Are LG TVs a good make?!

Poppy9

Some useful info here on TVs

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

well as i havent been able to see a really good picture on certain 720p tvs the questions is what else to look for when buying a tv. does it need to be 100hz or can a 50hz tv still have a great picture. is it the dynamic contrast that is important. what is the minimum level to look for.
i am currently saving to replace our current tv.

Most tvs are 100hz now anyways, though there are still some good 50hz so thats nothing to be concerned about at all.
You need to read reviews on the tvs really. Walking i nto Currys or Comet or wherever, they invariably have the 'contrast' turned up so they all look 'bright' and 'in your face'. But it also means pictures dont look as they should and its very hard to tell them apart. Thus ~ you need reviews.
You need to know what size your after, what connections it needs (id recommend 3 hdmis) and if your bothered about the quality of the 'sound' it produces (For instance ~ I dont as mines connected to an external amplifier).
Plasmas tend to beat LCDs for quality, but you cant get 'small' plasmas.
If you buy a SONY, Panasonic or Pioneer you really cant go wrong.

donnajunkie

it is hard to judge when they all just have analogue channels on. anyway the picture settings may not be set right. it is possible to get blown away if there is a hd picture being shown and the settings are right but otherwise it is hard to tell.

aliEnRIK

Dont be fooled by all the extra jargon either. Philips 'pixel plus' for instance is junk. Samsung have some sort of 'dynamic' booster thing too. Switch the whole lot OFF and calibrate contrast, brightness, colour and sharpness for the best quality picture.
Easiest way is to use a THX disc (Star wars, terminator 2 etc)

Oakey22

donna you can ask them to turn over onto the freeview if it has it. Alienrik is right about the brands, pioneer supposed to be the best though.

donnajunkie

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Most tvs are 100hz now anyways, though there are still some good 50hz so thats nothing to be concerned about at all.
You need to read reviews on the tvs really. Walking i nto Currys or Comet or wherever, they invariably have the 'contrast' turned up so they all look 'bright' and 'in your face'. But it also means pictures dont look as they should and its very hard to tell them apart. Thus ~ you need reviews.
You need to know what size your after, what connections it needs (id recommend 3 hdmis) and if your bothered about the quality of the 'sound' it produces (For instance ~ I dont as mines connected to an external amplifier).
Plasmas tend to beat LCDs for quality, but you cant get 'small' plasmas.
If you buy a SONY, Panasonic or Pioneer you really cant go wrong.

most tvs i saw at the weekend were 50hz. well it didnt actually say so but it did say when they were 100hz. we currently have a 32 inch lcd and plan to upgrade to 37 inch. while plasma have a better picture they can suffer from the problem of permanent marks on screen from still images like interactive red button things in the corner. or still images in video games. we will get either a sony or panasonic ideally but may look at toshiba or samsung. toshiba and samsung tvs do impress and we have had tvs by both in the past and they were very good and lasted a long time. we wont consider pioneer because for years their hifis were great and then they went downhill. so trust of them has been lost.

donnajunkie

thanks everyone by the way. i hope all this tv discussion is of help to the original poster.

aliEnRIK

I have a 42" pioneer plasma and DID burn my screen (accidentally)
However, it cleared itself up completely after 6 months (the WHOLE of the screen 'burns in' after time) and the picture quality is jaw dropping.
Pioneer are actually the best tvs money can buy. Panasonic next then sony.
(Which hifi is 'poor'??)
For 37" i would recommend the panasonic plasma. You cant get better

donnajunkie

the last pioneer hifi we had was rubbish. well more to the point the cd player was rubbish. it wasnt long before it wouldnt read discs anymore. they had always been so reliable previously as well. it got repaired several times and it made no difference. anyway all the pioneer tvs i have seen have been really expensive. our budget is likely to be between 6 to 8 hundred quid.

Poppy9

We've got a Pioneer cinema system. After years of loyal service some DVD stopped playing a couple of weeks ago. A fellow :money: suggested we spend a few pounds on a cleaning disc and it's working perfect again:o

Re Plasma - with energy bills rising dramatically if you are big TV watcher it will cost you more than an LCD. According to the report -Plasma screens use a vast amount of power (700W vs 70W for same sized LCD screen), roughly equivalent to a household hoover!