21 replies to this topic

[Jammy]

What exactly does it mean? Does it basically mean it has a specific connector on the back and is capable of showing an image in a specific resolution? Is that resolution 1680x1050? Or is it this 1080 something or other I keep reading about?

[hystrix cristata]

HD ready means that if you have sky HD or a PS3 or HD DVD (now gone) or blue ray you will be able to watch the full quality of it. there's a couple of different resolutions though so you have to check if the TV your getting gives the best or not.

[Jammy]

Yea, I kinda knew that. What I was more getting at is that if I had one monitor that could display a resolution of 1680x1050 with no HD input, and one that could display at 1680x1050 with a HD input, am I going to notice much difference between the two?

[hystrix cristata]

oh ok, well yeah you will. it is alot crisper on HD, I need blag my dad to get one

[Shifty]

Hi, have had a look here?

http://www.avforums.com/

Theres some good advice and links to good deals

They were very helpful when I bought my 1st 42" LCD and all the problems that ensued!!!

This only my personal experience and opinion but I would not buy a Sharp LC42xd-1e Tv!!

Don't know if I'm teaching Granny to suck eggs but....

- Buy online so the 7 day distance selling regs apply

- Pay with credit card - even if you've got cash, this way should there be a problem you can claim on your credit card.

- If you see a model you like, use the AV forum to search and see if/how many other peeps have issues with that model

- be aware that most of the models will have some faults/characteristics Motion blur/purple snakes/screen burn

If I had done the above it would have saved me 4 months of arguements and phone calls/trading standards

Seamus

[Bounce]

This 1080 youve been reading about is the number of vertical pixles, basically what you need for HD.

With 1080p, the p means its has a progressive scan. This is the current best for HD veiwing

[JamesF]

"HD Ready" means a TV is capable of outputting a signal with over 720 vertical lines. So a TV with 1280 x 720 pixels is HD Ready. "Full HD" means a 1080p signal, or 1080 vertical progressive lines. Full HD is 1920 x 1080. There is also 1080i (interlaced) which is not the same as 1080p (progressive) in that the resolution isn't actually as high. I think the difference between i and p is that i only shows two thirds of that resolution (720) at any one time and p shows all 1080 lines at any one time.

[Gibbo]

For a computer monitor obviously you are sitting 60cm or so away from it so it needs to be much higher resolution, better interface between the computer and monitor will give you a clearer picture. Obviously depends on your graphics card too etc.

just for the sake of adding to the discussion;
tv wise 1080i and p. 37 inch and below you would never notice the difference. Picking a tv isn't always about getting the biggest, getting close to one you will always see resolution issues because they are nowhere near computer monitor standards. I've got a 37 inch, its good for the size lounge I have. the gf's sister has top of the range sony 42 inch 1080p that they paid loads for. the thing is they have the sofa too close to it and it doesn't look great and they regret buying it.

[Jammy]

OK.... Well just for comparison:

One LCD TV:

Display Visible - Diagonal 22"
Resolution - 1680 x 1050
Brightness - 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio - 1000:1
Viewing Angle - 160°/160° (H/V)
Response Time - 5ms
Input Signal - Composite CVBS 1
Scart - 1
Digital - 1 (HDMI)
TV Tuner - 1 (analog)
VGA - 1 (D-SUB)
Audio - 1 (L/R)
PC - Audio 1
TV System - PAL / SECAM
Feature OSD function - Yes
Teletext - 10 pages

All that for £183


And now a PC Monitor:

LCD Size 22"
Resolution (max.) 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+)
Contrast 700:1
Brightness 300 cd/m2
Response time (tr/tf) 5ms (2+3) ms
Colour temperature Reddish/Normal/Bluish + user mode
Input connector D-Sub/DVI-D/HDMI

Not as good contrast, and none of the inputs I need, but still costs £200.


To me that suggests the LCD TVs are just as good as the PC Monitors, but give you more options for plugging stuff in?

[Gibbo]

Just done a little reading into this. I think the thing is, 6 months ago monitors were of a higher res than lcd tv's.

From what I can tell, now, other than connections, speakers, remote, and a built in tuner, there is no longer a difference. Maybe someone will come in with a reason otherwise but I thinkyou are right jammy. I think the LCD tv market has just caught up with computer monitors.

I guess find something with the connections you need, a good viewing angle, and contrast ratio no matter what the lable says.

Edited by Gibbo, 25 March 2008 - 12:38 PM.

[alexcrosse]

it makes one hell of a difference, but i found that unless you use component or HMDI cables it gives a worse image than normal TV's. If you use a scart from a ps3 into a HD tv its awful.

[JamesF]

it makes one hell of a difference, but i found that unless you use component or HMDI cables it gives a worse image than normal TV's. If you use a scart from a ps3 into a HD tv its awful.

That's because component and HDMI carry high definition signals. Scart and composite carry standard definition. The quality of a standard definition signal on an HDTV depends on the scaler, which is where the extra cost often comes in.

[Jammy]

Yea, I'm not too worried about that. I have DVI output on my PC, so for PC I can use DVI-DVI, for PS3 I'll use HDMI-HDMI, and for freeview I'll use Scart-Scart.

Thinking about this one from Argos at the moment:

Samsung SM225MW 22in

Not bad for £230! Apparently from reviews on AV forum, the TV picture can be a bit rubbish, but much improved with freeview (which I have), the computer image is very good (most important), and HDMI is also good.

In fact Argos is turning up very good prices. They currently have the PS3 40Gig for £270, so for £500 I think I might be sorted!

[Shifty]

Yea, I'm not too worried about that. I have DVI output on my PC, so for PC I can use DVI-DVI, for PS3 I'll use HDMI-HDMI, and for freeview I'll use Scart-Scart.

Thinking about this one from Argos at the moment:

Samsung SM225MW 22in

Not bad for £230! Apparently from reviews on AV forum, the TV picture can be a bit rubbish, but much improved with freeview (which I have), the computer image is very good (most important), and HDMI is also good.

In fact Argos is turning up very good prices. They currently have the PS3 40Gig for £270, so for £500 I think I might be sorted!

Try Here

http://www.tjhughes....ogy/Televisions

Usually some good deals to be had

[Jammy]

Got the Samsung after work. The TV picture is pretty poor (coming from a freeview box on S-video), the colours aren't exactly vibrant! I'm going to switch to a scart cable and see if its any better. The analogue TV signal is ok, again the interference is a bit worse than on the main TV in the living room which comes off the same aerial.

The saving grace is the PC image. Nice and bright (a bit too bright!), massive resolution, so much more room for windows, plus the picture in picture and picture beside picture is pretty good.

Will update later on what the image is like from the PS3.