Ideas for a New TV for Xbox

nicklauski

Hi lads,
Looking for a bit of advice on a new tv.

Having been using this 32" one for the last 5 or so years but she is starting to go. Takes forever to turn on, have to keep turning it on and off for the screen to come on. Nightmare.


And am thinking of upgrading to this one. SAMSUNG 43" HD READY PLASMA TV - PS43D450A2WXX


Main use will be for the Xbox and Blu ray viewing.
Trying to keep the price down and can probably get this one for less than €450.
Any thoughts on it from a gaming view point or any suggestions yourselves lads.
Cheers in advance
Nick

GAAman

Nice tv! It has 2 HDMI ports (assuming you connect the xbox with HDMI) so there is room for your blu ray player as well, i would check if there is a component/composite connection at the back. Just in case you ever get skyHD or upc's version of HD etc

Other than that if you are happy with it rock on!

amacachi

If that's the 1024x768 TV I'd avoid it. Ridiculous to not have full HD on a TV that size. Also remember that if you get a telly that isn't full HD most movie on Blu-Ray will only play in DVD resolution.

nicklauski

amacachi wrote: »

If that's the 1024x768 TV I'd avoid it. Ridiculous to not have full HD on a TV that size. Also remember that if you get a telly that isn't full HD most movie on Blu-Ray will only play in DVD resolution.

Fair point. It's pretty much the same resolution as the Phillips one then. Sure if I'm upgrading may aswell go for better picture quality. Had another quick browse and spotted this one

marknine

nicklauski wrote: »

Fair point. It's pretty much the same resolution as the Phillips one then. Sure if I'm upgrading may aswell go for better picture quality. Had another quick browse and spotted this one

In my opinion, if it’s a made by Philips, I would avoid like the plague. My last TV was a Philips and it was less than 3 years old and it started going wrong. It would shut off every 5 or ten minutes and when I contacted Philips, they didn’t want to know. I went to a TV repair shop to ask if they could fix it, and they had about 20 of the same model in to be fixed. It turned out that it was a known fault with the TV but the fact Philips washed there hands of it, means I will never buy anything made by Philips again. Never buy a product that the manufacturer will not stand by.

TheMooseInNam

I bought a 42" Philips LCD earlier this year and think the picture quality is fantastic. Speakers were dreadful but I use a home theatre system so it makes no difference.

nicklauski

I'll be having a look around, hopefully this evening. Take a wander into Tescos and Harvey Norman to see what they have.

You think the above one would be alright Moose? It will be for as said mainly the Xbox and Blu ray. Will probably use it for RTE for the Champions League matches that aren't shown on the Sky Player.
But that would be it.

TheMooseInNam

The key to getting a good gaming LCD TV is to make sure it's full HD TV, has a refresh rate under 5ms (preferably 3ms).

I can't comment about the TV above as there's no spec on it.

nicklauski

Here's the majority of the specs :

Picture/Display Display: LCD Full HD
Diagonal screen size: 42 inch / 107 cm
Panel resolution: 1920x1080p
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Brightness: 400 cd/m²
Dynamic screen contrast: 100.000:1
Response time (typical): 5 ms
Picture enhancement: Digital Crystal Clear, 50 Hz, Active Control + Light sensor
Sound Output power (RMS): 20W (2 x 10W)
Sound Enhancement: Auto Volume Leveller, Clear Sound, Incredible Surround, Treble and Bass Control
Connectivity Number of HDMI connections: 2
EasyLink (HDMI-CEC): System audio control, System standby, One touch play, System info (menu language)
Number of component in (YPbPr): 1
Number of scarts (RGB/CVBS): 1
Number of AV connections: 1
Number of USBs: 1
Other connections: Antenna IEC75, Common Interface Plus (CI+), Digital audio out (coaxial), PC-in VGA + Audio L/R in, Headphone out
Multimedia Applications Multimedia connections: USB
Video Playback Formats: H264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4
Music Playback Formats: MP3
Picture Playback Formats: JPEG
Convenience Electronic Program Guide: 8 day Electronic Program Guide
Ease of Installation: Channel installation wizard, Settings assistant wizard
Ease of Use: One-stop Home button, Onscreen Usermanual
Screen Format Adjustments: 4:3, Autofill, Autozoom, Movie expand 14:9, Movie expand 16:9, Subtitle Zoom, Super Zoom, Unscaled, Widescreen
Teletext: 1000 page Smart Text
Firmware upgradeable: Firmware auto upgrade wizard, Firmware upgradeable via USB
Tuner/Reception/Transmission Digital TV: DVB-C MPEG2*, DVB-C MPEG4*, DVB-T MPEG2*, DVB-T MPEG4*
Video Playback: NTSC, PAL, SECAM

Refresh rate of 5ms according to that.

amacachi

Not a bad deal there.

TheMooseInNam

For similar money, have a look at this full HD LCD TV 1080p, 100Hz LG model. 2.4ms refresh, 3xHDMI slots, component, USB 2.0 and an optical in/out.

At €499, it's a bit more expensive but being a 100Hz instead of 50Hz it makes it well worth the extra €50. If it was my money, this is what I'd go for.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10328275/art/lg/42lk530-lcd-television.html#pix-review

nicklauski

Was actually just in from having a quick gander around. Seen this in Argos for 460. Thought it seemed alright.

http://www.harveynorman.ie/lg-42-full-hd-42lk450u.html

Any idea if they sell the 42LK530 in shops around Dublin Moose?. Would prefer to collect than to have it delivered as Im working Mon-Fri.

Fair play for all your input dude. Much appreciated so far

TheMooseInNam

nicklauski wrote: »

Was actually just in from having a quick gander around. Seen this in Argos for 460. Thought it seemed alright.

http://www.harveynorman.ie/lg-42-full-hd-42lk450u.html

Any idea if they sell the 42LK530 in shops around Dublin Moose?. Would prefer to collect than to have it delivered as Im working Mon-Fri.

Fair play for all your input dude. Much appreciated so far

Haven't a clue, to be honest. I'm living in the countryside in Kilkenny so getting stuff delivered is very handy for me. Plus I hate shopping! Ring around everywhere tomorrow before leaving the house. You'll eventually find somewhere.

corcaigh07

amacachi wrote: »

If that's the 1024x768 TV I'd avoid it. Ridiculous to not have full HD on a TV that size. Also remember that if you get a telly that isn't full HD most movie on Blu-Ray will only play in DVD resolution.

thats BS, you can watch a blu-ray in 720p which is significantly better than DVD 480i resolution.

would agree however that the OP should Full HD on any telly above 32"

Julez

nicklauski wrote: »

Having been using this 32" one for the last 5 or so years but she is starting to go. Takes forever to turn on, have to keep turning it on and off for the screen to come on. Nightmare.

I have that TV too and it does the exact same thing. I'd have to second whoever said to stay away from Phillips TV. This probably is so annoying, started happening only about 2 years after I got it.

amacachi

corcaigh07 wrote: »

thats BS, you can watch a blu-ray in 720p which is significantly better than DVD 480i resolution.

would agree however that the OP should Full HD on any telly above 32"

If it's proper (~21:9) widescreen then it only uses part of the screen. A 720p TV is usually 1366×768 meaning the picture will be 585 pixels in height, not exactly a massive improvement over 576p which is perfectly possible with a half-decent DVD player.

FizzyCola

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10177493/art/lg/50pv350-plasma-screen.html

I have this one. Its a bargain.Cheapest 50 inch plasma you can get. I got it for about 650 during the summer with shipping. My brother has the previous model, basically the same except my menu system looks a bit nicer. I had a 32inch HD ready tv before, what a difference. Battlefield 3 is AMAZING on it.

nicklauski

I've decided on this one.

http://www.did.ie/Product/PANASONIC-42andquot-FHD-PLASMA-TXP42S30B/18913/28012.0.2



Seeing it first hand I was blown away by the quality of the picture. There was other 42" and 50" there and the picture wasn't a touch on the one above.

Should be picking it up Christmas week, so will report back when it's up and running completely.

edit : It says HD ready, but is in fact 1080p Full HD.