Effects of next gen consoles on you to buy a new HDTV?

[Cyan]

When you make statements like these it would be nice if you back it up with some actual data.

It depends on the model though. Quite a few Philips TVs have great input lag, others not so much. You can find a lot of info on the net about that if you want to know.

The model I purchased yesterday already ) waiting for it to be shipped) has been recommended in other forums compared to other TVs, although input lag is not something I am going to lose my sleep over, tbh.

 

[Cyan]

If you get the budget for that, then a soundbar + subwoofer could be a very nice replacement to a 5.1/7.1 system. Some of them use really good virtual surround sound algorithms out of Dolby Digital /DTS sources.

Yamaha has a line of "Sound Projectors", that will use the walls of your room to reflect soundwaves and they do get "real" surround sound... assuming your room is rectangular and the sound bar/screen is positioned in the center of one of the walls. Then again, the cheapest one would cost as much as your HDTV alone.

Unfortunately not. I purchased the new TV yesterday, this model http://www.tvstore.nl/product/305349/philips-32pfl4508h.html for 513€, Philips 3D glasses -active- for 42€, they have a great 3D depth, or so they say- http://www.beslist.nl/products/acce...__46PFL8606__46PFL9706__52PFL9606__58PFL9956/ , then the next gen systems, and adding to that another 500€ is too much for me.

If anything, had I had the money I'd buy a Roland SD-50 with it. I've recently fallen in love with some headphones at work (noise cancelling ones, which helped me to protect my -still- very sensitive hearing and avoid infernally loud noise coming from certain machines)...

So I am thinking about buying some nice 7.1 headphones. I am open to suggestions.

 

[Cyan]

3D is in an odd state. It seems to have been dropped, by and large. It comes with a lot of TVs, but it doesn't appear to have widespread appeal, and zero next-gen games have talked about. I'd have thought some devs would be excited at the improved stereoscopic rendering they can do over the early attempts last gen, but it's a total non-issue. And if devs aren't supporting it, and the console companies aren't pushing it, what exactly is the future?

I think 3D isn't overly publicised but it is an unique thing to have in a world where 3D movies and games have been around since a long time ago.

Oculus Rift is an example of 3D being successful and the 3DS is based mostly on that technology.

People got used to hear about 3D everywhere without companies making a fuss about it, thus it is becoming a calm transition... but for me if there is something with a brilliant future ahead when it comes to TV technology, it is 3D.

The point is that it is an expensive technology, it isn't like going from CRT to LCD, which wasn't exactly cheap but the prices were reasonable.

Only high-end TVs feature 3D nowadays and people aren't buying those in droves for obvious reasons. I was in fact tempted to buy another TV because it cost 140€ -the younger sister of the one I chose- less but it didn't have 3D and other features, so... I can't really blame people for not buying a 3D panel.

 

[Cyan]

There will be a crossover effect though - support for VR is basically a superset of 3D support. On Sony's side I think there was a conscious choice that launch wasn't a realistic timeframe for solving the inherent problems of supporting 3D, with games struggling to just look good and next-gen at launch. But there have been lots of suggestions that we'll see another wave of 3D effort into 2014, among others from Evolution Studios for DriveClub, and any game that does VR support will likely support 3Dtv as well.

Yup, there will be more 3D games in the future. In fact, I am surprised about the fact that nobody created a "3D" desktop console, that would break sales records if correctly publicised, imho.

:smile: As a cool anecdote I can tell you that my brother and his wife have purchased a Samsung TV for 1000€, featuring 3D support, and two pairs of 3D glasses were bundled with it -as a way to make the TV more affordable-, although they have never used it 'cos they don't have 3D movies and content to watch...

Thing is, a friend of mine and his wife has the same TV, although in this case the bundle also included a Hard Drive with 3D movies. They watched the content and went mental for the results!! :smile:

The HD's content was mostly 3D documentaries, about animals and stuff. He and his wife watched them and told me that they felt like they were there between the animals.

On another note, one of the documentaries was about dinosaurs. And they went crazy for it.

He told me literally; "We were watching the documentary about dinosaurs and we could see the head of the dinosaur here, in front of our eyes, and the rest there, where the TV was" (he meant that the TV was placed at a certain distance, yet the dinosaur was just in front of them, and he could see the TV back there). How cool is that?

 

[Grall]

I bought a proper HDTV about a year ago, upgrading from a small HD-ready LCD flatscreen, so I won't be looking for anything new right now, naturally. However, I did figure out recently how to disable overscan on the HDMI inputs - I didn't even think the TV did that since digital media should not need overscan, but after hooking up one of my PCs to the screen the truth hit me in a horrific fashion! This required some googling and reading through years-old threads on (for me) obscure audio-video forums...

If you got a recent Samsung like me, press the SOURCE button on your remote and pick a HDMI input, then press the TOOLS button. Older TVs alledgedly use the INFO button instead. Select "Edit name" and scroll down to "PC" or "PC DVI". I'm not sure the difference between the two, but if you pick the DVI version you won't get HDMI audio fed through the TV's optical output port (if your TV has one). I therefore use the plain "PC" setting.

You could also pick the "GAME" option I suppose and perhaps enjoy less input latency, but I rather like the framerate buff you get from the TV's image processing when watching movies on my PS3, so I stuck with the previously mentioned setting.

 

[Cyan]

I bought a proper HDTV about a year ago, upgrading from a small HD-ready LCD flatscreen, so I won't be looking for anything new right now, naturally. However, I did figure out recently how to disable overscan on the HDMI inputs - I didn't even think the TV did that since digital media should not need overscan, but after hooking up one of my PCs to the screen the truth hit me in a horrific fashion! This required some googling and reading through years-old threads on (for me) obscure audio-video forums...

If you got a recent Samsung like me, press the SOURCE button on your remote and pick a HDMI input, then press the TOOLS button. Older TVs alledgedly use the INFO button instead. Select "Edit name" and scroll down to "PC" or "PC DVI". I'm not sure the difference between the two, but if you pick the DVI version you won't get HDMI audio fed through the TV's optical output port (if your TV has one). I therefore use the plain "PC" setting.

You could also pick the "GAME" option I suppose and perhaps enjoy less input latency, but I rather like the framerate buff you get from the TV's image processing when watching movies on my PS3, so I stuck with the previously mentioned setting.

No such luck here. I tried, just to have the best of both worlds but it didn't work. I have a relatively old Samsung TV for now indeed and the Tools button doesn't exist, although Info button is there, it does nothing but showing the Hz, the input -VGA, HDMI, etc- resolution and that's about it.

For the people who know Dutch this article talks about the differences between Easy 3D and 3D Max on Philips TV's

http://www.newscenter.philips.com/n...ress/20110511_3D-Easy_3D-Max.wpd#.Ul6mE-k9LDf

(this is the translated version -Google Translate refused to translate it for some reason so I used Bing instead) http://www.microsofttranslator.com/...ress/20110511_3D-Easy_3D-Max.wpd#.Ul1lfOk9LDd

I was also tempted to buy a Philips model which featured 3D Clarity 400, which seems to be 3D Max with a different name, but while the TV was larger -40"- and slightly more expensive than the one I chose, its quality didn't seem to be as good judging by the reviews in professional websites and stuff.

 

[London Geezer]

Boo! Panasonic announced that they will stop production of Plasma screens this year (or was it next year?). Very sad news, unless this means that they will ramp up production of OLED screens, which will drive prices down.

 

[Phil]

What, there are still people that use a 720p TV set? Seriously?

Overhere, pretty much everyone has full-HD screens. PS3 was the reason why I moved to HD tough - and one of the reasons I didn't get one for lunch. There just wasn't much point getting a HD console and not being able to play in HD - so I waited until I got my new TV first before I bought the PS3.

With PS4 and a full-HD projector, I am already well set for the full-HD games (that I already enjoy on the PS3 in the games that support it btw).

Since 4k will only be likely supported through Bluray-Playback, I don't see the point in upgrading too soon. The next projector I get will definately be 4k compatible though, but I still have a few years to decide before I will get one.

 

[London Geezer]

Since 4k will only be likely supported through Bluray-Playback, I don't see the point in upgrading too soon. The next projector I get will definately be 4k compatible though, but I still have a few years to decide before I will get one.

I've been missing in action on the Bluray advances. Is it confirmed that there will be 4k Bluray discs? And will PS4 be able to play them?

 

[Phil]

I actually don't know for sure - I haven't been following all the PS4 topics that closely and if I am not mistaken, HDMI2 isn't quite ready. HDMI 1.4 supports 4k up to 24/30fps though - and given how Sony likes to be at the forefront with these things, I wouldn't be surprised if the PS4 happens to be one of the first devices that could play 4k (video) content. Perhaps only limited with the launch console (or through updates), but certainly as a newer build revision comes out.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

HDMI 2.0 is ready and products are shipping with it more or less today.

This Panasonic 4K TV has it, also has a Display port 1.2.

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-L65WT600

Many other TV manufacturers have a way to patch it into their current 4K TVs.

 

[Sigfried1977]

I've been missing in action on the Bluray advances. Is it confirmed that there will be 4k Bluray discs? And will PS4 be able to play them?

Sony is currently re-releasing movies labeled as "mastered in 4K". Pretty shifty if you ask me considering these are still just regular-ass 1080p Blu-Rays. I think they are comparable to some of the "Super Bit" versions, i.e. relatively high bit rate videos at a premium price with no extras.

 

[Cyan]

HDMI 2.0 is ready and products are shipping with it more or less today.

This Panasonic 4K TV has it, also has a Display port 1.2.

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-L65WT600

Many other TV manufacturers have a way to patch it into their current 4K TVs.

Interesting... especially the comparison photos in the link. It's nice to know 4k TVs are going to become standard in the future, but I think it is going to happen in the long run, it might take a while. I am very happy with Full HD TVs to be honest, at least for now. Therefore, does it really make a difference whether you buy a 4k TV for your console or not? Personally, until the next generation of consoles is released 10 years from now I am very curious about it but that's about it.

As of currently I would be more than happy to play games in a beauty like this one (from this AVSforums article):

Additionally, apart from purchasing Active 3D glasses I also bought the Philips PTA435 passive 3D glasses -31€-, especially because I could play games with friends in 3D.

For those interested here is a great article showing the differences between Active 3D and Passive 3D glasses, their advantages and disadvantages. It's worth the read.

http://www.flatpanelshd.com/focus.php?subaction=showfull&id=1299265133

I will try to share my experiences when I get to test them. :smile: (both pairs of glasses and the TV haven't shipped yet)

 

[itch]

Additionally, apart from purchasing Active 3D glasses I also bought the Philips PTA435 passive 3D glasses -31€-, especially because I could play games with friends in 3D.

The TV supports both active and passive 3D? I've never heard of that. Typically the TV supports one or the other, they aren't interchangeable.

 

[Cyan]

The TV supports both active and passive 3D? I've never heard of that. Typically the TV supports one or the other, they aren't interchangeable.

I don't know exactly to be honest, until I test it. Obviously the TV supports Active 3D because the 3D Max technology is active, but I thought it also supported passive 3D because of the fact that it has a 2D to 3D converter, and reading your post makes me feel like I have probably made a noobish mistake. Darn....

I might be still on time to cancel the pre-order of the passive 3D glasses, since I pre-ordered them like two hours ago, because they were publicised as excellent glasses to play two player games split screen. Sigh.

This is the TV I am talking about -not so cheap for its size but I kiiiiinda loved it-.

http://www.pigiaunerasi.lt/kataloga...6-philips32pfl4508h32quot81cmledtv3dfull.html

 

[Cyan]

Update: I couldn't cancel the pre-order so I won't be opening the box and sell them on Ebay or similar. I purchased the Philips PTA509 active 3D glasses instead, which are cheaper than a pair of glasses I bought the other day, but for 2 player games they should get the job done.

It's not my fault I didn't know.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Boo! Panasonic announced that they will stop production of Plasma screens this year (or was it next year?).

Ironic that they've just won the Which? Best TV recommendation for their plasma.

Do OLED TVs suffer from any of the shortcomings of mobile phone OLEDs? I bought me a new Sammy with an OLED (S3 mini) and it is oversaturated and cannot render small text without looking fuzzy thanks to the weird pixel matrix. Are other OLEDs like Sony's standard 2D linear matrices?

 

[MrFox]

As far as large OLED screens are concerned, I've only seen the Sony broadcast monitor at work, they are calibrated to perfection out of the box and provide the most technically perfect image possible from any technology, so there's certainly no inherent color problem related to OLED technology, quite the opposite in fact.

With phones, the pentile matrix is there to improve the shortcomings of their very high density, TVs don't have this issue.

Phones also have over-saturated colors "because they can", it's the phone manufacturers that decide on a color matrix for more popping colors, on a TV it's just a question of calibration. But I think some older samsung oleds panels had a red channel that is a little orange, and those cannot reach perfect color even with calibration. I would assume that's a problem solved in newer generations.

http://www.displaymate.com/LG_OLED_TV_ShootOut_1.htm#Lab_Tests
LG have an interesting RGBW pixel matrix (similar principle as the white segment of DLP projectors) to increase brightness, the calibrated mode (ISF) measures practically perfect out of the box. So I think OLED lives up to the hype.

The Color Gamut for the THX Cinema and ISF Expert modes is 99% of sRGB/Rec.709, which is visually indistinguishable from perfect.
[..]
The average Color Tracking Error all the way down to 3% of Peak Luminance is just 1.1 JNCD, which means the Color Tracking Accuracy is visually indistinguishable from perfect

Sounds like a winner

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Fair enough. Anyone toying with 4 or more colour OLEDs?

Edit: Random Googlage, Sony and Panny are joint-venturing OLEDs, so I guess that explains Panasonic's dropping of plasma.

 

[Cjail]

I thought I could have waited a couple of years before upgrading but I might have to grab one of Panasonic latest Plasma now.
Dang!