Which tv to go for.

[admin_exported]

Happy new year everyone, just joined. I'm about to purchase my first hdtv, but can't decide between the
samsung ps50q97hdx, or the Panasonic th42pz70. I'm tempted with the extra inches the samsung offers, and it's had great reviews, but the pany's a great tv as well, probably superior to the sammy in many respects, but it's also 8 inches smaller. I'll be using it with my xbox360 elite, hd-dvd player, and some freeview also. i will probably be sitting about 9-10 feet from the tv. Any advice?

 

[Anonymous]

Samsung PS50Q97HDX-Lovely TV -Not sure about your viewing distance though-I sit 9/10 ft away from my PS42Q97HDX and that's just right for me

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers tallyho, thank's for the advice. I think it'll be the sammy for me then.

 

[Andrew Everard]

About 3m from a 50in Fujitsu here, and that's fine for us. Or maybe that should be 'about 10ft from a 127cm Fujitsu'?

 

[Anonymous]

Alright Andrew. I've just remeasured the sitting distance from the tv, and it's about 8ft. The thing is though, having seen both tv's in store, the extra inches the sammy offers really does appeal. Do you think the pannys the better tv though, from a performance perspective?

 

[Anonymous]

Sit that close to a 50 incher and you may well need to take Sea Sickness tablets

 

[Andrew Everard]

Hardly...

And yes, I do think the 50-incher is the one to go for.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Hardly...

And yes, I do think the 50-incher is the one to go for.

[/quote]

Andrew, don't you find after say an hour or so that your eyes start hurting/you get headaches sitting 3m away from a monster 50inch Fujitsu?

I sit 9 ft from my 42incher which is just about right for me.

Also why is it that nowadays people find they can sit much closer to Flatscreen TV's than they perhaps could several years ago. Does HD picture quality make a difference to how close people can sit in front of their TVs

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Tallyho"]
Andrew, don't you find after say an hour or so that your eyes start hurting/you get headaches sitting 3m away from a monster 50inch Fujitsu?

[/quote]

Not at all.

 

[Anonymous]

When my 42 inch Plasma arrived, I had to sit further away than normal, about 8 metres away to be exact!! the screen was just so big it hurt my eyes. I turned down the contrast, brightness, colour and sharpness which helped a bit. I took some paracetamol and got on with it. It was the sharpness that did the most damage I think

A few days later, I had no problem with the screen size increase (formerly only had 28 inch) and actually my headaches ceased and I started to turn up the settings. I now sit closer too and wish I had a bigger screen!

So I would say that you usually get used to the bigger screen after some time, and I would always get the biggest you can fit in without it looking silly in your room.

Beware of the pansonic PX70 though, I have one and although the freeview is great, the sound on it is only average (I have it through a Cyrus 8 Amp and Monitor Audio GS10 Standmounts), so you have to use satellite if you want a better sound. Also theres an annoying flicker on the screen in HD mode when the camera pans from left to right. Its the same on many TVs of this price, the refresh rate really goes down on panning, probably the processor is too slow.

Always try before you buy and check in the shop that it doesnt flicker on panning!

Graham

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="GeekyGraham"]
Also theres an annoying flicker on the screen in HD mode when the camera pans from left to right. Its the same on many TVs of this price, the refresh rate really goes down on panning, probably the processor is too slow.

[/quote]

The refresh rate doesn't change - the TV doesn't know the camera is panning.

It's more a case of the processor in the display, or those elsewhere in the broadcast chain, struggling to handle so much changing in the image at the same time.

A softer screen with less resolution might well conceal this effect to a greater or lesser degree, and the effect will be different depending on whether you use the HD TV source outputting 1080i or 720p.

 

[Anonymous]

I think I may be suffering from the same symptoms you were Graham even though I've had my 42 Plasma since mid October and like you I wear spectacles and have recently been getting the odd headache or two but that's probably more down to the fact that my eyes are on the change again and nothing to do with the fact I sit 9ft from my 42 Samsung. I also use to have a 26in CRT but must confess the picture is a hundred times better on my new TV and that's without having SKYHD which I am now looking into not least because I'm hoping the HD box will improve my viewing of the SD channels seeing as it Upscales these. My room is 15 ft X 14 ft and I must confess the TV does look great bang in the centre of the room just above a brick fireplace. I don't know how either Andrew or Clare can sit so close to a 50 inch TV and 80 inch Projector at 9ft and 11ft respectively...that would be enough to give me horizontal vertigo

PS: My wife and Kids though have not had any problems at all with viewing our TV from between 7 and 9 ft away....must be an age thing.....50 this year and Andrew's still looking for a suitable Night Nurse for me

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Tallyho"]

My room is 15 ft X 14 ft and I must confess the TV does look great bang in the centre of the room just above a brick fireplace. I don't know how either Andrew or Clare can sit so close to a 50
inch TV and 80 inch Projector at 9ft and 11ft respectively...that would
be enough to give me horizontal vertigo.[/quote]
Maybe having the screen presumably rather high up above a fireplace doesn't help. Ours sits on a three-shelf Atacama Equinox, so the centre of the screen is at eye-level where we sit.

[quote user="Tallyho"]

PS: My wife and Kids though have not had any problems at all with
viewing our TV from between 7 and 9 ft away....must be an age
thing.....50 this year.[/quote]

Only a year behind you

[quote user="Tallyho"]

and Andrew's still looking for a suitable Night
Nurse for me[/quote]

???