Question:
I'm planning to replace my 28" widescreen set with something a bit bigger in the near future and hoping to spend £1500 or under. Can anyone please recommend the best 36" widescreen set? A top quality picture is the most important thing for me although good sound would be nice too. I'll be using it pretty much for watching DVDs only, mostly PAL but a fair few NTSC also. Cheers :)
(I was looking at a couple of 42" back projection models but I was told that watching 2.35:1 widescreen films with black bars would cause lines to be burned on the screen and that seems to be confirmed by a few posts I've read in here. I'd use the TV almost exclusively for watching widescreen films so I guess that's out. :( )
If it's not too far for you, and you want to buy in High Street stores, take a look in Brittan and Hobbs in Sittingbourne. They haven't got a real large selection, but what they do have is well priced, and they range from £200 TV's to £6k Plasma screens.
Just got a 32" Samsung there today. They did have a very nice 36" TV. But I can't remember the price or what make it was...
Thinking about it, it was a 36" Toshiba CRT TV for around the £1500 mark. Picture was fantastic, and I wish I could have afforded it. But it was about £200 - £300 over budget for me. Nearly got a Rear Projector TV though...but like you, got a bit concerned over the screen burning issues...
They had it set up in a little demo room, with a load of other large and medium TV's.
I've been looking around the web and I'm considering the Panasonic TX-36PB50 which is £1560 at a site called BE-Direct that seems to have a pretty good reputation. The picture is supposedly very nice and it comes with DTS and Dolby Digital so it will really annoy my upstairs neighbour who'll soon regret putting in that wooden floor, the selfish prick. But I digress.
I was slightly shocked about the screen burn thing. It hardly seems worth paying that kind of money for a back projection set if you can't watch cable channels and widescreen DVDs or play computer games on it. I suppose you can watch Eastenders on a really big screen.
Sounds like a good TV then. I have had a Panasonic for 3 years, and they certainly make good TV's. Though I couldn't vouch for that model. But having DTS certianly is a great bonus.
As for the RPTV, I was disappointed too. I had pretty much decided that I would go and buy one today...when I came across the burn issues. (Don't know how I missed it previously), and although it seems most cases come from misuse (i.e. too high brightness), it's not something I was willing to chance.
Originally posted by jnms
Sounds like a good TV then. I have had a Panasonic for 3 years, and they certainly make good TV's. Though I couldn't vouch for that model. But having DTS certianly is a great bonus.
As for the RPTV, I was disappointed too. I had pretty much decided that I would go and buy one today...when I came across the burn issues. (Don't know how I missed it previously), and although it seems most cases come from misuse (i.e. too high brightness), it's not something I was willing to chance.
Don`t waste your money on a set with onboard decoding, at the very minimum buy a DTS/DD package even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10. Buying a TV with the onboard decoding is a waste of money and on most sets means that corners have been cut to offer more "features".
Best option is a vanilla Nicam 36" set, panasonic, sony and philips all make such models, and you`ll get one well under £1500. if you shop about you`ll find ex demo bargains for under £1200 ;)
Hope that helps
Originally posted by Justin
Don`t waste your money on a set with onboard decoding, at the very minimum buy a DTS/DD package even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10. Buying a TV with the onboard decoding is a waste of money and on most sets means that corners have been cut to offer more "features".
I'm really after the 36-incher with the best picture. Good sound is a bonus but not so important that I really thought about buying a separate sound system. At the moment I've just got Dolby Pro Logic with possibly the two crappest rear speakers on the whole planet so I'm not exactly a connoisseur :)
My uncle has a big, probably 36" panasonic ws tv. That has dolby digital and dts, but it's probably over the grand mark cos i asked him how much it was and he told me that i didn't want to ask.
Regards,
Craig.
Check out www.homecinemachoice.com for authoritative reviews. Also www.whatvideotv.com
Seems a pity you've discounted RPTV's I've had my Tosh for 16 months now and love it.If you set these up anything like correctly you shouldn't have much to worry about from screen burn.Mines used as the main TV and as such we watch a hell of a lot of Sky on it as well as dvd's of all aspect ratios and i've no sign of screen burn at all.
A freind of mine has had the new 36" tosh CRT set for about two months now and I think the picture quality is pretty crap.We were watching the commonwealth games swimming on it and the water just didn't look real,much to harsh and digital looking.Maybe it's because I'm used to a much softer looking picture with mine.
Actually I've had another mate with a gigantic back projection set tell me the same thing you just said this morning. Now I'm so confused my eyes have crossed. I do believe in bigger is better, just like all my ladies, so maybe I should investigate further. Are there any good home cinema sites or forums with more information about screen burn? Cheers.
I think the big thread on here has just about all the info you need,you should be able to dig it up if you do a search on RPTV.Get comfortable though it's quite a read.
I couldn't believe it when someone(can't remember who) said they had sceen burn after 1 day or somthing.:shocker:It's the first time I can remember it being mentioned on here since I've had mine.First thing I did when I got mine was set it up with a THX optimizer disc because the picture straight from the box was pretty poor.
If you enjoy going to the movies the only way your going to recreate it at home on a budget is an RPTV.The only thing thats going to beat it is a projector which I think will cost you quite a bit more.For me big CRT sets just don't have that cinematic feel to them. :)
Well I took your advice and spent the last few hours trawling through that thread and also checked out the AV forums (http://www.avforums.com/) and read a few online reviews (thanks Napoleon). Okay, I'm convinced and back in the back projection camp.
The consensus on screen burn seems to be that as long as you make sure the picture settings are correct and don't leave it on a static picture for hours and hours and hours, you'll be fine. I'm not going to hook it up to Sky and intend to use it almost exclusively for DVDs, more than one a day being a rarity for me, so I guess I'll get that AVIA thing and not worry.
The thread also made me a little concerned about distance because my room's not huge but, hey, if Michael Brooke says 7 feet is okay, I'll trust him. I'd be more like 9 feet away. I wouldn't go for a 4:3 set though. 95% of my collection is widescreen and I can live with cropping The X-Files and South Park.
So, as everyone seems to favour Toshiba, I'm looking at the 42PW23P, which I was a little surprised to discover is about £300 less than the 36" set I was thinking about. I don't know whether to get a cabinet though. At £130 I probably won't. I might get a cheap Dolby Digital set up with it though my head aches from learning all about back projection and there's no way I'm swotting up on sound systems tonight too!
Anyway cheers for all your help and advice everyone. I'm going to go down to Currys and check it out. I'll buy from one of the more reputable online places though.
Now I just need a couch and somewhere to put my magazine collection and my flat's complete :)
Any chance you can post back and let us know how ya got along if indeed you bought the tosh rp?:D
Will do! Should be in the next couple of weeks hopefully. God knows what I'm going to do with my current one.
Originally posted by Justin
... even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10...
what's so 'only' about the Yamaha VS10 ??
(I was looking at a couple of 42" back projection models but I was told that watching 2.35:1 widescreen films with black bars would cause lines to be burned on the screen and that seems to be confirmed by a few posts I've read in here. I'd use the TV almost exclusively for watching widescreen films so I guess that's out. :( )
Answers:
If it's not too far for you, and you want to buy in High Street stores, take a look in Brittan and Hobbs in Sittingbourne. They haven't got a real large selection, but what they do have is well priced, and they range from £200 TV's to £6k Plasma screens.
Just got a 32" Samsung there today. They did have a very nice 36" TV. But I can't remember the price or what make it was...
Answers:
Thinking about it, it was a 36" Toshiba CRT TV for around the £1500 mark. Picture was fantastic, and I wish I could have afforded it. But it was about £200 - £300 over budget for me. Nearly got a Rear Projector TV though...but like you, got a bit concerned over the screen burning issues...
They had it set up in a little demo room, with a load of other large and medium TV's.
Answers:
I've been looking around the web and I'm considering the Panasonic TX-36PB50 which is £1560 at a site called BE-Direct that seems to have a pretty good reputation. The picture is supposedly very nice and it comes with DTS and Dolby Digital so it will really annoy my upstairs neighbour who'll soon regret putting in that wooden floor, the selfish prick. But I digress.
I was slightly shocked about the screen burn thing. It hardly seems worth paying that kind of money for a back projection set if you can't watch cable channels and widescreen DVDs or play computer games on it. I suppose you can watch Eastenders on a really big screen.
Answers:
Sounds like a good TV then. I have had a Panasonic for 3 years, and they certainly make good TV's. Though I couldn't vouch for that model. But having DTS certianly is a great bonus.
As for the RPTV, I was disappointed too. I had pretty much decided that I would go and buy one today...when I came across the burn issues. (Don't know how I missed it previously), and although it seems most cases come from misuse (i.e. too high brightness), it's not something I was willing to chance.
Answers:
Originally posted by jnms
Sounds like a good TV then. I have had a Panasonic for 3 years, and they certainly make good TV's. Though I couldn't vouch for that model. But having DTS certianly is a great bonus.
As for the RPTV, I was disappointed too. I had pretty much decided that I would go and buy one today...when I came across the burn issues. (Don't know how I missed it previously), and although it seems most cases come from misuse (i.e. too high brightness), it's not something I was willing to chance.
Don`t waste your money on a set with onboard decoding, at the very minimum buy a DTS/DD package even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10. Buying a TV with the onboard decoding is a waste of money and on most sets means that corners have been cut to offer more "features".
Best option is a vanilla Nicam 36" set, panasonic, sony and philips all make such models, and you`ll get one well under £1500. if you shop about you`ll find ex demo bargains for under £1200 ;)
Hope that helps
Answers:
Originally posted by Justin
Don`t waste your money on a set with onboard decoding, at the very minimum buy a DTS/DD package even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10. Buying a TV with the onboard decoding is a waste of money and on most sets means that corners have been cut to offer more "features".
I'm really after the 36-incher with the best picture. Good sound is a bonus but not so important that I really thought about buying a separate sound system. At the moment I've just got Dolby Pro Logic with possibly the two crappest rear speakers on the whole planet so I'm not exactly a connoisseur :)
Answers:
My uncle has a big, probably 36" panasonic ws tv. That has dolby digital and dts, but it's probably over the grand mark cos i asked him how much it was and he told me that i didn't want to ask.
Regards,
Craig.
Answers:
Check out www.homecinemachoice.com for authoritative reviews. Also www.whatvideotv.com
Answers:
Seems a pity you've discounted RPTV's I've had my Tosh for 16 months now and love it.If you set these up anything like correctly you shouldn't have much to worry about from screen burn.Mines used as the main TV and as such we watch a hell of a lot of Sky on it as well as dvd's of all aspect ratios and i've no sign of screen burn at all.
A freind of mine has had the new 36" tosh CRT set for about two months now and I think the picture quality is pretty crap.We were watching the commonwealth games swimming on it and the water just didn't look real,much to harsh and digital looking.Maybe it's because I'm used to a much softer looking picture with mine.
Answers:
Actually I've had another mate with a gigantic back projection set tell me the same thing you just said this morning. Now I'm so confused my eyes have crossed. I do believe in bigger is better, just like all my ladies, so maybe I should investigate further. Are there any good home cinema sites or forums with more information about screen burn? Cheers.
Answers:
I think the big thread on here has just about all the info you need,you should be able to dig it up if you do a search on RPTV.Get comfortable though it's quite a read.
I couldn't believe it when someone(can't remember who) said they had sceen burn after 1 day or somthing.:shocker:It's the first time I can remember it being mentioned on here since I've had mine.First thing I did when I got mine was set it up with a THX optimizer disc because the picture straight from the box was pretty poor.
If you enjoy going to the movies the only way your going to recreate it at home on a budget is an RPTV.The only thing thats going to beat it is a projector which I think will cost you quite a bit more.For me big CRT sets just don't have that cinematic feel to them. :)
Answers:
Well I took your advice and spent the last few hours trawling through that thread and also checked out the AV forums (http://www.avforums.com/) and read a few online reviews (thanks Napoleon). Okay, I'm convinced and back in the back projection camp.
The consensus on screen burn seems to be that as long as you make sure the picture settings are correct and don't leave it on a static picture for hours and hours and hours, you'll be fine. I'm not going to hook it up to Sky and intend to use it almost exclusively for DVDs, more than one a day being a rarity for me, so I guess I'll get that AVIA thing and not worry.
The thread also made me a little concerned about distance because my room's not huge but, hey, if Michael Brooke says 7 feet is okay, I'll trust him. I'd be more like 9 feet away. I wouldn't go for a 4:3 set though. 95% of my collection is widescreen and I can live with cropping The X-Files and South Park.
So, as everyone seems to favour Toshiba, I'm looking at the 42PW23P, which I was a little surprised to discover is about £300 less than the 36" set I was thinking about. I don't know whether to get a cabinet though. At £130 I probably won't. I might get a cheap Dolby Digital set up with it though my head aches from learning all about back projection and there's no way I'm swotting up on sound systems tonight too!
Anyway cheers for all your help and advice everyone. I'm going to go down to Currys and check it out. I'll buy from one of the more reputable online places though.
Now I just need a couch and somewhere to put my magazine collection and my flat's complete :)
Answers:
Any chance you can post back and let us know how ya got along if indeed you bought the tosh rp?:D
Answers:
Will do! Should be in the next couple of weeks hopefully. God knows what I'm going to do with my current one.
Answers:
Originally posted by Justin
... even if its only a little digitheatre or Yamaha VS10...
what's so 'only' about the Yamaha VS10 ??
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