TV choice

I'm sure I tried that - will try again tonight and report back!

Check out the Acer 26 inch LCD on Dabs.com.

I just got one and for less than 600 is a very good buy.

Didn't get to check out the DVD last night - tonight hopefully!

Acer? blimey is it a Dissectum or a Pulmatum?!!!

I don't much care for lcd screens, just watch some animation and you'll see why they're no good. If you want the best possible picture quality it's got to be a crt. Unfortunately if sound is important, you don't want a great big box in between your speakers


regards,

Tam

I think it's beginning to look like I'll need a widescreen TV at some point and there are some very good deals on 'regular' TV's at present, however I really don't want a bloody great big TV between my hi fi speakers!

I don't have a big front room but do watch TV occasionally so I have to have one - I suppose I could wheel it out of the room every time I listened to music...

As I said before I'll try the DVD setting again, but if that doesn't work I'd better get my tape measure out...

I think I need a new TV!

I tried the 4:3 LB setting - no help.

In fact I tried all the settings - no help.

At one point (setting) the picture looked as if it was filling the screen then reverted back to the 'squashed' picture.

Most odd, but I get the feeling the TV is just not compatible with widescreen DVD's - IE nearly all of them...

When I say the picture is squashed - only half the usable screen is utilised - not good seeing as the TV is small 21 inch.....

The diff between a flatscreen and a crt between your speakers should not be underestimated.

I have a 32" Philips LCD - not cheap - but HD ready and plugged in via DVI into my Denon2910DVd player. I also have sky+ into it via rgb scart. I think the picture quality is better than the 32" Toshiba CRT it replaced.

Its still all down to budget I'm afraid...

andy c!

Have you thought about renting?

See http://www.boxclever.co.uk - they'll even rent you an LCD screen if you so desire, but have a good choice in CRT widescreen TVs for fair money. I'm not suggesting this is necessarily the most cost effective way forward, but it may help.

Regards

Jon

I know you don't want a large TV, but....

My darling wife came back from a little shopping spree, with a 48" monster to replace our 34" Sony that was on the blink and needed a new tube(!). She bought a CRT Rear projection Samsung, I went mad for 1/2 hour 'where are we gonna put that!'. It was 10" less deep, 6" shorter and only 2" wider than the TV it replaced due to the lack of speakers on the sides.

Hi-Fi sounded better than the old TV because of the lower stance, also less light reflection.
The picture is surprisingly good, better in fact than most plasmas and LCDs I've seen, as Tam suggests, there's not the digital artifacts with fast moving pictures.

Just a thought

Guy

http://www.pixmania.co.uk are doing a 26" toshiba lcd tv for about £550. looks like a reet bargin!

Rear projector TVs are hideous to look at and in even moderate light can't be seen.

I notice that every shop is selling off the same models dirt cheap, I presume they want shot as no one is interested.

I'd disagree with that.

There was a massive discussion on another forum about the set up and tweaking of the Toshiba range of RPTVs.

Once done properley, you could have a stonking 57" picture that'd put many other displays to shame.

Even on demo in the average shop the potential is there to be seen.

However, the drawback is you'd actually like to fit in your living room too.

Just went through this process myself, and have settled for a 32" Loewe crt tv (delivered yesterday!), plus a projector to come - most likely a Dream Vision Dreamy. I thought the plasma was still too small for serious movies, and the kids definitely agree. Another thing was the reliability of plasma long term, and the fact that the plasma cannot be repaired should it fail...

Fisbey,

Please note that there are several aspect ratios that can be on a disc. the main three would be 4:3 (normal), 16:9 (widescreen) and 2.35:1 (letterbox). The first is the same aspect as traditional TVs. The 2nd is the aspect of all widescreen displays such as plasmas. The 3rd is (AFAIK) the aspect ratio of a 70mm film that you would expect to see at the cinema. This means that a 16:9 picture will fit into a 4:3 screen by leaving black horizontal bands above and below it. A 2.35:1 picture leaves even bigger bands. It also means that even on a widescreen TV, a 2.35:1 will still leave small horizontal bands above and below the picture. Of course you can do naughty things to fill the screen such as stretch, but this doesn't maintain the correct relationship between horizontal and vertical making people look fat (4:3 to 16:9 stretch) or thin(2.35:1 to 16:9 stretch).

Hardly hideous! Samsung SP50L7H. Suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And its fine facing my window.

Guy

quote:

Originally posted by FISBEY:
having just got my first DVD player (a cheap Bush thingy) I'm finding that with many DVD's the picture is 'squashed' - I know it's because the DVD's are widescreen format and my old Toshiba TV doesn't really support this.

The TV I use for DVDs is a cheap 14" one without widescreen mode but I have no problems with widescreen DVDs. Is the problem definitely to do with your TV?

Also, some DVDs are deliberately squashed at the left and right edges into a narrower format [for reasons that escape me]. Could this be the problem?

Do bear in mind that once you get a reasonable TV you'll start to see the limits of your cheap-o DVD - start saving for that DVD-5.

Yes folks, it's a source-first thing again.

Fisbey,

When I had a TV between my ELA's, I just pulled the ELA's away from the wall so the drivers stuck out a few inches from the TV. Sounded just as good. It is nice to have such position friendly speakers.

Gus