Have left it to the last minute to go digital due to being oldish fogies. Need a TV with the best sound as we are a bit hearing challenged and good picture as will be viewing from other side of room (lounge/kitchen). TV will be in far corner. We mainly watch TV at night not during the day. TV will not be wall mounted. Also want to be able to connect a DVD player and connect to internet to play programmes off overseas TV sites to avoid having to get Sky and without having to use wireless. The broadband modem is in the next room so presume would need to be able to run a lan cable from it? Please excuse ignorance. Would prefer LED or LCD. Can anyone recommend a model or what should we look for. There seems to be a lot to take into consideration. Thanks in advance for your help.
I suggest the first thing is find out what coverage there is at your address - are you going to use Freeview|HD from a UHF antenna, or Freeview satellite?
In a lot of modern TVs, sound is not that great. The size and shape of the TVs mean the speaker size is also small, and with people increasingly connecting a TV as part of a home theatre, sound quality (from the TV itself) is often less important for a lot of customers. Ultimately, trying the sound in a shop is probably the best option, but don't be surprised by very average sound only!
Do you have a DVD player already that you want to use? If so, does it have an HDMI connection, or are you wanting a TV with analogue component video in? Bear in mind that BluRay players will also play DVDs and CDs, and are pretty inexpensive now, so you could consider purchasing one at the same time.
For internet access - yes, an ethernet network cable back to your modem is the best option.
LED/LCD - bear in mind that both these technologies actually use an LCD panel - the difference with an LED system is the backlighting that lights the display up.
Different brands have different internet TV apps on them that determine what you can watch - is there something specific you are looking for? Most BluRay players also have internet TV services as well, so buying a different brand BluRay to the TV can give a wider range of options available to you to watch.
Thanks for your reply. We already get Uhf channels with just an ordinary non Uhf aerial and have line of sight to Sky Tower and the one in the Waitakeres so don't think we'd need satellite for Freeview. We have confirmed that our location can get HD Freeview. Don't think we connect the DVD player to the TV with HDMI. We want to watch Freeview TV, overseas news programmes off the internet, watch DVD's and may want to record things. Will BluRay players play our ordinary DVDs? We already have an ordinary basic Phillips DVD player. We may want to be able to have Sky later on.Should we look for a TV with a certain no. of ports?
WDH: Thanks for your reply. We already get Uhf channels with just an ordinary non Uhf aerial and have line of sight to Sky Tower and the one in the Waitakeres so don't think we'd need satellite for Freeview. We have confirmed that our location can get HD Freeview.
Excellent, that makes the choice easier.
WDH:Don't think we connect the DVD player to the TV with HDMI.
OK, so the next best option is a TV that has a component video input - this is usually 3 RCA plugs coloured red, green and blue, along with 2 more for audio.
WDH:We want to watch Freeview TV, overseas news programmes off the internet, watch DVD's and may want to record things.
Each manufacturer will have different apps for different TV services, have a look at the major ones - Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, and see which ones interest you. If you want to record things, you will need to get a separate hard drive recorder. Panasonic seem to have the most recommended of the major name brand ones, but there are some lesser known/more technical solutions if you are that way inclined!
WDH:Will BluRay players play our ordinary DVDs? We already have an ordinary basic Phillips DVD player.
Yes.
WDH:We may want to be able to have Sky later on.Should we look for a TV with a certain no. of ports?
It's always a good idea to have extra inputs. Almost everything around now uses an HDMI connector for audio/video, so having several of these available for input is a good idea.
Be aware that most of the smart TVs will not natively have the Apps to watch overseas streaming sites (like Netflix, BBC iPlayer). You have to do a bit of mucking around to get them working on a NZ tv.
A Samsung smart TV will have the TVNZ on demand App, and I believe the TV3 on demand App (I haven't checked the TV3 one yet on my Samsung, but apparently it has just become available). If you change the Samsung to another region (say UK, to get UK Netflix and BBC) you will lose the NZ apps.
You could get a (for example) Samsung TV, use the native NZ apps on there, and a different brand Smart Bluray and have other Apps on that.
On that note, your could look at a Panasonic, or Samsung Bluray Hard Disk recorder, then you can record the freeview channels, play Bluray/DVD and have the Smart functions all in one box (and may be able to save a bit of coin by not buying a Smart TV).
Do you have any Apple product? The AppleTV is pretty good, and easy to setup for Netflix/Hulu. Works fine without other Apple product too by the way.
So many options, it is best to make a list of what is most important for you.
Thanks for all these answers. No, we don't have any Apple products. So would our Lan cable connect from the modem to the Buray hard disk recorder? So, if we had one of these we wouldn't need a smart TV? Is Netflix/Hulu available in NZ and do you have to pay for it? We are really mainly interested in streaming from BBC or other news sites (and watching & recording Freeview).
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