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What to look for in a TV |
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#1 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 7,634
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What to look for in a TV
I'm looking for a new TV (LCD) but I'm a bit confused by all the specs e.g. screen size, connections, resolutions, contrast ratio etc.
Which screen size is best for a normal size bedroom? Is widescreen better than, say 15" or 17"? 2 SCARTs or 1? Is a 400:1 Contrast ratio and 250 cd/m2 brightness any good?
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,914
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only get a widescreen if you have sky or freeview etc. analogue broadcasts aren't widescreen which is a mistake lots of people make.
as for size thats up to you, a 15 inch lcd will be a little bigger than a normal portable tv. 19 inch widescreens are quite a nice size for bedrooms, depends how much you are going to watch it and the distance you will be sitting away from it. Make sure you have a good aerial to feed the tv, i would recommend freeview at least, you can get some with freeview built in too. LCD tv's tend to show up poor signals much more than older CRT tv's I'm not too clued up on contrast and brightness ratios for tv's, they depend on the size too. I would however say to look at the response time, measured in 'ms', i belive 8ms or lower is good, if its higher you will notice fast motion stuff like sports blurring. hope thats helped you a bit
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#3 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 7,634
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I'll be using it quite often - to watch TV and use my Xbox 360.
I'll be sitting about 10ft away from it. At the moment, I've found two TV's I like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...g=shopping1-21 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Daewoo-DLT20...8133318&sr=1-1 I know the Samsung's good but is the Daewoo any good? 20" with Freeview built-in for £309 looks quite good. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 359
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that samsung 1 isnt HD is it?, if thats the case then go for a different option
![]() If you wana go for samsung thought and save yourself about £40 are would rather go for this one..> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...elevisions.htm Last edited by takot : 03-05-2007 at 10:06. |
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#5 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 562
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Go widescreen and HD ready if using a 360 , a set with hdmi,component or VGA inputs is also a big plus. What else will be hooked up to it?
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Snowdonia
Posts: 2,725
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A lot of these questions depend on your own preferences and cirumstances, e.g. Quote:
Originally Posted by pault2006
Which screen size is best for a normal size bedroom?
Quote:
Is widescreen better than, say 15" or 17"?
What do you mean by "better"? Do you prefer a widescreen picture or a square(ish) picture? Also, widescreen has nothing to do with the screen size so you can't compare widescreen with 15" or 17". I've got a 17" widescreen TV, for example, so I'm afraid I can't answer whether the widescreen bit of it is better than the 17" bit of it.The reason widescreen was introduced is because experts think it's a more natural shape to look at and is easy to view. But some people don't like it, so it's up to you. Try cutting out paper or cardboard of varying sizes and shapes and put them in the bedroom in various places to see what size and shape you'd prefer. Quote:
2 SCARTs or 1?
It depends how many things with SCART connections you want to plug into the TV. 2 SCARTs is better than 1 because it gives you more flexibility but is a waste of money (if indeed a 2 SCART TV is more expensive that a single SCART one) if you're not going to use the second one.
Last edited by Chris Simon : 03-05-2007 at 15:39. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Snowdonia
Posts: 2,725
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Some quick calculations...these will be the approximate measurements (width x height) of an LCD TV screen of various size and shapes:
4:3 17" = 13.5" x 10.2" 19" = 15.2" x 11.4" 16:9 (widescreen) 17" = 14.8" x 8.3" 19" = 16.6" x 9.3" So it really depends on what you prefer, what size your room is etc. A CRT TV will be slightly less, you can probably take around half an inch to an inch off each side. Last edited by Chris Simon : 03-05-2007 at 16:00. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,151
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if you are going to be 10' away then it will be like looking at a postage stamp , i reckon a minimum of 26" is needed here , my opinion only of course
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#9 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 7,634
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My bedroom's roughly 11ft across by 9.5ft down. Distance from eye-level to LCD TV would be 8.5ft. I've always had a 'square-ish' picture (14" CRT TV and 17" LCD computer monitor). I've never tried a widescreen TV/monitor. I'm going to be connecting my Xbox, DVD player and Freeview box (if not Freeview TV) to my TV. At the moment (I change my mind a lot!), I'm hoping to get this 20" HD-Ready Daewoo TV with Freeview: http://www.homecinematv.co.uk/showpr...1e7a5a9a32cd47 It is widescreen but I don't think it's as wide as a 19" TV? Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Simon
A lot of these questions depend on your own preferences and cirumstances, e.g.
It depends on how big you consider a normal bedroom is and where you would want to the TV in relation to where you will be watching from, and your preferences for a large, medium, or small picture. What do you mean by "better"? Do you prefer a widescreen picture or a square(ish) picture? Also, widescreen has nothing to do with the screen size so you can't compare widescreen with 15" or 17". I've got a 17" widescreen TV, for example, so I'm afraid I can't answer whether the widescreen bit of it is better than the 17" bit of it. The reason widescreen was introduced is because experts think it's a more natural shape to look at and is easy to view. But some people don't like it, so it's up to you. Try cutting out paper or cardboard of varying sizes and shapes and put them in the bedroom in various places to see what size and shape you'd prefer. It depends how many things with SCART connections you want to plug into the TV. 2 SCARTs is better than 1 because it gives you more flexibility but is a waste of money (if indeed a 2 SCART TV is more expensive that a single SCART one) if you're not going to use the second one. |
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#10 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 7,634
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I'll take my 14" CRT TV down, replace it with my 17" LCD (which doesn't work anymore) and see how the size is - whether it looks like a postage stamp! Quote:
Originally Posted by paulyoung666
if you are going to be 10' away then it will be like looking at a postage stamp , i reckon a minimum of 26" is needed here , my opinion only of course
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Snowdonia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pault2006
It is widescreen but I don't think it's as wide as a 19" TV?
19" 4:3 LCD will measure approx. 15.2" x 11.4" (CRT a bit less). So it's wider but not as high. For what it's worth, I prefer widescreen, I couldn't go back to 4:3 now! I go with the experts on that one, I do find the format easier to view. Also, with digital TV, you will be missing the sides of the picture on a 4:3 TV, or else the picture will letterboxed in a thin strip across the middle of the screen, wasting the top and bottom. Films will be viewed better in widescreen. If you do get a widescreen TV then just make sure you don't make the mistake of stretching a 4:3 picture into 16:9, so producing short and fat people! If you're still undecided what to get, work out what height you want. Then work out whether you want the width to approximately equal the height (4:3) or whether you want it to be wider (16:9). You can then easily work out the width and therefore the diagonal measurement, and that refers to the stated size of the TV. Remember Pythagoras! A 4:3 TV has sides in the ratio 4:3 with a diagonal of 5. A 16:9 TV has sides in the ratio 16:9 with a diagonal 18.4. In other words, a 4:3 TV with a height of 9" will be a 15" TV. A 16:9 TV with a height of 18" will be a 37" TV. Last edited by Chris Simon : 03-05-2007 at 21:12. |
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