Recommend a TV?

one-non-blonde

For space reasons I need to reluctantly replace the TV in my son's bedroom. We're still a CRT household (I usually refuse to throw things out until they have no useful life left, lol) so I know NOTHING about flat screens - I don't know my HD from my LCD; my smart from my plasma.

There is no aerial connection in his room (and neither will there be) so it will be used for gaming and watching DVDs in the main - though if it could be connected to wifi so he could watch iPlayer or tvcatchup then I guess that negates the need for an aerial?

So, basically something about 22-28" that has a reasonable spec and is good value (as cheap as possible! Under £200 certainly). It'll be his Christmas present so a couple of months to find something!

Guardsman

If he has a computer in his room why not go for a good quality monitor.
A decent TV with your spec is expensive
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=tv+built+in+wifi&_sacat=0&_odkw=SONY+NSZGS7B&_osacat=0&_from=R40

one-non-blonde

Unfortunately there won't be space for his PC in his new room - perhaps the wifi part is too much to ask!

So, if anyone can advise me on what I should look out for in terms of plasma/LCD/LED and pixels, etc. for a bog-standard, flat-screen I'd be very grateful.

vyle

At the size you're looking at, you won't be looking at plasma so you won't need to know about those.

Most TVs will be "LED" now, but bear in mind that these tvs are actually LCD screens with LED backlighting.

If he's going to be using it for gaming, then a 720p set will be fine, but you can also get 1080p sets, but the quality difference will be marginal.

Do NOT get one with a dvd player built in because it will go wrong very quickly.

For your price range, you're unlikely to find a smart TV, let alone a good smart TV.

Try and get a panasonic, because their picture quality is easily the best. If not, there are some decent LGs and Philips around in that size/price range. Samsung's small tVs are pretty poor and sonys can be good but are overpriced in their size bracket.

one-non-blonde

Brilliant, exactly what I needed. Thank you.

DVDs go through the Playstation so wasn't planning on going down the combi route. I just wanted a basic list of specs for a smallish tv so I know where to start looking.

pullenuk

Anything under 32" its ok to have an "HD Ready" TV. Getting a FULL HD TV under 32" really is a little pointless as the different won't really be much.

HD Ready is basically half HD and known as 720p
Full HD is known as 1080p

The 720p and 1080p is the number of dots on the screen per inch, the higher the number the higher the quality. The reason under 32" 720 will do is because the screen is simply too small to see the different properly.

Obviously, HD video only works with a HD source such as Freeview HD, Sky HD or Blu-Rays.

You don't need a smart tv if you got a playstation, let that give you iplayer etc etc.

And don't get a combi one!

Go to currys or PC world, have a look at the ones on display. Test for sound, some are a bit poo. Then research if you can find it cheaper!!! A tip here, currys and pc world uses model numbers that are just for them sometimes. So when searching online you might find very similar model numbers, but still exactly the same tv.

InsideInsurance

pullenuk wrote: »

The 720p and 1080p is the number of dots on the screen per inch, the higher the number the higher the quality.

It is not the number of dots per inch, it is the total number of dots in the height of the screen so:

720 i/p = 1280×720
1080 i/p = 1920 × 1080

The i or p that follows the number dictates if at every screen refresh if the whole screen is refreshed (P) or just half the screen (I)

The reason that you wont get many 1080 screens in the size your looking at is that because at the average viewing distance with average eye sight the difference in DPI will not be noticeable.

Given all 720 screens have 720 lines across them it is inevitable that each line is taller on a 60" screen than a 27" one hence why making them thinner by increasing the line count to 1080 makes the picture look better.

As has already been said, LCD and LED have the same actual screens it is just how the lighting behind them works that is different. There is no one better than the other but LED is cheaper to make and run plus is lighter and so is winning the battle even though it does have its own issues (clouding)


In this day an age bigger is better when it comes to TVs and so the sub 32" market is a little bit sparse from the big name brands compared to the 40"+ market

You dont mention a budget, which doesnt help, but personally I liked the Panasonic TX-L24E3 which you can get online for about £250

Be very careful of buying any of the ultra budget or supermarket own brand ones, they can have terrible picture quality, especially with fast paced moving images (motion smearing).

If you want to look at them in the flesh I personally would go somewhere like Richer Sounds rather than Comet/ Currys etc as the later tend to have them set up terribly and make it impossible to judge the good from the bad

pullenuk

@insideinsurance

Thanks for correcting me there :-) though I understood that, not sure OP will be bothered!

Richer Sounds is a top tip - if you got one near, they are good.

derrick

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You dont mention a budget, which doesnt help, but personally I liked the Panasonic TX-L24E3 which you can get online for about £250

one-non-blonde wrote: »

For space reasons I need to reluctantly replace the TV in my son's bedroom. We're still a CRT household (I usually refuse to throw things out until they have no useful life left, lol) so I know NOTHING about flat screens - I don't know my HD from my LCD; my smart from my plasma.

There is no aerial connection in his room (and neither will there be) so it will be used for gaming and watching DVDs in the main - though if it could be connected to wifi so he could watch iPlayer or tvcatchup then I guess that negates the need for an aerial?

So, basically something about 22-28" that has a reasonable spec and is good value (as cheap as possible! Under £200 certainly). It'll be his Christmas present so a couple of months to find something!

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