Tv upgrade - worth going for 4x HD?

[Pavlo]

I need to get a new TV (you wouldn't believe how old the existing one is!) and something in the 42inch to 47inch range. I have noticed that there appears to be a sudden jump in picture quality to 4xHD available now. Whilst I appreciate there is little to watch at this quality at the moment I am wondering if it is worth buying one to 'future proof' the set for a good number of years. I doubt that I will buy another for quite a while. On the other hand am I wasting my money? Existing HD is pretty good and I do not watch much TV or dvd's. I do need to get another set though. Any thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I've seen 4K on 55 inch TVs and to me it looks good, I am not sure how much smaller you can get away with 4K though.

 

[7760]

Hello!

I need to get a new TV (you wouldn't believe how old the existing one is!)

Try us! (It's not a 60s B/W, is it?)

and something in the 42inch to 47inch range. I have noticed that there appears to be a sudden jump in picture quality to 4xHD available now. Whilst I appreciate there is little to watch at this quality at the moment I am wondering if it is worth buying one to 'future proof' the set for a good number of years. I doubt that I will buy another for quite a while. On the other hand am I wasting my money? Existing HD is pretty good and I do not watch much TV or dvd's. I do need to get another set though. Any thoughts?

You've almost fully answered your own query: Full HD is indeed pretty good already, and you're not watching that much anyway. Plus, at your required size 4K won't make a lot of difference to start with, irrespective of the fact there aren't many models available in that range anyway.

 

[Pavlo]

My TV is old - but not THAT old!!

i appreciate the comments and having done a bit more digging it would appear that even at 48inch the difference between HD and 4xHD is not obvious unless you sit really close to the screen which is not where I would be. Looks like a good HD will suffice. Any recommendations in the 42 to 48 range?

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Looks like a good HD will suffice. Any recommendations in the 42 to 48 range?

You haven't stated your budget, but the Samsung 6400 range is very good, but be aware that some sets in the range, including the one that I would have recommended you to buy, the £600 UE48H6400, seem to have lip synchonsation problems, as in this current thread http://www.whathifi.com/forum/tvs-and-projectors/samsung-ue48h6400.

This is it at Richer Sounds http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsung/ue48h6400/sams-ue48h6400

By the way, this range has desktop stands that swivel, which is, alas, an increasingly rare feature.

 

[Pavlo]

Thanks again for the comments. Budget? I suppose up to £1200 would be the range but obviously I would rather spend less! I do want a good screen though and accept that a sound bar is probably required for decent sound - if I decide I need it. I am surprised by the problems with Samsung - I thought they were the dogs do dahs? I think that HD will be all I need.

 

[bigboss]

I would recommend Samsung H7000. That's their flagship 1080p flat TV. Samsung panels are the most uniformly backlit in the market today. Lips sync issues with other models are rare, and Samsung had released a firmware update to fix this.

 

[relocated]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion. If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion. Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Try to get a retailer to switch the tv out of shop mode to view your short list and never purchase a 5 year warranty. There are plenty of dealers that charge no more for a 5 year warrantied set than their price competitors who do charge.

I have always found Panasonic to be exceptionally good sets both for viewing and longevity without issues.

Happy hunting.

 

[Glacialpath]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion. If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion. Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Try to get a retailer to switch the tv out of shop mode to view your short list and never purchase a 5 year warranty. There are plenty of dealers that charge no more for a 5 year warrantied set than their price competitors who do charge.

I have always found Panasonic to be exceptionally good sets both for viewing and longevity without issues.

Happy hunting.

Hey Pavlo.

First off. This advice from Relocated is very very good advice. There was a period when some TVs (Panasonic included) had the kind of halo round moving objects and you can't get rid of it. So having a good look and put some of your own DVD/BD discs through them to compare agains you current TV is also a good idea. The shop shouldn't mind.

Also just to say I agree with the others that say the size of TV youare looking for won't warrent 4K. You will get more bang for your mony with a top 1080p screen.

However if you feel you can go 60" and above and have the money then got for a 4K TV.

You got to look at what specs you want and will likely use. 3D, Smart TV, Skype, Free View HD, SD card readers (great for viewing photos) and so on. Most of these things come as standard but don't pay for the if you're not likely to use them as I'm sure you know.

Are you not interested in surround sound and stepping up to an AV reciever? If you're thinking of a soundbar to improve the TV audio make sure the TV has plenty of audio connectivity and the soundbar too so if you ad a DVD player. Blu-Ray player, games consol or anything that yu can connect them all through the soundbar. This is why I mention and AVR, they are the best way to connect all these things up. Soundbars are best for just TV viewing IMO.

 

[bigboss]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion.  If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion.  Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Unfortunately, plasmas aren't sold anymore. So the OP will have to pick one amongst LCD/LED TVs.

 

[relocated]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion. If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion. Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Unfortunately, plasmas aren't sold anymore. So the OP will have to pick one amongst LCD/LED TVs.

Indeed they are not as widely available as before and are not being developed[ did you mistakenly think I was advocating plasma purchase?] and yes he will. So he needs to pay particular attention to their motion abilities otherwise the tv 'upgrade' may not be an upgrade at all, or a compromised one.

 

[bigboss]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion. If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion. Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Unfortunately, plasmas aren't sold anymore. So the OP will have to pick one amongst LCD/LED TVs.

Indeed they are not as widely available as before and are not being developed[ did you mistakenly think I was advocating plasma purchase?] and yes he will. So he needs to pay particular attention to their motion abilities otherwise the tv 'upgrade' may not be an upgrade at all, or a compromised one.

Just wanted to make sure, as your post did come across as advocating plasma purchase to me.

 

[Pavlo]

Again many thanks to all who have commented, your input is all very helpful and appreciated. I doubt I will ever use the TV in a home cinema set up as I have my hifi in a separate 'family room' . This is the main viewing TV in the lounge and will replace a Sony Trinitron multi system TV I bought in Singapore in 1993 - so I expect I will find the upgrade quite amazing!! I take on board all of your comments and will check carefully. The Samsung h7000 looks nice - pity the choice is either 40inch or 46inch. One is too small and the other a tad too big. I went so far as to make a cardboard cut out of the 46inch screen and it certainly looks big in my living room. This probably sounds daft to those who own 55 or 65 inch tv's!

 

[bigboss]

You'll be amazed how quickly you'll get used to a larger screen. I'm sat 9 feet from my 50-inch plasma. Go for the larger screen, you won't regret it. *drinks*

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Before you go spending any money, go and look at as many sets as you can and see how you get on with their handling of motion. If you are approaching it from plasma ownership [or even CRT] you may have difficulty putting up with led/lcd handling of fast motion. Don't dismiss it as, 'I'll get used to it' because you won't, you'll just notice it all the more.

Unfortunately, plasmas aren't sold anymore. So the OP will have to pick one amongst LCD/LED TVs.

Indeed they are not as widely available as before and are not being developed[ did you mistakenly think I was advocating plasma purchase?] and yes he will. So he needs to pay particular attention to their motion abilities otherwise the tv 'upgrade' may not be an upgrade at all, or a compromised one.

Just wanted to make sure, as your post did come across as advocating plasma purchase to me.

Not quite right, good doctor, you can still get a few at Currys (where I got my much-maligned - because of its dodgy black level, but otherwise brilliant in every other way, such as screen uniformity, colours after calibration, motion handling, very good upscaling of Standard Definition content on both DVD and Freeview - LG 60PZ950T set, now in the kitchen), see this link

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-dvd-blu-ray/televisions/large-screen-tvs-32-and-over/301_3002_30002_xx_ba00004484-bv00298766/0_xx-criteria.html

If the link has expired, go to the Currys website and under TVs, select plasma.

If I haven't scared the OP off yet, of the plasma sets that Curry stock I would advocate the 50-inch (actually he could afford the 60-inch, but I don't want him to have a heart attack!) LG 50PB690V, because is it Full HD, it has Freeview HD not only Freeview, and it has 3D. Now, this model is 3 years newer than mine, so it should look at least as good as mine and quite possibly better.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

The Samsung h7000 looks nice - pity the choice is either 40inch or 46inch. One is too small and the other a tad too big. I went so far as to make a cardboard cut out of the 46inch screen and it certainly looks big in my living room.

Pah! There's no such thing a television that's too big! If it fits into the available space, it's not too big!

This probably sounds daft to those who own 55 or 65 inch tv's!

Pavlo, you have no idea of the effort involved for me NOT to agree with your last sentence! As bigboss says in his post number 14, it's amazing how quickly you get used to a bigger set than you had previously - in two weeks it will feel as though it had always been there. As I said in my previous post, I have a 60-inch LG in my 17' by 14' kitchen, and when I'm at the far end of the room I wouldn't mind at all if the LG were bigger.

 

[relocated]

You'll be amazed how quickly you'll get used to a larger screen. I'm sat 9 feet from my 50-inch plasma. Go for the larger screen, you won't regret it. *drinks*

+1

I don't think I've ever heard anyone wish they had purchased the smaller, but plenty that wished they had gone for the larger. If it will fit in and is around the size you planned for ----- always get the larger one.