LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[EvilBoris]

Yeah the Panasonic that you said there is one of their budget sets. the Panasonic that is of the same spec as the toshiba is still over a grand.

[Charlie]

Just ordered a brand new 32WLT68 on eBay for £630 inc delivery, a steal!

Cheers to everyone who recommended it over the TV I was originally interested in, the Sony KDL32V2000, you probably saved me around £300 which I'll now put towards a Sky HD box.

My new TV, which should have arrived last week, is now officially lost. Apparently the courier company have no record of collecting the TV from the company I bought it from. To add insult to injury my trusty Toshiba widescreen picture frame TV, which I sold on eBay, is being collected later today meaning I'll have to watch TV/play games on a 20 yr old portable through composite. Man...

[Charlie]

Now my TV is lost and the company I bought it from isn't getting any more stock for a couple of weeks I'm thinking of getting a refund and taking my business elsewhere. Been looking around and have found the Philips 32PF9631D at a good price. It's a beautiful looking screen -



but I haven't been able to find much info on it over at AV Forums. The next model up, the 32PF9731D, is widely regarded as the best LCD on the market at the moment which bodes well. Has anybody here had any experience with the 32PF9631D, how does it compare with the Toshiba WLT68?

[andrewfee]

but I haven't been able to find much info on it over at AV Forums. The next model up, the 32PF9731D, is widely regarded as the best LCD on the market at the moment which bodes well. Has anybody here had any experience with the 32PF9631D, how does it compare with the Toshiba WLT68?

I disagree completely. Philips televisions have horrific image processing that creates an extremely unnatural image. Their procesing basically blurs out MPEG Artefacts / Film grain, removing a lot of the detail from the image. It then over-sharpens it, giving things very crisp edges. (and plenty of ringing) The motion processing makes everything look like it was shot on a DV cam, and often creates artefacts of its own. Ambilight is a total gimmick, and caused an effect that I would liken to DLP's "rainbows." Their panels are generally poor, with the set I had using a Sharp panel.

People that rate Philips sets highly either don't know anything about what makes a good picture, or are justifying getting completely ripped off. I can't speak for the latest models, but the last ones I saw didn't even have a backlight control.

The build quality is absolutely superb though, I can't fault them on that, and the design of the 37PF9830 I had was very nice. (if a bit big) Their software is terrible though, with the sets having frequent firmware updates. The 37PF9830 was at 15 updates the last time I checked, and still hadn't fixed all the problems it had.

I wouldn't waste your money.

[JP]

Just ordered myself one of these beauties today:

Well...the next model up, the Sony BRAVIA KDL-32V2500. It looks the same and has an extra HDMI slot.

I've spent a LOT of time comparing the quality in AV shops and getting other peoples views on them (Thanks Lyris).

Read his review here for info: Sony BRAVIA KDL-32V2000 32" LCD HDTV

Can't wait for it to arrive now!!!!

[Lyris]

I disagree completely. Philips televisions have horrific image processing that creates an extremely unnatural image. Their procesing basically blurs out MPEG Artefacts / Film grain, removing a lot of the detail from the image. It then over-sharpens it, giving things very crisp edges. (and plenty of ringing) The motion processing makes everything look like it was shot on a DV cam, and often creates artefacts of its own. Ambilight is a total gimmick, and caused an effect that I would liken to DLP's "rainbows." Their panels are generally poor, with the set I had using a Sharp panel.

People that rate Philips sets highly either don't know anything about what makes a good picture, or are justifying getting completely ripped off. I can't speak for the latest models, but the last ones I saw didn't even have a backlight control.

The build quality is absolutely superb though, I can't fault them on that, and the design of the 37PF9830 I had was very nice. (if a bit big) Their software is terrible though, with the sets having frequent firmware updates. The 37PF9830 was at 15 updates the last time I checked, and still hadn't fixed all the problems it had.

I wouldn't waste your money.

I have never owned a (modern) Philips LCD TV but judging from other comments I've read on forums I would honestly have to say that this is right on the money.

[Charlie]

I disagree completely. Philips televisions have horrific image processing that creates an extremely unnatural image. Their procesing basically blurs out MPEG Artefacts / Film grain, removing a lot of the detail from the image. It then over-sharpens it, giving things very crisp edges. (and plenty of ringing) The motion processing makes everything look like it was shot on a DV cam, and often creates artefacts of its own. Ambilight is a total gimmick, and caused an effect that I would liken to DLP's "rainbows." Their panels are generally poor, with the set I had using a Sharp panel.

People that rate Philips sets highly either don't know anything about what makes a good picture, or are justifying getting completely ripped off. I can't speak for the latest models, but the last ones I saw didn't even have a backlight control.

The build quality is absolutely superb though, I can't fault them on that, and the design of the 37PF9830 I had was very nice. (if a bit big) Their software is terrible though, with the sets having frequent firmware updates. The 37PF9830 was at 15 updates the last time I checked, and still hadn't fixed all the problems it had.

I wouldn't waste your money.

I've not had any experience with either the 32PF9631D or the new 32PF9731D but the press are going nuts over the latter, claiming it's the first LCD to genuinely rival plasmas, and folk over at AV Forums seem equally impressed with it. At ?1800 though it should be bloody good.

Anyway, your opinion has put me off the earlier model, the 32PF9631D, so I'm back to square one. Maybe I'll wait for a new 32WLT68 and accept the ?50 refund I've been offered for my troubles. It just means 2 weeks on a portable through composite.

[andrewfee]

I've not had any experience with either the 32PF9631D or the new 32PF9731D but the press are going nuts over the latter, claiming it's the first LCD to genuinely rival plasmas, and folk over at AV Forums seem equally impressed with it. At ?1800 though it should be bloody good.

Anyway, your opinion has put me off the earlier model, the 32PF9631D, so I'm back to square one. Maybe I'll wait for a new 32WLT68 and accept the ?50 refund I've been offered for my troubles. It just means 2 weeks on a portable through composite.

The same thing was said about the 37PF9830 (iirc) the Sony 40W, and numerous other displays. AV Magazines are pretty much clueless.

[JP]

The same thing was said about the 37PF9830 (iirc) the Sony 40W, and numerous other displays. AV Magazines are pretty much clueless.

Does that also including the magazines which list the Toshiba 37WLT68 LCD HDTV as a 780p set? Which, for some reason you are selling as a 1080p set???

[andrewfee]

Does that also including the magazines which list the Toshiba 37WLT68 LCD HDTV as a 780p set? Which, for some reason you are selling as a 1080p set???

Both my PS3 and Xbox 360 are hooked up and running at 1080p as it accepts a 1080p signal over both Component and HDMI. What's your point?

[JP]

Both my PS3 and Xbox 360 are hooked up and running at 1080p as it accepts a 1080p signal over both Component and HDMI. What's your point?

Not my point!
It's just that Toshiba are selling it as a 720p set and that's how it's listed in the shops I've seen it in also: Toshiba Site - 37" Freeview Digital LCD TV 37WLT68
I've not tested one myself so I wouldn't be able to comment....as I said, it's not really MY point!

[andrewfee]

I didn't say it was a 1080p TV either, I just said it supports 1080p over Component and HDMI, which it does. If it didn't, I would have to be using 1080i from my PS3 for BluRay films, which would mean a noticeable drop in resolution and increase in artefacting.

The only thing that really matters about 1080p, is supporting it. Supporting it natively is not a huge difference, especially at the distances the majority of people sit.

[JP]

Well that clears that up then.
Thanks for your help!

[Hartley Hare]

Just ordered myself one of these beauties today:

Well...the next model up, the Sony BRAVIA KDL-32V2500. It looks the same and has an extra HDMI slot.

I've spent a LOT of time comparing the quality in AV shops and getting other peoples views on them (Thanks Lyris).

Read his review here for info: Sony BRAVIA KDL-32V2000 32" LCD HDTV

Can't wait for it to arrive now!!!!

Nice choice :0


Going to order the kdl40w2000 this week for full 1080p goodness, thanks again to Lyris for all your help and time, fingers crossed for no ghosting

[John Beaulieu]

Aldi are currently selling a 47" 1080p LCD for just under ?1100 ...dual HDMI, LG screen, 1600:1 contrast etc etc ....

I would have been interested if I hadn't decided on a Sony 55" SXRD