Just looking at a new TV. I'm opting for a 37" either a Samsung or an LG. Probably. But... whats the difference between the "HD ready" or not?
Whats the difference then? Other than £100 on the price tag?
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HD TV's. Worth the extra? Whats the difference?
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Posted 6 months ago #
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can you get a non HD ready TV now?
It'll make no difference unless you have an HD source...
Posted 6 months ago # -
I didn't think you could buy non-HD tellies any more...
Posted 6 months ago # -
Is that the difference, some come with Freeview HD and some with ordinary freeview?!? Or is HD only on Freesat?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Just looking in Stuff magazine this morning (in the dentist).
It seems the way forward is TVs that playback HD 3D without the need for glasses - apparently Toshiba are making one.
'Just' HD Ready is old hat.
Posted 6 months ago # -
It'll make no difference unless you have an HD source...
What he said.HD-Ready is 1280x720
Full HD is 1920x1080Normal telly is 720x576
Most HD sources, i.e. Sky HD, V+HD are 1280x720
BluRay/PS3 is 1920x1080It does make a difference, but you kind of forget about it 2 minutes in.
Posted 6 months ago # -
It'll make no difference unless you have an HD source...
I'll emphasises on that, I take it you planning on either HD Freeview, Sat or Cable and maybe Blu-ray too. It you go Full HD then you're ready for that.
Posted 6 months ago # -
It seems the way forward is TVs that playback HD 3D without the need for glasses - apparently Toshiba are making one.
Bound to be the next stage.
Nintendo DS 3d works the same way as well doesent it?
Posted 6 months ago # -
'Just' HD Ready is old hat.
If you really care all that much about TV, 3D content doesn't seem to be taking the market by storm glasses or not.
AFAIK HD ready means it can actually do 1080i (i.e. best picture).EDIT: Had a brain fade, see above for HD ready/Full HD .. I bought Full HD as the difference wasn't great in price
Is it worth it? If you intend on buying one with an HD tuner, or downlaod HD films, or have a PS3 or other Blueray player then I'd say so. As even the standrd 5 channels are offering HD over freeview, I think buying one with a Freeview HD tuner built in is a decent investment. Seems to be cheaper to buy it in the TV than as an add on box as well as neater.
I bought an LED (not LCD) LG 37" with Freeview HD tuner from Amazon for £429 to replace my CRT - got a Amazon card for 9 months free credit and another tenner off. It's very nice, but I'm not an enthusiast, just like to watch the odd film, series and stream stuff from the Mac.
£20 cheaper on BHSDirect but I don't know what their terms are if any.
Posted 6 months ago # -
lord save my soul......
.........guess its something loud with exploding helicopters tonight then Binners?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Ah.... the difference is the HD or non HD Freeview. Think I'll pay the extra and get full HD from the start then. Thank you all
Posted 6 months ago # -
You know me well. Its Apocolypse Now tonight dear
Posted 6 months ago # -
As above it's only really worth if you going to be viewing HD content, if you're using a STB service make sure it's got an HDMI socket otherwise you'll just be viewing through Scart. HD will make things like EPG menus sharper and colours will be truer. Blu-ray and PS3 games look great. I have no interest in watching most TV in HD though.
Posted 6 months ago # -
On a related note, how does a full HD 1080p tv cope with a 720p input? Is it like when a computer monitor runs at something other than native resolution (i.e. a bit rubbish) or do they cope a lot better?
We're having Virgin tv fitted today and hence I'm thinking about getting a new tele but as Virgin is 720p (I think) and I have no plans to get a blue ray player or PS3 etc then is it better for me to just get a HD ready tv rather than full HD.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Nintendo DS 3d works the same way as well doesent it?
Yes but apparently this new telly has a built in scanner to identify where up to 9 people are sat so the 3D output is optimised for each viewer (the 3DS screen is inherently directional due to the technology). And it can also identify who sits down in front of the set and automatically log them on to their PS3/XBox (or whatever) accounts.Posted 6 months ago # -
I was looking at flat screen TVs recently (we've still got a flat CRT Sony widescreen thing) and while most of them have freeview built in (HD or otherwise), not many of them have recorders built in.
So it seems that you can get a TV with a built in freeview source, but if you want to record stuff then you have to get a set-top box anyway and use that to record?
Posted 6 months ago # -
OK HD ready gives a Hi def picture up to a max of 1280 x 720
Full HD gives better resolution to 1920 x 1080Sky and vigin broadcast HD content in both 1080i and 720P
The difference is negligible between the two resolutions but on blue ray which is 1080P the picture is better than 720P.
If you like good quality pictures then yes it's worth the extra fpr full HD especially on Blueray disc or 1080P content in the future.
Posted 6 months ago # -
On a related note, how does a full HD 1080p tv cope with a 720p input? Is it like when a computer monitor runs at something other than native resolution (i.e. a bit rubbish) or do they cope a lot better?
We're having Virgin tv fitted today and hence I'm thinking about getting a new tele but as Virgin is 720p (I think) and I have no plans to get a blue ray player or PS3 etc then is it better for me to just get a HD ready tv rather than full HD.
They upscale quite well, non-HD content comes out looking fine as does HD content.
It's not the TV upscaling though, the V+ box does it.If you compare the HD content to full HD from an appropriate source then it's not bad at all.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Yep - the Virgin V+ box does a very good job of 'upscaling' the picture so, at normal viewing distances, a non-HD picture looks pretty good.
If the underlying broadcast was filmed in HD it can look close to as good as the HD channel.
Most HD broadcasts are 720P or 1080i. Bluray is 1080P. PAL is 576i.
TV panels are 768 or 1080 vertical pixels.
The TV therefore has to 'upscale' the picture - whcih means processing artifacts.
IMO I therefore think it is better to get a 720P/1080i screen (non-Full HD) as there is less upscaling involved for most material, and the difference when watching a 1080P program on a 720P screen and a 1080P screen is quite small.
Go to a store and look at 720P and 1080P versions of the same set with the same source material for an example - the 720P screen picture will look better.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Cheers all, I'll go and check out some boxes
Posted 6 months ago # -
I bought an LED (not LCD)
no - you bought an LED backlit LCD TV.
Posted 6 months ago #
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