What is the difference really between a good and bad telly?

[JumboBeef]

On Top Gear, they often put two supercars together. These cars scream around the track and afterwards they put up their times. Car #1 did it in 1.40.6 seconds, but car #2 is the looser because it did it in 1.40.8, a whole 0.2 seconds slower!

In real life, you'd never notice that 0.2 seconds.

I was wonder if the same were true with tellies. There is lots of talk about how good certain tellies are, and how poor others are, but what is the difference, in real life, really?

For £700 or so, I could buy a Panasonic 42" plasma......or I could buy a whole raft of 'lesser' tellies with a screen size of 50" like this one:

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/651109/SA...

(or a 42" and keep a couple of hundred pounds in the bank).

But how much difference is there between these and a Panasonic? I will only have one telly, so I will not be comparing two or more side by side.

I need to buy a new telly this week, and I just cannot make my mind up!

[twiglove]

Cant really help you other than showing you this samsung on amazon... 50" £500

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-PS50C450-50-inch-W...

[MaximumJed]

My OH, my parents and most of my friends cant tell the difference between my 37" Samsung LCD and my 43" Pioneer Plasma. They aren't side be side, but they are in virtually adjacent rooms.

I on the other hand, hate watching anything on the Samsung because of how poorly it deals with movement, and how bad the upscaling is from SD content - this is why I haven't replaced my Pioneer in 4 years despite it not being full HD. I also think that my parents Samsung makes everybody look bright orange, and no amount of fiddling in the settings or with their SkyHD box can make them look right - nobody else notices.

So basically, go and look, take a variety of content (SD and HD), and see if you notice much of a difference.

Edited by MaximumJed on Friday 27th August 14:09

[WZC1]

I suppose it comes down to how important it is to you. I see it clearly even between models at the same price point. The difference between our entry level set and the same sized premium model is very marked but it is up to you if the cost difference is worth it. It is the same with CD players, speakers amps etc.

Try to drop in to your local specialist rather than one of the big sheds and you should see properly set up sets to compare.

Nick

[hairyben]

Many people could drive a 325 and a primera 1.5D back to back and say there isn't much difference (but that they prefer the primera as it's a nicer colour)