Best TV?

Moneymaker

I think it's rather amusing that someone asks for recommendations for the "best TV" then ignores everything in favour of a nice looking stand.

almillar

You obviously played with the settings on both TVs before judging the picture? Because 'shop mode' just means turning everything up to 11 for the bright environment in the shop, which bears no resemblence to your living room.
ARC can help with connectivity, not simply provide it. HDMI can carry sound in one direction, say from the blu ray plyer to the soundbar, and another cable from soundbar to TV. You hear the sound from the sound bar, the picture (and the sound possibly) gets passed onto the TV.
What ARC adds, if the soundbar, cable and TV are compatible, is an audio return channel - IE the TV's sound (for example from the internal tuner) can be played through the soundbar via that same cable. This will generally save you from connecting a digital optical cable between the two.

Carpi09

Moneymaker wrote: »

I think it's rather amusing that someone asks for recommendations for the "best TV" then ignores everything in favour of a nice looking stand.

I visited the store as advised and preferred the look of the LG, also an LG Soundbar that i liked which i believe is only compatible with LG Tvs. The panasonics, to me, looked tacky. I can assure you, im not picking a tv because of a nice stand. If i dont like the look of something i wont buy it as im sure you wouldnt buy something you didnt like the look of, regardless if you were advised to get a particular product or not. Thats amusing.

almillar wrote: »

You obviously played with the settings on both TVs before judging the picture? Because 'shop mode' just means turning everything up to 11 for the bright environment in the shop, which bears no resemblence to your living room.
ARC can help with connectivity, not simply provide it. HDMI can carry sound in one direction, say from the blu ray plyer to the soundbar, and another cable from soundbar to TV. You hear the sound from the sound bar, the picture (and the sound possibly) gets passed onto the TV.
What ARC adds, if the soundbar, cable and TV are compatible, is an audio return channel - IE the TV's sound (for example from the internal tuner) can be played through the soundbar via that same cable. This will generally save you from connecting a digital optical cable between the two.

If you can find me a 42-48" tv and a good soundbar that is compatible with each other. Because i really dont understand all this technology.

Kurtis_Blue

Carpi09 wrote: »

If you can find me a 42-48" tv and a good soundbar that is compatible with each other. Because i really dont understand all this technology.

I have never seen (apart from B&O) modern TV and audio equipment that is not inter-connectable straight out the box.

You will simply cable a Toslink/digital optical cable from the TV output to the sound-bar input.

almillar

LG Soundbar that i liked which i believe is only compatible with LG Tvs[/QUOTE]

Nope. You made that up, or the salesperson did.
You admit you don't know much, yet buy stuff (the soundbar, not the TV) without asking.

Compatibility:

Does the TV and soundbar both have ARC? Yes? Compatible. Make sure your HDMI lead does ARC.
If not, then does your TV have a digital optical OUTPUT, and your soundbar a digital optical INPUT?
If so, use that
If not, then does your TV have a digital coaxial OUTPUT, and your soundbar a digital coaxial INPUT?
If so, use that
If not, then does your TV have a stereo phono OUTPUT, and your soundbar a stereo phono INPUT?
If so, use that
If not, you would want to try the headphone output of the TV into the stereo phono of the soundbar.

Kurtis_Blue

almillar wrote: »

LG Soundbar that i liked which i believe is only compatible with LG Tvs

Nope. You made that up, or the salesperson did.
You admit you don't know much, yet buy stuff (the soundbar, not the TV) without asking.

[/QUOTE]

They haven't brought either and they very clearly are on here asking pre-purchase.

The LG sound bar and TV have bluetooth for primary comms, I'm guessing that is what the salesperson was referring to.

However they both also have digital optical ports.

almillar

Kurtis - my advice was the Panasonic, but I said it was a close call and I'd be happy with either. OP seems to prefer the look of the LG, which is legitimate. Prefering the picture quality is only legitimate if they've both been set up correctly, which is what I was checking. Soundbars only being compatible with their own brand is also not legitimate, because it't not true.

The LG sound bar and TV have bluetooth for primary comms

My only experience of soundbars with Bluetooth was to connect the soundbar with it's own subwoofer, wirelessly, not to the TV. Come to think of it, I've never heard of a TV with Bluetooth...

Kurtis_Blue

almillar wrote: »

My only experience of soundbars with Bluetooth was to connect the soundbar with it's own subwoofer, wirelessly, not to the TV. Come to think of it, I've never heard of a TV with Bluetooth...

I suppose Its pretty handy for bluetooth headphones and when TVs are mounted with not enough cables.

But I would prefer cables when possible, whether the TV had Bluetooth or not.