Large Screen Smart 3D TV

[Mike.C]

SWMBO and I want to treat ourselves to one of the large screen smart tv's for Christmas this year, but because there are so many I am looking for recommendations.

It must be around 50", have built in wifi and internet connection, Freesat HD, Freeview HD, Full HD, Catch Up, Active 3D

Which is better LED, LCD or Plasma. What is motion rate and what should it be? Can you hang the TV above a wood burner fires?

Any other advice about buying TV's?

Can you play DVD's on Blu Ray players?

Cheers

Mike

 

[Dibs-h]

Hi Mike

How you keeping?

TV's - LED if you can afford it, failing that LCD. Above a fire - nope. Almost all the big names do them - Panasonic, Sony & Samsung. I think only Panasonic do Freesat built in. My advice would be to get a separate Freesat PVR (one with 2 tuners) as the TV is only likely to have one.

Best thing is to go somewhere and view them - then buy from wherever. I went once to the local place & a Panasonic set was showing ladies beach volleyball in 3D. :mrgreen: Lets say you could almost reach out and touch 'em. :lol:

Left pretty sharpish as a TV was on the approved list of purchases that day!

Dibd

 

[adidat]

Panasonic make excellent televisions!

adidat

 

[Lons]

Hi Mike
The type of TV partly depends on the make. eg it's pretty well accepted that Panasonic make some of the best large screen plasma but aren't so hot on LED. You need to do your homework via Google and the forums I'm afrain :lol:

We bought ours 6 months ago and opted for a Panasonic 50" plasma smart 3d model. It didn't have inbuilt wifi but I got a cut price dongle as well as 2 free sets of active glasses as part of the deal. Our model was end of range so things have moved on a pace but we bought an originally £2000 tv for £800 which is what swayed me. No freesat either but has everything else as most smart tvs do. I was tempted by the really thin and almost frameless LED but wasn't prepared to pay the price.

I also have a 40" LCD which is excellent but not a patch on the plasma, especially if it's viewed from anywhere except centre position. LED is much better.

3D is a bit of a waste of time really as not too much available unless you have a £60+ a month subscription to Sky though it will improve and we watch the odd film. Watched Avatar 3d last night which has spectacular effects.

Blu-ray player needs to be 3d as well if you want to do the same and yes, no problem playing any standard DVD including DVD-R

You pays your money etc. but down to personal choice.

Check out Richer Sounds on line for prices. They beat everyone by a mile for ours and we reserved and got it from a local branch so best of both worlds. They offer a 5 year warranty (for what any of them are worth) for 10% of the purchase price, again vastly cheaper than other schemes. Tried to buy from John Lewis who give that free but they couldn't match the price.

Bob

 

[Mike.S]

Bought our 50" TV about a year ago. It's a Pioneer plasma and it's very good but no longer made. Pioneer since taken over by Panasonic which was our second choice and is the make I'd buy now.

One occasional bugbear with the Pioneer, which I understand is common to all Plasma's, is a faint buzzing noise - undetectable when viewed in the shop due to ambient noise but noticeable (just) when watching quiet moments in programmes. I'd avoid 3D (gimmick?).

Yes, Blu-Ray do play dvds (and music CD). Depending on budget and preferences you might want to consider compatability between devices e.g. we bought an A/V amp which connects everything together and you can use one set of speakers for TV, Hi-fi, internet, ipod etc. We bought all the same make so also can use just one Remote.

 

[RogerS]

I did see one 3D set advertised that let two people watch tow different programmes at the same time which I thought rather clever. LG, IIRC.

 

[adidat]

how many people know LG stands for lucky goldstar, they also own Philips or it might be the other way around.

adidat

 

[Mike.S]

how many people know LG stands for lucky goldstar, they also own Philips or it might be the other way around.
adidat

Not quite - Philips and LG used to have a JV which made Philips brand TVs. LG bought Philips' share of JV so Philips no longer make any TVs (bar a small stake in a Chinese TV manufacturer.

 

[cambournepete]

Why do you want 3D.
My wife can't watch it and I don't find it does much for me usually.
YMMV.

Personally I'd stick to 2D.

As others have said though only you can decide which TV you like best.
We have a Sony (LCD) and will probably buy Sony again.

John Lewis usually have a good selection and 5 year warranty.

 

[Mike.C]

Why do you want 3D.
My wife can't watch it and I don't find it does much for me usually.
YMMV.

Personally I'd stick to 2D.

As others have said though only you can decide which TV you like best.
We have a Sony (LCD) and will probably buy Sony again.

John Lewis usually have a good selection and 5 year warranty.

Pete, from what I have heard about 3D there is not much of it being made/going about at the moment, but it seems that 99% of smart tv's have it included. So when I mentioned 3D it was not to say that it must be included in the TV, it was more to point out that I wanted it active and not passive, because I have been told that it is the one to go for as passive is rubbish. But that is only what I have heard.

Cheers

Mike

 

[bugbear]

I also have a 40" LCD which is excellent but not a patch on the plasma, especially if it's viewed from anywhere except centre position. LED is much better.

At the moment most TVs called "LED" are actually LCD displays with LED backlight, so the viewing angle issue will be the same as "normal" LCDs.

From the horses mouth:

http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/led-tv-and-lcd-tv-compared

As far as I know, there's only ever been one "true" LED TV, the Sony XEL-1, now discontinued, because it's price was just crazy high.

Here's the state of research, as seen at trade fairs:

http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/888174-oled ... een-battle

BugBear

 

[tekno.mage]

how many people know LG stands for lucky goldstar,
adidat

I've known that for a long time - in fact since the early-ish days of PCs (Windows 3.1, if I recall) - I bought a CD drive for my PC made by Lucky Goldstar - which was embossed into the plastic of the case It was cheaper than the competitors and worked just fine.

 

[nev]

Regardless of what anyone says including me :? If you want a decent picture... Go to a shop and look at them, from the distance you will be sat at most of the time. Everyones opinion will differ as to what is a decent picture and the only one that counts is yours (or the boss) Dont just go by numbers, specs etc if the picture's pants you wont care that its got twice as many pixels as the next one and vice versa. If you are not bothered by the picture quality, due to eyesight problems or just dont see any difference between the pics on different tv's then the worlds your lobster!

Also remember If you only sit 9 ft from the screen a 50 will be waaaay too big and the picture will appear 'pixely' and never sharp and crisp. similarly if you sit 30ft away you may not see any difference in clarity between models so you can go with the tech specs and the cheapest one you can find!.

Re 3D: I bought my tv about 6 months ago (panasonic 37) I didnt want 3d but turned out that the one i found with the best 2d picture happened to be a 3d. I have used 3d once and the novelty wore off pretty quick.

As with most things in the shops, if you dont look at the prices and choose wholly on performance or the one that really floats your boat, 9 out of 10 times it'll be the priciest one #-o

 

[llangatwgnedd]

That's a good point that Nev is making, bigger the screen the further back you sit.

Also picture quality deteriorates on bigger screens.

 

[bugbear]

Regardless of what anyone says including me :? If you want a decent picture... Go to a shop and look at them, from the distance you will be sat at most of the time. Everyones opinion will differ as to what is a decent picture and the only one that counts is yours

Trouble is, the shops have funny lighting, rigged signals (e.g. blu-rays chosen because they're REALLY crisp), and the TV sets are often set up to be super bright, at the cost of realistic/natural colour.

Even my (older) TV has a settings preset called "shop" (or "demo", IIRC), and it's unwatchable in my lounge on that setting.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Yep I agree with BB most Tv's are set up very badly.

Pete

 

[Harbo]

I have a DVD somewhere with test pieces etc for TV set-ups.
I got it when I bought my Pioneer but never used it as the picture quality was great as received.

Rod

 

[Racers]

Hi, Chaps

TV setup

Turn brightness contrast and colour right down.
Turn the contrast up until you get white (on a white part of the picture)
Turn up the brightness up until its bright enough.
Turn the colour up.

Things like sharpness and various modes are dependent on the set but turn them all right down/off to start with, and turn off the 3d sound setting.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Hi, Chaps

TV setup

Turn brightness contrast and colour right down.
Turn the contrast up until you get white (on a white part of the picture)
Turn up the brightness up until its bright enough.
Turn the colour up.

That sound like the classic, hallowed sequence - but for a CRT!

BugBear (owner of Digital Video Essentials AKA DVE)

 

[Racers]

Hi, BB

They still work the same as CRT's

Pete