Advice on Plasma TV needed?

rizla01

Hi all,

I guess this is the best place to ask.

I've decided on a Plasma 42".

Considering the LG Pj350 or the Panny P42X20B (Approx £100 more).

I'm sure like most people, most of my viewing is SD res. I have no HD capable equipment at all and will avoid any for a while tho I might invest in a twin Humax Hd Freesat recorder as I have no arial and would like to get rid of Sky box (Free channel sub).

At present, I believe I'm right in saying, most transmissions are in 720 format and that an HD ready set is best for these signals but will process 1080 HD signals although it may have to work harder (heavier consumption, no doubt) to do so.

A full HD set will be good for the time when everything is in HD. (Approx 5 yrs, I would estimate) but not required by most, for now.

Therefore my plan is to buy a £350.00 TV for now and expect to upgrade later by which time the resale value of said purchase will be nil.

(a bit like the old 405 line to 625 line change-over, isn't it?)

My question is, should I buy the dearer Panny or make do with the pretty well rated LG. Obviously there are better TV's out there but they are a lot of money and in 5 years time, I predict that there will be even better for a lot less money (Ad infinitum, I guess).

Do you agree with my thinking?

Please put me right (I can take it) if my thinking is skewed in any way.

Unless I am mistaken, there are a HUGE number of people up against this dilemna and mine has now become urgent as my fantastic 10year old 100Hz 32" Sony CRT has all but expired.

da1seggy

rizla01 wrote: »

At present, I believe I'm right in saying, most transmissions are in 720 format and that an HD ready set is best for these signals but will process 1080 HD signals although it may have to work harder (heavier consumption, no doubt) to do so.

A 720p HD ready TV can't display a 1080i/p signal

rizla01

da1seggy wrote: »

A 720p HD ready TV can't display a 1080i/p signal

Oh. Okay.


I take it that HD ready means that it'll take a 1080 signal and convert it to 720?

Is this correct?



Also will my 2 year old DVD recorder with USB port (plays DivX) play DivX HD content?

millwalll

I would not really worry about HD too much as it maybe soon replaced with HDbase a new format. However most TV are HD or HD ready these days so I would go for the cheaper version.

almillar

You've got a bit confused with all the marketing rubbish that's thrown around.
All broadcast HD in the UK is 1080i - for this reason alone, looking forwards, I'd want to buy a 1080 (yes that's 1080 lines like the 405 to 625 you speak of!) set.
HD Ready and Full HD are very misunderstood. HD Ready is a proper term, and to get that label a set must be at least 720, have at least 1 HDMI port, and be able to TAKE IN 1080 material (which would obviously be downscaled on anything but a 1080 set). Full HD is like this but 1080p - it should really be called Full HD READY. The 'ready' part means that you can plug something into it, and it will display HD. taking away the 'ready' should mean that it has some sort of HD tuner built in (FreesatHD or FreeviewHD in the UK).
Since you're only looking for a 5 yr TV (not very moneysaving!) it might not matter so much, but if you buy that Humax Freesat recorder, you'll be receiving HD TV, why not watch it properly? You'll have ITV1HD, BBC1HD and BBCHD in autumn!

penrhyn

Shirley the OP should be looking at a TV with Freesat HD or Freeview HD built in as a minimal spec awa 1080 panel.
Plasma TVs are very heavy, compared to LCD and LED-LCD sets.
If wall mounting make sure you can do it safely.

Inactive

If you are buying a decent Plasma, I would not even bother about HD, the SD broadcast will be almost as good to be honest, mine is, I can hardly distinguish between HD and SD.


A different story tho' on my LCD TV.

BillScarab

720 HD Ready Plasmas are generally regarded as doing the best job of displaying SD broadcasts. If most of what you watch is SD that is worth considering.

I bought a Panasonic TH37PX80B TV a couple of years ago and it's superb. The HD picture (via a Virgin V+ box) is superb and the SD picture is also excellent.

Personally I'd spend the extra on the Panasonic.

If you do get a HD ready TV do some tests with the TV and your HD source as to which is the best at downscaling the 1080i picture to 720p. For me I find that setting the V+ to output HD at 720p so the TV doesn't have to scale it works slightly better then having the V+ put out a 1080i signal and letting the TV downscale it.

rizla01

=almillar;34941175] You've got a bit confused with all the marketing rubbish that's thrown around.

Mild understatement.:)




Thanks for the responses, all.

Would I be right in saying that if I went for the LG PJ350 (720) that an HD transmission thru the Humax will come out better than normal transmitted content anyway?

BillScarab

If you mean better than an SD broadcast then yes it should. Instead of stretching a 576 line image to fit a 720 (or probably 768) line screen you'll be 'squashing' a 1080i picture to fit.

rizla01

BillScarab wrote: »

If you mean better than an SD broadcast then yes it should. Instead of stretching a 576 line image to fit a 720 (or probably 768) line screen you'll be 'squashing' a 1080i picture to fit.

Ah. thought as much. Thanks.

It's astounding what you have to do to get a telly these days.

If not for the www then you would have to rely on the very helpful and highly knowledgeable assistants at Curry's Etc (Yeah, right) as most of the indi's have gone under.

And that coupled with so many changes in technology and vast differences between manufacturers products and absolutely no uniformity of standards (Bit like the Betamax/VHS problem or the 8 track v cassette, only 100 fold)

Ok while you are young but totally baffling when you are older.