Upgrading the TV - what's the point?!
Discussion
Bit of a whinge but really, it's 2012 and you'd think it was just about what size will fit in the corner of the room! How the hell does anyone buy a new flat screen TV when they are all apparently s*** (according to the 'expert' online website reviews) and have a 50/50 chance of piss poor colour depth, streaks, saturation, spots, lines, colour bleed, nose bleed, hayfever and backlight inconsistency. By the time I've looked up all the techy terms there doesn't appear to be one television that isn't going to be s*** at displaying a picture. And I mean a basic picture - I don't watch the news or sport in HD and the missus can't look at 3D without throwing up - just a solid picture on a set that runs 100mhz or more to keep up with the footy!
The old CRT is almost death proof and offers an arguably better picture than even the new 27" Samsung LED in the bedroom. And it's s not like looking in the shops can help with picture quality as they never have an ordinary TV aerial feed through them.
So, can anyone recommend a 37/40" display that actually works straight from the box and might cope with the odd blu ray disc and PS3 without any issues?
The old CRT is almost death proof and offers an arguably better picture than even the new 27" Samsung LED in the bedroom. And it's s not like looking in the shops can help with picture quality as they never have an ordinary TV aerial feed through them.
So, can anyone recommend a 37/40" display that actually works straight from the box and might cope with the odd blu ray disc and PS3 without any issues?
Thanks for the advice - point noted about Richer Sounds, and someone else has mentioned to check John Lewis for decent advice and a demo. The Panasonic looks great but 42" is just too big. However, it sounds worth narrowing the search to a couple of brands, Samsung and Panasonic seem to the be the market leaders.
Shame really as one of the Sharp Quattron's seemed very picture focused...then I checked online reviews and they are worse than a 15 year old Sony portable! Am I being unrealistic to expect a decent picture from something costing £500+? The year is 2012 and everything is now shown in digital 'lego-vision'
Shame really as one of the Sharp Quattron's seemed very picture focused...then I checked online reviews and they are worse than a 15 year old Sony portable! Am I being unrealistic to expect a decent picture from something costing £500+? The year is 2012 and everything is now shown in digital 'lego-vision'
Truth is that they are all built down to a price so all makes can have their share of issues. Panasonic seems favoured on here, but I'd lay money that you could find some bad reviews somewhere about them (especially on AVForums 
). I have a supposedly terrible Sony LCD TV yet it is still covered by a 5 year John Lewis warranty and I can't justify replacing it as it works fine (apart from not being 24p compatable, but I don't tend to watch films on the TV as I have a projector). By rights my picture should have stripes, backlight bleed, etc, but I don't suffer from these. Before anyone suggests I'm just not picky enough I have calibration equipment and software that coast nearly as much as a 42" plasma...
Go to RS or John Lewis and buy the one you like the look of and never read any online reviews or threads about it after you have bought it.
). I have a supposedly terrible Sony LCD TV yet it is still covered by a 5 year John Lewis warranty and I can't justify replacing it as it works fine (apart from not being 24p compatable, but I don't tend to watch films on the TV as I have a projector). By rights my picture should have stripes, backlight bleed, etc, but I don't suffer from these. Before anyone suggests I'm just not picky enough I have calibration equipment and software that coast nearly as much as a 42" plasma...Go to RS or John Lewis and buy the one you like the look of and never read any online reviews or threads about it after you have bought it.
Now that's the kind of feedback I'm looking for - another 'trusty' CRT owner admitting that progress has been in the category, "p*sh to s*ite", in the land of technology. Perhaps if my budget was £10k and I had a livingroom with it's own postcode to stick the new Velociraptor 7000, 70" holographic projector then all would be fine. Just seems amusing that it's sooooo difficult to find a decent entry-ish 37-40" television that comes close to CRT (Caveman Retro Technology).
Probably should stop reading reviews on the web, that might be a start to finding something. :-)
Probably should stop reading reviews on the web, that might be a start to finding something. :-)
bobby_vimto said:
Now that's the kind of feedback I'm looking for - another 'trusty' CRT owner admitting that progress has been in the category, "p*sh to s*ite", in the land of technology. Perhaps if my budget was £10k and I had a livingroom with it's own postcode to stick the new Velociraptor 7000, 70" holographic projector then all would be fine. Just seems amusing that it's sooooo difficult to find a decent entry-ish 37-40" television that comes close to CRT (Caveman Retro Technology).
Probably should stop reading reviews on the web, that might be a start to finding something. :-)
I was the same - using a 29" Sony CRT that I won in a competition about 20 years ago! I grabbed one of the last 37" Panny plasma's (37PX80) and was relieved that it's very good.Probably should stop reading reviews on the web, that might be a start to finding something. :-)
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Found my thread OP, and moreover the initial frustrations :
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Cheers for digging this out, interesting, hadn't thought about the sound quality but that issue at least seems easier to resolve than the decent picture. I've almost given up on doing any more research, its getting depressing now! And I thought buying decent tyres was difficult...http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Manicminer said:
Ignore the reviews, go down to Richer Sounds or similar and get them to show you some in their demo room. Choose the one you like the best.
To be honest I went down to Richer Sounds and was quite disappointed. The bloke there was rather inarticulate and couldn't have sold iced water to a thirsty bloke in the desert. He just about managed to demonstrate a sound bar, but kept harping on to sell me a home cinema blu-ray jobbie for 125 notes because when it goes wrong you just throw it away and buy another one.In the end I bought two Samsungs from Crampton and Moore Both were up and running without fuss minutes after coming out of the box. One a 5500 from m-i-l and a 6300 for myself.
The only slight hassle I had with one was during setup, it got to the stage where it discovered a hard wired network connection that was connected to the internet and gave a 709 error message, server not operating or similar. Appears to be quite a common message from googling. Decided to skip this and come back later as the update is needed to get iPlayer which was not put on the sets new.
Watched about 3/4 of an hour of Mythbusters and decided to have a look at this update and it had all been done in the background.
I have it connected to a Sky+ (SD) box and the picture is good, not HD good, but still very good. I have a third lead from the dish, andI have plugged the lead from this into the FreeSat connection and tuned that into FreeSat, also fine ad gives access to some HD content. I had intended to upgrade to Sky+ HD while the £100 Marks and Sparks voucher was on, but as that ended, and as most channels the SD picture is fine then currently that is on hold.
Realise that I've committed PH heresy by going from a trusty 11 year old Panasonic and buying something not Panasonic but very satisfied. Do sympathise with the OP as I chucked away a magnificently good and reliable Pana CRT yesterday into a skip with dozens of other probably perfectly serviceable CRTs. Just that getting in a fork truck every time I wanted to shift it without risking a hernia was getting a bit wearing.
Had both a 29" 4:3 Sony and a 36" wide screen CRT. Both had great pictures but the 36" blew something in its power supply so I dumped it and looked at LED vs Plasma. As my room is not too bright I bought a Panasonic 42" plasma and it is fantastic. Got one for my mum too to replace her 32" Phillips CRT.
Definitely a better picture than the old CRTs, especially now the signal is boosted and we get Freeview HD
Definitely a better picture than the old CRTs, especially now the signal is boosted and we get Freeview HD
Quick update - went to a couple of electrical retailers at the weekend to look at televisons again (armed with all the top advice received!) only to be told that there's no current LED/Plasma on the market that gives as good a picture as a CRT ... unless viewing everything in HD - so we're all putting up with utter mediocrity then eh?! I got the impression they weren't that interested since I wasn't spending over a grand on a home cinema package. Fuds, the lot of them!
bobby_vimto said:
Quick update - went to a couple of electrical retailers at the weekend to look at televisons again (armed with all the top advice received!) only to be told that there's no current LED/Plasma on the market that gives as good a picture as a CRT ... unless viewing everything in HD - so we're all putting up with utter mediocrity then eh?! I got the impression they weren't that interested since I wasn't spending over a grand on a home cinema package. Fuds, the lot of them!
Why not view everything in HD? Four main freeview channels have a good range output for no extra outlay, then there's blueray. Way better than SD CRT. Go get a 40" Samsung LED, pricematched from John Lewis.Pothole said:
ExFiF said:
chucked away a magnificently good and reliable Pana CRT yesterday into a skip with dozens of other probably perfectly serviceable CRTs.
Shame on you. It should have gone to your nearest BHF furniture and electricals shop.Asked about the TV and our local one didn't want to know for some reason, maybe they have more than they can handle.
I find it interesting that people keep harping on about the blocky appearance on new TV's.
I have a 32" Panasonic LCD ( http://www.trustedreviews.com/Panasonic-Viera-TX-3... ) that I bought 4 or 5 years ago (at the time top of the range, cost around £700). It has been absolutely faultless and I still love it today. I never have an issue with blockiness on standard definition programmes, and it only really becomes noticeable if I get VERY close to the TV.
It makes me wonder if the people complaining about said blockiness are either a) sitting too close or b) have a TV that is too big for the room it is in and therefore not getting the recommended viewing distance.
I have a 32" Panasonic LCD ( http://www.trustedreviews.com/Panasonic-Viera-TX-3... ) that I bought 4 or 5 years ago (at the time top of the range, cost around £700). It has been absolutely faultless and I still love it today. I never have an issue with blockiness on standard definition programmes, and it only really becomes noticeable if I get VERY close to the TV.
It makes me wonder if the people complaining about said blockiness are either a) sitting too close or b) have a TV that is too big for the room it is in and therefore not getting the recommended viewing distance.
If you are watching everything in HD, then you can get away with an LCD screen. Motion-blur can be an issue on cheaper models, when watching things liek footie. If you want a consistent, great picture viewing SD & HD, particularly with sports, then it really has to be plasma.
You aren't going to get a new plasma less than 42". You could try an older, second-hand model.
Will 42" physically not fit or have you just been instructed that 42" is too big? If it's then latter, I'd just buy one and then maintain that it is actually 38".....
You aren't going to get a new plasma less than 42". You could try an older, second-hand model.
Will 42" physically not fit or have you just been instructed that 42" is too big? If it's then latter, I'd just buy one and then maintain that it is actually 38".....
Edited by TEKNOPUG on Tuesday 24th July 11:52
FiF said:
Pothole said:
ExFiF said:
chucked away a magnificently good and reliable Pana CRT yesterday into a skip with dozens of other probably perfectly serviceable CRTs.
Shame on you. It should have gone to your nearest BHF furniture and electricals shop.Asked about the TV and our local one didn't want to know for some reason, maybe they have more than they can handle.
Rosscow said:
I don't agree with that. My 32" LCD offers brilliant viewing across all sorts of TV - fast flowing sports to dark films.
My 32" Panny CRT looked awesome until I bought a 42" Panny plasma - I gave the CRT to a mate so still view it regularly. It's all relative though.32" is probably the sweet spot for LCD - I wouldn't want to go any bigger.
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