With "Freesat" arriving late spring I'm thinking of buying a new 37" or 40" LCD TV, I have a couple of questions being an absolute novice on technology.

- My Sofa to my actual TV is about 2 metres - Which shall I choose 37" or 40"?

- Is FULL HD necessary? I'll be using the LCD for "PS2", "Freesat" (With SD and HD) and Blu-Ray when it becomes a tad bit cheaper.

- Is 720p best for 37" LCD's? Will for the LCD downscale for example "BBC HD's" 1080i output on to the 720p screen?

Which do you think I should choose?

I have a budget of about 1.500€.

Any tips on good LCD's on the market?

Any advice is much appreciated!!!

Ferdie

Full HD really makes VERY little difference, and at 2 metres you are a little close for watching SD on a 37 inch or a 40 - for HD at 2 metres a 40 inch would be better than a 37 though.

At two metres 37-inch is too big. I have a four metre lounge and a 32inch TV and I believe this is the optimum size, especially for SD & DVD.


No. Refer to the latest issue of What HiFi where they reviewed a 32" Full HD set and declared no discernible difference between Full HD and HD-Ready at this size. The bigger the screen size the bigger the difference. These days most HD-Ready sets also accept Full-HD video which they down-scale to their native resolution.


Depends on the screen resolution. As a rule of thumb use the output signal resolution as close as possible to your screen resolution. Most 32" screens have vertical resolution of 736 lines so use 720p. bigger screens commonly have 1080 lines so use 1080i.


Panasonic make exceptional screens at 32, 37 and 42 inch sizes and are good value especially online. Do some reading, check out reviews etc.

The latest Panasonic TX-32LZD80 is 32" AND FULL-HD and comes in at £800. Seems perfectly suited.

Many Thanks!!!!

I have a code from work to get to 25% off at Panasonic's website on any product, due to my employers association with a sporting event. It is valid until the end of the year and can be used by more than one person. I may be willing to share it if you want to send me a PM. The first five can have it

I'm ten feet away from a 46inch full HD panel right now and it's amazing.

Home 'Cinema'.

AFAIK the term FULL HD refers to a 1080p display.

This months "dvd review" includes my Panasonic tv in it and says its not FULL HD only "HD ready" even though it is 1080p -- the Richer Sounds website even says its only 1080i.

Where does this misinformation come from?

A lot of HD Ready panels will accept 1080p inputs but obviously they don't display it in 1080p. Your Panasonic is probably one of them, like mine (42PX80).

Personally, I can't even imagine that I'll ever want to input anything at 1080p - never mind display at 1080p. Frankly, I'm very happy at SD although if HDTV becomes completely free with no new equipment to buy (unlikely), I'll probably watch it occasionally.

'Full HD' refers to the resolution of the panel, 1080 vertical pixels rather than the usual 768 vertical pixels of an HD 'Ready set'

Progressive or Interlaced doesn't really apply, as the resolution is the same in either case - and all LCD/Plasma displays are actually 'Progressive' anyway due to the way they work.

Yes, describing a 768 panel like my 50PX70 that can accept a 1080p signal as 1080i only (lots do) is as illogical as you can get.

The only proper way to describe a panel TV is to quote both what inputs it will accept and what it's native resolution is.

When I input Sky HD the tv tells me its a 1080i input.

When I input the PS3 or the HD DVD it tells me its 1080p.

And the improvement in quality when changing the Sky from 720 to 1080 is obvious.

I have the Panasonic 32" Viera tv- it says in the manual the pixel count is 1366 W x 768 V

[quote=Nigel Goodwin;22733150]'Full HD' refers to the resolution of the panel, 1080 vertical pixels rather than the usual 768 vertical pixels of an HD 'Ready set'
QUOTE]

This is not correct. HD Ready refers to any set with a vertical resolution of more than 720 lines, be it 768, 1080 or whatever. There are many 1080 lines sets that are "merely" HD Ready", and more still that cannot display or receive 1080p signals.

PLEASE DON'T ASSUME THAT BECAUSE A T HAS 1080 LINES IT IS AUTOMATICALLY FULL HD.

Full HD means any set capable of receving and displaying a 1080 line signal progressivly i.e. 1080p

I agree it is misleading for retailers to state a set is Full HD when it cannot display true full HD, albeit it can receive and scale to suit it's native resolution.

[quote=Southak;22797223]
My Panasonic tv tells me when I input a 1080p signal and when I input 1080i or something less.

So is it HD Ready or Full HD.

Surely if it wasnt able to display 1080p it would ask me to alter the device (ps3/hddvd) to 1080i or whatever it was able to display

[quote=dennisspooner;22797435]
Full HD is normally used for displays that will both accept 1080p signals and have a native resolution of 1920x1080, this is not an official term but is clearly understood.

Many people use the term 1080p as meaning that the panel is full HD and therefore has a full resolution. This is however illogical and quoting something like 1080p can only sensibly refer to what inputs the TV will accept not what it outputs. (what standard panel TV will output 1080i which is how some of these people refer to minimal HD ready TVs?)

[quote=Southak;22797223]
I would disagree, Full HD is merely the resolution of the panel, it's nothing to do with Interlaced or Progressive.

[quote=dennisspooner;22797435]
It is HD Ready. Panasonic TH50PX70 is a 1366 x 768 resolution screen. No matter what the signal input you areonly ever getting a maximum of 1366x768 pixels and therefore, progressive or not, it is NOT a FULL HD panel - albiet it can accept 1080p signals and match them to its native resolution.