31 replies to this topic

[davemate]

My old projector is probably going to be retired soon, it is an old infocus x1 and has served me well for over 6 years.... With my new accommodation having little space to mount a projector away, is it time to move to a flat screen tv? So.. any advice? stick to a projector because they are awesome, or move onto the latest generation of tvs? I really dont care about 3d whatsoever, but i am somewhat fussy about quality and connectivity to things such as ps3, xbox and hopefully to a NAS when i get the chance to set up a network. I have a very good surround sound setup so built in speakers i dont care about either. Is there new technology i should hold out for, and has anyone got any experience of the latest sony range or some of the new phillips ambiance tvs? or have projectors moved on a long way now and are comparable in quality? I would be willing to spend upto a grand-ish.

[slindborg]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012 Or Samsung d8000 series. Don't bother wit anything else.

[davemate]

Oh, and i dont watch broadcast television very often, it is more for games and films, so some of the smart tvs are things i will not use; plus i think that they will be out of date within a couple of years, so having a seprate media centre from a pc is more appealing.

[davemate]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

And why would you recommend those specifically?

-you probably have the same sort of requirements as me, quality wise so thanks for the reply

[slindborg]

My requirements are almost polar opposite to yours lol I want/need a tv that can do freeview hd+ and freesat hd+ along with smart functions are the iplayer etc isn't going away and I don't want to have anymore boxes under the tv than nessecary. I do want a good screen and a decent idevice / android remote for the tv too... Those above do all my needs and will suit yours fine too.

[WrightStuff]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

Easy to say if money is no object. D8000 is a very expensive set. I compared D8000 side by side with Sony HX803 for picture quality and didn't see much in it.
The D8000 has much better viewing angles, but I didn't think motion handling is quite as good, especially on SD. Sony was half the price!
One word of advice is do not ever visit avforums.com! They will scare you off buying -any- tv because every imperfection is scrutinised.

Edited by WrightStuff, 07 July 2012 - 04:43 PM.

[slindborg]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

Easy to say if money is no object. D8000 is a very expensive set. I compared D8000 side by side with Sony HX803 for picture quality and didn't see much in it.
The D8000 has much better viewing angles, but I didn't think motion handling is quite as good, especially on SD. Sony was half the price!
One word of advice is do not ever visit avforums.com! They will scare you off buying -any- tv because every imperfection is scrutinised.

That's why I've stayed off there lol
The d8k is mega cash, and personally I dislike the picture as its too good and I reckon with an sd source it will be nasty to look at. Plasma all the way for me.

[davemate]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

Easy to say if money is no object. D8000 is a very expensive set. I compared D8000 side by side with Sony HX803 for picture quality and didn't see much in it.
The D8000 has much better viewing angles, but I didn't think motion handling is quite as good, especially on SD. Sony was half the price!
One word of advice is do not ever visit avforums.com! They will scare you off buying -any- tv because every imperfection is scrutinised.

much like dp review!

LCD is apparently old technology, so it is down to plasma or LED. Media centre wise the PlayStation 3 does all of what i could want. Sadly the old XBMC wont isnt really for the high def generation which i have always loved on my old modded xbox.

[slindborg]

LCD and led are "the same" unless you can get an oled screen for your budget:lol:

[WrightStuff]

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

Easy to say if money is no object. D8000 is a very expensive set. I compared D8000 side by side with Sony HX803 for picture quality and didn't see much in it.
The D8000 has much better viewing angles, but I didn't think motion handling is quite as good, especially on SD. Sony was half the price!
One word of advice is do not ever visit avforums.com! They will scare you off buying -any- tv because every imperfection is scrutinised.

That's why I've stayed off there lol
The d8k is mega cash, and personally I dislike the picture as its too good and I reckon with an sd source it will be nasty to look at. Plasma all the way for me.

Panasonic plasmas gt series or above 30 is 2011 and 50 is 2012
Or Samsung d8000 series.

Don't bother wit anything else.

Easy to say if money is no object. D8000 is a very expensive set. I compared D8000 side by side with Sony HX803 for picture quality and didn't see much in it.
The D8000 has much better viewing angles, but I didn't think motion handling is quite as good, especially on SD. Sony was half the price!
One word of advice is do not ever visit avforums.com! They will scare you off buying -any- tv because every imperfection is scrutinised.

That's why I've stayed off there lol
The d8k is mega cash, and personally I dislike the picture as its too good and I reckon with an sd source it will be nasty to look at. Plasma all the way for me.

What is the main reason for chosing plasma over LED tv these days ? Historically it was always black levels / contrast but surely there's not much in it now ?
I have the picture set bright on my tv, and even with all the lights off, watching a film like Alien there is only the merest hint of backlight.
E.g. its not absolute inky abyss black, but its pretty darn good.

[slindborg]

I'm picking plasma because it's as near to how tv used to look as you can get We watch lots of sd content and lots of iplayer stuff so a super crisp solid state tv would p*ss me off... Plasma can do the super image quality but seems far more tolerant of crap in too. Thickness and power consumption are almost that of solid state now.

[davemate]

Is there any new technology or standards coming out soon that will change the game in some way, or make me regret not waiting a few months? -i know new things come out every day, but i wouldnt want to miss out or, or buy a tv that would be significantly reduced due to an impending upgrade.

[slindborg]

Only thing I can img of is the handful of 4x hd resolution screens, but they are in the £10k bracket and pointless :lol

[wantsum]

I bought a lg 47 inch led smart tv a few weeks ago to replace my old panasonic 50 inch plasma , black levels are much better on the led (somtimes too black), plus its only about 20mm thick so dosent need a wall large mount, reason I got was mainly for 3d gaming and 3d films which it dose brilliantly and the fact it use passive 3d so the glasses are cheap, lightweight plus you can use the cinema glasses, but one its coolest features for gaming is dual play it makes 2 player split screen a thing of the past, you use one screen but both of have the full screen by use of special glasses, also has the smart tv thing which ok. To be honest I was split between this and a 51inch 3d plasma at the time this only won because of the passive 3d and it has full smart tv (which the other half wanted) I also have an infocus x1 projector love the thing bought when we moved in to the house eight years ago, although when we got the plasma it never really got used.

[davemate]

I bought a lg 47 inch led smart tv a few weeks ago to replace my old panasonic 50 inch
plasma , black levels are much better on the led (somtimes too black), plus its only about
20mm thick so dosent need a wall large mount, reason I got was mainly for 3d gaming and 3d films
which it dose brilliantly and the fact it use passive 3d so the glasses are cheap, lightweight
plus you can use the cinema glasses, but one its coolest features for gaming is dual play
it makes 2 player split screen a thing of the past, you use one screen but both of have the full
screen by use of special glasses, also has the smart tv thing which ok.
To be honest I was split between this and a 51inch 3d plasma at the time this only won
because of the passive 3d and it has full smart tv (which the other half wanted)
I also have an infocus x1 projector love the thing bought when we moved in to the house
eight years ago, although when we got the plasma it never really got used.

Thanks that is really helpful.

I am not really csold on the whole smart tv thing to be honest, nor 3d, nor split gaming. It is quite frustrating being in the market where the main pitch and selling points are not features that i really want. I just want a bloody good big tv....

maybe i dont need to spend very much and can go for a more basic model afterall.


-not selling your olf plasma are you?!

[slindborg]

You won't find many GOOD TV's out there that aren't 'smart' or '3d'.... you don't have to use those features. but the more basic TV's tend to offer basic displays

[wantsum]

I bought a lg 47 inch led smart tv a few weeks ago to replace my old panasonic 50 inch
plasma , black levels are much better on the led (somtimes too black), plus its only about
20mm thick so dosent need a wall large mount, reason I got was mainly for 3d gaming and 3d films
which it dose brilliantly and the fact it use passive 3d so the glasses are cheap, lightweight
plus you can use the cinema glasses, but one its coolest features for gaming is dual play
it makes 2 player split screen a thing of the past, you use one screen but both of have the full
screen by use of special glasses, also has the smart tv thing which ok.
To be honest I was split between this and a 51inch 3d plasma at the time this only won
because of the passive 3d and it has full smart tv (which the other half wanted)
I also have an infocus x1 projector love the thing bought when we moved in to the house
eight years ago, although when we got the plasma it never really got used.

Thanks that is really helpful.

I am not really csold on the whole smart tv thing to be honest, nor 3d, nor split gaming. It is quite frustrating being in the market where the main pitch and selling points are not features that i really want. I just want a bloody good big tv....

maybe i dont need to spend very much and can go for a more basic model afterall.


-not selling your olf plasma are you?!

No sorry mate it in conservatory with the xbox on it
now, though should think you can pick a cheap 50+inch
plasma with out all the bells and whistles on it, think
currys were doing a 60inch for about £700 ish

[Cookies220]

I have a Panasonic GT50 inch plasma and have to say the picture quality is excellent. Deep blacks and handles motion very well (my Sony lcd would judder with side scrolling images). Sound is not great (no real bass) but if you have a decent sound system this won't be a problem. It makes a great tv for movie watching

[davemate]

so all round it looks like a thumbs up for plasma rather than led/lcd. Thanks, i will start shopping around It amazes me how much these things have come down in price over the years. I really do think that technology is so much cheaper now than it used to be, although we seem to buy more of it (i just bought a google nexus 7 to go with my htc one x). I paid £1600 for a laptop when i started uni, my projector was £700 but the flat screen tv was £5.5k super nintendo games were £60.... Although cans of coke and chocolate was way cheaper it seems.

[jameso]

HX853 is the rolls Royce of TVs