Best HD TV for SD output

[mattdp]

Hi,

We need a new TV. But we have no HD input sources and no plans to get one - so I'm in the market for getting a TV that will beat my old CRT set with the SD signal.

I popped in to my local specialist and they were selling me the panasonic 37px70 or 42px70 pretty hard. The SD picture looked satisfactory - roughly on par with my CRT set I would've said, especially from a comfortable distance. They put it up against a similar sized LCD and that (I don't know what model it was) looked dreadful in comparison.

They told me that plasma will almost always beat LCD in the same price bracket for SD signals. Is that true? The weight of those plasma sets is quite offputting!

Is the 37px70 a good recommendation, or can I do better? I've read elsewhere that some HDTV sets can upscale SD to a quality that exceeds a CRT, providing the reception is good (I have Sky and watch mainly BBC, so that shouldn't be a problem). I'm willing to pay more for a better picture if I can get it, so are there better contenders out there?

Finally, we sit about 7-8 foot from the TV screen so what sort of size should I be looking at - 37" or 40/42"? I presume a larger screen will aggravate any picture quality issues I do have?

I need to make a decision soon, so prompt advice is appreciated

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Clare Newsome]

Hi Matt,

Buy a copy of our latest issue and you'll receive a 36-page supplement on the best TVs you can buy, including all the advice (for every size of set featured) about viewing distances, set-up, SD performance and more.

The Panasonics you mentioned are featured in that supplement (and both five-star Award winners).

There's also an online guide to screen-size choice here.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be too concerned about 7-8ft viewing distance. I have done installs with 50" at that distance!

The Pioneer screens IMO have the best upscaling for SD, and the best SD film performance with PURE CINEMA on (and indeed in ADVANCED mode for 72Hz R1 DVD).

The Fujitsu 58 series has immense processing power which is focussed more on SD Video mode processing than film mode. By this I mean sport, TV shows, dramas, anything originally recorded on an interlaced studio camera rather than something filmed on film (or HD) and transferred over. THe Fuji clearly has the best HD processing out there. Upscaling wise I would just let the Pioneer edge it.

The Panasonic is a bit simpler. Even with all the 1080p processing malarky it still doesn't have much more processing power than it always has done. Will be a bit softer than the above two, but is also of course quite a bit cheaper. Personally for me though I prefer the Panasonic and Fujitsu panels to the Pioneer. Pioneer just looks different, and I prefer the deep 3d feeling with the high contrast Panasonic displays.

The Pioneer though apart from the panel itself is a nicer TV to live with and use. Has a better Freeview tuner and implementation, and looks better on the wall. It is also better with handling relfections and has a brighter overall image. Unfortunately there is not just one "buy model X" answer to this. But i hope with this extra information you can choose the screen perhaps better suited to your needs.

 

[mattdp]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I've just been to see the Pioneer 4280xd and the Panasonic px42px70 side by side in the shop.

The Pioneer clearly had richer colours - but I must confess that I found the effect garish and somewhat unpleasant and preferred the more muted tones of the Panasonic.

I bring this up because I'm concerned that this has more to do with the ultra-bright settings they use in TV shops, and if I were to set both to a lower colour value the Pioneer would look just right and the Panasonic would look drab. Is this likely?

I'm also not all convinced that a 42" screen of any stripe can display workable SD images as the larger picture just makes the defects more obvious. The Pansonic comes in a 37" model.

 

[Anonymous]

Had the panasonic th-42px70 for a couple of weeks now and cant fault the picture even on poor sky channels, I was a bit worried as one review said it was merely OK with SD pictures but its great, and the settings are really simple.

found these on review site http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Panasonic-TH42PX70/Picture-Quality.php

Viewing Mode: Cinema
Contrast: No change
Brightness: 2 clicks left
Colour: No change
Sharpness: No Change
Colour Balance: Warm
Colour Management: Off
P-NR: Off

Personally I have it on normal not cinema and have colour management on