Been a while since I’ve had a new one and looking at getting one in the January sales.

But there seems to be so much to chose from. Looking at either 32″ or 37″ and Freeview HD built in.

What are these LED TVs? Any good?

Depends on your budget. LCD are good, Plasma better LED best of all.

Asda (of all places) are going full HD (1080p) 32″ LG LCD sets for £299. Which is a steal.

Otherwise Richer Sounds is worth a gander. Lots to choose and nearly always the cheapest around.

Or Costco if you are a member. LED’s really, really cheap there.

John Lewis. Never knowingly undersold.

Not really sure. Got two plasmas which I prefer to LCD (less jerky due to faster refresh rates), but mum bought a Samsung LED a couple of months ago and while expensive seems really good – even has a web browser built in (shame she doesn’t have broadband!)
LED is less harmfull to the environment I think.

LED (32″) came from Costco and was about £750-800.

Was just gonna say Samsung for defo, but then had a look on the Asda site at the 1080 LG that they’re doing for under £300…

Honestly, it’s a steal! Got a 1080 23″ Samsung which occasionally I wish was bigger (even though normally it’s being used as a computer monitor rather than a TV), for £300 that LG at Asda looks like a bargain!

John Lewis throws in 5 year warranty on tv’s

Go one bigger than you think you should. Moving from a 32″ CRT, we were looking at 37″ LCD TV until a bargain 40″ turned up.
the 40″ is far less obtrusive than the old 32″ CRT was.
LED = not always best, a good backlit CFT one is just as good, and usually far far cheaper.

I sure that’s cleared that up for you then 😕

upto 32″ LCD 37″ and above Plasma better. Not tried LED though. If you’re on 32″ or less you won’t notice much difference between 1080i and 1080p though. Stay away from the ones with built in hard drives cos they get too hot (IMO) the last one we had died because the HD overheated.

LCD TV’s are backlit be either a cold cathode tube (bit like a fluorecent lighting tube) , or LED. Two types of LED – perimeter lit or backpanel array. The latter is superior because of the uniformity of illumination and can be dynamically dimmed to reflect dark and light parts of the immage – better contrast.

Then there’s plasma gas lit TVs. Traditionally more energy inefficient, but this is no longer the case.

One other technology is AMOLED – very expensive and not widely available. These all tend to be quite small at present due to the economies of production etc. They are low energy and very vibrant in colour with excellent contrast.

All flat panel TV’s suffer from motion artifacts when receiving lower resolution images – such as a typical standard definition Freeview or Freesat/Sky picture. The motion part of the image gets jumbled/fuzzy until the material becomes more static – not a good thing if you watch sport.

The processing in TV’s has got much faster in recent years which mitigates this problem, but doesn’t erradicate it.

In the real world, most of your time will be spent watching broadcast material.

Higher definition material is beginning to be broadcast, but it will be many years before all mainstream content is near HD. The resolution is 1080i – half that of a Blue Ray player’s capability.

Blue Ray players produce excellent sharp images at a higher resolution than any broadcast. It is unlikely that broascast signals will ever reach this level, but this is true HD. Blue Ray results on any kind of TV are impressive, with no discernible difference in quality between types of set of equal resolution capability (at normal viewing distances).

3D is a gimmick in my opinion, but go see them in action and form your own opinion. Ask whether you would you all bother to sit there with numpty 3D glasses on? In practice, there would be so little 3D content, that you would never use this function, so my advice is don’t waste your money on 3D.

There is a newer version of HD TV which is several years away which has 4 times the clarity of current 1080p recordings. Personally, I can’t see the point unless we are all going to have 100″ flat panel TV’s. Blue Ray has plenty enough clarity for TV’s up to 50-60″.

Plasma TV’s will give a better picture than LCD’s pound for pound on standard definition day to day material. You could get a super high frequency LCD to mitigate this, but a plasma will do the job for less money. Do not confuse/compare the frequency rates for plasma with LCD – these are specifications that are quite different between the two technologies.

John Lewis’s “never knowingly undersold” is nonsense. You really only paying a premium for the 5 year warranty and for JL to display sets in their stores.

Search online for best deals and no retailer with a high street presence can compete on price. If you are bothered about warranty (i’m not), get a competitve quote at the point of sale.

Hope this helps clear up some of the confusion!

Good luck.

I recently got a 37 inch 1080p LG from Richer Sounds and its been very good

I would say budget for a blu ray player (or a PS3, as I got) – HD TV through virgin/ sky is good, but I’m really loving the Blu Ray

Spongebob – Member
All flat panel TV’s suffer from motion artifacts when receiving lower resolution images – such as a typical standard definition Freeview or Freesat/Sky picture. The motion part of the image gets jumbled/fuzzy until the material becomes more static – not a good thing if you watch sport.

The processing in TV’s has got much faster in recent years which mitigates this problem, but doesn’t erradicate it.

What do you mean by this Spongebob?

Do you mean ghosting (where e.g. a football leaves a trail across the pitch)?

From your description it sounds like compression artefacts to me

42″ Pioneer Kuro 8th generation. Sadly now discontinued, the best plasma screen ever made. I spent a year looking for mine. I’d avoid Freeview HD and go for Freesat with a Humax PVR (£300), higher bandwidth means more HD channels can be carried in the future, we already watch BBC1 and ITV1 in full HD plus BBC HD and ITV HD.

As others have said, go to John Lewis, good service, knowledgeable people and reasonable prices. Plus a five year warranty. AVForums is also worth a read.

What are you viewing at the moment? If it’s Sky HD then my point on Freeview is moot.

I’d avoid Freeview HD and go for Freesat with a Humax PVR (£300), higher bandwidth means more HD channels can be carried in the future, we already watch BBC1 and ITV1 in full HD plus BBC HD and ITV HD.

The frame rate on terrestrial Freeview is actually higher than on Freesat.

With all digital TV, the compression rates are dynamic, so picture quality can and does vary according to what the broadcaster wishes to transmit.

Do you mean ghosting (where e.g. a football leaves a trail across the pitch)?

From your description it sounds like compression artefacts to me

No, not compression arefacts, this is about the way the digital processor in the TV handles the material it’s receiving. As I said earlier, higher frequency processor sets can mitigate this issue. I saw this problem displayed in an early Loewe CRT TV, when entry level plasma technology was IRO £6000. So it’s not really too much to do with flat panels, or their resolution capability.

Digital Motion Artefacts

Kuros were indeed impressive TV’s, but Pioneer could not compete with these very expensive units and ceased production. Pioneer were always at the top of the game with their lazer disc players and retained this well deserved reputation when producing DVD players etc. Up and coming companies in the TV market, like Samsung and LG have been producing excellent value TV’s, significantly undercutting the traditional market leaders: Sony/Panasonic. I think TV’s are much of a muchness now, so i’d probably go for an energy efficient mid range priced plasma from LG. It’s about personal preference in the end, but I believe the plasma screen delivers a marginally better image pound for pound, but one day this will undoubdtedly change as LCD continues to improve.

Sony, Samsung and Panasonic or 3 brands to look at all do excellent HD tvs.

Costco is worth looking at as do the newer models often at a good price and you get a 5 year warranty with them.

Richer sounds do cracking bargains on slightly older models.

John Lewis are average and have to ask them to price match which they don’t always do but people are convinced they’re cheaper.

I’m no tv expert but my parents just got a 40something inch sony bravia – the picture is epic, really natural colours and a much better viewing angle than I remember from older flat screens. I want one.

IMHO All the major brands (including pioneer) have strengths and weaknesses, it’s really what attributes are important to you, so either spend 6months on AVForums researching, or buy from Costco and if something bothers you about the set, take it back.

It depends what you ride. SS and / or rigid, black and white only for you and shun this modernity!

I’d avoid Freeview HD and go for Freesat with a Humax PVR (£300), higher bandwidth means more HD channels can be carried in the future, we already watch BBC1 and ITV1 in full HD plus BBC HD and ITV HD.

The frame rate on terrestrial Freeview is actually higher than on Freesat.

With all digital TV, the compression rates are dynamic, so picture quality can and does vary according to what the broadcaster wishes to transmit.

Both right but… I’m on Freesat and we still don’t have C4 in HD as they are locked into an agreement with Sky. Whilst in theory there is much more capacity on satellite there is limited space with coverage restricted sufficiently to the UK for rights holders to allow unencrypted transmission. Right now, for maximum free to air HD, you’re actually better off with Freeview.

No, not compression arefacts, this is about the way the digital processor in the TV handles the material it’s receiving. As I said earlier, higher frequency processor sets can mitigate this issue….. So it’s not really too much to do with flat panels, or their resolution capability.

Certainly when i bought my set Plasmas were much better at covering up the artefacts on SD broadcasts. That may have changed now.

If you were in a Scottish prison you could get one for a pound a week:
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/National/article/7156/scottish-prison-inmates-watch-tv-for-1-per-week.html

Richer Sounds, excellent service and five year cover for £30.
Look at the Sony EX403 range.

Loving my 37″ Plasma here. Panasonic. £370 from Currys about 4 months ago with a voucher found on tinterweb. Should have been £400 which in itself isn’t bad anyway.

Prefer plasma picture to LCD but screens are shiny (glass) and so if its infront of a window it could be distracting.

Well at work we use plasma and LCD. So what gives the best picture? Simple, the 15 year old Sony 27″ CRT cube monitors. Not much call for 4×3 these days though and they weigh about the same as a small car.

I went LCD because I didn’t want reflective glass. Best image I’ve seen for a while though was a 37″ Sony Plasma, looked a lot like a CRT monitor with realistic skin tones. I’m not sure who actually make them for Sony though as they don’t produce plasma screens themselves.

If you go with LED you may need to but a speaker system immediately as the very thin units have no room for speakers that don’t sound pretty poor.

WRT manufacturers, when I bought one last year I had it down to a shoot-out between Samsung, Panasonic and Toshiba. The Sammy I wanted was simply too expensive, and of the other two the Tosh absolutely battered the Pana on a like-for-like comparison.

I ended up with the Toshiba and a year on I don’t regret it, I’ve not seen anything else that beats it. Quality piece of kit.

Certainly when i bought my set Plasmas were much better at covering up the artefacts on SD broadcasts. That may have changed now.

This has always been my experience too.

If you want to watch HD and actually see the detail, get a 37″.

i’ve got a 32″ and when sat on the sofa a few feet away, the difference between HD and SD isn’t that great.

LG already have a 5 year warranty.

Richer Sounds rang me after I bought mine with their warranty to refund my money. Bless ’em.

So, tell me about televisions

Hmmm! They’re much like women, cost a fortune for what they are and generally spout sh1te….
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😆 I don’t really mean that, I love my TV.

I have a 40″ Samsung LCD and it blows away anything else my mates use, including Sony’s and Panasonics (mebbe because I spent some time buying the right kit and setting it up properly).

50″ and above Plasma is supposed to be better than LCD, but on the smaller screens LCD technology caught up a year or two ago.

Bear in mind that a plasma will suffer screen burn, so don’t leave a static image on there for longer than 15mins or so.

Hope you lot are right about that LG telly, just bought the 32″ one from Amazon for £296.95 delivered.

Seemed to get good reviews and also took the advivs about going up a size, currently got a 26″ wide screen Phillips CRT

p.s. anyone want it, free to collector?

Spongebob – excellent responses. Thanks. 8)

Bear in mind that a plasma will suffer screen burn, so don’t leave a static image on there for longer than 15mins or so.

This really isn’t the case for modern plasma panels.

There are 2 possible issues:

1. Long term ‘burn’ due to parts of the screen degrading with age faster than others because of some areas receiving more use that others. This really isn’t a problem unless you frequently watch un-stretched 3:2 aspect content on a 16:19 screen, or constantly and exclusively watch one channel that has logos/banners.

2. Short term ‘burn’ due to charge build up on the plasma pixels units. This can happen pretty quickly (after only a minute or two of static image), but gets ‘washed’ away very quickly once something else is presented on that part of the screen. On modern plasmas it is never permanent.

For example, on my plasma, if I’m watching a news channel say, with fixed clock/banner for a while, and then I switch to a blank screen, or I switch the tv off and then back on again, I can easily see temporary ‘burn’ where stuff has been on static on the screen. However, just a few seconds of showing something else and switching back to a blank screen shows all the ‘burn’ is gone.

i recently bought a new one,
had a budget of £500 ish, spent ages looking at so many different models on the net,
in the end i walked into currys, and bought the one that had the nicest picture within my budget.
its a 32″ lg, ive got it hooked up to a sky+ hd box,
and its fine, cant fault it.
it was £330.
my point is, more money doesnt automatically mean a better picture.
hope this helps.

Plasma use more power, do they not? And have a fan which may be distracting depending on you or the telly.. is that right?

my point is, more money doesnt automatically mean a better picture.

No but it may well mean better sound, more features, longer life, better backup, etc.
For instance, I bought a Samsung panel about 4 years ago and it’s still receiving software upgrades over the air which I think is pretty cool. Not sure a cheap manufacturer would affer as much backup.

Plasma use more power, do they not? And have a fan which may be distracting depending on you or the telly.. is that right?

Maybe a bit more but some of this is output as heat 🙂 No fan on my 42″ Samsung. I’ve also got an oldish 42″ Relisys plasma panel that I bought off a mate (£100) – no fan on that either.

Setup is very important, the lighting and setup of TV’s in most mainstream retailers means it’s almost impossible to do a valid comparison.

lodius make a good point.
£100 spent on a professional calibration is worth way more than £100 extra spent on the tv (at least if you are buying more than just a budget set), if you are in any way serious about getting a decent accurate picture.

The only thing I know to be true about televisions is that no matter how good the picture gets the programmes are almost all shite.

Choose one that is resistant to having things thrown at it.

The only thing I know to be true about televisions is that no matter how good the picture gets the programmes are almost all shite.

😆 So true! If only those reviewing these products would occasionally throw in this little pearl of wisdom!

martymac – Member
i recently bought a new one,
had a budget of £500 ish, spent ages looking at so many different models on the net,
in the end i walked into currys, and bought the one that had the nicest picture within my budget.
its a 32″ lg, ive got it hooked up to a sky+ hd box,
and its fine, cant fault it.
it was £330.
my point is, more money doesnt automatically mean a better picture.
hope this helps

If you are happy with your picture, then there is no need to fault your judgement. However, this is most definitely not the way to buy a TV.

Curry’s will have feeds fired all round the shop, at different levels of degradation/loss, so already we have a reason not to compare. Add to this that brightness and colour are whacked up to un-natural levels to make the screens look ‘pretty’ you are now getting a totally whacked view of how your potential TV should look.

You’d be amazed how much your brightness and colour settings (although it’s not as simple as just ‘colour’) are turned down to achieve what is actually perceived to be a natural representation when you set up your screen correctly.