Plasma/LCD tv advice

Any Techno geeks out there.

Just bought a sony 1250W Cinema system that upscales dvd's to 1080p
Got my Sony PSP3 on order so thats blueray covered.

Now the TV, what a minefield and shop assistants don't seem to have a clue about anything instore exept extended warranties and buy my telly and gate a half price sky box, ah the fruits of low wages made up with commissions.

I have boiled it down to.

Panasonic TH42PX600
Toshiba Full HD 1080p WLT66
or a Samsung 1080i 40" LCD.

Sadly I am not upgrading sky untill they reduce the price ( as in give me ) the sky box having been a very long time customer I think £300 is outrageous. So the TV needs to give a decent if not perfect Digital picture.

Any ideas?

I've been looking at the very same thing EGG,

I've been told plasma has a faster refresh rate and produces truer blacks than LCD and that I want 1080p over 1080i. I am a Toshiba fan having having used their TV's and VCR's for over ten years without fault.

An interesting thread that I look forward to reading.

John

Originally posted by JAT74L
I've been looking at the very same thing EGG,

I've been told plasma has a faster refresh rate and produces truer blacks than LCD and that I want 1080p over 1080i. I am a Toshiba fan having having used their TV's and VCR's for over ten years without fault.

An interesting thread that I look forward to reading.

John

If you like the Toshiba, the 42" 1060p is on offer at curry's inc a HD dvd player with upscale for 1499.00, I am just worried that they couldn't show me the picture with a normal sky connection. Apparantly the Toshibas without a "T" on the model number underperform.

[mitchja]

It's worth pointing out that currently no supplier is broadcasting HD at 1080p yet in the UK. Sky so far only broadcast HD programs upto 720p.

I've been told by various people that the cost of a Sky HD box will come down over the next 12 months and also there are currently supply/production problems with certain components in their HD boxes.

Freeview are also doing HD trials in certain areas as well at the moment.

Regards

I know 1080p isn't broadcast and won't be for a while, but playstation/x'box and blueray can output and or upscale virtual 1080i/p

[Scrooge]

If you are not 100% sold on plasma/lcd tv's then take a look at this, the picture is as good as any plasma/lcd if not better.

No idea what the cost is in the UK, but I am picking one up next month, half the family has one already and we all love the thing.

Awsome, let me know how much it is, and how many HDMI ports it has.

In $ its $3000 with $500 off. still looking for the £ price.

DLP tvs don't seem to have taken off in the UK, I did look at one a couple of years ago It was I think a 56" screen and was cheaper (£1.2k) than the 42" samsung plasma (£1.6k) I ended up buying.DLP Picture quality is fantastic but they are lot heavier and bulkier than a plasma/LCD.I just bought a 32" samsung LCD a lot of kit and fantastic picture for under £600.When I have to replace either set I will do it on price as I can't see any noticable difference in picture quality between the samsung LCD and plasma( with the same cable input source).

Do you think you can truely tell the difference between 720p 1080i and 1080p? I am actually quite an avid film buff and have had an HD Plasma for several years - so long in fact that mine doesn't even have an HDMI port on it. WHilst the absense of the HDMI may well cause me a problem in the longer term due to digital rights and protection I find that anything from 720 up is perfect watchable for me. I can instantly see the difference between broadcast and anything with an HD signal (true HD and not just a converted HD) but the gap becomes less even with a good quality DVD (not HD DVD).

I think people can sometimes become a little obsessed with ensuring or trying to ensure future proofing.

For example, I am very very happy with my ipod which I use in and out of my car but with MP3 compression this is generally lower quality than CD. Do I mind, not at all because I enjoy the music or whatever else is coming out of my ipod.

Don't get me wrong, if you personally can see and benefit from the difference a 1080p will give you over and 1080i then hold out and go for it. I just feel for myself that 1080i is perfectly acceptable.

And as for SKY HD - I do have this also, but would highly recommend not taking this up until more channels are available. I don't mind about the £300, but what I do mind is paying £10 a month for a handful of channel, most of which don't actually broadcast true HD (just upscaled) - Sky have Sky One HD and the quality of 99% of broadcasts on that channel are poor. BBC does have 1 or 2 decent broadcasts but most are the Discovery type channel that have good quality broadcasts and there is only so much fur you can look at in HD!

All the best on whatever you decide and enjoy it, that's the main thing.

Paul

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by easygoingeezer
Awsome, let me know how much it is, and how many HDMI ports it has.

Well over here it's about $2300, but I cant find it for sale over there, sorry to tease you [:#]

Edit: I found the next model down though, only 56" link

Originally posted by p17blo

there is only so much fur you can look at in HD!

Can I nominate this for quote of the week please?

I'm lost. Upscale virtual hdmi.... [?]

[honey lamb]

I only want to get a new television [:I] not a translation service for the posts above.

Talk about boys with toys [ii]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by mdvipond

Originally posted by p17blo

there is only so much fur you can look at in HD!

Can I nominate this for quote of the week please?

Counting to ten very slowly....again....could we please get a devil smiley.......

As you can see there are plenty of things to watch.

But why do you guys want such huge tvs anyway? Large tv, small........???????[:0]

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by catsilversword
But why do you guys want such huge tvs anyway? Large tv, small........???????[:0]

Like I said, Claire - boys with toys!

So the "size matters" maxim all of a sudden doesn't apply to the ladies then huh.[}:)]

Originally posted by catsilversword

But why do you guys want such huge tvs anyway? Large tv, small........???????

Bad eyes,a miss spent youth:D

Originally posted by easygoingeezer
So the "size matters" maxim all of a sudden doesn't apply to the ladies then huh.[}:)]

Only is as much as 6 inches can be misinterpreted....[8D]

I got myself a Toshiba 37" WLT68 LCD the in January. Super chuffed with it, picture quality is amazing, esp hi-def from the Xbox360.

One thing I would suggest though is to get the TV from John Lewis. Yes, they won't accept the VA Amex, but all there TV's come with a 5 year warranty. And the best bit is they will price match other stores so you can save a packet and get a 5yr warranty thrown in.

When I got my 37WLT68 it was £1499 at JL but Empire Direct had it for £1150 so JL pricematched that so I saved myself £350 and got a 5yr warranty. And to top it all, you can re-pricematch again within 28 days so when ED reduced there price by £150 a week later I phoned JL and they refunded me the difference again. Well chuffed!

Good place for info though is http://www.avforums.com in the forums area. Tons of useful info in there for Plamsa/LCD/HD etc.

I have Sky HD and a Sony 40" Bravia LCD and this leads me to make the following points:

1. Sony's LCDs are fabulous and you should get one. My friend has a newer Bravia 40" than mine and it's even better - so get one.
2. My friend doesn't have Sky HD and is therefore not getting the full benefit of his LCD. I do and, therefore, am. The football looks excellent in HD and it now pains me to watch ITV's football output, which looks poor even compared to standard def. broadcasts on Sky/BBC. THe documentaries on Nat Geo and Discovery HD are good too, plus the BBC HD programmes like Planet Earth. The movies and Sky One output don't interest me that much.
3. The box is expensive at £300 but I didn't pay that, or anyhing at all for that matter .
4. The £10 sub is annoying and makes my total Sky sub outrageous.
5. I wouldn't bother getting Sky HD if you have a 26" screen and it's probably only just about worth it on 32".

I hope that helps!

We've got the Panasonic TH42PX600 (this you understand is the royal "we" as I don't do technology).No problems with the TV and pretty happy with the picture.Sky HD was installed on the day of it's general release in the Dragon household (sad I know, but just in time for the world cup)but it is a bummer that Sky don't discount for long term (18+ years) subscribers.All I can say is thank goodness for Sky+,which even I can work.My biggest grizzle with Sky is their customer service which is even worse than MBNA!

We've also been looking at a Sony Bravia (I had no intention of jumping into this fray, but hey....) You lads with huge tvs will no doubt be aghast that I only want a 26" - there's no way I want a large tv at the focal point in my lounge, thanks all the same, though I think himself would like to large up - on the other hand, he'll probably be getting a hard drive/dvd recorder to keep it company.... anyway - we've also been pricing them up - as someone correctly said here, J Lewis don't do Amex - but find yourself a large Waitrose with an electrical dept and they do take Amex. Aside from that though, have found a company called digitaldirect.co.uk to be very competitively priced....

Did you pass out at the end of that... - Wow!

Paul