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Replacing my Sony CRT - seems like a downgrade! |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10
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Replacing my Sony CRT - seems like a downgrade!
So, I have a Sony Vega CRT 32" I bought many years ago and I'm still really happy with it, I find the picture quality great. However, it won't last forever, think it will be months or maybe up to a year before it dies - it's taking longer and longer to switch on!
Every now and again I have a look at replacements in John Lewis etc. I don't want a big screen 37", 40" at a push. BUT, when they're not showing some CGI bluray and are showing 'normal' tv, everything they have on display is fuzzier than my TV. Am I missng something? I don't want to spend money upgrading to find it worse? I'm not that interetsed in bluray and am happy with normal TV. I guess I could also pay more for HD with my Sky but it them seems I'm paying all this extra to try and catch up with what I already have. Are there TV's out there that will give me the decent quality I'm used to? Thanks in advance. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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We fit hundreds of Sony LCD sets, very often replacing Sony CRT sets, and the pictures on the LCD's are generally BETTER than the CRT sets.
You simply need to take account of screen size and viewing distance - the normal reason for complaints is buying a MUCH larger set and then viewing from the same distance. With HD programmes you can (and should) view from closer, but for SD you need to view from a certain minimum distance - this is no different to CRT sets, where if you were too close you could see the lines that made up the picture. Replacing your 32 with a Sony 32 LCD should be just as good or better, but you could probably move to a 37 or 40 quite easily, particularly as the set will be able to be set further back in the room. It's also important not to make an instant negative decision, LCD or Plasma pictures are 'different' to a CRT one, and it takes a few days to get used to the change. |
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#3 |
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Guest
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 8,103
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Have a look at a model TV that has free view HD tuner onboard, this way you can still watch your normal telly at no extra cost.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10
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Quote:
Have a look at a model TV that has free view HD tuner onboard, this way you can still watch your normal telly at no extra cost.
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#5 |
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Guest
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 8,103
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I live by Sky+ so wouldn't want to loose that!
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,470
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Nigel is right. In John Lewis the TVs are displayed in rows and as a result you will be standing less than 3ft from a 40inch TV (probably set to some hyped up mode) and also looking downwards at it which also makes LCDs look poor. If you view your Sony from an equivalent distance, say 2ft 6 you will find that it also looks dreadful.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Darn Sarf
Posts: 28,748
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Quote:
So, I have a Sony Vega CRT 32" I bought many years ago and I'm still really happy with it, I find the picture quality great. However, it won't last forever, think it will be months or maybe up to a year before it dies - it's taking longer and longer to switch on!
Every now and again I have a look at replacements in John Lewis etc. I don't want a big screen 37", 40" at a push. BUT, when they're not showing some CGI bluray and are showing 'normal' tv, everything they have on display is fuzzier than my TV. Am I missng something? ... Are there TV's out there that will give me the decent quality I'm used to? I'm about to buy a 50 inch HD Ready plasma at almost half the price the equivalent 42 incher was over 5 years ago, and apart from the number of pixels and connector sockets, everything is better specified than then. View it first though - find a shop where you can stand at the distance from screen of your home armchair (take a tape measure!) - and get them to change the screen picture mode to something like 'normal' and 'cinema' as well as the awful 'dynamic' setting they often have it set up on. You may not find one below 42 inches diagonal though, but at 10 feet or thereabouts, it should be fine. Save yourself some money too... I've seen even Panasonic 42 inch HD Ready plasmas recently for £330. You know it makes sense.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Sussex
Posts: 12,173
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TV's in all showrooms are set terribly and make non HD look awful. Once you get a TV home and set it up properly and view it from a normal distance (not 2 feet like in the showroom) then it looks good.
I went from a Sony KV28-FX20 Vega (I think) CRT widescreen which performed quite well and changed to a Sony 32" W4000 LCD (5 years ago) and never looked back. I did a side by side comparison before removing the old CRT and at normal viewing the LCD won hands down on all material. Of cvourse if you buy a low cost budget LCD then results may vary! |
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#9 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: At the bottom of the staircase
Posts: 2,406
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Quote:
Have a look at a model TV that has free view HD tuner onboard, this way you can still watch your normal telly at no extra cost.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
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Quote:
TV's in all showrooms are set terribly and make non HD look awful. Once you get a TV home and set it up properly and view it from a normal distance (not 2 feet like in the showroom) then it looks good.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Indeed. I think that buying any TV sets or terrestrial set top boxes without a DVB-T2 tuner is a very poor investment indeed.
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#12 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Herefordshire
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I went into a Sony shop on Saturday with a mate as he is looking at buying a new TV, i must admit, i am not a fan of LCD, I prefer plasma. but i was impressed with some of the TV they had set up in the shop. Being a small shop I presume they put more care into setting them up.
Not bad prices either for Sony, never been a fan of Sony either to be honest so thin they are now. Still not stuck on this 3d lark, still can't see the difference. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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I went into a Sony shop on Saturday with a mate as he is looking at buying a new TV, i must admit, i am not a fan of LCD, I prefer plasma. but i was impressed with some of the TV they had set up in the shop. Being a small shop I presume they put more care into setting them up.
Quote:
Not bad prices either for Sony, never been a fan of Sony either to be honest so thin they are now. ![]() Quote:
Still not stuck on this 3d lark, still can't see the difference. ![]() While I wouldn't want 3D (and there's VERY little 3D content anyway) the difference is absolutely obvious - I'm presuming you were watching 3D content and wearing the glasses?. I've carried out a VERY, VERY rough poll, with only a tiny number of participants (so it's not statistically significant), but of the 3D purchasers I've had occasion to go back to (to install something else, set up a PVR etc.) I've asked how they get on with the 3D. In ALL cases they have said they used it a bit in the first few weeks, but almost never after that. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 4,391
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OP, you are correct. If you want to watch broadcast SD, the system you have now (assuming the TV works well) will be hard to beat. However, a larger decent modern screen and an HD source would provide a better experience in most respects. It's all money though.
Cheers, David. |
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#15 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: At the bottom of the staircase
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Only if you watch Freeview - for the millions of Sky, Freesat and VM users a DVB-T2 tuner is a complete waste of money.
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#16 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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That doesn't mean that DVB-T only devices shouldn't be discontinued from being sold!
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#17 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: At the bottom of the staircase
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So you'd like to force people to pay for something they don't want and will never use? - I wasn't aware we'd become a communist country?
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#18 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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How are we supposed to transition to DVB-T2 only terrestrial broadcasts when there are so many DVB-T only devices still being sold?
And why should YOU want to force everyone to spend more money just for YOUR obsession?. |
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#19 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: At the bottom of the staircase
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Why this obsession with a possible future move to T2?.
And why should YOU want to force everyone to spend more money just for YOUR obsession?.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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People on here will soon be moaning and groaning endlessly about how we lag behind because of how many other countries in the world have transitioned from DVB-T to DVB-T2!
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#21 |
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Darn Sarf
Posts: 28,748
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Quote:
People on here will soon be moaning and groaning endlessly about how we lag behind because of how many other countries in the world have transitioned from DVB-T to DVB-T2!
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#22 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: At the bottom of the staircase
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That would just be you
![]() ![]() ![]() Seriously though, what if soon even the SD channel multiplexes migrate to DVB-T2 or the OP is based in Northern Ireland and wishes to watch the channels on the RTE mini-mux? |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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OP, you are correct. If you want to watch broadcast SD, the system you have now (assuming the TV works well) will be hard to beat. However, a larger decent modern screen and an HD source would provide a better experience in most respects. It's all money though.
Cheers, David. Low resolution/bitrate channels may look poor, but then these same channels look terrible on a CRT! (Incidentally the old chestnut about plasmas somehow being good only for SD is nonsense - as if somehow good SD and HD picture have to be mutually exclusive!). |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Seriously though, what if soon even the SD channel multiplexes migrate to DVB-T2 or the OP is based in Northern Ireland and wishes to watch the channels on the RTE mini-mux?
But assuming anything at all ever does happen, it won't be 'soon'. |
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 4,391
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Quote:
I have no complaints about the SD picture quality on my Panasonic 3D plasma.
btw Nigel, since you don't know anything about T2 switch over, it might be better not to say anything at all. Cheers, David. |
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