Enlighten an idiot - Plasma, LCD, LED???

[One Planer]

Time has come in our house hold for a new TV

Can someone give me the low down on what to look for as, to be honest, I'm a little clueless on this.

Best picture quality? Lifespan? pros' and cons'?

Any help appreciated :thup:

 

[CMAC]

a few questions first Gareth

What will you be watching most of? SD (normal telly) HD and or BD (blu-ray)
What programmes do you watch a lot of, golf obviously, footy and action movies?
What distance will the normal viewing area be?
Is it a bright room or can you control the light?

Budget and size?
what do you currently have?
How picky are you on PQ (picture quality)

 

[One Planer]

What will you be watching most of? SD (normal telly) HD and or BD (blu-ray)

We have standard def at the minute. looking to move to HD (Sky)

What programmes do you watch a lot of, golf obviously, footy and action movies?

Plenty of sports, plenty of action and PLENTY of childrens programs.

What distance will the normal viewing area be?

10-12ft approx

Is it a bright room or can you control the light?

Dim'ish room (Energy saving bulbs) but the room is generally dim as it doesn't see much sun). Lights on in day sometimes.

Budget and size?

£250 - £400

what do you currently have?

32" box back

How picky are you on PQ (picture quality)

Not keen on motion blur with things like football and golf on TV. Would like true to life colour also.

 

[Rooter]

For the budget, it screams led to me. Something like http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-ue32es5500-full-hd-32-led-tv-12448420-pdt.html

 

[the hammer]

We recently bought two of these in 40", one in lounge , one on wall in the bedroom. No complaints so far.

 

[splashtryagain]

As a rule of thumb under 40" and you go LCD, over and you look at usage. Plasma returns the best colours (at an absolute greyscale level) and performance with sd broadcasts. It also handles motion better. Led tv is marketing hype, the screens and technology used are similar to LCD. The led element refers to how the screen is lit, it is not an led display but an led lit display. HDTV on either a plasma or LCD/led will look good so it's up to you to pick the picture you like best, just remember that no tv is set up to normal viewing levels out of the box, they overcook everything to make them stand out in a showroom.
I personally use a large plasma that is now nearly 5 years old and I have yet to find anything that provides a picture that is as good, new TVs look physically nicer though.

 

[SocketRocket]

Go visit John Lewis

 

[JustOne]

If you are sitting less than 10ft from the screen then a 40" LCD as it has the best picture and low light reflectivity.

OR

A smart LED, the old LED's were rubbish but the new 'smart' LED's are pretty cool... and about as thin a TV as you're going to get right now I think.


I sit 9ft from my screen and it's a 40" LCD, it's perfect. The picture is as sharp as can be and looks fine when viewed side-on too (eg when I'm at the dining table with my neck unwound around the corner... )

 

[Smiffy]

Two tips.....
If it's LCD or LED you end up going for......Samsung.
If it's Plasma.......Panasonic.

Oh, 3rd tip.
Buy the biggest screen you can afford. Because I can guarantee if you stick to a smaller screen you will wish you had a bigger one after a couple of weeks. It's amazing how the size of a screen always shrinks once it's up on the wall.

 

[gripitripit]

Would this be any good to ya?

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/cos_1,cos_1.1,cos_1.1.1/142976

Or on a more serious note

http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsung/ps43e450/sams-ps43e450a1

 

[G1BB0]

haha, that is mahoosive, a colleague was working at a place with cinema in basement, snooker room and bar with pinball, fruit machines etc... was something to do with Arsenal... grrrrrrrr

 

[Rooter]

One more thing, if you are going to buy online or even click and collect from Currys, Sign up to www.quidco.com they are currently offering 6% cashback on all TV sales today only!!

 

[CMAC]

Hi Gareth, sorry for the delay, thanks for your answers. You haven't stated what size you want but as you have a 32" I'm assuming you'll want larger now- would be rude not to-

There's a Samsung 50" Plasma at JL right now that is just outstanding value at £699 and with the Sammy promo you get another Sammy product up to £100 free (sammy 3D BD player is £89 at JL)

just sharing that one but based on budget you've had a couple of good suggestions....

heres 2 more to consider in the pot- go and see them if you can

http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsung/ue40es5500/sams-ue40es5500

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsun...81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istItemId=qqpxmxaq&istBid=t

 

[gripitripit]

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsun...81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istItemId=qqpxmxaq&istBid=t

Only 50hz though.

 

[CMAC]

Only 50hz though.

Didn't notice that, scrub that one for motion

 

[walshawwhippet]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsung/ue40es5500/sams-ue40es5500

Cracking telly :thup:

 

[gripitripit]

Didn't notice that, scrub that one for motion

I had a look at that one until I seen the hz...! Golf is poor with anything under 100.

 

[GreiginFife]

Got the Samsung UE40D6100 and it's a superb TV, picture clarity and motion (200Hz) is fantastic.
The 3D (active) is pretty good too, very little ghost or bleed.