TV options for mainly Sky viewing

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bcourtney

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#14962 27-Jul-2007 23:29

OK, so I currently have a Panansonic 32" widescreen CRT but have decided that I want something a little bigger...

My question is: If the main purpose for using this TV will be for watching "TV" through Sky (well TCL actually) what is the best way to go in terms of technology/options?

Plasma, LCD, or Rear Projection??

At the moment, the TV that this will be replacing is used for watching Sky 95% of the time and I see it's replacement doing the same (sport, Discovery etc). Hoever that's not to say that in the future I might not want to use it for watching the odd DVD etc.

I'm also contemplating moving my Vista PC nearer my TV so that I can watch some of the 750-odd GB of content I have on it, so the new TV would need this capability.

Am I right in thinking that one of the Sony rear projection TVs is the way to go? If so, will I notice much of a difference between the older 3LCD ones as opposed to the newer SXRDs?? Or is a Plasma or LCD the better option?

All advice gratefully received :)

lchiu7

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#80116 28-Jul-2007 13:45

As usual with these situations it depends. IMHO the best bang for buck are the RP sets, especially the Sony SXRD 60". If you have the space to position one they are well worth investigating.

Note a couple of things

1. TCL cable or Sky is SD - HD sets tends to show off the picture deficiencies pretty cruelly

2. If you want to watch captured video on the set make sure that your video card supports DVI or HDMI and/or the RP set can deliver full resolution through their VGA inputs. In my situation with a JVC DILA set (LCoS) the VGA port only supports 1024x768 while the set's native resolution is 1266x768. So I have to upgrade the video card in my HTPC to one that had DVI output and HD support in the driver so I could i) output 1280x720 ii) have dual screen support and iii) HD support which provided overscan correction

Larry

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cyril7

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#80119 28-Jul-2007 14:21

I backup Larry's recommendation of RearPro units, they have the least digital artifacting of any options particularly when fed from the lower bit rate Sky streams, and are good bang for buck to boot.

Cyril