what's a good TV?

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#626246 16-May-2012 15:49

This article in Stuff today
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/6922257/Is-Plasma-TV-dead

NonprayingMantis

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#626261 16-May-2012 16:19

I have a Sony. It was a toss-up between the Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic. They are all pretty similar and similarly priced.

what won it for me in the end was the Bravia sync with my PS3. It means I can use my TV remote to control my PS3. Very handy for watching DVDs since the PS3 controller is a pain for that.

It is also the only TV (so far) to have quickflix app on it - which works beautifully.

xpd

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#626264 16-May-2012 16:24

Have a 42" Panasonic HD Ready plasma and a 50" Panasonic FullHD plasma, both give great images for movies and gaming via PS3.

Stick with a brand name, and a recent model (research first obviously) and you shouldnt go wrong.

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JimmyH

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#626366 16-May-2012 18:22

I have a Panasonic (LCD) and a Samsung (Somewhat older LCD model) and am happy with them both, I would buy either brand again.

The major tip I would give you is to also consider inputs and what you want to connect when making a purchase decision. Get a model with at least four HDMI inputs. Check carefully if you have legacy equipment, as many newer models seem to only include one or two AV and/or Component inputs, which is a real pain if you have legacy kit (VCRs, older Xboxes and PS2s etc) that you want to connect. Personally, for a main TV, I look for at least two component inputs AND two AV inputs, as well as 4 HDMI inputs. Even with this, my current TV is currently maxed out.....

Personally, I won't touch Sony any more. Period. I used to buy Sony, back in the days when the brand actually stood for a quality product. Now, their quality seems to have slipped quite a bit, and is no better than other brands and arguably worse in many cases, but they still seem to want a price premium. But the real turn-off for me is the way they have a mania for proprietary solutions, incredible arrogance, and seem to have a real hatred for their paying customers (Aside from what they are party to as a member of the MPAA * RIAA, google "Sony Rootkit" if you want to see what I mean, there are other examples).

Niel

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#626618 17-May-2012 05:52

JimmyH: But the real turn-off for me is the way they have a mania for proprietary solutions, incredible arrogance, and seem to have a real hatred for their paying customers (Aside from what they are party to as a member of the MPAA * RIAA, google "Sony Rootkit" if you want to see what I mean, there are other examples).

Are they owned by Apple?

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surfisup1000

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#626638 17-May-2012 07:53

NonprayingMantis: I have a Sony. It was a toss-up between the Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic. They are all pretty similar and similarly priced.

what won it for me in the end was the Bravia sync with my PS3. It means I can use my TV remote to control my PS3. Very handy for watching DVDs since the PS3 controller is a pain for that.

It is also the only TV (so far) to have quickflix app on it - which works beautifully.

And isn't time that a proper extendible inter-device communication protocol was developed by the major TV manufacturers?

It is silly (but understandable) your choice of tv was not based on Video or audio quality, but, on the fact your sony tv can speak to your ps3.

HDMI control does not really work so well. I get the silly situation sometimes where switching off the tv switches on the AV receiver and vice versa.

There is some other thing called bd+ (I think), but, while on the right track it is not really working as I'd like.

I wish for the simple functionality of the old days, where you switch on the tv and the image and audio are without fail working, and changing channels is instantaneous. And, even a 2 year old can figure that out. HDCP handshaking kills functionality too - isn't that the reason channel switching is so slow?

Jaxson

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#626648 17-May-2012 08:27

Harmony remote skips all of the automation issues. Best thing I ever got to keep everyone happy. No one needs to know how it's connected, what cable goes into what input, what input to select on the receiver that's older and has useless input names like TAPE and VCR or something etc. What you need to know is only that you want to 'Play a CD' or 'Watch Tivo' etc and it works great.

HDMI control wise can work between different brands, as a lot of it is similar, just with different brand names, but I wouldn't rely on that, especially not as a major factor when purchasing a TV. How well does it display my content should be right up there I would have thought, given a TV is a display device. That said, with TV's getting smarter, having native skype for instance, they are rapidly stand alone devices now, that don't require an intermediate box to play video content etc, so yeah, there is now a lot too it for sure.

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jamesweather

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#626659 17-May-2012 08:55

One with a USB input capable of playing downloaded content (eg. Samsung)

NonprayingMantis

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#626663 17-May-2012 09:03

Jaxson: Harmony remote skips all of the automation issues. Best thing I ever got to keep everyone happy. No one needs to know how it's connected, what cable goes into what input, what input to select on the receiver that's older and has useless input names like TAPE and VCR or something etc. What you need to know is only that you want to 'Play a CD' or 'Watch Tivo' etc and it works great.

HDMI control wise can work between different brands, as a lot of it is similar, just with different brand names, but I wouldn't rely on that, especially not as a major factor when purchasing a TV. How well does it display my content should be right up there I would have thought, given a TV is a display device. That said, with TV's getting smarter, having native skype for instance, they are rapidly stand alone devices now, that don't require an intermediate box to play video content etc, so yeah, there is now a lot too it for sure.

that's true. However the difference in this factor between pretty much all the well known brands on the market (Sony, Samsung, Pana, etc) now is small enough in my opinion to mean that you can pick any one of their latest models and you won't see much, if any, difference in picture quality. Inputs are pretty much the same (HDMIs, VGA, etc).

So then it comes down the other, minor, features, that make the decision. In my case, that was the Bravia sync functionality.

Dunnersfella

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#626715 17-May-2012 10:38

To the OP.
Why are you concerned about format playback via USB... when you're planning to plug in your laptop?
After all, whatever you play on your laptop, will play on your TV screen when you plug it in...
Oh yeah, does your laptop have an HDMI or VGA connection?

My advice...
Get the Panasonic TH-P50ST50z as suggested earlier in the thread.
It will not only trounce the Sony's mentioned earlier (don't even get me started), it'll make the Samsung's look like the backlight bleeding / poor motion performing cheapies they are - and most importantly, it'll suit your needs perfectly.
While you said you don't like your dads plasma, this one will TROUNCE the other TV's by a clear mile.

Also, shouldn't this thread be in the Home Theatre section?

floydbloke

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#626726 17-May-2012 10:53

myndlyz: i just bought one of these yesterday, 55inch sony led tv

http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6625/sony-bravia-55-quot-full-high-definition-led-lcd-tv-kdl55ex720

stunning tv, i got it for my ps3 and to use as my computer screen and just absolutely love it

+1
Got one 2-3 weeks ago, although primarily for TV (sports) and DVDs rather than gaming PC. Simply stunning having come from a 26" LCD.

I'll check out the MotionFlow thing that's been mentioned in this thread, although haven't noticed anything untoward.

Also my first TV with any LAN/Internet connectivity - opens up a whole new world.

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minimoke

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#626779 17-May-2012 12:58

And one morel word on the subject: "Calibrate calibrate calibrate"

Oops thats three but an important one. TV's on the whole look pretty average out of the box. A simple calibrration can make your TV look much better.

There are calibration tools of THX Pixar (?) DVD's - like The Incredibles or that fish one

I use Digital Video Essentials (DVE) and this makes the calibrated setting much better than the default THX setting which in turn is much better than the "Dynamic I don't care if my retinas are burnt to a crisp" setting.

Take the time to calibrate and you'll find your "great" TV even better!

jaymz

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#626802 17-May-2012 13:45

I have one of these:

http://www.samsung.com/nz/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/led-tv/UA46D6000SMXRD

And i can't complain at all. My only 'issue' with it was the audio out options are a bit limited (Optical out only)

But my amp supports Optical audio so no biggy at all.

Crisp, clear picture. Got it from JB Hi Fi for $1100 shop special (their birthday sale, down from $1500)

mattwnz

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#626827 17-May-2012 14:00

Dunnersfella: To the OP.
Why are you concerned about format playback via USB... when you're planning to plug in your laptop?
After all, whatever you play on your laptop, will play on your TV screen when you plug it in...
Oh yeah, does your laptop have an HDMI or VGA connection?

My advice...
Get the Panasonic TH-P50ST50z as suggested earlier in the thread.
It will not only trounce the Sony's mentioned earlier (don't even get me started), it'll make the Samsung's look like the backlight bleeding / poor motion performing cheapies they are - and most importantly, it'll suit your needs perfectly.
While you said you don't like your dads plasma, this one will TROUNCE the other TV's by a clear mile.

Also, shouldn't this thread be in the Home Theatre section?

It would depend on where you are viewing it though, as plasmas perform best in darker rooms, while LCDs work well in both brightly lit and poorly lit rooms. Also plasmas tend to use a lot more power and generate more heat than LED backlit LCDs, and they possibly don't have the same life. But they do tend to offer more bang for buck initially, and are better for watching movies in a darker room.

MurrayM

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#626851 17-May-2012 14:38

minimoke: And one morel word on the subject: "Calibrate calibrate calibrate"

Oops thats three but an important one. TV's on the whole look pretty average out of the box. A simple calibrration can make your TV look much better.

There are calibration tools of THX Pixar (?) DVD's - like The Incredibles or that fish one

I use Digital Video Essentials (DVE) and this makes the calibrated setting much better than the default THX setting which in turn is much better than the "Dynamic I don't care if my retinas are burnt to a crisp" setting.

Take the time to calibrate and you'll find your "great" TV even better!

I assume that you have to buy DVE? Apart from the THX Pixar calibrator is there anything else that's available for free? Maybe as a download?

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