Wife's given permission to get HDTV - want to pick your brains

Abooie · 30 Mar 2006 at 16:13

I was going to post this in the Home Cinema & Hi-Fi forums but as it's mainly because of the 360 I thought I'd pick your brains first.

I currently have a Toshiba 32" Picture frame TV with built in 5.1. It's a great TV and does 480P (albeit with some picture interference that's only noticable with dark images.. think Condemned, dungeons in Oblivion & no problems with Burnout etc); having the 5.1 built in has been fantastic.

Now the Mrs (yep, the boss) has given me the tentative go ahead for a HDTV solution. I sold it to her as part of the lounge decoration and said now would be a good time to stick all the 5.1 wires in the wall and stick the TV on a canter leaver giving us all the extra space etc.

My current requirements are for the 360, Standard Sky (thinking of Sky HD when it comes down in price) and maybe a HDDVD when it takes off.

I'm going for a 32" LCD as the room really doesn't need anything bigger. I've looked at the Samsung and LG 32" offerings but I'm quite taken with waiting a little and having a look at the Toshiba 32WLT66 as it seems more future proof with it's 2 HDMI inputs.

Obviously I'd like to have 5.1 but here I'm stuck, what are people here using? Seperate AV amps and speakers or all in one solutions? Every forum I've looked at has different recommendations. Would I really hear a real world difference between a £200 'solution' or a £200 / £300 amp and set of £300 speakers?

Also as it's not just going to involve a new TV I'm starting to question whether to hold out as the 360 does actually look quite good on the Tosh CRT at 480P and I don't have Sky HD or a HDDVD player yet! For a non HDTV I probably couldn't do much better tbh.

Does the 360 really look 'that' much better at 720P over 480P?

dirtydog · 30 Mar 2006 at 16:22

If I was you I'd wait until more HD content is available, ie. TV broadcasts and HDDVD movies. I gather that standard TV broadcasts look worse on an HDTV.

Anders0n · 30 Mar 2006 at 16:27

smcshaw said:
Does the 360 really look 'that' much better at 720P over 480P?

I wouldnt say so. Everything just looks slightly more crisp and clean.

GuruJockStrap · 30 Mar 2006 at 16:35

BBC won't be broadcasting HD content for ages, Sky HD will be £300-400 for the reciever and another £10 on top of you're monthly bill and the the next high def DVD format is still up in the air.

I personally wouldn't pay £700+ on a 32"+ HD LCD TV at this moment in time simply for the XBOX 360.

VIRII · 30 Mar 2006 at 16:56

I went the HD route because I wanted a much larger TV (50").
Normal TV doesn't look as crisp as it did on my old CRT (not that I watch much of it) and the older the footage the more obvious the "distortion".

The 360 looks brilliant on it though, the large screen size makes me happier and I use a "cheap" upscaling DVD player to squeeze a bit more from my DVD collection (Samsung HD950).

I spent a fortune (5 years ago) on high quality Denon amp/DSP, REL Q sub, B&W speakers etc. I think I bought a much bigger and more powerful system than I needed.

Looking in home hifi magazines I think you can get a very good setup sound wise for well under £1000.

If you only want a 32" picture then perhaps HD is not really worth the upgrade yet. For the same cash that you're looking at for your TV you could get a projector and screen and keep the old TV.

Infact, if I was to do this all again from scratch I think I would only spend about £1200 on the sound system and amp, I would get a projector (when the Ultra Bright LED projectors are readily available sub £1000) and I'd stick with a regular 32-36 CRT for normal TV for now. I'd use the projector for the 360 and DVDs.

Still if you're decorating now then do sink the cables in for the speakers (make sure it is decent cable though). The rest can be done at a later date.

Boogle · 30 Mar 2006 at 19:18

You can get the Sharp P50E or P55E series for a very good price. Their PAL (SD) performance is very, very good with the vast majority of people being unable to tell the difference between it and a genuine HD set when displaying HD content.

Definitely worth a look. Its HD ready in everything but native resolution (so it has HDMI with HDCP, but not a resolution of 1280x720 or above).

NokkonWud · 30 Mar 2006 at 19:22

I would definitely recommend getting HD, 720p DOES definitely look superior, however, get a good screen not a budget one. Whilst the Samsung and LG ones are good, they can't live with Panasonics etc..

You could go from Logitech Z-5500 5.1 THX speakers to a seperate AMP (Denon for example) and 5.1 speakers (Mordaunt-Short / Mission). The latter will sound better, the former would save you a lot.

t@xman · 30 Mar 2006 at 20:05

You may think that 32" will be enough, but mark my words, in 6 months time you'll be gagging for something larger!

If you're thinking of PS3, then make sure the hdmi is 1.3 rather than the older 1.1 or 1.2. They look the same, but PS3 is going with 1.3 (although 1.1 and 1.2 will still be useable with it).

For HD content, I'd say bugger Sky and all their expensive rubbish and go with cable. Telewest have just started selling the HD box (free to new customers or £50 for existing), which includes full PVR (120gb) and 3 tuners allowing you to record 2 channels whilst watching the 3rd. Subscription is only £5 a month more depending on which package you take.

What's also worth bearing in mind is that no mainstream TV is currently able to accept a 1080p signal. A lot of TV's are advertised as 1080p, however this is due to the screen being able to display at 1080p, but they still aren't able to input a 1080p signal (they manage a 1080p picture by upscaling a 720p, or deinterlacing a 1080i signal - known as "wobble processing") - in my opinion this is very devious marketing by the manufactures and retailors.

oweneades · 30 Mar 2006 at 20:08

To be honest if the only thing you are going to get it for at the moment is the 360 then I wouldn't bother. Yes 720p looks better than 480p but it certaiunly doesn't look £800 worth better. Especially if you are happy with the set you have now.

I would hold off and wait for everything to come down more in price.

As Nokkonwud has said there is no point in goin for a budget set as they don't offer a decent enough picture to warrent upgrading however this would cost even more and makes it worse value for money (at the moment at least)

Speaker wise it depends on the size of your room. If you have a relatively small living room then there is no point in going for ridiculkous powerful or high end speakers it would be a waste of money.

Also speakers are all down to personal preference. I for one can't tell the difference between a lot of speaker sets (although my hearing isn't perfect).

You may on the other hand be different and can tell the difference between a budget set and a expensive set, however like I have said above don't go OTT compared to the size of the room.

maddad68 · 31 Mar 2006 at 00:38

3 word's

Low refresh rate .

Hope you enjoy your as much as i do mine

kidloco · 31 Mar 2006 at 10:26

I recently took the HDTV plunge and dont regret it for a moment. after about 2 months of trawling forums and magazines i decided on a Panasonic TX-32LXD52 and its fantastic. the 360 looks just stunning when running 720p and the intergrated freeview is excellent quality too. the have just brought out a new model, the Panasonic TX-32LXD60, which has an extra HDMI socket and a few other bits and bobs. I really wouldnt reccomend a cheapo LCD screen, i looked at loads and they really are appaling

as for sound I would reccomend seperates, but it just depends on what you want to spend. I have a yamaha amp, with mission speakers all round. amp was around £350, fronts £300, rears £200 and £150 for the centre. I would really like to upgrade sometime soon but really cant afford it after getting the TV

One of the speaker packages might be a better option for you. sony do some pretty good home cinema packages which include amp, 5 speakers and a sub all for around £300

Sagalout · 31 Mar 2006 at 10:29

I know you dont NEED the size, but go for a 42" plamsa anyway! Seriously mate - I always had 32" TV's and thought they were big enough, but my god, gaming on a real big screen is just amazing, and it will make you want to watch all of your DVDs over again aswell

Boogle · 31 Mar 2006 at 11:15

Sagalout said:
I know you dont NEED the size, but go for a 42" plamsa anyway! Seriously mate - I always had 32" TV's and thought they were big enough, but my god, gaming on a real big screen is just amazing, and it will make you want to watch all of your DVDs over again aswell

You want a nice HD projector

Mmmm 80"

Sagalout · 31 Mar 2006 at 11:25

haha, yeah I'd love that! Unfortunately 'mrs said no'

JAMAL · 31 Mar 2006 at 11:28

Whatever LCD you get make sure you are sitting 3x screen size away from it, no point in going for a 40"LCD if you are sitting 4 foot away cos it will look pants!

JAMAL

VIRII · 31 Mar 2006 at 11:39

Sagalout said:
haha, yeah I'd love that! Unfortunately 'mrs said no'

Did she say why not? My mrs said "no" until I asked her why and she had no decent explanation for it. As long as it is a supplement to a regular TV I can't see why any objection can be raised.

Sagalout · 31 Mar 2006 at 12:37

She doesnt need a reason. Its like the united nations - in theory its democratic but then she can act like Russia and just veto stuff :mad:

To be fair though, I did manage to get 2 plasma's - one for the bedroom and a new HD one for the living room........and she will forever think they cost £800 combined

dirtydog · 31 Mar 2006 at 12:38

VIRII said:
Did she say why not?

Money? We're not all as rich as you

Sagalout said:
She doesnt need a reason. Its like the united nations - in theory its democratic but then she can act like Russia and just veto stuff

It's usually the USA who veto things but I take your point

VIRII · 31 Mar 2006 at 12:52

dirtydog said:
Money? We're not all as rich as you

Sagalout said:
To be fair though, I did manage to get 2 plasma's - one for the bedroom and a new HD one for the living room........and she will forever think they cost £800 combined

LOL, it is not about money it is about how womens brains "work".
My wife did not like the idea of a projector because it was "too big".
However when it is to be in addition to the 50" HDTV (which is also TOO BIG, but then it can't be that bad seeing as I can't get her out from infront of it) then she doesn't mind so much.

dirtydog said:
It's usually the USA who veto things but I take your point

Not when it comes to nuclear capabilities in Iran

dirtydog · 31 Mar 2006 at 12:58

VIRII said:
LOL, it is not about money it is about how womens brains "work".

Do the inverted commas imply that women's brains don't work?

Not when it comes to nuclear capabilities in Iran

Just in relation to anything castigating Israel or the US's other buddies, or when everyone else wanted the Iraqi sanctions lifted

Anyway I keep forgetting this isn't SC :cool: