HD telly advice need - PLEASE!!!

[AndyC]

Right ok, so let me get this straight:

 

- Theres nothing on Sky HD that is making full use of it, bar really the footie (which is a big thing). So not worth full HD for this alone.

- PS3 & Blu Ray will really look their best on full HD. This is my main reason for getting the TV, so I should really be going for the 1080p then shouldn't I?

 

janoof's posting made me decide on 1080i then after seeing ir_fuel's its made me think again.

 

Why can't they just make a HD and have done, this is absolutely ridiculous; 17 squillion options and nobody in any of the shops is any more clued up than your average Mars bar

[Rob_Quads]

Discovery do some nice stuff in HD, They had done a number of 1080p stuff too.

 

Also got Band of Brothers in 1080p which is very nice (even though I am only showing it in 720p.

 

There is 1080p stuff out there but you really have to go looking.

 

IMO Football or Movies are the only reasons to get HD at the moment, anything else is not really worth it

[Jacko]

Discovery do some nice stuff in HD, They had done a number of 1080p stuff too.

 

Also got Band of Brothers in 1080p which is very nice (even though I am only showing it in 720p.

 

There is 1080p stuff out there but you really have to go looking.

 

IMO Football or Movies are the only reasons to get HD at the moment, anything else is not really worth it

 

Whats Sky One HD in ? I know they put some programmes on there later that ain't HD, but some of the primetime shows are. But agreed, some of the Discovery HD stuff is nice......

[M13KYF]

the primetime shows are most likely up resed.

 

 

The whole cost in production and post production is massive in terms of kit to do it with. Most likely shot the same way as before. America doesn't even use widescreen (16:9) anyway.

[Rob_Quads]

the primetime shows are most likely up resed.

 

 

The whole cost in production and post production is massive in terms of kit to do it with. Most likely shot the same way as before. America doesn't even use widescreen (16:9) anyway.

 

Most of the main American Shows like 24, Lost etc are all being filmed in HD rather than being upconverted. Lost is much better in HD than SD.

[janoof1]

i had an xbox 360 running on a normal 4:3 28inch 5 year old crt tv for a few months then decided to upgrade to a better tv

i got the samsung 32inch lcd for £450 in a electroninc store -brand new full warranty its only capable of 1080p through the serial pc input - ive connected the xbox through the component input with 1080i and it is unbelievable -gears cod3 look spectacular some other games like test drive or project gotham don' t seem to look much better , sky digital hd isnt brilliant either - ithink its only in 720 - fact of the matter is any appreciable quality difference in 1080i and 1080p is not noticable to to 95% of the public ,

 

Really interesting mate, thanks for that. Your last bit about it being not noticeable is very good - think thats just made the decision for me, I'm going for the i. Where did you source the TV from?

 

Cheers all for all you help & advice its been really useful

 

i found the deal in an independant store- but i got a local currys to price match it in birmingham, had to wait about 3 weeks for it though

you notice sky hd doesnt look as imperssive as 1080 on the xbox - even when you set the digibox to its highest settings as mike said all the programs are "upscaled" in quality

[Jacko]

the primetime shows are most likely up resed.

 

 

The whole cost in production and post production is massive in terms of kit to do it with. Most likely shot the same way as before. America doesn't even use widescreen (16:9) anyway.

 

Most of the main American Shows like 24, Lost etc are all being filmed in HD rather than being upconverted. Lost is much better in HD than SD.

 

Yeah I thought those shows were, as it does say its a HD signal and you can see the difference.

 

Thought HD had been in states for ages Mike, I remember when I went back in 2000 that they were selling HD sets then, prob early ones but still HD (although god knows what signal support etc)

[rickya]

LCD go for Samsung or Sony

Plasma go for Pioneer or Panasonic

(in that order IMO)

 

Anything more than 32" or 36" go for Plasma

 

Best Tv's money can but IMO at the moment has to be Pioneer Plasmas. Most are HD; Pioneer PDP-4270XD £1,300 from Dixons online; with that buy a Sky HD box; with HD gold plated quality lead; & bobs your Uncle! (& gold plated quality scart for dvd player)

 

ps the above model has one HD output for e.g. Sky, if you want to connect another HD output e.g. HD DVD player then go for model PDP 427XD which is a little more money but has 3 HD inputs & is wall mountable & slimmer.

 

Wouldnt bother with HD DVD players at the moment as new technology & too expensive. Blue Ray also too new & format not established yet. Better to wait & see who wins the format battle.

[sl114]

Just for your info, Sky have just recruited my friend as a project manager to start the build on their new 600 HD channel playout system. Currently a HD channel will use the same bandwidth as 4 normal channels and if it is transmitting Dolby 7.1 it uses up 8 times more bandwidth than a normal SD channel, hence they are only using it on certain channels and certain shows. Big budget shows such as Lost, 24, CSI, and in some respect music videos/live performances are shooting in HD however they are only transmitted in this country as a high res SD channel as said before. They look a lot better though due to the contrast and colour definition that you get from a HD camera and post production suite.

 

Personally i would not be buying anything yet anyway and wait for Blueray and HD-DVD to have their battle first, before going down the HDTV route. Also prices will be going down a lot come August.

 

ALSO - August will see the release of a PS3 game, which will spark a reduction in price of the PS3 so i would wait until then to buy one.

[Sarnie]

ALSO - August will see the release of a PS3 game, which will spark a reduction in price of the PS3 so i would wait until then to buy one.

 

What game and why would it spark a price reduction?

[sl114]

ALSO - August will see the release of a PS3 game, which will spark a reduction in price of the PS3 so i would wait until then to buy one.

 

What game and why would it spark a price reduction?

ahhh i cant possibly say yet

 

It will spark a reduction due to the first units in production being sold and then the package will be cheaper than they are currently. This always happens with new technology

[Liam's Z]

ALSO - August will see the release of a PS3 game, which will spark a reduction in price of the PS3 so i would wait until then to buy one.

 

What game and why would it spark a price reduction?

ahhh i cant possibly say yet

 

It will spark a reduction due to the first units in production being sold and then the package will be cheaper than they are currently. This always happens with new technology

 

pm then dawg

[sl114]

it is not confirmed as of yet, but i will ask their developer tomorrow and find out if they can tell me anything. I dont think it is GT5 as that due for release at Christmas i think.

[AndyC]

LCD go for Samsung or Sony

Plasma go for Pioneer or Panasonic

(in that order IMO)

 

Anything more than 32" or 36" go for Plasma

 

Best Tv's money can but IMO at the moment has to be Pioneer Plasmas. Most are HD; Pioneer PDP-4270XD £1,300 from Dixons online; with that buy a Sky HD box; with HD gold plated quality lead; & bobs your Uncle! (& gold plated quality scart for dvd player)

 

ps the above model has one HD output for e.g. Sky, if you want to connect another HD output e.g. HD DVD player then go for model PDP 427XD which is a little more money but has 3 HD inputs & is wall mountable & slimmer.

 

Wouldnt bother with HD DVD players at the moment as new technology & too expensive. Blue Ray also too new & format not established yet. Better to wait & see who wins the format battle.

 

Thanks Ricky, had a really good chat with our IT guy last night who has pretty much backed up what you said. Downside with the Pioneer is though that it isn't full HD, its a 768 - thought it looked too good to be true.

 

I've decided that I'm going for the Samsung LE40F71BX which is full 1080p with 2 HDMI ports. Best price seems to be around £1200.

 

For anyone looking at these, what I've found is that you can't get the full HD (1080p) on anything smaller than a 40" and it has to be lcd at that size too. Plasma available at full HD on bigger sizes.

 

There are 3 on the market at 40" of which the Samsung is the best (Sony is the next option but Samsung manufacture the screens for Sony so the only difference is the electronics which aren't significantly better enough to justify the difference in price).

 

Also on the Samsung the dynamic contrast ratio (contrast - basically the higher the number the brighter the colours and differentiation between them is therefore easier and hence the picture looks sharper) is 6000:1, on a normal TV you're looking at around 800-1000. Plasmas apparently are unlikely to hit the 5000 mark (I'm told ever but I hesitate to use that word).

 

Now I'm going for a lie down..........

[ir_fuel]

ALSO - August will see the release of a PS3 game, which will spark a reduction in price of the PS3 so i would wait until then to buy one.

 

What game and why would it spark a price reduction?

 

Because it will be so crappy nobody will want to buy it at full price

[AndyC]

it is not confirmed as of yet, but i will ask their developer tomorrow and find out if they can tell me anything. I dont think it is GT5 as that due for release at Christmas i think.

 

Think GT5 is May but I could be wrong.

[Jacko]

Personally i would not be buying anything yet anyway and wait for Blueray and HD-DVD to have their battle first, before going down the HDTV route. Also prices will be going down a lot come August.

 

Just wondering why this would affect your choice of HDTV? I mean, if like me you bought one that supports 1080p then you going to be ok no matter what format wins?

 

Also, do you reckon Blueray will be the dominant format considering the fact that its going to be in PS3s?

 

Just wondering.....

[AndyC]

Personally i would not be buying anything yet anyway and wait for Blueray and HD-DVD to have their battle first, before going down the HDTV route. Also prices will be going down a lot come August.

 

Just wondering why this would affect your choice of HDTV? I mean, if like me you bought one that supports 1080p then you going to be ok no matter what format wins?

 

Also, do you reckon Blueray will be the dominant format considering the fact that its going to be in PS3s?

 

Just wondering.....

 

Bang on with the TV point Jacko, this is another reason for plumping for the 1080p now - its future proof. This screen is going to last me till it wears out.

 

I think that Blu Ray has got a big advantage with being installed in the PS3, especially considering the PS2 is the biggest selling console. You'd have to say that the PS3 will also start to become that (whether it does become it only time will tell), but you can't help thinking that Sony have really shot themselves in the foot by being so far behind the Xbox 360.

[ir_fuel]

They shot themselves in the foot with the design of the ps3 too

[AndyC]

They shot themselves in the foot with the design of the ps3 too

 

Maybe but thats probably a tactical move as is not launching the other colours yet - they'll do exactly what they did with the PS2 and launch a slimline version in around 2yrs.

[Jacko]

Personally i would not be buying anything yet anyway and wait for Blueray and HD-DVD to have their battle first, before going down the HDTV route. Also prices will be going down a lot come August.

 

Just wondering why this would affect your choice of HDTV? I mean, if like me you bought one that supports 1080p then you going to be ok no matter what format wins?

 

Also, do you reckon Blueray will be the dominant format considering the fact that its going to be in PS3s?

 

Just wondering.....

 

Bang on with the TV point Jacko, this is another reason for plumping for the 1080p now - its future proof. This screen is going to last me till it wears out.

 

I think that Blu Ray has got a big advantage with being installed in the PS3, especially considering the PS2 is the biggest selling console. You'd have to say that the PS3 will also start to become that (whether it does become it only time will tell), but you can't help thinking that Sony have really shot themselves in the foot by being so far behind the Xbox 360.

 

Yeah exactly..... thats why I bought the Sony KDL-46W2000

 

Wanted something future proof no matter what for that sort of money.

Love it and its 1080p, handles normal pics as well as can be expected. Good review of it here:

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39030219,49285565,00.htm

(Same tv as mine, but mine 46" not 40")

[Jacko]

Just one other point...... I did loads of digging around....

 

Thought these might be useful for anyone looking around.

 

These were the cheapest I found for most makes... bought two Samsung LCDs from here and service was excellent.

http://www.prcdirect.co.uk/home.php

 

But these were chepest for Sony and based in Kearsley, Bolton! I bought Bravia from here.

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/

 

Also, I found this site useful for reviews....

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/televisions/

 

Hope that helps

[ir_fuel]

They shot themselves in the foot with the design of the ps3 too

 

Maybe but thats probably a tactical move as is not launching the other colours yet - they'll do exactly what they did with the PS2 and launch a slimline version in around 2yrs.

 

I m not talking about the box. I m talking about the contents of the box

[sl114]

Personally i would not be buying anything yet anyway and wait for Blueray and HD-DVD to have their battle first, before going down the HDTV route. Also prices will be going down a lot come August.

 

Just wondering why this would affect your choice of HDTV? I mean, if like me you bought one that supports 1080p then you going to be ok no matter what format wins?

 

Also, do you reckon Blueray will be the dominant format considering the fact that its going to be in PS3s?

 

Just wondering.....

Im thinking a full package with a HD DVD player as well so get it all at the same time. Just the way i like to buy a new TV and DVD player, plus surround sound etc...you are right though, there is no reason to wait on the "p" side of things, however prices will start to drop when one starts taking over the market due to (for example) Sony and Blueray selling more, thus lowering prices because of exonomies of scale. Im probably wrong though as i was crap at business studies.

[Chesterfield]

Although some studios (Fox and others) have backed blue ray only. Others (Universal for example) have backed HD-DVD only.

 

Although the blue ray format is shipping with the PS3, this is hardly a prerequisite to it "winning the war". Although it will of course help, a lot.

 

For the first two months of this year, Blue Ray film sales outstripped HD-DVD film sales. Why? Is it more popular? or could it be that many people who bought a PS3, bought a Blue Ray film just to see what it looked like?

 

Give it a couple of months and people will realise that for the extra cost of Blue Ray (or HD-DVD for that matter) - do they really appreciate the picture difference? Especially if their current DVD player upscales the image to 1080p anyway? (it is noticeable, but for the price difference?)

 

So yes, Sony having a Blue Ray player built in to the PS3 will certainly aid sales of Blue Ray media, but is it enough to push Blue Ray as the winner of the Hi Def film market? Many will, afterall, be buying the PS3 to play games, not movies.

 

MS and the xbox 360 however have played an ace card by not opting for any format built in, which means at the drop of a hat, they can launch a blue ray add on instead of selling the HD-DVD add on. Cunning eh?

 

Then the big one.....

 

Piracy.

 

Piracy, although illegal, will have a MASSIVE part to play in deciding which format wins. There are already programs out there that allow people to decode HD-DVD disks to their hard drive, all that is missing is the cheap means to burn these back to a blank HD-DVD.

 

Once the ability to pirate HD-DVD's on the "cheap" arrives, then HD-DVD rentals will go through the roof.

 

Its a sad fact, but as soon as its cheaper to copy a HD-DVD than it is to buy it off the shelf, it will bring a whole new wave of people to HD-DVD.

 

Although ultimately the studios will want to stamp out any piracy, and probably introduce new copy protection methods - I cant help but wonder if these have been left deliberatley "easy" now, so as to actually use the power of the pirates to win the format war initially?