Which make/model has best SD display?!!

[admin_exported]

Hi there, Just like to say what a good find this site was, very informative and friendly!! Hope someone may be able to send me in the right direction!! I am looking to purchase either a 37" or 40" flat screen in the very near future, I am leaning towards LCD but I am not opposed to Plasma. My current dilema is that I can only currently receive a standard signal through an aerial (stop laughing)!! I live in a block of flats and I am unable to install Sky (have been trying to get communal system put in for over three years!!) and cannot get any Cable network as our road is not serviced by any providers. So, apart from Xbox 360/DVD's my main input is going to be terrestrial TV. I have been spending a few evenings trawling through the many (useful) forums but most reviews are in relation to HD/Sky/DVD etc. In the next 12 - 18 months I hope to move into a property where I can get SkyHD etc, so I would like something that is fairly future proof. I would just like some suggestions on current makes/models around the £800 mark that will provide a reasonable SD image for the forseable future?!!! Thanks in advance, Monty Ps, my current TV is dying and have just spent a week decorating living room, so putting it off isn't really an option

 

[Anonymous]

I was going to recommend the Pioneer PDP-428XD, as it is probably the best tv for standard-def. It's excellent with upscaled DVD, and pretty good with Freeview too. Then I read that you had a budget of around £800. So, in that case I would recommend the Panasonic PX70 plasmas - available in 37" (model 37PX70) and 42" (model 42PX70), and also 50". It is probably the next best thing to the Pioneer when it comes to standard-def. Again it performs really well with upscaled DVD, and will display a good stable Freeview picture. The Freeview pics are even reasonable (well, just about) when you look at the screen up close. Flat tvs can bring out the worst in poor sources such as Freeview, but the Panasonic does a sterling job and is always watchable, and fine if you are sitting at the proper distance to the tv - 2 metres at the very least.

The Panasonic models I have mentioned, while doing as good a job as is possible with standard-def, are in their element playing high-def material. Sky HD is excellent, as is Blu-ray and HD-DVD, even though the screen is not full HD. Also, they cost between £800 and £900, so they just about fit into your budget.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for you reply. I wil pop into the shops this afternoon and have a look at the Panasonics you suggest. A quick search on the web shows the 42" soming in at around £750 with stand, so spot on for my budget!
Just to go on from your answer slightly, am I right in believing that Full HD (1080p) is not really a major factor on anything less than a 50" screen?

Thanks again.

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's certainly not a major factor below 42in - and even then has to be balanced with what you're going to be using the set for. In your case an HD Ready set that's also happy handling 1080p when the time comes - like the excellent Panasonics mentioned above - would be ideal.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Clare.

 

[Anonymous]

If you wanted to be as futureproofed as possible and want the sharpest pics available then you could try one of Panasonic's full HD plasmas - the 42PZ70, which can be bought online for under £1000. It has everything that makes the 42PX70 so good, and a full HD 1080p resolution, meaning that you will be able to completely take advantage of Blu-ray or HD-DVD when the time comes. And the tv performs every bit aswell as the 42PX70 with standard-def material.