Are big tellies worth buying?

[Dormouse]

I went and had a look at some big (>32") tellies yesterday and was impressed by the Panasonic plasma screens when playing HD demos. But I reckon they are only worth buying if you can get HD broadcasts or rent or buy blu ray discs. The pictures with SD broadcasts looked worse than I get on my current 32" CRT telly.

As I understand it, BBC and ITV currently only broadcast a few programmes on Freesat and they say they are planning to do the same on Freeview/digital terrestrial next year. If that is true, I can't see there is any need for me to splash out for a few years, until there is more HD programmes being broadcast.

Is there more HD programming from the BBC and ITV on Sky HD than on Freesat?

 

[dan_bo]

Don't buy plasma, buy LCD.

I agree. Any telly that needs cooling fans CANES TOO MUCH LECCY.

 

[Dormouse]

OK, I know that LCD TVs are more efficient, lighter and thinner and probably make more sense than plasmas but the blacks are not black enough, or so I have heard.

But what I really wanted to know was; have I got it right regarding availability of "free" HD programmes. And is there any more BBC and ITV HD programmes on Sky HD than on Freesat: I guess not.

 

[dan_bo]

yerp.

 

[MacB]

if you want to know more than you thought possible about this use the site in the link:-

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/

the most detailed reviews I've found on the web

 

[dodgy]

There are no fans inside my plasma display and mine's from 2005.

I still think plasma looks better, it's more cinematic - and no, I can't really put my finger on what I mean by that LCD is probably as good as it can be right now, the next big hope is still OLED I think? (anyone confirm that still the case?).

I would go for LCD if using it to view the output from a computer though.

 

[very-near]

If you spend another £50 on a 1080 upscaling DVD player (with a HDMI lead), you will see a huge amount of difference in the picture quality.

My 28" CRT went pop a couple of months ago and I replaced it with a 37" LG LCD (from Richer sounds) as the aspect ratio on a 32" widescreen would make me feel I was downgrading in size.

It is as big as I wanted for the room size and anything bigger would have looked out of place.

As said earlier it is all dependent on the size of the room, but it is surprising how quickly you get used to a larger screen TV.

 

[marinyork]

But what I really wanted to know was; have I got it right regarding availability of "free" HD programmes. And is there any more BBC and ITV HD programmes on Sky HD than on Freesat: I guess not.

It's a lot more complicated than that. It's all set to change in 2009/10. By summer 2010 there is a high probabability of four or five high definition channels on freesat as opposed to the 9hrs BBC HD at the moment and the variable red button service from ITV HD. The biggest if is when does C4HD's contract with BSkyB end. Nobody knows. Sky doesn't have any more BBC and ITV HD content than freesat, it technically has less and would certainly be less if iPlayer HD launches on freesat on 2009 as it rumoured. The real biggie is when will C4 and Film4/Five go HD on freesat.

 

[yello]

We've only just replaced our 14" CRT with a 22" LCD... I feel decidedly inadequate!

 

[very-near]

We've only just replaced our 14" CRT with a 22" LCD... I feel decidedly inadequate!

I pushed the boat out 11 years ago and got the 28" CRT for £400 (discounted but still a very good quality panasonic 4:3 CRT) . It was a brilliant telly TBH and my missus moaned about the size of it in the corner of the room for about a week - and then stopped - and then after comparing it to her dads 20" CRT decided it was the better option.

Her dad then got a 32" LCD widescreen (his missus had a moan about the size of that ) and then my missus decided that was better, but then had a bit of a moan about the size of our new 37" (another £400 minus 10 years inflation) - but has stopped now.

Years ago, it used to be the fireplace which was the centre of the living room, but it is the Telly now. I can't really understand why women get so hung up about TV size in the living room when they are usually the ones who spend the most time in front of it watching the soaps or who wants to be a millionaire etc etc

 

[marinyork]

A 32" is a monster indeed. Depends what you're going to watch on it really, if you're just going to watch DVDs through SCART and SD it's a very nice space saving of course but not picture improvement. If you're going to watch blu-rays on it or get Sky HD full works you'll have plenty to watch on it. If you're going to wait for freeview HD in your region or bloody virgin media's 6 channels this summer then you're more likely to be very disappointed as are you with the probable wait of a year for freesat to get the terrestrial channels in HD.

 

[swee'pea99]

Flat screen TVs (even large ones) take up far less space than CRTs with much smaller screens and dominate rooms much less than people with CRTs realise. Even a 32" CRT is a monster.

My 32" CRT Sony Trinitron *is* a monster! It's also a brilliant box with a superb picture and sound - way better than the in-laws' pricey new flat screen. I like my monster, and I'm going to keep him till he dies...

 

[marinyork]

Meaningless though. I've heard plenty of people moan about LCDs and be proud of their monster CRT. If someone spends what would be the equivalent today of £2000 on their CRT and then is wandering around buying old LCD stock for £300-400, I'd have to feel proud of the two grand tele even if it was an appalling picture.

 

[bikepete]

Also consider a projector. I have an approx 2m wide screen :-) in a small room, maybe 3m x 5m and it takes up zero floor space. Fantastic for movies. Not so good in daylight unless you have blackout blinds, but who wants to watch daytime TV anyway? Mine was £500ish secondhand a few years ago now plus £30 for a B&Q roller blind as a screen.

 

[very-near]

Meaningless though. I've heard plenty of people moan about LCDs and be proud of their monster CRT. If someone spends what would be the equivalent today of £2000 on their CRT and then is wandering around buying old LCD stock for £300-400, I'd have to feel proud of the two grand tele even if it was an appalling picture.

The pic on my 37" LG LCD in 1080i off the DVD is substantially better than my old panasonic CRT (which was IMO very good for the tube size)

SD is fairly mediocre though