Buying new TV - 100hz vs 1080p?

Pokerlad

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote: »

The box allows you to choose between 720p or 1080i.

Yes it does, however by selecting 720p all your doing is telling the HD box to downscale the 1080i picture it receives before sending it to the TV. If you have a high end TV with a better scaller you may be better allowing the TV to do this its self for a better picture. To do this select automatic, that way it will output to the TV at 1080i for HD and 576i for SD and allow the TV to up or downscale as neccessery.

gardnt1

I've just gone through this process and agree it can be a minefield!
I wanted a fairly recent model but at a reasonable price with 1080 and 100Hz (more future proof for 5 mins anyway!) and a decent sd pic as wasnt goin to upgrade to sky hd until they stopped monthly charge!

In end opted for Samsung LE37650T2 (Room size a factor and 37 inch just right)...Brill TV/picture, connected to home network, streams from pc too and very happy with it....now convinced though that hd picture will be so much better and so have upgraded with sky !...fitted friday

Tv was around £600 , cashback from quidco from 1staudiovisual...good service

almillar

If you do go and look at TVs in a bright store, the LCDs are bound to look brighter than the Plasmas BTW, don't let that put you off the plamsas as your living room will be darker. All the freesat advice above is good info - if you're not bothered about recording, get it built in, then you don't have to bother with extra boxes in the way.

The_Bargain_Hunters

We went to our local Currys - all the TV's are in a dark area - in fact the only lighting comes from the TV sets.
The assistant was quite happy to unplug the HD stream and show us the difference in SD, I think the choice is now a 42" samsung LCD vs 37" Panasonic Plasma + buying a Freesat box with HD OR getting a 37" LG with built in freesat - all £499 ant moment. Most of the "older" sales people seem to favour Panasonic and Plasma, both in Currys and Comet however my Korean friend says LG are the best! ^^,

Esqui

I'm guessing by 'older' sales people, you mean those over 20

I'll repeat what I said once before, only in a milder and more realistic way: Panasonic used to make absolutely fantastic TVs. Recently though, they've not been quite as good, but they had such a high standard to start from, they are still really good. LG, however, are probably the best in terms of what you get for your money - they make very good TVs indeed.

The_Bargain_Hunters

Haha - no - by older - i mean over 35 at least!
Maybe thats why they still rate Panasonic!

Esqui

Hehe, it's Currys: anyone over 35 is ancient

And don't get me wrong, Panasonic TVs are still really good...just not as brilliant as they once were, in my opinion.

brewerdave

LG are deffo value for money when compared with the "name" brands such as Sony & Panasonic - I have a 32" 100 HZ LG conventional television which is now 6 years old and has a brilliant picture; I also have a 19" LCD TV from LG which gives a really clear piccy.
I reckon that both were ~ 20% cheaper at the time than the equivalent from other manufacturers.

homeadvice_2

brewerdave wrote: »

LG are deffo value for money when compared with the "name" brands such as Sony & Panasonic - I have a 32" 100 HZ LG conventional television which is now 6 years old and has a brilliant picture; I also have a 19" LCD TV from LG which gives a really clear piccy.
I reckon that both were ~ 20% cheaper at the time than the equivalent from other manufacturers.

Ho cannot help but chime in here, Panasonic Plasma TV's are now the market leaders now that Pioneer pulled out of the market! In the LCD space panasonic are not really up there with the best of the best, this title now falls to Samsung & Sony without question. Both of these make vastly superiour sets to both Panasonic/LG due to the Patterned vertical alignment (PVA) panels that they use which have much better black level than the In-Plane Switching (IPS) panels used in the panny/LG sets. This increased black level & colour fidelity is at the expense of input lag & viewing angle. In the Plasma space, the NeoPDP panel in the panasonics is very good for black level while offering brighter colours/lumen output than the competition at lower power consumption, if you read reviews from professional review houses you will see just how good the Panasonics are! I'm sorry guys but LG is not really concidered (at least in enthusiast circles) as making decent panels. If your interested in Panasonic TV's this site may be a good read:

Panasonic Viera

Cheers,
HomeAdvice

brewerdave

Homeadvice - you have your view - Technically, I'm sure you are correct about panel specs.HOWEVER for the vast majority of people value for money is most important, ultimate technical quality less so.
I have been entirely satisfied with the performance of my LG TVs - looking back I paid ~ £200 less for the 2 sets than I would have done for Sony/Panasonic equivalents.