All the TVs Rtings.com has tested this year (updated 11th June 2019):
FORUMITES AND THEIR TV'S;
Its back The old thread was old and out of date..so I will be producing a ongoing thread which we will update as and when we create more info.
In the meantime, post away with your questions, and any thoughts on the new thread.
Regards,
Glowy
HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISON What is it?
4 times the amount of detail on HD broadcasts (A broadcast of 720 lines)
What do I need?
A HD Ready TV (explained later on)
A HD source (see below).
The relevant HD cables.
Where can I get it?
Sky
Virgin
High Definition DVD (HD DVD/ Blu Ray)
Is it available on Freeview?
No not yet, potentially, but not until the analogue signal has been switched off at the earliest.
How much does it cost?
SKY HD - £150 from Sky (£60 install for exisitng, £30 for new customers). £75 from a retailer, install charge still applies.£10 per month for HD mix.
Potential installation costs (£60)
V+ ? (anyone)
How do I know if my TV is HD ready?
Your TV will be HD ready if:
It is capable of displaying a minimum of 720 line progressively.
Has a HDMI/DVI and component inputs.
Is HDCP enabled (high definition copy protection) This stops illegal copying of HD material.
What is this 720/1080 malarkey?
High definition is broadcast in 3 different formats
720 progressive
1080 interlaced
1080 progressive
All broadcasts at the moment are done in 720p, if you have a 1080 set then you can take advantage of the 1080i setting as it won’t have to downscale the picture to your TV’s native resolution.
Noting is yet broadcast in 1080p. The only products that use it are HD DVD and the PS3.
For a set to be 1080p ready it needs to have a native pixel resolution of 1920x1080. A list of 1080 ready sets will be listed further down the page.
What does the specs all mean?
Pixel resolution – This is the amount of pixels on your TV screen, the more pixels the sharper the picture (in theory) though manufacturers now add their own picture elements (bravia engine/ pixel plus/ XD engine etc) which enhances the picture further.
There are 3 types of pixel resolution you will come across:
1366x768 – primarily found on nearly every LCD TV.
1024x768 – found on plasma TV’s.
1920x1080 – found on 1080 ready sets.
Contrast Ratio – This determines the sharpness of the picture, the higher then number then the sharper the picture tends to be, blacks will look very sharp and whites will be nice and bright, low ratios tend to create ‘washed’ out looks and the colours can ‘bleed’ into each other.
So what's Dynamic Contrast and Native Contrast?
When buying a new HDTV you have probably looked into the different contrast ratios on each set. However, you need to be careful when looking because many LCD TVs will quote dynamic contrast ratios whereas plasma screens will quote native contrast ratios. So this is where big LCD manufacturers (Samsung started it all off) have been misleading the customers with these high numbers.
The way they measure dynamic contrast ratio is the key to these high numbers:
They will start with a black screen with the backlight dimmed right down and end with a white screen with the backlight turned right up to full brightness. This measurement between the two will determine the dynamic contrast ratio.
The native contrast ratio is measured with the white and black on the same screen so backlight control is not a factor.
Typically an LCDs native contrast will be around 1200:1 - 1500:1. Whereas a plasma screen will be between 10000:1 - 15000:1 (some new Panasonics are 30000:1).
THANKS TO RAWANDPEACE FOR THIS INFO.
In general plasma TV’s tend to have a higher contrast ratio which is why most of them give off a better picture when it comes to watching movies and darker programmes. Be wary of the specifications though as many companies use the wrd ‘dynamic’ which basically means the ratio isn’t what it says.
LCD vs. PLASMA – which is the best and what is right for you?
This is just general knowledge and does not apply to EVERY television available.
LCD – Liquid Crystal Display
Pros –
• Exceptional brightness and sharpness of picture quality.
• Excellent a producing razor sharp images on slower moving images
• Increasingly better sets becoming available at very low prices
• Massive amount of choice.
Cons -
• Response rate can be dodgy, what this basically means is that if a programme is being watched that contains fast moving images, the TV can leave a kind of ghosting – that is the TV not refreshing the images fast enough. More sets are becoming available now though which deal with this problem.
• Contrast Ratio’s, which determine the sharpness of the picture tend to be considerably lower than plasma, what this means is that the colours can tend to look washed out, i.e. blacks look greyish and whites look dull instead of sharp.
• The screen is very soft like a PC monitor so if any of you have little children then it could be a cause for concern, they scratch and damage very easy.
• They can be quite poor for lower definition programmes, things that have been around for a while, because the programme wasn’t recorded with any new (ish) equipment, the image can look very pixellated.
PLASMA
Pros –
• Excellent response rate means plasma TV’s are ideal for fast moving programmes like football and other sporting events
• The contrast ratio, unlike LCD’s tends to be much higher which result in much crisper looking colours, some of the top end TV’s (pioneer) standard definition images look amazing.
• The screen is very strong which makes the problems of tiny hands scratching the screen almost non existent.
Cons –
• Increasingly limited choice, many manufacturers don’t produce decent plasma’s and have moved over to the LCD camp.
• They will eventually become obsolete, LCD’s will become the industry standard eventually.
• The rear of a plasma can get exceptionally hot. What this means I don’t know but something to consider if the TV is being put into a corner or wherever.