is this a sensible set of components please?

[BishopPhil]

I'm finally getting round to replacing a 32" Sony CRT (yes I know!) and before I fork out for a bunch of fancy new kit, I would like some reassurance that I'm getting reasonable stuff and that it will work well together.

I want to mount the TV on a wall to keep it safely out of reach of my young son and think 40-42" is optimum size for our living room. We want to pair the TV with an existing Sky+ HD box and a new DVD/Blu-Ray player. Both of these will be hidden in a cupboard underneath the TV so we need some way of controlling those hidden boxes

Picture quality, sound quality and design are more important to me than smart features or 3D but I've found it night on impossible to find a TV without them! Even if I could find one, I don't want a plasma as the room is very bright and reflections likely to be an issue.

This is the short list so far and the price I've found them at. Comments welcome on viable alternatives with similar (or lower) prices please.

Panasonic Viera TXL42ET60B 42" 3D LED TV (£550)
Sanus VMF322 B1 Cantilever 32 - 50 TV Bracket (£120)
Canton DM 50 Sound Base (£330)
Panasonic DMP-BDT460 Smart 3D Blu-ray player (£170)
Logitech Harmony Ultimate Universal Remote (£160) (controls blu-ray & sky in a cupboard)
Sky plus HD BOX (existing)

I'd also like some advice on calibration - is it worth getting in an expert?

And finally (I know this is thorny issue) cables. Does one need to spend a fortune on HDMI or will a bulk standard one do?

Thanks in advance

(edited for spelling)

 

[duaplex]

It is a good list of items and will do everything you want. To answer the other questions you had, that can cause confusion.

Calibration - Not worth it on that size screen, while it may make a slightl visual improvement, I would suggest you save the £200 (or so) and get a better telly or invest in other items.

Cables - Do not spend more that £10, there is no visiaul improvement or gain to be had at any price point.

Other than that you are good to go and seem to have done your research well.

 

[BishopPhil]

thanks for your help

I truly dont want to spend £200 on calibration, hopefully I can get a good picture adjusting the settings myself. I may have to revisit that once I screw it up ;-)

I've since found a slightly lower spec universal remote that still controls boxes hidden in cupboards. Also Logitech Harmony, just without the touchscreen and back lights. It's available at £80 which is more palatable for me.

 

[Glacialpath]

Hi there. Glad to see you've found some potential contenders for your set up.

In my opinion calibration is worth it on the 40"-42" screen but the price doesn't help so only if you really want the best from your Picture.

With HDMI cabls it's more to do with their profile 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 and so on. If you want to use the 3D which you may decide to use in the future you need one that supports 3D and for the smart features you'll want one with eithernet capabilities. So profile 1.4 and above should be fine. They all say on the packaging. Try them out in the shop, a cheap one £5 and an expensive one £50 and see if you notice any difference. If you don't then stick with the cheap one.

TV setting: These are just some ball park settings for your picture as I would need to run my setup disc through the TV in your room to get the right settings. Setup and Calibration are different. Calibration is better of course but using a setup disc to set brightness, contrast, colour and so on will still give you a much better picture than straight out the box.

If you get the Panasonic. When you plug in and turn on for the 1st time you'll be prompted "Shop or Home mode". You know the answer to that.

In the "Picture" settings. Switch from Dynamic to Natural/Standard.

Lower the contrast to about 1/3

leave the rightness about 1/2

put the colour up to about 3/5 and the Colour Temp on Natural

reduce sharpness to 0 (this was only invented for NTSC SD content)

and turn "OFF" any other fancy settings like "dynamic contrast" and "smooth motion" or what ever it's called.

Then go to Display settings elsewhere in the menu and find "Overscan" turn it to off. Then you will have the full 1920x1080 picture. Some SD TV content might show white dashes and or black masks either side of the picture but that just what the Overscan used to hide. Turn it back on if you don't want to see it. If you watch on HD content thenleave overscan off.

Disney and Pixar BDs have setup test patterns on them in the set up menus. Follow the instructions and it should help or just use the setting I suggested. I've set up many Panasonic TVs and they are pretty much the setting I ended up with when running my disc through them. Do it at night too when the room is at it's darkest. These settings should be fine for day and night.

There migt be some picture settings on the Panasonic BD player too. Post them and I can suggest what to set them to.

Hope that helps.

 

[JamesMellor]

Hi Phil ,

I just replaced a Sony 32" CRT about a month back with a 42" Sony W70B for £529 , I already have a Sony BD-790 bluray player , I think they are about £179 . The Sony remotes work for each other and I think a sky remote would work the TV so maybe if you like Sony stick with Sony. The TV comes with wall brackets aswell .

James