What TV to buy?

I think this is really better in Chitchat, but it IS about electric stuff..

Our great big flatscreen plasma TV just died with a big 'pop' sound.  We've owned it for 4 years, used it for about 2.  The experts said:  Oh, plasma TVs do that, can't be fixed.  Buy a new one.  And don't store them, they don't like it. (It was stored for 2 years).



I'd like to buy a new TV, but one with excellent sound and picture quality.. and a lot more longevity.

(The plasma had good sound, but the picture wasn't any better than my old tube TV.  Just bigger and flatter.. and I don't see the big deal about flat screens.  Unless they start making flat DVD/VHS players, and somehow disappearing the whole mess of wires, you end up using the space anyhow.)

So, any tips?

hiya

Couple of things here..

2 years use of a product such as a television is far below reasonable usage time. I'd write to the manufacturer and explain nicely the situation you are in, say that you bought the tv in the correct assumption it'd last a 'reasonable' amount of time. Now that it hasn't,  and has failed after such a relatively short period of time (for a plasma television) you are extremely disappointed with the product and wish to notify them.
*cough* - maybe say 4 years as thats reasonable - just dont mention it was stored!

Have a look at avforums.com as they have an excellent set of forums which cover allsorts of consumer electronics and more than likely theres someone who's posted about this issue before and how and what to write etc. - I'd say the chances of the manufacturer being 'good' are high and they'll in goodwill send you a new TV or offer to repair the unit for you. I'm not saying definitley they will - but it's really worth a try.

nowadays, the plasma and LCD technologies have come quite a way from 4 years ago - they're alot better!

No one makes VHS anymore so that option will not be available at all really. The one thing to look out for as you may be buying a telly is to get one that is as futureproof as possible.

I 'think' you are in the USA, i'm not sure, but here in the UK, the analogue signals are being phased out and switched off to be replaced by digital signals. Also, with the phasing in of high definition programming and signals, the days of 'traditional' resolution will be consigned to history. Hi definition transmissions and content really do make a vast improvement in picture quality and viewing. 'generally' its the Old content material which gets shown on hi-def screens nowadays which tends to look a little grainy etc when seen from closer up.

The 'standard' to try and aim for is called '1080p' as it's the highest resolution on the market today and is capable of displaying the 'full' hi-def programming that's coming soon over the airwaves and via DVD and blu ray etc. Some lower screen resolutions will 'display' a hi def picture (1650x1080, 1440x900, 1280x768 etc etc) but they'll not quite be capable of displaying in 'full' 1080p.

I just did the same for my aunty who wanted a large screen, so went for a samsung 1080p 1920x1200 37inch samsung and she's very happy with it. I'll be upgrading my current 'half HD' 50 inch plasma to a 'full HD' screen probably mid 2009 or xmas 2009 as I want a larger screen so waiting for prices to drop a bit more.

If you do look around online, there's some absolutley fantastic prices from reputable and decent online retailers - these are set to get even better as many retailers across multiple industries slash their prices as the credit crunch bites in even further. if you can hold out over the next 3-6 months, I'd say there's a good chance you'd be able to pick up a fantastic telly for a great price at that time!

hope this helps

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

The issue of whether the set is worth repairing (even if you have to pay rather than sweet-talk the manufacturer into doing it) depends upon what exactly has gone wrong.   That big pop might have just been a transistor in the power supply failing or something along similar lines, and on an expensive plasma TV it would certainly be worth the repair cost.

Although they might be improving gradually, personally I'm still no fan of plasma TV screens.  I've yet to see one which can match a good CRT in terms of picture quality (and as for LCD, forget it!).

I 'think' you are in the USA, i'm not sure, but here in the UK, the analogue signals are being phased out and switched off to be replaced by digital signals.

Analog NTSC is supposed to be closing down in the U.S. too.  The last I heard the FCC had mandated full transmitter shutdown sometime in 2009, although a few months back they did issue a mandate that cable companies should continue providing services for another two or three years.

Although they might be improving gradually, personally I'm still no fan of plasma TV screens.  I've yet to see one which can match a good CRT in terms of picture quality (and as for LCD, forget it!).

CRT is definitely going to give you a better picture than a plasma or LCD, but you're swimming against the tide, my friend.   

I recently purchased a Sony Bravia (KDL-26S3000) LCD TV and it's great.

Carl

Adding my 2cents in from working in the world of domestic electrical retail.  LCDs have the market for smaller screens (37" & smaller) Plamsa's are larger.  Both have their Pros & Cons and ideally a Plasma TV should last about 9-10 years with daily usage of 8 hours.  However, LCDs are expanding into the larger screen market, but as of yet they're only on a commercial level not domestic.  Also, LCDs once their light source goes you can replace it, so in theory you could have an LCD tv for life, whereas once a Plasma TV's source goes that's it.

As DtM said if you're wanting better picture quality you'll want a true HD TV with 1080 dpi.  The only thing is not much is being filmed broadcast in HD at the moment, but the US is further ahead than over here.

PS - if you're concerned about the cords showing there are cable tidies you can buy that can enclose all the cables down the wall and you can paint them the same color as the wall to make them "invisible".  Alternatively you can pay an electrician to put the wires in your wall or have sockets put behind your TV (this is the more expensive & messy option).   

Good luck!

CRT is definitely going to give you a better picture than a plasma or LCD, but you're swimming against the tide, my friend.   

I know, I know.....  I feel as though I'm doing that when I look at a TV somebody has set up so that a 4:3 picture is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to fill a 16:9 screen so that the picture geometry is all to pot, yet the only thing the owner seems to think is "Isn't it great that I have widescreen."   

I know, I know.....  I feel as though I'm doing that when I look at a TV somebody has set up so that a 4:3 picture is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to fill a 16:9 screen so that the picture geometry is all to pot, yet the only thing the owner seems to think is "Isn't it great that I have widescreen."   

My bf does that, but doesn't seem to see a problem when I point out to him that everything looks very wiiiiiiiide on his screen. How can I fix it? What should the setting be?

My bf does that, but doesn't seem to see a problem when I point out to him that everything looks very wiiiiiiiide on his screen. How can I fix it? What should the setting be?

There'll be an automatic setting on it, uses a signal sent via scart lead as to whether the broadcast is 4:3 or 16:9

one of my pet hates, even worse when a programme is being broadcast in widescreen but they haven't set their digital box to output 16:9 so they end up stretching a 4:3 pic!

Plasma and similar flat screen TVs are in reality,just fashion accessories. A good quality CRT set will have better picture quality and last longer. Its obvious. The CRT technology has been in use and improved for over 60 years and more. A bit longer than your flat screen stuff. Best of all,you can pick up a high spec CRT used TV for next to nothing on Ebay as many misguided individuals are dumping them for inferior flat screen technology ! Here is a definite no brainer..!

CRT Tubes are good no doubt, but they'll not produce Hi Def content as well as the recent LCD and Plasma screens. Remember, CRT's only came up to 36inch widths in widescreen and upto around 29 inch in 4:3 - the widescreens being rare and 36 inch screen sizes very rare.

Depends what you use the telly for really, if you just like to watch here and there and not concerned about aspect ratio's and quality of picture etc - then possibly look into a CRT TV - else if you do enjoy sports, the odd film and live events etc - then I'd say look more to a LCD/plasma that's  1080p capable.

To answer other questions - some 'older' content just hasn't been remastered for widescreen formats - hence will look grainy and 'odd' sometimes. Some live sports transmissions come through as 4:3 as well. As newer content is made, it'll be setup for widescreen display - the older stuff you may just have to lump it or wait till they get remastered etc.

You can 'faff about' with TV settings to 'stretch' the picture to something that 'looks' ok to watch, things like cinema settings, 16:10, 16:9, zoom etc etc that you may find on widescreen tellys nowadays.

There is a techy reason for the black bars and picture ratios etc - won't go into that here!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

There'll be an automatic setting on it, uses a signal sent via scart lead as to whether the broadcast is 4:3 or 16:9

The equipment supplying the switching signal has to support the switching standard too, and you have to make sure you're using a SCART lead which has the switching line connected.  Most modern digital TV receivers etc. will support the widescreen switching, but if you are looping through a VCR or some other device which does not, then the signal will be lost along the way.  In those cases the auto setting might not work properly.

one of my pet hates, even worse when a programme is being broadcast in widescreen but they haven't set their digital box to output 16:9 so they end up stretching a 4:3 pic!

A lot of people don't even seem to realize that the digiboxes have an option for video output format.   You want to set 16:9 if you are connecting to a widescreen TV, otherwise choose the appropriate 4:3 format.  There are often multiple 4:3 options to give "letterboxed" widescreen display or compromise zoom settings etc.

What I hate even more are all those options provided on some sets which are there to do nothing but deliberately distort the picture geometry.   TV engineering spent years ironing out linearity problems to get the best possible picture, now the manufacturers are adding options to purposely distort everything.   

The broadcasters are getting as bad in some respects.  They're so obsessed with widescreen that if you see one of those shows with old 4:3 TV clips they're using a compromise format to reduce the sidebars which results in the top and bottom of the picture being lost.

Don't even get me started on the way that they sometimes don't even set the format flag properly when switching between 4:3 and widescreen formats.  How many times have you seen a show start in the wrong format, to have it jump to the correct ratio a minute later when somebody finally notices that it's wrong? 

The whole aspect ratio issue has become a horrible mess.

Remember, CRT's only came up to 36inch widths in widescreen and upto around 29 inch in 4:3

I'm not sure where you got that limit from Dennis.  Regular 4:3 CRTs were being made up to 36 inches or so back in the 1970s.

Plasma and similar flat screen TVs are in reality,just fashion accessories. A good quality CRT set will have better picture quality and last longer. {.....}  many misguided individuals are dumping them for inferior flat screen technology

 

Hi Paul,

a few years ago - 2002 actually, I wanted a large screen telly for the room size we were making. I went everywhere looking for a CRT bigger than 36inches. There were a 'few' 40 inch screens available - 4:3 format and usually from other country markets - there were no 'official' UK models. Cost of the units themselves, the insane weight and shipping costs meant they weren't a good solution at all. I think the USA market used to have like 43 and 45 inch CRT tellys, but I can't remember for sure.

Plasma's around 2002 - were still up in the £4-5000 mark so out of the question really. I eventually went for a 47inch 16:9 rear projection for a nice price of around £1250 - it was on sale.

With the price reductions of plasma's and now LCD's in large screen sizes, having a CRT is for niche applications only - the very top end LCD panels used by design houses and photography specialists etc are very very close to the best CRT screens if not better - although they do still cost alot of money.

I'm toying with the idea of getting one of those widescreen versions of a projector to get a nice 10-14 foot image ! won't be in my living room though - have a annexe building at the back of my garden i'd like to use it in!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I went everywhere looking for a CRT bigger than 36inches. There were a 'few' 40 inch screens available - 4:3 format and usually from other country markets - there were no 'official' UK models. Cost of the units themselves, the insane weight and shipping costs meant they weren't a good solution at all. I think the USA market used to have like 43 and 45 inch CRT tellys, but I can't remember for sure.

I have a feeling that manufacturers cut back on the larger CRT models somewhat since LCD/plasma started to become more common, but yes, I certainly remember there being some 40-inch-plus (4:3) CRTs back some years ago.   I'm pretty sure RCA made such a model for one.  I'll concede that they were darned heavy and expensive though!

Just an update:  Toshiba replaced the TV today.  Not free, but 140 pounds covered the new plasma, delivery, setup, and the disposal of the old one.  They even took away the boxes.  Our old TV didn't have a (valid) warranty, but the new one does.

Yay!

Congrats!  Not bad for a new plasma.