Hope to get advice on a 3D TV? :)

martyp

Hi all,
I've just had a bit more money available to me and really want to treat myself at the moment. My TV is a 28" CRT which whilst it still works ok (very slow to come on though) but I'm massively craving getting a 3D TV.
I'm quite fond of the LG 3D TVs, I want to get a passive one due to the glasses being cheap (also tried the flickering ones and didn't like them). I also really like the Smart ones as I've heard they have Skype and I could maybe talk to my parents on a webcam on the TV, that would be awesome. It would also be great to have PC connectivity as well...
I was also thinking of getting a 3D Bluray player as well to compliment and know you can get bundles etc. I like the idea of a really big size as well, 42 or 47 inches would be nice...
I'm willing to spend probably around £800 and have noticed them on ebay for only around £600 or so and have been considering options such as cashback as well.
Is it a bad idea to get a 3D TV, are the LG ones good value for money? They seemed impressive in the local Currys? I'm wondering if they might become massively obsolete in a weeks time or something...
Can any techy fanatics help at all please on thoughts or possible good deals anywhere?
Many thanks

Esqui

I have an LG 3DTV and they are really good. At the moment, you should easily be able to bag yourself a bargain on the outgoing LW550 or LW650 models.

Make sure you have something capable of showing proper 3D content, the 2D/3D conversion is OK, but will never be as good. A PS3 is a brilliant companion to one

Radsteral

it has became the joke for years for me and my wife,..
we got a old tv,..every time we visit a friend, when we leave their house we say to each other'''God, they got one aswell!!! refering to the 40 inch or so flat screen tv.

joke as it is, we have managed to keep to our old bush tv, exelent picture, ..hammer proof for our little boy, theft proof for any thieves(it ll need 3 of them to lift) , and it came for free... a client of mine 4 years ago asked politely to send it outside so i put it on the van .
if we keep it for another year, we ll end up buying a paper thin samsung tv that may aswell wash our dishes;) i pressume the technology must have advanced that much by then

martyp

Esqui wrote: »

I have an LG 3DTV and they are really good. At the moment, you should easily be able to bag yourself a bargain on the outgoing LW550 or LW650 models.

Make sure you have something capable of showing proper 3D content, the 2D/3D conversion is OK, but will never be as good. A PS3 is a brilliant companion to one

Many thanks Esqui, I was thinking of the 47LW550T which seems to do quite well in reviews. I was unsure of a comment about 3d bluray not working that well on passive 3D or something? Also I did worry about a review saying there was really bad lag for gaming? I'm not a big gamer really but if I did start playing lots of games, especially 3D ones I wondered if that was an issue as you say the PS3 works great with yours?
Daft question probably but would a 3d Bluray player mean I wouldn't have any use for my DVD recorder anymore? I didn't know if they burnt DVDs?

martyp

Radsteral wrote: »

it has became the joke for years for me and my wife,..
we got a old tv,..every time we visit a friend, when we leave their house we say to each other'''God, they got one aswell!!! refering to the 40 inch or so flat screen tv.

joke as it is, we have managed to keep to our old bush tv, exelent picture, ..hammer proof for our little boy, theft proof for any thieves(it ll need 3 of them to lift) , and it came for free... a client of mine 4 years ago asked politely to send it outside so i put it on the van .
if we keep it for another year, we ll end up buying a paper thin samsung tv that may aswell wash our dishes;) i pressume the technology must have advanced that much by then

I must admit mine has done well over the years, it's a Thomson and was £199 from Argos in 2005. I think more than anything I would love to have the bigger screen and it's just a case also that the technology around the TV is more advanced. It would be nice to enjoy HD, I waited through the advent of HD, then LED but 3D is just too exciting, I can't resist! The cat also sometimes jumps up on it from the front to sit on top of it. Might be interesting if I get a flat screen TV and she jumps up to sit on top of it!!
I actually feel so fond of the TV I wouldn't want to get rid of it, I'd probably just put it in the spare room and keep it just in case, maybe have a TV to watch upstairs...

John_Gray

My Sony Trinitron from about 1994 still works well, apart from slightly deteriorating sound quality. I may well have to buy one of them thar LCD jobbies in the next few years, and line up a squad of hunky chaps to remove the Sony to the recycling area...

dsavvy83

Hi Martyp

This is just my opinion doesn't mean to say i am right.

But i use to sell LCD tvs and i find that the best value for money and quality are the Samsungs, mind you that is best value for money... But if you want some real top notch TVs i would look at the Panasonic Range a bit expensive but they have integrated that excellent picture processor from Pioneer who unfortunately do not make TVs anymore.

But another range of TVs which give excellent picture, the best i have seen in a consumer range are the Philips 9000 series this is there top of the range. Before you buy you should go and see these TVs the colour and the sharpness is amazing. I wouldn't touch any of the other Philips tvs, just the 9000 series, i have one myself had it for about 5 years now and never had a problem. and quality still matches the new ones today.

As for 3D tv i think that is a bit of a joke and a bit upset that they are pushing this waste of a time technology when research can be better spent on improving the quality of picture, how can you enjoy something if you have to wear 3D glasses and sit in certain positions, i mean who does that???

You can of course for now buy a decent quality samsung to save you some money and wait for the new OLED tv's to come out, they are already out in the prosumer world for people in the film and tv industry, and i have seen them up close, they look really amazing, the blacks are actually BLACK!! and very clear picture quality.

And for people who think CRTs are still good, they should really seek out to get a glimpse of the OLED tvs they have better colour and and much sharper picture quality, because the CRT's do not handle picture details to well, just have good colour quality but really crappy when they try to process anything with real detail. This is where OLED tvs come up trumps.

So in short, don't waste your time with 3D, buy a decent quality screen good value for money samsung, if you want to spend a bit more look at the Philips 9000 series, just go to their website and see where they are sold and go and look for yourself.

I have left out technical information such as brightness, res, contrasts etc, because i find that most manufacturers lie a little on these numbers, but until you go and see the TVs for yourself you wont know.

Oh and don't forget to play around with the settings when you are at the shop they can make a lot of difference to the quality in picture.

VoucherMan

Some general views which may or may not help.

Firstly I went for a Samsung which uses active glasses - got them off eBay about £30 each from Korea. I think they're cheaper now. Delivery was quick too. Less than three days.

I chose 3D as it cost little more than the 2D model, some reviews suggested that 2D content looked better on the 3D model than the 2D model, and of course I'd be able to watch 3D films.

I've not seen much in 3D as there's not been much of interest to me to watch. Not bothered with 2D-3D conversions but there seem to be a lot more films coming out now so I may have another look. Finally got round to watching avatar in 3D last night. Thought it was about time as it's been on TV now.

On the down side - when my niece & her friend visited the watched a 3D film and both got headaches. Doesn't effect everyone but worth bearing in mind. I don't know if this is just for active glasses or if it's the same with passive ones.

My only regret - I got a 51". The 59" model would have looked much better.


and finally - Unless you want to record in blu-ray format I'd hang on to the DVD recorder for now. There are plenty of players for less than £100, but recorders still look expensive.

dsavvy83

VoucherMan wrote: »

Some general views which may or may not help.

Firstly I went for a Samsung which uses active glasses - got them off eBay about £30 each from Korea. I think they're cheaper now. Delivery was quick too. Less than three days.

I chose 3D as it cost little more than the 2D model, some reviews suggested that 2D content looked better on the 3D model than the 2D model, and of course I'd be able to watch 3D films.

I've not seen much in 3D as there's not been much of interest to me to watch. Not bothered with 2D-3D conversions but there seem to be a lot more films coming out now so I may have another look. Finally got round to watching avatar in 3D last night. Thought it was about time as it's been on TV now.

On the down side - when my niece & her friend visited the watched a 3D film and both got headaches. Doesn't effect everyone but worth bearing in mind. I don't know if this is just for active glasses or if it's the same with passive ones.

My only regret - I got a 51". The 59" model would have looked much better.


and finally - Unless you want to record in blu-ray format I'd hang on to the DVD recorder for now. There are plenty of players for less than £100, but recorders still look expensive.

Oh yeah good point, my wife gets headaches with the 3D glasses, oh and bigger the better i wish could cover my whole wall with TV haha

Blu-ray players just get the cheapest PS3 you find they have 3D firmware updates, plus you get all the other services such as iplayer netflix lovefilm etc....

Enterprise_1701C

We got the 43" Samsung 3D plasma. We bought the 3D because it was actually on offer and cheaper than the 2D at the time

We have the glasses, got two pairs for £35, have rarely used them but looking to get a 3D bluray before too long.

Very pleased we got the 3D because (I believe) it is a better panel and had a quick look at Avatar last night in 2D and the depth of field was fantastic. It really is a very good picture and we find the sound is more than adequate too, although it does have an optical socket - we have a lead rigged to our surround sound but rarely need to use it.

3D TVs generally have a better picture because it is needed for the 3D.

oldagetraveller

I'm assuming a 3D t.v. will probably be l.e.d. back lit, I say back lit but in reality it will be edge lit. Look for light "bleeding" onto the screen, also called searchlight and torch effect. I've found it is usually from the corners to varying degrees. Can be very annoying on a dark/black image.
To replace an old crt set I purchased a Panasonic then another Panasonic 3D l.e.d. t.v., both suffered from excessive bleed and were returned as faulty and refunded.
I've checked Samsung l.e.d. sets and they seem to be less prone to the phenomenon.
However, I've ditched the thought of 3D, l.e.d., smart and now have a modern Samsung lcd with the older CCFL(cold cathode fluorescent light)back lighting. In my opinion they can stuff their l.e.d. backlighting - it's a gimmick too far. My Samsung has the same power ratings too so don't be conned by the save energy hype.
All I'm really saying is check carefully with any t.v you buy for bleeding, they don't all do it. I'm sure it's poor quality control during manufacture in a lot of cases.