Advice on new TV - do any 46" models have good freeview pic

TanDiy

Hi, would really appreciate some advice regarding a new TV. I am looking for a 46" panel and quite like the look of the Samsung LED models. Went to Currys and the picture quality on all the TV's looked really good. However, when switching away from the HD feed to Freeview (non HD) on the Samsung and an LG, the picture looked really bad. Are these larger TV's supposed to upscale or is there some setting or something to make the picture look better.I have a small 19" panel in the bedroom and the pic quality is excellent so I am thinking that it is just not possible to get a good pic on a big TV without having HD which is not yet available in our area on Freeview. Thank you for any advice.

spike7451

I have the TV below;

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-ps43d450-43-hd-ready-plasma-tv-10078456-pdt.html

OK,it's a 43" Plasma but the picture is excellent as is the sound from the speakers.It's simple to use & I can connect my PC external HD to the TV & watch movies,listen to music & look at pictures that are stored on it.I can also connect my PC to it as well as run my surround sound thru it via the optical cable, & the is a built in Graphic Equaliser for the TV speakers.
The are several modes for the picture settings & compared to the LCD tv's I looked at,the picture on this one,even on SD,is nearly HD quality.
I really cannot fault it one bit.

moonrakerz

It is all down to distance ...................

The bigger the screen, the further away you have to sit to watch SD.
Basically, you have a high definition television which just shows up how bad an SD picture really is ! (This is why it is very difficult to get a shop to put an SD picture on a TV - there isn't enough room for you to stand back from the TV))

For HD you need to sit one and a half/two times the screen measurement away - then the TV will show you how good HD is !

TanDiy

Many thanks for the info - yes the best quality I have seen is Plasma although this seemed a little less bright than the LED. We are thinking that we might keep the 'old fashioned' 28" TV for now. Really would like to change but cannot live with the picture we have seen - I have been told that freesat would give us a a few HD channels but is worst than freeview for lots of channels. Thanks again.

almillar

The picture quality is the same, but on a bigger screen you're just sortof zoomed in more. Some TVs scale better than others, but there's only so much you can polish a turd! HD makes SD look bad. FWIW I find that Freesat has better quality on the same channel than Freeview, I think there's more bandwidth allowed, depends on channel though. And don't discount plasma, your TV is for showing a picture, not lighting up a room, any modern plasma will be more than bright enough, bright TVs in bright showrooms, when you bring them home, will look awful.

Heinz

TanDiy wrote: »

Hi, would really appreciate some advice regarding a new TV. I am looking for a 46" panel and quite like the look of the Samsung LED models. Went to Currys and the picture quality on all the TV's looked really good. However, when switching away from the HD feed to Freeview (non HD) on the Samsung and an LG, the picture looked really bad.

From what distance did you view the SD channels though? If you were closer than about 10 feet, you're bound to see individual pixels.

keith1950

During next year the last of the transmitters will have switched over so if you are looking for a large screen tv you would probably be best looking for one that has Freeview HD tuner. Then your disappointment with Freeview SD won't be an issue.

I got a 46" Samsung last year with built in Freeview HD but I haven't had a chance to evaluate it yet because my local transmitter doesn't switch until April 2012 !!

InsideInsurance

TanDiy wrote: »

Really would like to change but cannot live with the picture we have seen

I'd suggest trying to find a decent shop to go to and not Currys/ Comet/ John Lewis etc who either just use the default settings or turn everything up to max.

You didn't mention what your budget was?

I was looking at the Samsung LED screens recently and ended up buying a D7000 (for a very good price) but looking at them in stores the picture was terrible. Thankfully the shop I went allowed me to change the settings and following the recommended settings from another forum the picture was improved 10 fold by altering them.

Ultimately automatic upscaling is a bit of a con, the data isnt there so you're just getting an algorithms best guess of what it should have been. Watching SD on a 46" screen -v- your 28" doesnt increase what there is to display just stretches everything and so inevitably will look worse (especially as LED/ LCD/ Plasma etc are worse technologies than CRT) unless you are sufficient far away such that the image you see is actually the same size as it was on your 28" from the distance you normally sit.