40-42" LCD TV HD 1080 only for watching DVDs - resolution?

40-42" LCD TV HD 1080 only for watching DVDs - resolution?

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Weslake-Monza

Original Poster:

461 posts

183 months

Monday 26th January 2009
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The initial message was deleted from this topic on 27 September 2012 at 22:06

mackie1

8,153 posts

233 months

Monday 26th January 2009
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Firstly it sounds like you a confusing resolution with contrast ratio (something Comet salespeople tend to do also). The contrast ratio is the difference between the darkest possible black and the brightest possible white that the screen can display. The numbers can be quite misleading as different manufacturers measure it in different ways. As a general rule plasmas have darker blacks but LCDs can be brighter.

If you are watching only DVDs then 1080p native resolution panel is not an issue. For bluray it might be but it's dependant on how close you sit to the screen.

I recently did all the research and went for a Panasonic TH-42PZ80 plasma and I'm very happy.

FrankDrebbin

202 posts

183 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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I realise i'll get flamed for this, but...

IGNORE the 1080i p bks - your source material is recorded in 576 lines - any scaling will NOT add data to this, so can be ignored. Many of the cheaper brands will claim contrast ratios brighter than the sun, at 1080, 100hz, the lot. If you put any of these screens next to the "basic" pioneer kuro that runs at 720p, the pioneer will utterly blow you away quality wise - whilst ticking none of the boxes that what hifi et all want you to beleive in.

Go to a couple of decent shops, ignore the patter and buy the screen that looks best to you - if you're not planning blu ray etc, then there is no point buying a screen on that basis. Many screens that offer the box ticking option on a budget have terrible off air or via component playback, because the quality of these parts has been sacrificed in order to offer 1080p at 599...

Ultra Violent

2,827 posts

269 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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First decent up scaling blue rays are bloody cheap and they like for like will be much better that a DVD player at the same price point. Check out the Bush player that one of the mags was raving about.

Second, a scaler by definition adds resolution. It might be inferred resolution, but you're welcome to see the difference on my system. Even my misses commented on the difference.

Flat screens are so cheap now that its easy to ignore the slightly more expensive versions. But for a few 100 quid there is a marked difference in PQ.

As already mention, this is all bks if you have magic eyes, so go and see the screens yourself. Make sure you check what the input source is, comet et al, quite frequently have so many screens that they are fed by composite st.

LeoSayer

7,306 posts

244 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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FrankDrebbin said:
Go to a couple of decent shops, ignore the patter and buy the screen that looks best to you
yes Just to add, make sure you ask them to show you freeview, a dvd and a blu-ray when comparing, if that is what you will be watching. Make sure you stand the same distance you would when watching it at home.