LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[marcodolo]

After more research, I'm going for a 26" screen due to the distance I'll view from. This leads me with the following options with a budget of 500-600:

Philips 26PF5520D or a Samsung LE 32R73BD
Now both offer what I want thats 26", freeview and decent connections.

3 questions really.

1. Is there a difference betwwen the Philips 26PF5520D and the 26PF5521D or is it the same TV.

2. Which offers the best digital picture through the RGB scart as I'll be mainly watching freeview.

3. Which is the better for gaming.

[sj33]

As far as 26" screens go at that budget, I still reckon the LG 26LX2R is the way to go. No built-in Freeview. but excellent RGB Scart support (a rarity on budget LCD's) making it a good one for older consoles (Saturn looks the biz on it), as well as a a decent amount of connections... Component, DVI-I VGA Compatible), HDMI...

[mt50]

been thinking about getting the Panasonic plasma Andrew has jut got, as i don't really see the point in HiDef yet(only got a 360) and won't be getting a ps3/sky hidef/HDDVD etc so SD is fine by me.

however i'd be about 8foot away from the screen is that too close to sit for a 37inch tv?

thanks

[sputnick]

As far as 26" screens go at that budget, I still reckon the LG 26LX2R is the way to go. No built-in Freeview. but excellent RGB Scart support (a rarity on budget LCD's) making it a good one for older consoles (Saturn looks the biz on it), as well as a a decent amount of connections... Component, DVI-I VGA Compatible), HDMI...

but poor black levels..........sony 26S2010u has decent sd support and can be had for ?700. cracking set and sd dv's look top notch too.

will deffo post some pics when i can get my digi cam from my parents house.

at sub ?600 i'd personally go with an sd optimised sharp lcd, or if hd is a must then the sammy.

[smokedog]

but poor black levels..........sony 26S2010u has decent sd support and can be had for ?700. cracking set and sd dv's look top notch too.

The Sony 26S2010u can be had for ?621.30 + P&P at Dixons by using this discount code "775039WP".

The new Bravia screens are current rated at the best screens.


There is rumours that there will be a ?100 price drop next week on Sony HD LCDs.

[andrewfee]

been thinking about getting the Panasonic plasma Andrew has jut got, as i don't really see the point in HiDef yet(only got a 360) and won't be getting a ps3/sky hidef/HDDVD etc so SD is fine by me.

however i'd be about 8foot away from the screen is that too close to sit for a 37inch tv?

thanks

I was 5ft away and it looked about as close to perfect as I've seen - there's nothing to worry about. It's only on an HDTV where you have to worry about getting too close, because you then start to see just how awful the upscaling process is.

99% of the time it looks perfect, but occasionally with interlaced content (never happens with progressive) for some reason some sort of noise reduction will kick in and smear the image for a second.


I doubt it would bother most people, but considering how close I had to sit and how anal I am, it went back for this. For most people, I don't think it would be an issue, especially considering how rarely it happens, but I figured I should warn you anyway.



I did get something good out of the experience though - I'm not going to be buying an HDTV for at least 5 years, unless I end up with an external scaler/processor first. The quality loss just isn't worth it to get the 360/PS3 looking at their best.

I've now been looking at the Sharp P70 (and been considering a 21" 4:3 CRT, purely on the basis that they generally just "work") but apparently they have a problem with juddering on interlaced content right now. (dropping a few frames every so often - more frequent the more is happening on-screen)

So until they sort that out, there's no way I'll be buying one.

I think I must be going crazy now, as I'm even considering buying a CRT again, but I'm just not happy with how Freeview looks on my current LCD, and the only other option is an external scaler/processor - while I'm sure these will do wonders for the image with the additional calibration options they provide, I'd have a very hard time justifying £3k or more on one.

[sj33]

Ultimately, as andrewfree says, if you don't expect to be using HD too much (which presumably means you'll be using SD primarily), and perhaps a LCD HDTV is not the way to go yet, especially with prices ever falling over time, and scalers making more progress.

I'm in the opposite boat though, I mainly use my screen for PC, and I have a large-ish amount of HD content on my PC (an increasing amount of anime fansubs are 720p now). Use my 360 more than any other console. I watch SD DVD's, but my Oppo gives satisfactory results. I do play PS2 sometimes, but little enough so I can live with it. So a HD screen is the way to go for me.

But I am the exception not the rule... most people won't use HD anything bar the 360 yet, in which case you should consider what kind of timescale you expect to be sticking to SD for, and whether a cheaper PC screen will be enough for the 360 in the meantime.

[mt50]

thats the thing shakey, i'm not sure how long i will not have HiDef stuff for.

got a 360 that i play maybe once a week if that, but i really like the idea of sky hidef but the ?300 for the box is putting me off, now when the price drops i might get one but would it look better than normal TV on a non hidef plasma/LCD? if it did i would still get it. i would look at getting a oppo dvd player for DVD's as i don't watch many dvd's.

basically i guess i'm looking at something thats great for SD stuff and will let HiDef stuff look a little better than SD stuff if you see what i mean.

just need to upgrade this 21inch TV so a plasma/LCD would be good. not sure how much i can afford yet and it will be 2/3months anyway yet.

26inch will be too small so 32 maybe 37inch is perfect i guess.


thanks

[sj33]

Well, I play my PS2 (480i) on my screen (the aforementioned LG) through RGB Scart on my screen and it looks good enough to make me not bother with a CRT. Likewise the Saturn looks fine on my screen.
But it totally depends on the screen, as you know, different screens have different scalers. Most people here report the Samsung low-end screens to be really bad at RGB Scart.

If your in my position, moving over to HD rapidly, still use some SD stuff but prioritise HD, then HD screen is not a bad idea at all.
It's just that there are people here who won't be using HD for the next few years and are just 'future-proofing'... not a good idea.

[marcodolo]

Well I've come back from a few shops and it seems the more people you talk to the harder the decision. I have to admit the Samsung le32r73bd is simply gorgeous but I put myself of it due to viewing distance. In both John Lewis and Richer Sounds they said it wouldn't be a problem from 7', while the guy in currys said I was on the line between the 26" and the 32". When I got home I measured out the distance and its actually 8' so I think that could be an option now, what do you guys think.

Also the guy in Richer sounds said they aren't keen and don't recommend built in freeview sets as they are constantly upgrading while the guy in Currys said that in 2012 freeview will go HD and not before and that everyone will have to buy a HD box set wheter they have it built in or not. Again I favour the Samsung over the LG 32LX2R as my Freeviews 1st gen and needs upgrading anyway so I might as well get one built in.

As for screen clarity, in Curries the LG was running on LGs own HD demo while the Samsung was running off analogue so obviously the LG was more impressive. He explained though if I was watching via freeview the images wouls be much sharper and closer to the LG images. The 26" Samung was smoother though than the 32" mainly on the blacks.

Interstingly he complained that they wanted to show a whole wall of HD running TVs but as the LG was running off a HD demo provided by LG and that it sold the most. Both Samsung and Sony refused to supply there own HD demos and obviously wouldn't let Curries let them use the LG demo on them cos of the LG logo on the demo.

Also the guy in Curries said that the Samsung screens are superior to the LG ones as they use the same ones as Sony as they are built in the same factory.

Comments welcome on all the above!!!

[sj33]

The LG 26LX2R uses a Phillips screen, 8ms. All I know.

I sit less than 2 feet from the screen mate, use it as a glorified PC monitor mainly...

[EvilBoris]

If there is anybody who has the 26inch samsung, could you PM me as I need to get some default settings from the service menu.

[Jebus]

I'm after something similar, got the 32" samsung and I'm after the best settings for it...to get the most out of it so to speak...I recall seeing a guide for precicely that that had diagrams etc and everything posted in this very forum but I can't find it and a search didn't help either because I can't remember the title of the thread.

It had pictures of black and white squares etc.

[RLench]

It's a real shame - it's been known about for long enough to have been avoided.

This is probably going to sound a bit weird, but I don't suppose anyone knows if such a TV exists: Flat 21" (or thereabouts) 50Hz 4:3 CRT that doesn't do any processing to an RGB signal (preferably doesn't even have a sharpness control) but does have temperature adjustments in a service menu? (or does having temp. adjustments mean it's doing processing?)

Just the one RGB input is fine, and component even with just 480p support would be nice, but I doubt you'd get anything like that on one.


EDIT: Of course after having just said that, it looks like Panasonic's 21" CRT meets those requirements. I don't think there's a component input, but it's got RGB and does have all the adjustments necessary in the service menu. I'm guessing it probably isn't the "clean" RGB you get on old CRTs, but there probably isn't anything that lets you change temperature that is these days. (and I don't plan on making the adjustments with the back of the TV off)

Andrew, I've just seen this TV that you might be interested in. It's a 21" CRT from Samsung and - according to Comet - it has component inputs. I'm going to work soon so I can't check it, and I wanted to let you know now otherwise I'd forget when I get home

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/167_334073.html

I know it's Comet and therefore probably wrong information but I thought it was worth mentioning

[andrewfee]

Andrew, I've just seen this TV that you might be interested in. It's a 21" CRT from Samsung and - according to Comet - it has component inputs. I'm going to work soon so I can't check it, and I wanted to let you know now otherwise I'd forget when I get home

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/167_334073.html

I know it's Comet and therefore probably wrong information but I thought it was worth mentioning

Thanks - two problems though; it's a Samsung (never buying from them again) and I tried out a similar CRT (only RGB input) a couple of nights ago - I forgot we had one up in the loft. (it's not that old actually, but was replaced fairly quickly when I upgraded my TV and my parents got the old one)

There's no way I'll be going back to a CRT now - it's amazing the things you don't notice wrong with them until you've tried something else. I don't think there's even any point in me going into details though.

I'm now very tempted to pick up the Sharp P70, but I'm really put off by the reports of it dropping frames here and there for interlaced content.

So it looks like I'll be waiting until they sort that out, if they do, and will be sticking with my 17" LCD again. (I just wish I had gone for something like the Sharp 20" rather than an HD one now)



EDIT: Just checked the link, and it's a slim-fit. No chance in hell is it getting near my room. Thanks anyway.