.
and the new Fujitsu 58 series

and for a full 1080p plasma panel.
The pioneer PDP-5000EX (not cheap at about £6000)
http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=12463&taxonomy_id=62-925

And out of the LCD tv's the sony ones are the top rated ones out right now..

Raider · 28 Aug 2006 at 23:12

If money wasn't too much of an option then i'd say you have two options:

1) LCD Route - Sony 46X2000 - 46" Full 1080p panel
2) Plasma Route - Pioneer PDP-5000EX - 50" Full 1080p panel

In terms of HD, there are 3 modes, 720p, 1080i, 1080p. 720p and 1080p are progressive scan, 1080i is interlaced.

Currently Sky HD, Xbox 360 only use 1080i or 720p, and will only do so in the foreseeable future. The only use of 1080p is future proofing in case you buy a HD-DVD / Blu-Ray player or PS3.

Both the Pioneer and the Sony are superb screens. It really comes down to the age old debate of Plasma vs LCD.. and there really is no easy answer. Best thing to do, if you're willing to spend that much money is check out both in person, preferably at a Hi-Fi store that knows how to set them up!

If you don't want to spend £4000+ (approximate prices for the above), then you can get very nice screens for below £2500, namely the 43" Pioneers or the Sony 46" 46V2000 (similar to the 46X2000 but no 1080p capability).

I would advise you visit avforums for more info

ironman · 28 Aug 2006 at 23:52

Raider said:
If money wasn't too much of an option then i'd say you have two options:

1) LCD Route - Sony 46X2000 - 46" Full 1080p panel
2) Plasma Route - Pioneer PDP-5000EX - 50" Full 1080p panel

In terms of HD, there are 3 modes, 720p, 1080i, 1080p. 720p and 1080p are progressive scan, 1080i is interlaced.

Currently Sky HD, Xbox 360 only use 1080i or 720p, and will only do so in the foreseeable future. The only use of 1080p is future proofing in case you buy a HD-DVD / Blu-Ray player or PS3.

Both the Pioneer and the Sony are superb screens. It really comes down to the age old debate of Plasma vs LCD.. and there really is no easy answer. Best thing to do, if you're willing to spend that much money is check out both in person, preferably at a Hi-Fi store that knows how to set them up!

If you don't want to spend £4000+ (approximate prices for the above), then you can get very nice screens for below £2500, namely the 43" Pioneers or the Sony 46" 46V2000 (similar to the 46X2000 but no 1080p capability).

I would advise you visit avforums for more info

Thanks mate, that Sony 1080p model is exactly the one I was looking at, its available at £4000 with 5 year warranty too. As soon as our current TV dies i'm gonna go and demo it, what are my options for wall mounting the screen? How is the best way to hide cables?

chaparral · 29 Aug 2006 at 12:21

gurdas said:
Thanks mate, that Sony 1080p model is exactly the one I was looking at, its available at £4000 with 5 year warranty too. As soon as our current TV dies i'm gonna go and demo it, what are my options for wall mounting the screen? How is the best way to hide cables?

You really need to checkout the SD PQ on these 1080p screens before buying..With the TV having to upscale such a low res from the SD signals to 1920x1080 can look pretty bad..
Don't be fooled by shops showing off there HD demos..Get them to show you what normal SD TV looks like on each TV you may be interested in.

squiffy · 29 Aug 2006 at 12:26

Everyone ignoring me?? :rolleyes:

If you're spending £4K you can get a nice projector for that.

cableguy2003 · 29 Aug 2006 at 12:55

squiffy said:
Everyone ignoring me?? If you're spending £4K you can get a nice projector for that.

Not everybody wants to have to black the room out though, and lets face it they arent very practical for a front room , maybe for a dedicated room or computer room.

ironman · 31 Aug 2006 at 00:57

chaparral said:
You really need to checkout the SD PQ on these 1080p screens before buying..With the TV having to upscale such a low res from the SD signals to 1920x1080 can look pretty bad..
Don't be fooled by shops showing off there HD demos..Get them to show you what normal SD TV looks like on each TV you may be interested in.

Thanks, I will take that into consideration.

squiffy said:
Everyone ignoring me?? If you're spending £4K you can get a nice projector for that.

Yes, a projector is not a big tv....

Mr Latte · 31 Aug 2006 at 02:00

The new Sharp range could kick the latest Sony X series up the ass.

Wont go into detail here but basically their latest FAB plant with these new models will be a generation ahead of other manufacturers. Cutting costs and with the latest technology.

If going by the USA versions specs:
1080p screens in 37" 42" 46" & 52" with the 52" currently available on Pre Order for £2600 if you shop around. Folks thats 6" more screen and a good £600+ less even than some of best deals going on the Sony 46" X series

Now aint she a beauty and with 6ms response too
Details are still tbc but the prices are a lot cheaper than the Sony.
keep up with the thread on AVF "Sharp LC-52XD1E "

Warning --- Stay away from Plasma if your going to use a PC quite a lot.
Try telling my brother his 50" 4k Panasonic doesnt suffer from screen burn...

However a 52" LCD in 1920x1080 desktop sure would be handy for gaming wouldnt it....

Sorry but were some people saying their own plasma/lcd were awesome, maybe nows a good time to reconsider that statement...

Paul11 · 31 Aug 2006 at 02:17

that looks very sexy......

ironman · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:40

wow that's nice, will be keeping a good eye on that. Won't be connecting a computer to it but I guess on the odd chance I may want to, that would be awesome viewing

blairw · 31 Aug 2006 at 17:18

Does look great I have to add, But as said before, upscaling to 1080p is gonna make normal tv looks pretty....dire..

squiffy · 31 Aug 2006 at 18:14

blairw said:
Does look great I have to add, But as said before, upscaling to 1080p is gonna make normal tv looks pretty....dire..

If using FFDSHOW to scale it'll look no worse than upscaled to 730P.

Mr Latte · 31 Aug 2006 at 18:27

blairw said:
Does look great I have to add, But as said before, upscaling to 1080p is gonna make normal tv looks pretty....dire..

Its really only interlaced video that causes much problems and even then these problems appear on common 1366 panels.
Really though you dont look to purchase a 1080p Top End HDTV to watch SD on it.

Its all about using it with HD content be it Sky HD / Consoles / HD DVD / LOO RAY / Upcoming Internet HD services / Future Windows Vista MCE

Those not interested in connecting this with a HTPC and using the screen primarily as the centre of viewing all entertainment content would be missing out bigtime, everything from digital photos, movies, music visulations and gaming would all look great.

Youll even find many laptops becoming available with HDMI out, portable, quiet and ideal for a living room too.

Jez · 31 Aug 2006 at 19:14

squiffy said:
Everyone ignoring me?? If you're spending £4K you can get a nice projector for that.

A projector is great as a secondary display, but not suitable as a primary.

Mr Latte, those prices look incredible :eek:

Mr Latte · 31 Aug 2006 at 19:19

Some good updates on the AVF thread today.

52" & 46" are quoted as @ 4ms with higher contrast
Have a look

Jez · 31 Aug 2006 at 19:24

I dont beleive for one second that it will retail here for as little as £2600

It looks fantastic.

Annoying as ive been looking for a good excuse to move my ageing 42" plasma into the bedroom, this seems to be well worth waiting for my living room