LCD telly or a traditional one?

[CookMySock]

Sky has HD ready to go. Via satellite. I refer to their advertising campaign.

cough, really? Thats a bit embarrasing innit..

DB

[martybabe]

HD is up and running on sky in the UK but only on certain channels and guess what, you have to pay extra to receive them, yay.

[Blackbird]

Bravia U, V or P (dunno if it's in NZ?), or D?? I think there are others???
The U is $1000
The V is $1499
The D is $1899. Sony are throwing in a high def recorder thingie with the D & V but

It's the V. Forgot to mention that the total price included telly, recorder/player, topbox, satellite dish,HDMI cable and cabinet. Had to pay extra to get someone to set up the dish.

[McJim]

Need a slightly bigger telly. Our livingroom is a wee bit bigger than the old one so the 21" is making my eyes go funny.
.

'snot the TV mate, it's all the pollution from the ICI factory when you were growing up!

you're a schemo fae skinflats - you wouldnae appreciate a decent TV. Go get a wireless.

[Tank]

HDTV will never be broadcast via satellite. It's only domestic. However, the DVB freeview service IS VERY GOOD. It's not HD, and never will. (says my mate hooz a sky installer)

DB

1/2 the US of A receive their HDTV via Satellite.

[k14]

Yeah sky is supposed to start broadcasting HD on some of the movie and sport channels starting july. Its anyones guess as to what the makeup will be of the packages. I have read somewhere that the movies with be 1080i and sport 720p but wouldn't bet on it.

I just want My Sky HD to come out so that standard My Sky becomes cheaper. Only got a CRT tv so no point in going high def. My Sky is pretty cool but not sure about it for $600.

As far as TV's go. The sony is pretty good but comes with the typical sony mark up. The panasonics and samsungs seem to have pretty good picture too. LCD is probably better (depends who you talk to) for up to 42", but above that they become quite a bit more expensive than the plasmas with similar picture quality. I'd steer clear from viewsonic just seeing as they are a no name brand (should stick to computer monitors hehe).

But probably the best thing you can do is go into lots of shops and test as many as you can. You'll be the one watching it so you're the best judge in the end.

[offrd]

HDTV will never be broadcast via satellite. It's only domestic. However, the DVB freeview service IS VERY GOOD. It's not HD, and never will. (says my mate hooz a sky installer)

DB

So now sky are going to broadcast HDTV off satellite... tell ya mate to eat his shorts.....

LCD is the way to go, Plasma is old school, uses too much power and has screen failures (as in pixles drop out or go green) and only one company now continues to make the "plasma screen"

HDTV via Freeview should be good, once they get their ass into gear...... the UHF signal for the terrestrial boxes to work can get down pretty low and no problems! I pick it up from Hamilton here in Tokoroa!

[Kornholio]

LCD>Plasma.......... HDTV dunno...normal TV is clear enough for this banjo player....probably 37" is best value for money at this stage..........

[Naki Rat]

If you are after a great picture you cannot beat (digital) LOEWE. They are Europe's biggest selling TV and even though they have now gone the LCD/plasma their CRT version still beats ANY LCD/plasma hands down. Our 32" widescreen Planus has a 3 way sound system that sounds great too - who needs a home theatre system!

Go the Trade Me way and you should find a 32" a couple of years old for a grand or so.

[Usarka]

i watched my first HD blu-ray movie the other night on my lcd. My immediate thoughts were how visible skin imperfections are on actors (pores etc).

this may *not* be a good move for the porn industry!?!

[edit:] it wasn't a pron movie that i watched, sheesh!

[vifferman]

If you are after a great picture you cannot beat (digital) LOEWE. .

We had a 28" Loewe, and a couple of weeks ago, it crapped out (for the second time!). This time, it was terminal: "Sorry, Mate - the transformer's gone, it's not worth fixing, and even if we did fix it, it would just need further repairs down the line..." So, I paid $28 to have it recycled.

We shopped around, and I was going to buy either a Samsung or Sony LCD, but ended up buying a 37" Panasonic plasma. Why 37"? Well... it fitted in our nice rimu cabinet, with about 1.5cm to spare on each side...
Why Plasma?
Well... we looked at a plasma and LCD side by side, and the picture on the plasma was better (better contrast, crisper picture), so my wife said "I want that one!" I asked the repairman about brands, types, etc, and he said most brands are good, and that LCDs not uncommonly blow their backlighting tubes, which cost $400 or more to replace, so to get an extended warranty. I asked the salesdude, and he said pretty much the same thing. The big problem with plasmas is the screen is glass so it reflects light, and the power consumption. Our CRT used 90W, the LCD was 190W, and the plasma uses 310W.
But we're really pleased with it - the picture and features (such as the link with our Panasonic HDD/DVD recorder) are really good. Unfortunately, the PS3 works really well on it, and BlueRay movies are incredibly clear, so the PS3 has moved upstairs permanently...
And it was only $1630.
I'm not so pleased that last night when we turned Prime on to watch the eejits go to the magnetic North Pole, the picture was crap. "Uh... oh yeah - that's been like that since last night/"
Fuckit.
Up on the roof in the dark (it was rahter slippery on wet tiles), CRCed everything, unlatched the connector on the UHF aerial and emptied out all the water, and the pix fine again. And I didn't fall off and break my neck, so that was a bonus (to some...)

[ynot slow]

If reception is crap go the sky way over freeview,you can get prime on sky,not f/v so I am told.With sky you can pay the decoder rental which is $20month?and get free install if they are promoting as long as it is signed up for 12mths.

[T.I.E]

LCDis better than plasma over a long term. plasma being plasma like in blood, will degrade and the picture will become blurry over time. you will not notice it over a long period, as it is a slow degrade.
LCD liquid crystal display will not degrade. it like a television is made up of dots like pixles. they however can stop working. you will start losing one dot at a time but resolution will not change.
so a slow blur or a dot at a time.
and i would go high defination if you can, it wont be long before freeview will transmit high def, they can and they will. they can also do it via satellite and have had the ability to do so for quite some time. also there are some movies out (yes only some) that are blue ray or high def movies. but you need a DVD player to use them.
if you have the money my choice i would go high def LCD. otherwise hold out and wait. save the money and wait til they get a bit cheaper. and wait for the movies and or for the tv stations sky or freeview to transmit high def.

[imdying]

Someone mentioned to me the other day that you can sign up for Sky for a month and cancel within 30 days... is that the case? If so, easy way to get a dish installed

[Trouser]

I have got freeview HD on my sony 32" u series and it rocks the party. The sony tuner is quite rubbish but the freeview is very clear. The HD programmes on tv3 look very good.

DSE sell a rebranded zinwell decoder for $100 less than the actual zinwell.