New TV Advice Required

Plasma, Pioneers new kuro range are without a doubt the best tv's at the moment although quite expensive and they start at 42" .Panasonic next choice they have a 37" plasma ,forget sony in my opinion (colour like no other yes definately it's not right at all)

Jaseamondo, i compared the pio with the fujitsu and guess what fujitsu won, and if you read the threads on the av-forums most people who compared them came to the same conclusion.

John: what is your budget? Sony, Panasonic and Samsung (among others) all have very good sets of lcd screens at reasonable price (that is, if you like lcd screens). However, you may find much less priced and not so bad tv's by looking at Acer, BenQ or Sharp, to mention a few. To me, plasma is still the way to go now, but yes, it's usually more expansive and you won't find 32 inches tv's using this technology, as far as I know. Regarding lcd tv's, colors might look ugly to you at first, but there is much you can adjust via the menus. Don't decide that a tv is bad juste because the default setup shown in the shop sucks, that's my advice! Try to find a shop that will let you play with the setup, it can change everything.

OsD, i am not saying lcds are no good, just that i prefer plasma, and i did quite an extensive demo on the pio and fujitsu, and for me personaly the fuji won thats why i bought it, i think panasonic plasmas are very good and offer good value for money, i had a panny panel for over nearly 4 years and was more than happy with it, just fancied a change.

john R1: I was actually replying to the other John (J. N.), starter of this topic I fully agree with you about plasma being superior to lcd, though. Even the best lcd's (Sony Bravia would be my lcd tv choice) can't come close to current plasma screens, picture wise. I never had the chance to demo a Fuji screen, well worth the try from what you say!

I've no doubt the fujitsu is excellent but it is a plasma panel without a tv tuner,so i stand by what i say about the pioneer.

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/...A~make~Panasonic.htm



Got it and really happy with it. For the money i don't think there is much better out there. Build quality id good, can't say that for the samsung!!

There is a problem with your link, KK. Which Panny did you go for in the end?

Thanks for the advice so far chaps. KK's URL link works for me Jon.

John.

Coincidentally, the latest "Which?" magazine contains a very good article on widescreen TVs.

29 sets were tested, with Panasonic LCDs occupying the top two positions, the only sets with five stars for picture quality on HD and awarded four out of the seven "Best Buys". The top five are all LCD sets, with Panasonic plasmas coming in at 6 and 7.

The two Pioneer plasmas come in at 11 and 13.

There's a very good brand overview in the piece, which basically gives top position to Panasonic,followed by Sony and Toshiba then Philips.

Hitachi, Samsung and LG are not well regarded, but the worst seems to be JVC which gets slated for picture quality and ease of use.

My feeling is with the current crop of TVs there isn't much to choose between plasma & LCD. They certainly look different picture-wise; plasma has very good black levels, LCD looks a bit crisper, but they're both very high-quality.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, proper set up is absolutely crucial and never, ever base your buying decision on shop demonstrations! The sets you see in shops are inevitably set up with over-saturated colour and high contrast which gives a superficially dramatic-looking picture.

After calibrating your display properly using a good set-up disk (I use "Digital Video Essentials" which is a superb tool for audio and video calibration)the picture can look a bit dull, but in fact it's just natural colours and will reveal all the details in the video signal.

tonym, you can read what you like as far as reviews go, if you check out last months what hi fi sound and vision all the lcds came out badly against the plasmas, at the end of the day make up your own mind, as they say each to there own.

quote:

at the end of the day make up your own mind,

Much easier said than done!!

Yesterday I poped into John Lewis in Reading with 3 of my favourite dvds and my ISF calibration techie friend (this is a joke!) and asked if we could compare the Panasonic PX 768p; PZ 1080p; Pioneer Kura 768p and 1080p, the Hitachi, Samsung, LG and Pillips as well as the Sony Bravia range. I had estimated the dem would take about 4 hours, allowing for my techie friend to properly calibrate each set just-in-time for me to view it.

I explained to the shop assistant that he would be left with a dozen or more properly calibrated tv sets.

He explained to me that I should P*ss-*ff before he called the men in white coats.......

Cheers

Don

quote:

Originally posted by J.N.:
Thanks for the advice so far chaps. KK's URL link works for me Jon.

Really? Strange. Every time I click on it I just get a blank space and "err" on the end of the resolved URL. So what set is he talking about, then?

jonR, when i cliked on the link it showed the 37" panny pwx70b very good value for money,

OK, thanks john.

quote:

Originally posted by john R1:
tonym, you can read what you like as far as reviews go, if you check out last months what hi fi sound and vision all the lcds came out badly against the plasmas, at the end of the day make up your own mind, as they say each to there own.

John, my view is not based solely on reviews and you are incorrect to assume so.

I must point out that Which? reviews are extremely thorough and unbiased, certainly a more credible source than "What Hi-Fi" I think!

Don, you're right, it ain't easy getting a proper demo. Those companies who are prepared to offer that sort of service are rapidly going out of business because folks go in for the demo., then go away & buy the kit on the internet!

quote:

folks go in for the demo., then go away & buy the kit on the internet!

quote:

because folks go in for the demo., then go away & buy the kit on the internet!

Sad, but true.

However, I hasten to point out that wouldn't be me. I don't like buying off the internet. Not sure why, but I don't.

However, trying to get a reasonable dem often involves visiting several dealers, each with overlapping ranges. If more that one of them stocks the model you eventually select, who should you buy from?

Cheers

Don

JonR,

I went for the 37PX70. As i say very happy with it and for just over £600 inc a five year panasonic warranty - i'm not complaining!!!

Got it from Empire direct.

That's pretty good going, KK. By coincidence (no, really) having been banging on for ages that it's LCD all the way for me, my interest has been aroused by the very same model.

I must admit that part of what has compelled me to lean more towards the plasma is something I read in err... ummm... What Hifi (sorry), particularly the bit where they praise the PX70's internal digital tuner. Since most of what I watch on TV is via Freeview, having a decent internal tuner would be a significant factor for me in any buying decision.

Hi Jon.

I agree integrated Freeview tuners are very convenient & on the face of things an excellent feature. However, Freeview tuners are quite variable, and putting up with the inconvenience of having a separate Freeview tuner will enable you to upgrade it in the future.

I was interested to learn that Freeview tuners are now available with HDMI & digital optical outputs. When HD Freeview becomes available (currently being tested) my Sky subscription will be gone quick as blink!

Many moons ago Sony came up with its "Profeel" system (poxy name...) which had separate monitor, tuner & sound components. Didn't take off at the time because it was frightfully expensive IIRC.

JonR,

after being impressed with my new 'box' he went for the bigger 42px70. He said the pic quality off the internal freeview is great. His old freeview box has seen the bin. I have cable TV and so i don't use the freeview. As with all things digital - it depends on the bit rate signal being sent - quality varies from channel to channel and program to program i believe. All i can say is my DVD palyback is fab, and normal TV viweing is great. My neighbor has a 28" sony CRT some 4 years old - and the Pany kicks into the dirt!!!!

Go for the plasma - you know it makes sense!!!!

er....'he' = my father

Don, i bought my fujitsu from where i demoed it, not that you see many internet places selling them, and hasten to add if i had gone for the pioneer that would also have been purchased from where i had a demo.

quote:

Originally posted by KeanoKing:
Go for the plasma - you know it makes sense!!!!

It's definitely up for consideration, that and a Samsung LCD I've also been interested in - the LE37M87BD, which is a 1080p set.

Tony - I get what you're saying, but if they are still experimenting with Freeview HD then it's something that must have been going on now for probably 18 months or so at least, I reckon. I know this because an ex-work colleague of mine at the company I was working for at that time had just won the right to try out a Freeview HD box for himself at home!

EDIT: Sorry, John (J.N.) I know this is your thread, but I hope some of what I've posted on here is of use to you!

quote:

I've also been interested in - the LE37M87BD, which is a 1080p set.

1080p sets look great with HD DVD or Blue Ray - which is what they are usually demo'd with, no surprise eh?

Standard definition signals - which will be around for ages yet - look pretty bad because the finer resolution screen exposes the limitation of the broadcast. Make sure you demo with a standard signal too.

1080i or "HD Ready" are still excellent with an HD feed but have the advantage of still looking good with std def.

Steve