Are hd big tvs worth the money? and what is the downside?

Enterprise-D

I think some people here have been looking at LCD TVs from 5 years ago. Back then there were still some issues with Response Times, Viewing Angles and colour reproduction.

Viewing angles nowadays are virtually indistinguishable from CRTs, Reponse Times are down to 2ms with some TVs also providing over 100hz refresh rates. Also, LED backlights for example have provided much darker blacks and more realistic, brighter colour reproduction.

I still have a 32" Panasonic CRT which was great back in 2001, but I find it horrible to watch after being used to my 32" Sony Bravia LCD.

I honestly can't see why people would want to stick with CRTs these days other than some bizarre placebo effect.

penrhyn

CRT displays are better that these new fangled flat efforts, Vinyl records sound better than CDs and valve (thermionic tube) amplifiers are better than transistors.

Time to fire up the Quad !

hubert_cumberdale

its impossible for a LCD to display a normal TV broadcast with better picture quality than a CRT

i have a 6 month old panasonic viera LCD 40" and its rubbish compared to a 10 year old panasonic 37" CRT HDTV

the latest LCD teles have slower refresh times
lower contrast/black ratios so you end up with blocking
a CRT can use less power than a LCD
a crt has wider viewing angles
a crt is chunkier which can be awkard
there is no motion blur on a crt as there is even on the most expensive 400hz LCD
and you can get better speakers in a CRT
the resolution doesnt have much say in the quality of a tv picture the eye sees color and motion which a CRT is unbeatable at

de1amo

seems people still have CRTs but can you still get them?--i would like to view around! Turkish shops still sell the chunky type tvs

paulczar

no one make CRT TVs any more so no point in recommending one. Yes CRT TVs have(had) a better picture but that's because most peoples old CRT TV was a lot smaller than the massive LCD/Plasma they upgraded to. Take any picture and stretch it to a bigger size and it wont look as good.

If you don't plan on watching HD content then don't sit too close to the LCD/plasma. Or buy one thats too big.

If you do plan on watching HD content then make sure the TV is actually big enough for you too notice the difference across the living room. ie on a 32" TV you won't notice the difference between 720 or 1080 unless you are sitting very close to the TV.

A.Penny.Saved

de1amo wrote: »

seems people still have CRTs but can you still get them?--i would like to view around! Turkish shops still sell the chunky type tvs

Think about what you will be viewing. You mentioned in another post that you don't really understand Turkish so broadcast TV might not be of interest, except perhaps for sport. In that case DVD (SD) or Blu Ray (HD) is probably what you will be watching quite a bit of.

LCD's have some issues in low light conditions, it would be worth you investigating this as you have mentioned it.

I think that Plasmas are the best for HD material, a good Plasma easily beats an LCD TV even now and not just five years ago. But you might need to take out a 2nd mortgage to afford the electricity lol

There are two real downsides to Plasmas which are the possibility of screen burn if the same image is displayed for too long, many Plasmas do have features to try and avoid this. The other is power usage, they do use more power than LCD screens, newer ones are more frugal than older ones and Panasonic Plasmas are marketed as using quite a bit less power than earlier models.

I think that Plasmas would be better for sport viewing. LCD's have not solved all the issues with them, I have seen recent LCD screens, Samsung LED and Panasonic that still don't convince me that they are worth buying.

If I was you I would look at Plasmas but whatever you do, go an view them before purchasing and see how they handle the material that you will be viewing.

Look at AVForums and read up on the TV's that interest you and see what owners are saying about them.

de1amo

İs the premier league shown in HD --i receive the premier league football from the uk via satelite and it never makes mention of the format--i know euro sport is shown in HD--

the tvs here have different codes so talking on an english av forum would make no sense!

penrhyn

If your satellite box has an HDMI output connector and the option to set its resolution to 720p or 1080i, then is capable of receiving high definition broadcasts, if it just uses scarts then you are not receiving HD, irrespective of the source material.

EG This is the rear view of a Sky+HD box, you can see the HDMI connector.

Hammyman

arrontdep wrote: »

Look for a 1080P 36" TV. Don't bother going over 40" it's not really worth it unless you're really rich and money doesn't bother you. What TV do you currently have?

Someone else who has bought the sales spiel hook, line and sinker. Unless you're going to watch the TV from 3ft away, you'll not notice the difference between 720p ad 1080p. Also broadcast HD is 1080i at best so "full" HD is pretty much a waste of time on any TV under 50" viewed at the average distance in a UK house.

Hammyman

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

I've had 50 inch Plasma Full HD @ eleven foot for over a year and before that a 42 inch Full HD on the same wall mount at the same distance and never had any problem whatsoever with the screen / distance ratio.

You're missing the point of the Lecher Chart. It shows the screen size at various distances where the eye can actually perceive a difference in resolution. So as you get to around 8ft away, you need an absolutely massive telly to notice the difference between 720p and 1080p.