TV Advice please

[admin_exported]

Dear Chums

I am a very fussy tv watcher in terms of picture quality, however due to the prevalence of more Freesat/view HD channels I am considering changing my old 25" Panasonic CRT for a flat screen. I would be grateful if readers could give me there views on the following:

1. Firstly screen size my approximate viewing distance is about 3.5m, hence I was considering either 37" or 42" sets. Notice not a 40" because a really want a Panasonic set. I figure that the 42" set will look good at the prescribed distance in HD but may look a bit crap for SD pictures. I do intend to get a Blu-ray player at some point as well hence the 42" should be OK for this too.

2. As stated previously I have desire to buy a Panasonic set and am considering the TX-L37D28B or B-S and the TX-P42G20. These sets seem to have very good reviews and both have the option to receive HD Freesat and Freeview.The 42" model is a lot cheaper than the 37" which makes it attractive and additionally has a much better contrast ratio. I have viewed both TV's in shops and think the 42" may have the better picture quality, but I find it difficult to tell. What I really dislike about digital TV is the blocky image you can get with fast moving scenes such as explosions and fire. Hence if a bigger screen size exacerbates this then I would rather go for a smaller set.

So the question is 37" or 42"?

Thanks for your time

Arch

 

[Oldboy]

Arch,

In your siruation you should get the 42G20 simply because of your distance to the screen, i own the 42G20 and i have had to re-arrange my living room as previously i was too far away from it (about 3.5metres) and now sit 2.5 metres away from the screen which is about right for this size screen in both SD and HD i find, although most advice says to be slightly closer. I don't think at your distance from the screen that you will lose much from the 42G20 but you may well find that the 37" version is too small at that distance.

As for the blocky images this is due to several factors such as: quality of tv tuner, signal strength, quality of station (Dave is notoriously low quality for example), image processing on the tv etc. You can obviously minimise the effects of a blocky image from digital tv with a good quality tv and connections, turning off processing such as motion tech etc but there will be instances where the blocky nature of some broadcasts can't be avoided and only minimised but i have found those instances very rare with my 42G20 and i haven't found that the bigger screen size has made things worse. It's normally just things like BBC iPlayer where i find the image can be a little blocky but normal broadcasts i have found to be rather good with little blocking and smooth motion.

Hope that helps

 

[strapped for cash]

The other thing to sonsider is that Panasonic plasmas have an integrated Freesat tuner. This may seem of little consequence, but I find Freesat delivers more stable images than Freeview on my 42" Pana G10. In other words, if you're concerned about "blockiness" of picture, Freesat helps minimise this problem (though it doesn't eradicate it entirely). Plasmas also have a softer picture than LCD/LED TVs, which, perversely, helps a little in this respect as well.

 

[bigboss]

Actually, I would recommend going for a 50 inch plasma. My viewing distance is 3m from my 50 inch Kuro. Even SD is very good from here.

Demo a 50 inch set with a DVD film rather than a TV channel in a store. TV channel signal will be inferior because of the shared feed with other TVs.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice chaps, still a little undecided though. Hence I think I'll head to the shops with a measuring tape in hand.

 

[daveloc]

If you were prepared to pay more than the G20 costs for a 37" LCD, then you also ought to look at Pannys V20 plasmas. I had a similiar problem to you (replacing a high quality CRT, specifically a Panny 32PD50), and in properly setup conditions, the G20 couldn't match it in exactly the areas you mention (although it obviously went bigger and handled HD) while the V20 could. IMHO the V-series is well worth the price premium over the G-series.