advice on new TV

InisMor

Hi.

Our old TV is dying.

Hurray, we might finally be going widescreen.:D

Also need to replace the DVD recorder.

Just looking for some info on what I'll need to watch out for.

Are most TV's LCD now?
How many HDMI slots does a HD Ready TV usually have?
Is there any store doing great deals at the moment? I travel a lot all over the country, so I can look all over.
Any brand I should avoid?

Cheers

Zonda999

InisMor wrote: »

Hi.

Our old TV is dying.

Hurray, we might finally be going widescreen.:D

Also need to replace the DVD recorder.

Just looking for some info on what I'll need to watch out for.

Are most TV's LCD now?
How many HDMI slots does a HD Ready TV usually have?
Is there any store doing great deals at the moment? I travel a lot all over the country, so I can look all over.
Any brand I should avoid?

Cheers

Absolutely, most tvs are LCD now, plasma is still holding up a fight but certainly most are still LCD

Most decent sets at this stage will 3, 4 or maybe even 5 hdmi slots

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/

This is a great site to see who'd making the best tvs, in terms of lcd at the moment, Samsung and Sony are clearly making the best LCD's

I'd say at this stage any shop should match any other shops price in the Republic

ronaneire

InisMor wrote: »

Hi.

Our old TV is dying.

Hurray, we might finally be going widescreen.:D

Also need to replace the DVD recorder.

Just looking for some info on what I'll need to watch out for.

Are most TV's LCD now?
How many HDMI slots does a HD Ready TV usually have?
Is there any store doing great deals at the moment? I travel a lot all over the country, so I can look all over.
Any brand I should avoid?

Cheers

Try to go for full HD instead of HD ready if your going to replace the DVD player and get yourelf a BD player.
Plenty of bargains to be got. Try the guys in Richersounds forum, you'll get your boardies 10% discount.

InisMor

Zonda999 wrote: »

Absolutely, most tvs are LCD now, plasma is still holding up a fight but certainly most are still LCD

Most decent sets at this stage will 3, 4 or maybe even 5 hdmi slots

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/

This is a great site to see who'd making the best tvs, in terms of lcd at the moment, Samsung and Sony are clearly making the best LCD's

I'd say at this stage any shop should match any other shops price in the Republic

Thanks, Zonda. I'll check that out.

InisMor

ronaneire wrote: »

Try to go for full HD instead of HD ready if your going to replace the DVD player and get yourelf a BD player.
Plenty of bargains to be got. Try the guys in Richersounds forum, you'll get your boardies 10% discount.

I though HD Ready WAS full HD (as in it is "ready", all you need is get HD TV, Blu Ray equipment, etc) so thanks for that info.

Can you tell what is the difference?

PS not really interested in BluRay at the moment. It's the recorder I'm replacing anyway. Not the player.

ronaneire

InisMor wrote: »

I though HD Ready WAS full HD (as in it is "ready", all you need is get HD TV, Blu Ray equipment, etc) so thanks for that info.

Can you tell what is the difference?

This is what is on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready

It should give you a clearer idea.
But HD ready will take HD equipment but won't display it in 1080p.

InisMor

ronaneire wrote: »

This is what is on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready

It should give you a clearer idea.
But HD ready will take HD equipment but won't display it in 1080p.

I was just reading that wiki, and a few others.

I not very tech savvy and I'm not sure I understand.

Are the size of the screen, the distance at which you sit from it and the source of the picture the most important factors?

I think a 32 inch (or there abouts) screen is what we will go for.
We have UPC's basic digital TV package and I can't imagine going into HD TV anytime soon (not with UPC anyway:P).
And I'm happy with DVD too, and don't want to spend a load of money on BluRay (which I would do) anyway.

InisMor

Hi guys,

Thanks for the help so far.

I meant to also say that I'm wanting to unclutter the back of the TV cabinet so I need the reduce the number of wires.

My sound system has a few audio ports for plugging in optical cables.
The last time I bought a DVD player it didn't have an optical audio out port and I recall the guy in the shop saying something like optical ports weren't used anymore!!!

Is this right? Or can you get TV's with optical ports?

Cheers

ronaneire

InisMor wrote: »

I was just reading that wiki, and a few others.

I not very tech savvy and I'm not sure I understand.

Are the size of the screen, the distance at which you sit from it and the source of the picture the most important factors?

I think a 32 inch (or there abouts) screen is what we will go for.
We have UPC's basic digital TV package and I can't imagine going into HD TV anytime soon (not with UPC anyway:P).
And I'm happy with DVD too, and don't want to spend a load of money on BluRay (which I would do) anyway.

Nothing smaller then a 32" for full HD.
How far do you intend sitting back from the TV? Your either not going to be sitting on top or too far away from it?
To be honest, if you are buying a new TV go that extra bit further and get a full HD, atm your only source is UPC? and that connects to your tv via a scart, and your dvd player?
You might decide in 6 months time you want a BD player, what is the point in watching blu-ray films on a HD ready tv when you can have full HD

InisMor wrote: »

Hi guys,

Thanks for the help so far.

I meant to also say that I'm wanting to unclutter the back of the TV cabinet so I need the reduce the number of wires.

My sound system has a few audio ports for plugging in optical cables.
The last time I bought a DVD player it didn't have an optical audio out port and I recall the guy in the shop saying something like optical ports weren't used anymore!!!

Is this right? Or can you get TV's with optical ports?

Cheers

My sammy has optical out on the back not too sure about other makes.

Zonda999

InisMor wrote: »

Hi guys,

Thanks for the help so far.

I meant to also say that I'm wanting to unclutter the back of the TV cabinet so I need the reduce the number of wires.

My sound system has a few audio ports for plugging in optical cables.
The last time I bought a DVD player it didn't have an optical audio out port and I recall the guy in the shop saying something like optical ports weren't used anymore!!!

Is this right? Or can you get TV's with optical ports?

Cheers

Optical ports certainly are still used, hdmi is taking over in some area's but its still a very useful connection. Many tvs have optical ports as well, i know all high end Samsung sets have them anyway.

You certainly dont have to spend a lot to get a very decent set either

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-le32b450-le32b450c-20090625155.htm

That set trounces most lcds for black level and SD processing but it wont cost you more than 400€ in this country, has optical port as well:)

ronaneire

Zonda999 wrote: »

Optical ports certainly are still used, hdmi is taking over in some area's but its still a very useful connection. Many tvs have optical ports as well, i know all high end Samsung sets have them anyway.

I also have a 32" Philips 5604 and it doesn't have one.

InisMor

Zonda999 wrote: »

Optical ports certainly are still used, hdmi is taking over in some area's but its still a very useful connection. Many tvs have optical ports as well, i know all high end Samsung sets have them anyway.

You certainly dont have to spend a lot to get a very decent set either

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-le32b450-le32b450c-20090625155.htm

That set trounces most lcds for black level and SD processing but it wont cost you more than 400€ in this country, has optical port as well:)

Cheers for that.

InisMor

ronaneire wrote: »

You might decide in 6 months time you want a BD player, what is the point in watching blu-ray films on a HD ready tv when you can have full HD

Not going to happen, but thanks.;)

ronaneire wrote: »

My sammy has optical out on the back not too sure about other makes.

Thank you.