Smart TV. App and upscaling advice required
Posted by: fatcat on 06 October 2013
I'm considering buying a Sony kdl42w653, picture looks superb for the price.
With regards to the apps.
Presumably it will come loaded with a selection of apps, will it come with Youtube loaded or will I have to load it myself. Is it even possible to load apps or will I be stuck with apps supplied.
With regards to upscaling.
The TV is only equipped with two HDMI sockets, I'll be using these for the Virgin box and Xbox 360. The DVD will therefore be connected via composite, will the TV upscale a composite input.
Regards YouTube, if it isn't loaded on the set,but you have Viirgins Tivo box, you can access it via that.
All HD sets upscale. How well they do it is another matter, but if it didn't then standard definition broadcasts and your dvd picture at pixel for pixel would be a small image surrounded by black, taking up about a fifth of the available screen!
On the other hand, a tv with only 2 HDMI sockets is just unforgivable! 3 should be a minimum, and when I last upgraded my set a year ago, most had four.
Composite is the lowest quality feed a dvd player can offer up. Bloody awful. If you don't have a choice on the set, hopefully it will offer component (3 RCA, red, green, blue for picture, plus 2 RCA L & R for sound). If both the tv and the player support this connection, then you can still get a decent picture, or at least stand a reasonable chance of one, when watching your dvd movie collection .
Edit. Just checked that screen. It does support component. If your dvd player doesn't, get the component lead for the xbox and hook the dvd player up over the 2nd HDMI. Best of both worlds.... But still not impressed by the limited HDMI connectivity.... Mutter mutter. 
Mike.
Thanks for the advice. Must agree only providing 2 HDMI sockets is pretty poor, although it's 2 more than my current TV.
Reading reviews of the kdl42w653, it appears Sony have produced a TV with stripped down features compared to their high end models, not many sockets, no fancy remote with NFC
smart phone connectivity and isn't 3D. However, they are using the same video processing systems as the high end models, plus a better panel than that used in the more expensive W8 series.
Took a trip down to John Lewis, they have the rear of the panels accessible, you are correct it does have component sockets, as does my Yamaha DVD and Xbox. 3 high quality inputs should be enough for my needs, there even a scart for my video player.
Second accessing YouTube through the Virgin Tivo over the tv app. The YouTube app on the bedroom Samsung was poor picture quality wise, only seemed capable of playing low quality clips whereas the Tivo accesses the highest quality 1080 or 720p versions if available and the picture quality can be superb. Definitely the best way to access YouTube. Sign in to your Youtube subscriptions (if you have any) by following the simple on screen instructions and your away!
I probably watch more tv via Youtube than anything else.
Second accessing YouTube through the Virgin Tivo over the tv app. The YouTube app on the bedroom Samsung was poor picture quality wise, only seemed capable of playing low quality clips whereas the Tivo accesses the highest quality 1080 or 720p versions if available and the picture quality can be superb. Definitely the best way to access YouTube. Sign in to your Youtube subscriptions (if you have any) by following the simple on screen instructions and your away!
I probably watch more tv via Youtube than anything else.
Tivo! Never seen a less intuitive, uselless remote/software in my life. Virgin sucks big time!