Best Value Flatscreen for the money - advise please?

[Azanti]

I am about to get a new TV, I want to get a 42 - 52 inch tv or somewhere inbetween with a good sound system.



My budget at the top end will be around £1500. (Low end £500)



What would people recommend?

[Windthrop]

name='Azanti']I am about to get a new TV, I want to get a 42 - 52 inch tv or somewhere inbetween with a good sound system.



My budget at the top end will be around £1500. (Low end £500)



What would people recommend?

The 'new kid on the block' as far as flat screens is the LED screen TV (which is a development of the LCD system) which is being muted as the future for large flat screens and may replace both plasma and LCD. Samsung and others are producing them and the 46" versions are retailing at the top end of your budget (55" are generally over 2k). The LED's are very new and the prices are still on the high side.

[Film Man]

Go to 'Richer Sounds'...The only place where you will get a bargain and the information you want!

Film Man.

[Wolfgang]

If it is for mainly watching films definitely plasma.

[ican]

After spending the past few years researching whether to go for LCD or plasma and how much to spend, I finally had to take the plunge, ignored much of the negative user experiences to be found on the net and made my own value judgement. Just make sure you buy a screen that is FULL HD, not just HD ready and don't go too low with the price barrier.



For what its worth I purchased a Panasonic TX-P42V10 plasma a couple of months ago and all my real fears such as not being able to watch my collection of old British sci-fi movies washed away. The Blu-ray player I also purchased (Panasonic DMP-BD60) plays and upscales standard DVDs beautifully (but not Region 1). The only real downside is that DVDs via scart look poor compared to the Bluray (buy a DVD player with component or HDMI upscale), the audio on the TV itself is quite poor for something other than normal TV watching. You will need to purchase a separate sound system and if you do I would recommend buying one that accepts HDMI.



Yesterday I looked back at Panasonic TH-P42V10 and TH-P50V10 Owners Thread - Part 1 - AVForums.com which is where I looked for info before I made my purchase. I did find it useful but having lived with the set for a while some of the negatives in that forum are IMHO due to user error or misplaced fears. All in all though despite loving my new purchase I think the LCD/Plasma/Digital TV market is appalling for the average person who just wants a good telly. The quality of some of the lower end products is astoundingly bad or the user interface is too complicated to understand, the abandonement of the traditional CRT was a mistake.

[Bedelia]

I'd recommend Sony LCD (Amazon's good for comparing models and customer reviews; and their delivery service is speedy) - great picture quality and value for money.

[GoggleboxUK]

If price is important I'd recommend BigPockets.co.uk Blank Media, CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, DL+, Dual Layer, 8cm, Recordable Discs, Epson, HP, Cartridges, PCs, Laptops, DVD Cases, LCD HD TVs, Free Delivery



Sign up for their newsletter and they'll email you extremely good but very limited offers. I got a very nice 32" HD LCD for my son about 16 months ago for £229 including delivery.

[Lord Brett]

I got an LG LCD model from Richer Sounds which has built-in Freeview and Freesat, solving the problem of having nothing to watch is you're recording from satellite once the analogue system is switcvhed off in the next year or so.



LG 42LF7700 42in LCD TV Review - TV Reviews - TrustedReviews

[autolycus]

I'd recommend an extended warranty whichever set you go for. Repairs can be horrendously expensive. John Lewis do a "free" 5 year warranty on all TVs. Prices tend to be high, but they do price match and they are very good to deal with if you have any problems. I finally settled on a Sony LCD from them and i've been very pleased with it.



BTW as i understand it the so-called LED sets are actually just LED backlit LCD TVs, which gives them a slimmer profile; true (organic) OLED TVs are some time away yet although i believe Sony do a 5" one for about £1500 :-)

[Film Man]

As I said ...Try Richer Sounds...this bunch will tie you up in knots!

Film Man

[Lord Brett]

I agree with Film Man. You're guaranteed at Richer Sounds to get an assistant who knows what they're talking about, instead of the dreaded 'Saturday Lad' one tends to wind up with at Curry's.

[Carl V]

I'm not an expert on TV technology, but I have heard that plasmas suffer from "screen burn" where a channel logo or on-screen graphic can somehow "burn" itself onto the screen if it has been on for too long. Maybe this was just when they first came out, but I would be interested in knowing if this is true, if there are any plasma owners here.

[GoggleboxUK]

name='Carl V']I'm not an expert on TV technology, but I have heard that plasmas suffer from "screen burn" where a channel logo or on-screen graphic can somehow "burn" itself onto the screen if it has been on for too long. Maybe this was just when they first came out, but I would be interested in knowing if this is true, if there are any plasma owners here.

Plasmas are still prone to this but 2 minutes with a DVD on fast forward will clear it. In the early days it was there forever. No fun if you had Sky where every channel has a permanent logo on screen.

[Carl V]

name='GoggleboxUK']Plasmas are still prone to this but 2 minutes with a DVD on fast forward will clear it. In the early days it was there forever. No fun if you had Sky where every channel has a permanent logo on screen.

Thank you Gogglebox. It was the channel logos that would be of a concern if I were to get one, especially now with the red interactive dots that seem to be on all the time. Let's see how much longer my current CRT television lasts.

[Wolfgang]

I imagine if you watch lots of black and white films another thing going for plasma is their superior contrast. I bet Blu-Ray black and white classics look gorgeous on plasma.



I am also wondering if you watch many films taped off TV like we do on Britmovie or copied from deleted videos unlikely to get Blu-Ray releases if 720 HD ready would be better option than 1080 Full HD? Do your normal VHS tapes look noticeably worse if they are upscaled to 1080?

[Windthrop]

name='Wolfgang']I imagine if you watch lots of black and white films another thing going for plasma is their superior contrast. I bet Blu-Ray black and white classics look gorgeous on plasma.



I am also wondering if you watch many films taped off TV like we do on Britmovie or copied from deleted videos unlikely to get Blu-Ray releases if 720 HD ready would be better option than 1080 Full HD? Do your normal VHS tapes look noticeably worse if they are upscaled to 1080?

You can usually adjust the resolution and the image size to help, you can on my Panasonic anyway

[mrs_emma_peel]

Which? magazine recommends the Panasonic Viera range as the finest LCD televisions on the market today – with Sony Bravia coming a very close second. Panasonic, or Sony, would probably my choice for my next television.



Which? magazine:

The stunning rosta of Best Buys from both 2007 and 2008 is testament to the quality gap Panasonic has put between itself and the rest of the flat-panel TV market. Whether LCD or plasma TVs they are simply streets ahead of the competition. But there have been some cracks showing – bizarrely enough in their top-of-the-range models.



Panasonic currently offers the best LCD and plasma TVs we have ever tested. Admittedly they tend to be pricier than some of the competition but it’s hard to fault most of the models we've tested. They are easier to use and more energy efficient than most other brands and offer a good level of functionality. However, it's picture quality that usually stands Panasonic out from the crowd – be it standard or high definition.



Best Buy LCD, LED and plasma TVs for great picture and sound. Otherwise you may find your new flat screen TV gives a worse picture than your old set.



Standards have never been higher in the flat-panel TV market and we've seen a real improvement in television display quality over the past year. Best Buy regular Panasonic still stands out as the best television brand, but the likes of Sony, Philips, LG and Samsung, with its new LED TVs, are giving it a run for its money.



Panasonic (Viera range) continues to be at the cutting edge of flat panel TV technology. It was the first to market with integrated Freesat plasma and LCD TVs and was among the first to include audio description and power saving light sensors as standard. All its 2008 range – be it entry or top-of-the-range now come with memory card slots.



Pros: Picture quality, ergonomics, versatile features, innovation – you name it, Panasonic leads the field.

Cons: The high-end plasma PZ ranges do not deliver the high quality standard-definition picture we’ve come to expect from Panasonic.

Brand reliability … above average.



Sony (Bravia range) TVs tend to be pricier than most and, although usually fairly intuitive to use, the Sony menu system is not always as logically laid out as it should be. Sony pulled out of the plasma television market a few years ago and now concentrate solely on LCD TVs.



Pros: Expect your Sony television to be feature packed. The best Sony LCD TVs usually boast outstanding picture and sound quality.

Cons: Occasionally Sony TVs fails to deliver top-notch picture quality.

Brand reliability … above average.



Our Best Buy TVs impress not only our eagle-eyed viewing panel but our listening and ergonomic experts too.

The choice of how you watch digital TV has recently expanded with the launch of Freesat from the BBC and ITV. This non-subscription satellite service, launched in May 2008, offers more than 80 channels, plus some free high-definition TV content – up to now HDTV has largely been the preserve of those willing to pay monthly subscriptions for Sky or Virgin HD services.



To make sure you've got the best television, we test almost all the best-selling models and add new reviews and first looks every month, so keep an eye out for brand new Best Buy TVs. If you fancy a more compact television, check our reviews of smaller-screened LCD TVs, and for some useful advice on how to connect-up and get the best possible picture, click on our guide to setting up your TV.



In the Which? Top 12 guide table to the best, highest rated televisions …

there are 7 Panasonic Viera models and 5 Sony Bravia models.



Source Which? Best Television Buys … August 2009

[GoggleboxUK]

You may find thus site worth a look:



TVs | LCD TV | Cheap LCD TVs and Cheap Plasma TVs from Direct TVs

[MrT]

I have a Sony Bravia model and am very happy to recommend it. Picture and sound quality are excellent, picture settings can be varied between "Vivid", "Standard" and "Cinema" modes which allows for adjustment of the picture to whatever background light is present in the room. Viewing black and white films in "Cinema" mode has been particularly enjoyable, giving a very slight brown filter to the picture, very subtle and only discernible when compared directly with the "vivid" and "standard" modes.



MrT

[ican]

name='Wolfgang']I am also wondering if you watch many films taped off TV like we do on Britmovie or copied from deleted videos unlikely to get Blu-Ray releases if 720 HD ready would be better option than 1080 Full HD? Do your normal VHS tapes look noticeably worse if they are upscaled to 1080?

I've just looked at various VHS to DVD-R transfers that I've made over the past few years, fitting an average of 3 hours per 4.38GB disc. I have some acquired rarities that are recorded from VHS tape at poor bit rates with quite bad blocking. I've played them from my BD player via HDMI to my plasma and the picture quality is very good at a normal sitting distance, the colours and blacks are solid on the better transfers with no evidence of what I would call milkiness on the contrast, certainly not worse than my old 32inch CRT - which was my major worry before I made the leap.

I've played them at full HD and lower resolutions and noticed no great change in picture quality. If you play the same disc off a standard DVD player via SCART into the same plasma the picture quality is very poor. So in answer to your question I would say on my plasma at least the VHS tapes I have transferred to DVD look no worse if they are upscaled to 720 or 1080...in fact my kids are sick of me saying "Thats amazing" everytime I put a new disc in or switch over the BBC HD.

(I ended up watching the full 3 hours of the A-Z of Television and a lousy copy of the 1939 Just William film after dipping into them for the test.)