New TV for main living room

arrowman

Hi, we are looking to put in a new alcove bookcase and TV stand combo in our living room. Our old TV, a Samsumg 32" CRT set will likely be replaced around the same time (or soon after depending on budget!!). The room its self is approx. 4.5m X 4.5m in size and the TV will be placed in the new alcove unit to the left of the stove and in the corner.
I am out of the loop as to the latest TV tech but would like to buy something which will be future proofed for at least a while. In designing our alcove unit (we are getting it made) we need to decide on size of opening or size of stand for TV and for cupboards underneath stand we need to size right to store out of sight the various "boxes" that we might need. I would like the idea of getting Netflix for example - so I presume I need a box for that??
My questions are

• What size of TV best suits this size of room?
• What storage space is needed for other equipment?
  

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

arrowman wrote: »

Hi, we are looking to put in a new alcove bookcase and TV stand combo in our living room. Our old TV, a Samsumg 32" CRT set will likely be replaced around the same time (or soon after depending on budget!!). The room its self is approx. 4.5m X 4.5m in size and the TV will be placed in the new alcove unit to the left of the stove and in the corner.
I am out of the loop as to the latest TV tech but would like to buy something which will be future proofed for at least a while. In designing our alcove unit (we are getting it made) we need to decide on size of opening or size of stand for TV and for cupboards underneath stand we need to size right to store out of sight the various "boxes" that we might need. I would like the idea of getting Netflix for example - so I presume I need a box for that??
My questions are

• What size of TV best suits this size of room?
• What storage space is needed for other equipment?
  
  
  

[*]
Hi arrowman,

Thanks for your message. For that size of room I would recommend between 43 and 49". It really depends how far away from it you'll be sitting but we have a few very good 49" TVs on offer at the moment e.g the Panasonic TX49DX600 at £599.00:

http://www.richersounds.ie/p-201921-tx49dx600b.aspx

This TV is Panasonics entry level 4K TV, it gives a great picture, a fast refresh rate and also a good smart hub. If you get a smart TV you wouldn't need to add any boxes to it to get Netflix, it'll be built directly into the TV and available through a wifi connection. With regards to other boxes are you adding the likes of a Sky box to the TV or using the in built channels? If you connect an aerial to the TV you will get Saiorview as well as Freeview Play (a 7 day catch up service available through your wifi).

Let me know what you think!

Many thanks

David

arrowman

Thanks David.

That Panasonic looks good - well respected brand too.
I have a LG in the house already (bedroom TV) and quite like it. But I am easy on brand as long as the picture quality and features stand the test of time.

I was doing a small bit of research since I posted and everyone seems to be talking about HDR - is it worth paying a bit extra for that?

When I am decorating in the room there is scope to wire up for additional speakers for the TV behind the seating area - is it worth doing that?

As regards "boxes" - I'm not sure what I need. I doubt if I'll be going the Sky route the thought of paying a monthly charge to watch TV doesn't do it for me. But I have seen people with what look like PC towers connected up to the TV what is that about?
As you can tell I am a bit green when it comes to this stuff.
I do like the look of some of content on Netflix that I seen advertised - although I know I'll be paying for that

I have 3 small kids who are slowly beginning to take over the TV and I like the idea of recording stuff and watching it later when they go to bed and when the wife an I have the room to ourselves

Richersounds.ie: John

arrowman wrote: »

Thanks David.

That Panasonic looks good - well respected brand too.
I have a LG in the house already (bedroom TV) and quite like it. But I am easy on brand as long as the picture quality and features stand the test of time.

I was doing a small bit of research since I posted and everyone seems to be talking about HDR - is it worth paying a bit extra for that?

When I am decorating in the room there is scope to wire up for additional speakers for the TV behind the seating area - is it worth doing that?

As regards "boxes" - I'm not sure what I need. I doubt if I'll be going the Sky route the thought of paying a monthly charge to watch TV doesn't do it for me. But I have seen people with what look like PC towers connected up to the TV what is that about?
As you can tell I am a bit green when it comes to this stuff.
I do like the look of some of content on Netflix that I seen advertised - although I know I'll be paying for that

I have 3 small kids who are slowly beginning to take over the TV and I like the idea of recording stuff and watching it later when they go to bed and when the wife an I have the room to ourselves

Arrowman,

thanks for the reply and yes, you are dead on Panasonic is a top brand - sometimes Panasonic don't have the very latest gadgets which some of the Korean brands may have but the picture & build quality is ALWAYS brilliant - the 49DX600 which is the Panasonic entry level Ultra HD 4K TV really does have exceptional quality, however you mention HDR and yes HDR really is a fantastic advance across all brands, its not just a 'feature' its a quality standard relating to picture quality that TV's have to meet and broadly speaking if you purchase a HDR spec TV it will outperform non HDR spec TV's ..

If you start looking at HDR Panasonics you have to move to the DX700 series - the 50DX700 adds £100 to the price so it comes out at £699 but the step-up in picture quality is massive - the DX700 series also has Panasonic's 1400Hz motion processing against the 800hz on the DX600 series which means that on screen movement is really stunning on the DX700 series - but to be honest you can tell just by looking and touching the DX700 series that its going to be good, the build quality and materials used in the 700 series are top-notch!

(...however the 49DX600 does currently have a £20 voucher deal that means its just £579 which is V tempting!)

In terms of adding rear speakers - if you can do it whilst you are decorating we would really say go for it, do make sure you use some decent speaker cable and don't forget to wire for front right / left / centre speakers as well - even if you don't get a system straight away you know that you have the cables ready to go - ask any of the Boardies in the know here and they will tell you, if you have a decent sized screen adding a reasonable surround sound system really does change your system from a TV to a cinematic experience, if you have the cables in you can add speakers and an AV amp as budget allows!

Thanks again and don't hesitate to drop us a line if you have any other queries,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew