Hdtv for 360 - completely clueless

Nephew

Hey gang.

I got my hands on a 360 and tbh it looks muck on my bog standard tv so I'm thinking of shelling out on a hdtv. I really don't want to spend any more than e950, a great deal less if possible.

I'm kind of baffled when I look at the specs and see the likes of 480, 720, 1080 i's & p's. Essentially what do I need to get a really nice picture from a 360 and ntl digital? Will I need to buy additional cables for connecting up the xbox? I bought a premium 360 which came with a tv / hdtv cable, is this all I need.

Feel free to recommend tvs within my price range, either online or in Dublin.


Thanks

kensutz

With that price guide you should be pretty safe in getting a decent tv. If you can wait until the January sales you're bound to pick up a bargain in the shops or online.

Myksyk

Check out Komplett.ie ... good service, good prices. I got a Bravia V series from them. €450 cheaper than the Sony stores here and only €12 service charge. The Bravia are generally excellent but with HD tvs what you really need to look out for is how good they are for Standard def as that's most likely what you'll be watching most of the time. It is only recently that they have come anywhere near matching good CRTs for SD. The V series Bravia are superb for SD, as good as my old Sony CRT which was just great. Just my tuppence ha'penny's worth.

bongi69

We have a good one in the job (Xtra-Game The Sqaure, or any XV)
799 for a 32" Mirai LCD.
We have one set up with a 360, and all the games look absolutely class

In IRL

when is the january sales and what % can i expect to save do you know?

i don't think i can wait that long if it's at the end of the month :-)

thanks

xanthor

In IRL wrote:

when is the january sales and what %

Generally in the week or so after New Years Day.

In IRL wrote:

can i expect to save do you know?

Generally, no more than if you just went ahead and bought a TV from Komplett. Most are only going to knock a few 100 off what they're selling which you'd save buying from Komplett anyway.

gamer

I got a samdsung hd crt hdready tv,32inch widescreen has 720p 1080i ,component for 360 connection.Great picture on 360 and SD tv ntl sky digital 790euro .It has no vga connector, it has 2avs svideo hdmi and component.games on 360 use 720p or 1080i high definition modes.If you wait til january sales you,ll get a 37inch 40inch tv ,harvey norman or power city.You may get hdcompatible tv cheaper 40inch, will play 360games in hd, wont play hidef blueray dvds if they have hdcp copy protection.The tv av sites say HD CRT hdready tvs are best for watching SDTV ,ie c4 ,rte 1 standard tv ,ntl, but they only make them 32/34inch tube size.A tv with vga is handy for playing pc games in hd format too,as well as 360games thru component connnections.

Nephew

Thanks for the advice guys.

It'd be great if you could offer your opinions on these two for a 360 and ntl digital?

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=323271

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=325334

dlane99

Im in exactly the same situation.
subscribing to this thread

xanthor

Nephew wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.

It'd be great if you could offer your opinions on these two for a 360 and ntl digital?

Most are going to say Samsung i think. TBH, they look pretty close to me though.

Nephew

I opted for this 32' samsung in the end http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=319638

Riesen_Meal

Great Thread,

Im not very good at this stuff too,

Whats 3000/1 as opposed to 5000/1 contrast ratio?

eirebhoy

Fieldog wrote:

Great Thread,

Im not very good at this stuff too,

Whats 3000/1 as opposed to 5000/1 contrast ratio?

All I know is 5000/1 is better but you should try and find reviews on it as the real/actual contrast ratio is rarely what it says in the specs. I'd go by decent reviews more than specs.

I got this a few weeks ago and it's great:
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/261319/art/toshiba/lcd-tv-37-94cm-16-9-hd-re.html

What I didn't know at first though is the factory settings need to be changed to suit your room. The picture at first may be terrible but you need to spend a while tweaking all the settings.

Soarer

Fieldog wrote:

Great Thread,

Im not very good at this stuff too,

Whats 3000/1 as opposed to 5000/1 contrast ratio?

From what I know, the contrast ratio is how many steps there are between the whitest white and the blackest black.
So if you're telly has 3000/1, there'll be 3000 "steps" between white and black. This isn't a case that it'll slow down the picture. It's a case of better colour definition and seperation.
Obviously, the higher the contrast ratio, the better the picture.

Or to look at it this way. You know if you right-click on your desktop, and go to properties, desktop, then click colour, other. See the way you've got the colour bar on the right? Well, that goes from white to black. Now, consider that as your contrast ratio of 1000:1, and then consider what 3000:1 would look like (3 times the colour).
Hope that makes sense!:rolleyes:

Riesen_Meal

It does make sense!

Cheers Soarer for the lay mans terms!

Riesen_Meal

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=323290

I was thinking this but it has 3000/1 contrast ration as opposed to 5000/1....

Soarer

Should be a good set.

Being honest, the whole contrast ratio is airy fairy.
It seems that manufacturers contrast ratios differ.

You really won't go wrong with a branded unit, with a high contrast. 3000:1 is still a high ratio. QVC were selling a new Sharp Aquos (sp?) the other day, and the picture on it was brilliant. That only had 800:1!!

TheDoc

Just on reading everyone kinda recommendations round here, they keep brining up a Samsumg 26 inch that komplett supply for 900 euro? If I'm reading the right one.

Well Argos sell a 26 philips HDTV for €450. I asked one of my fellow staff members there( whos in the know) how decent it was and he said its a good spec tv and is really worth alot more money.

We got alot of HDTVs for really low prices, from the looks of it cheaper then Komplett.

Thought id make you aware, not many people know argos is the cheapest for most stuff

dave oc

I have the samsung R71 and trust me you wont be dissappointed, its an amazing set.

While it does state a 5000:1 contrast ratio, that is 'dynamic' contrast ratio which only comes into effect in certain circumstances. I think I recall reading in another forum it is somewhere around 800:1 usually. This doesnt really make that much difference as the picture will look amazing anyway;)

(BTW danny stop plugging Argos!!!!!!:p )

eirebhoy

Fieldog wrote:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=323290

I was thinking this but it has 3000/1 contrast ration as opposed to 5000/1....

The Philips one linked by someone above has a 1600:1 contrast ratio but it's almost certainly better in that department than the Samsung. Don't mind all that and read decent reviews. For example:
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=6782

ACER AT3205-DTV
Contrast: 800:1 (claimed)
"Although contrast is actually rather good (our labs measured it at 630:1) it fails to create a sense of realistic depth."

Samsung LE-32R74BD
Contrast: 5000:1 (Claimed)
"Our labs rated the real world contrast ratio of this set at 820:1"

SONY KDL-32S2010
Contrast: 1300:1 (claimed)
"Our lab tests recorded a contrast of 850:1, which can be considered very good."

Toshiba 32WL66
Contrast: 1200:1 (Claimed)
"Reflecting the potency of the lamp, our labs rated contrast at an exceptional 1,000:1. Images can be impeccably dark with great shadow detail."

----
My TV (link a few posts above) is the 37" version of that Toshiba. Read around that site for reviews and then try and find them at a cheap price. Cheap sites:
www.technikdirekt.de
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/home.html

Riesen_Meal

Have to say I didnt like the phillips hdtv at all, played em on the xbox bus and it just looked blocky, (could have been component connection for all I know) not like the lil samsung tvs in the xbox live centre, which always seem to look slick....

In comparison im wondering why the 32" inch is more expensive?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kcp.asp?sku=325497&sku=323290

Are DVI inputs really that important i.e future proofing???

My limit is 1,300!

Zapp Brannigan

Lads, Yay or Nay?

EDIT: Also looking at this one. Opinions? As you can see my budget isnt the biggest.

the corpo

http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/en/lcd-plasma-tv/lcd-tv-ab46/873857/-/Article.html?fillspace=1

nice samsung, who apparently microsoft worked in conjunction with to have the xbox optimised for their screens

heard nothing but good reports about techdirect, you should deffo consider them, great prices

the corpo

keep an eye on the home entertainment display board, under tech

eirebhoy

I was looking around Pixmania and found a review that may be of interest to some since the 360 is mentioned.

written by Dave on 18/11/2006 on the LCD TV 16:9 32" (81 cm) "HD ready" LE32R71B television

Perfect
10
out of 10

Ireland - Dublin
Positives: Rapid delivery, great tracking, works perfectly and saved 300+ euro
Negitaves: Have yet to find one!!!!!!!!!
This tv is simply amazing. I had some reservations about ordering online but the service has been excellent. This set looks amazing connected to my 360 and is so easy to set up its childs play.

I choose express delivery, ordered on thursday and it was delivered first thing monday morning. Great service.

Oh yeah and as i mentioned above i saved over 300 euro compared to high street shops.

Cant recommend enough!!!

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/263552/art/samsung/lcd-tv-16-9-32-81-cm-hd-r.html

Riesen_Meal

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/327731/art/samsung/lcd-television-16-9-32-82.html

Went for this in the end,

Saw it in action in my friends house, very impressed with the 360 on it.....

dlane99

been keeping an eye on this thread.

I was going to get the R71,
whats the difference between the r71 and the r73?
here

eirebhoy

dlane99 wrote:

been keeping an eye on this thread.

I was going to get the R71,
whats the difference between the r71 and the r73?
here

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323530

dlane99

eirebhoy wrote:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323530

Thanks,
Thats a nice 181 page thread!

On the first page it says that the r73 has a DVB
and no T tuner.

gave a look over the dvb page on wikipedia,
do we use digital video broadcasting in ireland?
whats a t tuner?

sorry if im hijacking the thread,
I don't feel too bad tho since Fieldog got his tv

Furp

dlane99 wrote:

been keeping an eye on this thread.

I was going to get the R71,
whats the difference between the r71 and the r73?
here

I was wondering the same thing and found the answer on the avforums,

The difference simply is the colour of the small accent below the screen which hides the speakers and it may also have a free view tuner but i think this may depend if it is sold in Ireland or not.


R71 has a blue bit and no freeview tuner
R72 has a silver bit and no freeview tuner
R73 has a blue bit and a tuner
R74 has silver bit and tuner

eirebhoy

dlane99 wrote:

Thanks,
Thats a nice 181 page thread!

The info you need is in the first page.

dlane99

Furp wrote:

R71 has a blue bit and no freeview tuner
R72 has a silver bit and no freeview tuner
R73 has a blue bit and a tuner
R74 has silver bit and tuner

Thanks Furp,
think ill go with the r71

dlane99

eirebhoy wrote:

The info you need is in the first page.

dlane99 wrote:

On the first page it says that the r73 has a DVB
and no T tuner.

i found the info,
i just didnt understand it.

justfortherecor

Does anyone know whether Komplett or Pixmania will be having a Sale on HDTVs?

There doesnt seem to be any massive reductions so far, will they be coming at all?