what pana set to buy ???

[admin_exported]

Hi

ive been looking at these pana sets

TH 42pz81 , pz800, pz80, px80 & pz85

Ive got a budget of aroung £1000, ive got sky+ & no AV surround sound.

My question is what set is the best for standard SD & no surround sound? Ive heard the pz800 is good but its a bit expensive, ive also heard the pz85 is cracking.

Is it worth getting one of these or one of the new 09 sets.

cheers

 

[Anonymous]

As you dont have SKY HD, why not consider the 720p models. The 2009 TX-42PX10 is priced at £699 currently. The PX80 was a cracking set. This will be better.

 

[Anonymous]

What if i buy this set or any 720p & decide to get sky HD or any other HD input, will this upscale to 1080p? Is it important to have 1080p & will i notice the difference?

sorry for the lack of knowledge but im new to this HD stuff.

 

[Clare Newsome]

rewerb:The PX80 was a cracking set. This will be better.

Should be better, surely? No guarantees until we've all seen the sets in action, and also what the competition's come up with for 2009.

 

[simonlewis]

seanie:
What if i buy this set or any 720p & decide to get sky HD or any other HD input, will this upscale to 1080p? Is it important to have 1080p & will i notice the difference?

sorry for the lack of knowledge but im new to this HD stuff.

If 1080p is important to you then look at the PZ range, the PZ81 has freesat, PiP & a few extra features, if your not bothered by freesat then i suggest you look at the PZ85.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, is the PZ85 any good with SD?

 

[Anonymous]

seanie:

What if i buy this set or any 720p & decide to get sky HD or any other HD input, will this upscale to 1080p? Is it important to have 1080p & will i notice the difference?

sorry for the lack of knowledge but im new to this HD stuff.

The 720p sets will accept a 1080p signal and scale it down to the TVs physical pixels. Consensus is that 1080p is most noticable on larger sets - 50" plus. At the 42" size you really have to sit very close to notice any difference between a 720p and 1080p panel.

If most of your viewing is SD material the SD PQ on the Panasonic 720p sets is better than the 1080p sets. So that's the one to go for, IMO.

 

[simonlewis]

I am happy with the SD on my PZ81, but eveyone on here will tell you to go & look for your self, you could also check out the reviews & see what the experts say.

Don't forget panasonic will be bringing out new models starting in march.

 

[Anonymous]

just to throw another spanner in the works...if i get rid of my sky & get one of the humix HD devices what would be best then?

 

[Anonymous]

seanie:just to throw another spanner in the works...if i get rid of my sky & get one of the humix HD devices what would be best then? If the bulk of your viewing is SD I would go for the 720p sets. Freesat has two HD channels broadcasting for a few hours a day. Broadcast HD is not 1080p it is 1080i, so there is even less difference when shown on 720p and 1080p sets.

 

[Anonymous]

ok so to confirm i have got this right freesat is not 1080p, is that the same for sky HD? I know that there is very little HD channels at the moment thats why im reluctant to get the sky HD box.

If i want to watch blue ray DVD then a 1080p set is better?

 

[simonlewis]

Yes you will only see a benefit from a BD or a 1080p camcorder.

 

[Anonymous]

i notice you have pana pz81, whats the freesat like on this?

 

[simonlewis]

Yeah the freesat is very good, plenty of channels to choose from, hopefully their will be more HD channels coming to freesat later this year, only two at the mo' bbc & itv, I'm hoping to get a humax foxsat pvr soon, the only way i can record at the moment is freeview on my pc.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 42PZ80B and whilst Blu-ray and regular DVD (via my DB35 player bought as the same time) is excellent, it is the standard definition performance that has delighted me. I had intended to get the Humax Freesat HDR box soon after in order to benefit from Freesat HD (I would always want to be able to record so paying the extra for the PZ81 didn't make sense for me), but the standard definition quality I am seeing has led me to postpone the Humax until there is more HD content available.

I have a good strong Freeview signal and I am sure that this helps. It is harder to get a good standard definition demo in a showroom than it is HD. Many showrooms like to wow you with Blu-ray to show off sets at their absolute best, but don't have a decent SD feed to show you how the set will perform with what you may be watching most of the time. I had to go to a Panasonic show room to see a decent SD feed in action, and then it was SD via Sky, and I'm not sure that will give the same results as Freeview SD.

So, my trusty Topfield PVR will have to last a little longer. It has already
undergone one repair, but it performs so well with my 42PZ80B that I just can't justify an HD upgrade at the moment.

In summary, I don't think you'll be disappointed with a PZ80, and you will benefit from the full HD should your viewing habits change.

 

[Anonymous]

seanie:

ok so to confirm i have got this right freesat is not 1080p, is that the same for sky HD? I know that there is very little HD channels at the moment thats why im reluctant to get the sky HD box.

If i want to watch blue ray DVD then a 1080p set is better?

SKY has loads of HD, around 24 HD channels, by far the best. And they have a special offer of just £49 for the SKY+ HD box (was £199).

The only 1080p source is BluRay discs and some HD camcorders. But if you sit more than 6ft away from the TV you wont be able to tell the difference between a 720p set and a 1080p set playing BluRay. You might on a freezeframe, but as soon as there is any motion, you wont.