Best place to buy a Hi-Def TV?

[Fatjim]

You can get 42" plasmas with 1080 res native now, if you want to spend the cash.
The problem with LCDs in not the color or the response (used to be but much better now), its the color gradient. Basically, because the LCD technology is using a backlight, you will never get a pure black. So your almost black greys will look same as your black blacks. Load a movie with a dark scene (some horror movie) and you will see a huge difference between a plasma and an LCD.

Yes you "can" get 42" 1080p plasmas. but the value 42" plasmas aren't 1368x720 capable as they are 1024 x 768. They only get away with being HD capable because they do 720 vertical lines, but so does my 21" CRT if I turn it 90degrees.

Like I said, put that same Plasma in a well lit room and your fucked.

Horses for courses, and get a TV with good logic, cause if everything stutters, you won't give a flying toss whether you can see the difference between black, and almost black.

[Usarka]

Many reviewers are now saying that the latest samsung 6 series is as good as if not better than the plasmas in most criteria. I thought about a plasma, but the problem is Samaungs plasma's are 1 gen behind the LCD's in terms of logic.

I was surprised when i picked lcd over plasma - went into it thinking i would get a plasma but the LCD just looked better to me, and I've had absolutely no issues with it. And yep its a samsung.....

[captain_andrey]

Yes you "can" get 42" 1080p plasmas. but the value 42" plasmas aren't 1368x720 capable as they are 1024 x 768. They only get away with being HD capable because they do 720 vertical lines, but so does my 21" CRT if I turn it 90degrees.

Like I said, put that same Plasma in a well lit room and your fucked.

Horses for courses, and get a TV with good logic, cause if everything stutters, you won't give a flying toss whether you can see the difference between black, and almost black.

Yeah thats why I am advising a Panasonic 50" 1368x720 screen. Panasonic make the best scalers/logic which is very important with interleaved signals.

If you want to compare the best of LCD with the best of Plasma, you have to compare Samsung LCD with Panasonic Plasma and there is no question in my mind, Plasma is better.

[vindy500]

those hitachis look nice....

[Hoon]

Yeah thats why I am advising a Panasonic 50" 1368x720 screen. Panasonic make the best scalers/logic which is very important with interleaved signals.

One reason I went LCD was because they all do 1080p now (good quality ones). Sure I could get a 720 plasma but why when I can get 1080p LCD for the same price??? If your TV can support 1080 then you don't need to scale anything because your TV can play it in its native resolution.

[Fatjim]

Yeah thats why I am advising a Panasonic 50" 1368x720 screen. Panasonic make the best scalers/logic which is very important with interleaved signals.

If you want to compare the best of LCD with the best of Plasma, you have to compare Samsung LCD with Panasonic Plasma and there is no question in my mind, Plasma is better.

I wonder if buying a 720p 50" plasma will leave you with older logic. I would think that Panasonic would be putting the best logic in the latest FullHD 50" stuff.

[captain_andrey]

One reason I went LCD was because they all do 1080p now (good quality ones). Sure I could get a 720 plasma but why when I can get 1080p LCD for the same price??? If your TV can support 1080 then you don't need to scale anything because your TV can play it in its native resolution.

Nothing in NZ is broadcast in 1080p. So you still use hardware to de-interlace the 1080i signal or upscale 720p. Not all de-interlacing chips do their job properly. And I would still get a 720 plasma over a 1080 LCD even if we had a full 1080p source available.

I wonder if buying a 720p 50" plasma will leave you with older logic. I would think that Panasonic would be putting the best logic in the latest FullHD 50" stuff.

The whole range uses the same chips.

[Tank]

Thanks all for the advise.

I ended up with a 46" LCD full hi-def 100mhz Samsung.

I was shocked when I say how jittery the 50mhz Sony's were by comparison. (I wanted the Sony for the $99 PS3 - but in the end Id rather pay more and have the better image)

I was going to get a plasma as many here had recommended, but I could only get 42" (too small) or 50" way too big - this isn't our theatre setup so doesn't need to be too big.

Had mysky HDI installed this afternoon.

While I was there I treated myself to a Blu-ray player for the downstairs theatre room and a couple of additional speakers for 7.1.

All in all - I'm in geek heaven - off to buy more horrendiously overpriced speaker cable this weekend.

[Winston001]

All in all - I'm in geek heaven - off to buy more horrendiously overpriced speaker cable this weekend.

There is a thread somewhere on the net, in a NZ audio forum, where members discuss the results of using No 8 wire as cable. Listeners couldn't distinguish between the high-end speaker cable and fencing wire.

Just wanted to mess with ya head while spending your dough.....

[vifferman]

All in all - I'm in geek heaven - off to buy more horrendiously overpriced speaker cable this weekend.

Don't bother - it's basically just wet string, and the electrons don't know the difference. If you want to buy something a bit better then the standard skinny two-core to make yourself feel better (won't make a difference to the sound), go to Jaycar Electronics and buy some slightly fatter cable with nice clear covers so it looks all shiny and coppery.
The difference in resistance between really expensive wanky "Low Oxygen" or gold or whatever cable is negligible to the point of not being able to be measured, and even if it's measurable, there's no way your ears could tell. Unless you're putting in several kilometres of cable, the voltage drop won't matter. The connections at the ends are more important - you want something with good contacts that won't corrode.

Don't give into the hype, and don't waste your money. It may impress your mates, and make you feel better, but won't improve your auditory experience one iota.

[Finn]

I've jsut picked up a DVD from HN's. They seemed to have the best deal so same may be true with TV's. Shop around.

Skyryder

Cool. I recorded John Key's victory speech the other night. I'll send you a copy.

[marioc]

Some good stuff here,can someone explain the difference between "HD ready" and full HD?

[Fatjim]

Don't bother - it's basically just wet string, and the electrons don't know the difference. If you want to buy something a bit better then the standard skinny two-core to make yourself feel better (won't make a difference to the sound), go to Jaycar Electronics and buy some slightly fatter cable with nice clear covers so it looks all shiny and coppery.
The difference in resistance between really expensive wanky "Low Oxygen" or gold or whatever cable is negligible to the point of not being able to be measured, and even if it's measurable, there's no way your ears could tell. Unless you're putting in several kilometres of cable, the voltage drop won't matter. The connections at the ends are more important - you want something with good contacts that won't corrode.

Don't give into the hype, and don't waste your money. It may impress your mates, and make you feel better, but won't improve your auditory experience one iota.

You've already got built in speaker cable. Just disconnect the power points you dont want and plug you speakers into them. Really freak every one out by using a 3 pin plug to!

Seriously, if you got some 2 or 3 core power cable it'll do the job fine.

[Fatjim]

Full HD, is able to take a 1080P signall and display it on a native 1080 screen.

HD ready can take a 1080P signal, but has to down scale it to a 720 screen.

I think they need an HDMI input too, rather than a composite.

[Tank]

Thanks for the comments - I ran a fortune in cable for the 5.1 - so Im just matching what I ran in the first instance.

Number 8 just dosnt look nice.