Which One?

jonnygee

I have been following the hdtv thread but to be honest it has all got a bit too technical for me. I was in Currys and Lazer (a good discount store in Derry ) yesterday and was looking at their lcd and plasma tv,s. I know I should wait but I have never had that much self control when it comes to new electronics. Thankfully I did not buy anything yet but I am weakining and will probably give in soon. They have sets with 852 by 480 pixels, others with 1024 by 1024 pixels and ones with 1368 by 768 pixels, which one would be best to watch standard definition sky digital on for the next 4 years. I dont mind if it is plasma or lcd, what difference does the pixel count make to the quality of picture on normal sky digital.

L1011

The 852x480 one isn't even capable of showing full-resolution european TV, so definately don't get that.

However, I'd still go CRT myself if I were you...

watty

Yes the 852x 480 pixel only good for American TV.

Only the 1368 x 768 would be acceptable.

None of those are very good for ordinary Sky or HD.

Unless you want more than 32" go for CRT. The ordinary TV is at many resololutions on Satellite. 720 x 576 or 204 x 576 is best and some channels 544 x 576.

The lines are always 576 or 288 rescaled to 576. (second figure of pixels).

The horizontal dots are various abounts from 384 to 720. They can be nearly square or elongated (16:9 animorphic).

A WS Plasma/LCD does non-animorphic (4:3 regular TV) badly.

ixtlan

Yes, it's a tough call...

www.avforums.com has a lot of advice under the LCD TV section.

Many people recommend the SD sharp panels for giving an excellent SD picture and a pretty good down-converted HD picture.

As several have mentioned, pixels are not everything. At certain viewing distances and screen sizes, it may be difficult to tell the difference between HD on a SD panel and HD on a HD panel. However it will I think be easy to tell that the signal is HD because it will be so much cleaner...

In your case looking at SD signals only... the Sharps would be good and should be able to show a good down-converted HD signal in the future. the 480 panels... personally I would be wary. If you got an amazingly good deal, and assuming that you would change again if you wanted HD then maybe... but really the shops are trying to offload those screens, and I don't think they are cheap enough to warrant a purchase.

1024 panels are probably "HD ready". Those are probably the plasmas? And the 1368x768 are the LCDs usually.

Do you need the extra pixels? For SD not really. However go read on avforums the critics of flat panel displays and SD, who are convinced that your picture quality will drop compared to CRT.

If you can wait, then do. Prices are still dropping, and for me the most important factor is the absense of any HD content to watch, except for trailers from a PC. Next year when SkyHD is available, I'll be buying...

ix.

YoYOPowder

I read an awful lot on AV Forums and it can get fairly in depth and then you just lose interest. I will say this, a friend recently bought a HiSense Plasma, lower resolution, not HD Ready, he dragged it out of the bargain bucket for €1200 I think in Harvey Normans. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the picture. You do have to fiddle with the contrast to get good dark scenes, but other than that it was pretty good, in fact it was bordering on very good. I believe they are rebadged Samsungs. Dont worry too much about spec and concentrate more on PQ. What would I do? Well if you're interested in HD, wait until Sky releases it and then you're in a much better position to judge, other than that, dont fret too much.

watty

The poster asked specifically about SD ordinary Sky Digital. The 854 x 480 makes a cheap CRT look good.

1024 by 1024 pixels is unusual. Very poor shape. 1280x 1024 or 1024 x 768 is more normal. Avoid it as either it will have artifacts or blur.

and ones with 1368 by 768 pixels,

Not actually high enough for decent 1440 x 720p or 1920 x 1080i HD, but since you are only interested in SD TV, then this will give the lowest artifacts and sharpest picture for ordinary TV.

YoYOPowder

jonnygee wrote:

I have been following the hdtv thread but to be honest it has all got a bit too technical for me. I was in Currys and Lazer (a good discount store in Derry ) yesterday and was looking at their lcd and plasma tv,s. I know I should wait but I have never had that much self control when it comes to new electronics. Thankfully I did not buy anything yet but I am weakining and will probably give in soon. They have sets with 852 by 480 pixels, others with 1024 by 1024 pixels and ones with 1368 by 768 pixels, which one would be best to watch standard definition sky digital on for the next 4 years. I dont mind if it is plasma or lcd, what difference does the pixel count make to the quality of picture on normal sky digital.

To answer your question JGee, if it were me, and I wont get technical, but to watch standard def for the next 4 years I'd look at; under 37" just buy a good CRT. If you want 37" I would buy the Sharp LCD P Series aimed at standard definition and PAL broadcasting. If I were to buy bigger again, I would buy a plasma, probably Panasonic, and you are at an advantage up North as they are that bit cheaper. Id probably aim for the PV50 (not pv500), the scaling technology and picture is excellent, if not perhaps a cheaper LG plasma. There is better for bigger money and worst for less. I wouldn't go near LCD or plasma for anything smaller than 37" and me personally would not go near LCD at 42". Hope that helps..

jonnygee

Thanks for all the replies, I will take all the advice onboard.
The real reason that I was thinking of buying is because all the lcd and plasma sets that I viewed have excellent geometry setup. Any crt that I have bought usually has geometry that is all over the place and I am a stickler for straight lines.
By the way the 1024 by 1024 is a hitachi set that is getting very good reviews in the magazines but I will probably concentrate on 1368 by 768.
Thanks again.

watty

Magasines on anything technology stopped being useful about 10 years ago. If you have Internet, not even useful for adverts. Tele-satellite and Elektor are about the last worth while.