First new telly in nearly 20 years...
Posted by: Kevin-W on 21 November 2012
Evening everyone...
Yesterday my old Hitachi CRTV, purchased in 1993, finally died. I figured that it's not worth getting it repaired (if anyone actually still repairs CRTVs) so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new one.
Thing is, because I've not been in the market so long, I've no idea what's out there, let alone what to buy - LED, LCD, plasma etc.
I'm not interested in 3D, or anything over 32 - 36 inches. I already have a perfectly good Humax box so it doesn't need to record. I don't have much money, so it has to not cost more than £300 or so (I might wait until the January sales) and I want a quality, reliable brand - Panasonic, Sony, etc.
For that kind of budget, and those requirements, what should I go for - LED, plasma, LCD etc? Anyone got any pointers or recommendations?
Thanks
K
I'll make a note of my current settings and see if they're any use to you. There's always room for tweaking afterwards if they don't agree with your environment and tastes.
Cheers,
Rack.
That's very kind of you - most appreciated! 
Here you go Kevin:
Picture Mode: Movie (some setting aren't available in other modes)
Backlight: 9
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 35
Sharpness: 35
Colour: 50 (preset values)
Tint: (G/R) G50 R50 (preset values)
Advanced Settings:
Dynamic contrast: Off
Black Tone: Off
Flesh Tone: 0
RGB Only Mode: Off
Colour Space: Native
White Balance: (preset values)
Gamma: (preset values)
Cheers,
Rack.
I'll make a note of my current settings and see if they're any use to you. There's always room for tweaking afterwards if they don't agree with your environment and tastes.
Cheers,
Rack.
That's very kind of you - most appreciated!
Here you go Kevin:
Picture Mode: Movie (some setting aren't available in other modes)
Backlight: 9
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 35
Sharpness: 35
Colour: 50 (preset values)
Tint: (G/R) G50 R50 (preset values)
Advanced Settings:
Dynamic contrast: Off
Black Tone: Off
Flesh Tone: 0
RGB Only Mode: Off
Colour Space: Native
White Balance: (preset values)
Gamma: (preset values)
Cheers,
Rack.
Hi Rack
Thanks very much for that, I used your settings and they're damn near perfect (I added one more "stop" on backlight). I've just tried out the "Madmen" DVD which was giving me such eyeache and it looks great now. Saved me a lot of time and hassle.
I owe you a pint! 
I'll make a note of my current settings and see if they're any use to you. There's always room for tweaking afterwards if they don't agree with your environment and tastes.
Cheers,
Rack.
That's very kind of you - most appreciated!
Here you go Kevin:
Picture Mode: Movie (some setting aren't available in other modes)
Backlight: 9
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 35
Sharpness: 35
Colour: 50 (preset values)
Tint: (G/R) G50 R50 (preset values)
Advanced Settings:
Dynamic contrast: Off
Black Tone: Off
Flesh Tone: 0
RGB Only Mode: Off
Colour Space: Native
White Balance: (preset values)
Gamma: (preset values)
Cheers,
Rack.
Hi Rack
Thanks very much for that, I used your settings and they're damn near perfect (I added one more "stop" on backlight). I've just tried out the "Madmen" DVD which was giving me such eyeache and it looks great now. Saved me a lot of time and hassle.
I owe you a pint!
Hey, no problems Kevin just glad to be able to help out!
I played around with Black tone but couldn't see anything it was doing that i hadn't already done with contrast and backlight whilst White balance and Gamma were left as i don't know enough about those settings to start messing about with them but having only had the set a week and still not watched a great deal on it yet (radio has taken over at the mo) i thought i'd leave things where they are and maybe adjust as i go along. The big variable is the stations and individual programmes themselves as they all differ in presentation anyway. I did try setting up using the test patterns but struggled on this set for some reason - contrast seeming to need a higher setting than i've set on previous Samsungs. Maybe it's the so called LED technology - who knows? Somebody with better knowledge than me that's for sure. So my settings came from watching live Tv and doing it on the fly. Not scientific i know but it seemed to work - haha!
I keep promising myself to go and learn more about this stuff so maybe more time spent on AV Forums over the next few months might be of benefit.
If you head over there, and search for your model series, you'll find a whole thread dedicated to best settings along with the web site HD TV Test who ran a review and posted their calibrated settings.
I'd link you direct to them but links aren't allowed on here.