HDTV (UK) for your next gen consoles

[London Geezer]

Hello guys,

FINALLY, it seems like prices for HDTVs in the UK are coming down quite fast, or at least faster than i expected.

Look at this beauty: http://www.digiuk.com/productdetail.asp?id=4104&c=1374820&guid=&s=&sm=

Less than 900 quid for a great Samsung 32" HDTV with HDMI and all the bells and whistles.

I know this might not belong on this forum (not like it matters lately, but Sonic please move it if it's so out of place), but i just wanted to inform UK gamers lurking the console boards and not the other boards that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

By the time the X360 gets here, and most importantly, by the time any normal person can get his hands on one, HDTVs in the UK will be well cheap - everything considered.

I'll surely be getting a HDTV for my PS3 and HDDVD player and i'm happy to see things are moving faster than i expected.

 

[Gerry]

The Samsung is meant to be very good, although there was talk of tearing issues at 720p@60Hz (if I remember correctly).

There seems to be a pretty good selection of 32" TVs around the £800-£1000 mark right now. Almost enough to make me want to buy one. Toshiba and Philips are meant to have very competitive sets at a similar price as well.

 

[dave_m123]

Ooh thats looking very nice. I've been looking around for a decent priced one. Wonder how much they will go down in the Janruary sales.

 

[Uncle]

The Samsung is meant to be very good, although there was talk of tearing issues at 720p@60Hz (if I remember correctly).

I've heard that it was a firmware problem that has been solved now. I think there was some talk about it at avforums.

 

[London Geezer]

Ooh thats looking very nice. I've been looking around for a decent priced one. Wonder how much they will go down in the Janruary sales.

Just imagine how cheap they'll be by the time we'll put our hands on PS3's!
Personally i had my eyes on the new Hitachi 7200, supposedly with the best IQ - and by a long margin - in that price range. Been getting rave reviews. Still over £1000 though so i'll wait.

 

[Gerry]

I've heard that it was a firmware problem that has been solved now. I think there was some talk about it at avforums.

Yup. Looks like it was fixed a couple of weeks ago, which is good since otherwise it seems like a fine TV.

 

[Lord Darkblade]

Saw a really nice one in PC World as well, 1920x1080 (1080p! woot!) only problem was that it had no HDMI/DVI inputs but it did have a single VGA... and only £650!

 

[London Geezer]

Saw a really nice one in PC World as well, 1920x1080 (1080p! woot!) only problem was that it had no HDMI/DVI inputs but it did have a single VGA... and only £650!

U serious?! What was it? That might be the first ever 1080p display in the UK. Though you really need HDMI in Europe or you can forget about Sky. And most probably HDDVD/Blueray.

 

[Lord Darkblade]

Some Samsung monitor/TV was really really nice,

24" Samsung
VGA,SVideo, Component and Scart inputs
TV Tuner
1920x1080 display.

£650.

And its an older model, they are releasing a new one (its normally a business model) but it was still really really nice. Was in PC World Edinburgh yesterday (Sunday 18th).

Yeah HDMI is the bummer else I would have bought it on the spot, not sure how HDMI->DVI->VGa would work...

 

[sir doris]

Are you sure 1920x1080 wasn't the maximum resolution it could accept, whihc it then down sampled to whatever the native resolution is?

As far as 1920x1080 is concerned I think Sharp to TV's to support this res natively.

 

[hey69]

idtv compatible tuner?

 

[Titanio]

"Resolution: 1366 x 768"

Non-standard resolution ahoy?

Also, what does "HD Ready" mean, exactly?

 

[London Geezer]

"Resolution: 1366 x 768"

Non-standard resolution ahoy?

Also, what does "HD Ready" mean, exactly?

That resolution just means that the display will either upscale 720p to 768 or you'll se small borders. Many 720p display here have that resolution.

HD Ready means that it will work with the new Sky HD when it's released next year, it just means that it has HDMI inputs and supports 720p at least.

 

[Titanio]

That resolution just means that the display will either upscale 720p to 768 or you'll se small borders. Many 720p display here have that resolution.

Shame. I would try and stick to a display with one of the standards, 720p or perhaps soon 1080p. Your TV will be scaling the image otherwise, and it may not do a very good job.

I'm in Europe myself, but I'm using a projector (native 720p) - I'm guessing it's easier to find native resolutions on those than on TVs at the moment.

 

[Fruitfrenzy]

Also, what does "HD Ready" mean, exactly?

HD Ready is a European minimum spec for HD TVs that in theory ensures that consumers don't end up paying out large sums of cash for something that doesn't work with the various bits of kit that will provide the source material (eg Sky HD and HD-DVD).

It is defined here: http://www.eicta.org/files/MinReqHDTV08-05-180212A.pdf

One of the requirements is that it can accept input signals in 1080i and 720p and displays at at least 720p. If it isn't displaying at 1080i it will downscale (as was previously mentioned). I think I remember reading about some minimum quality bar for the scaling but I could be wrong.

I have been holding off replacing my 25" 4:3 TV until an HD TV could be got for a sensible price. It looks like that time may be coming sooner than I thought. Woo Hoo.

 

[London Geezer]

Shame. I would try and stick to a display with one of the standards, 720p or perhaps soon 1080p. Your TV will be scaling the image otherwise, and it may not do a very good job.

I'm in Europe myself, but I'm using a projector (native 720p) - I'm guessing it's easier to find native resolutions on those than on TVs at the moment.

You probably have the option to either scale or put small borders. I'm sure the results of scaling won't be too ugly, it's only 40 pixels anyway. The 768 number is there because those HDTVs can be used as PC monitors. Makes things easier like that.

 

[hey69]

i see "Resolution: 1366 x 768" alot actually. why is this?
is this an EU standard ?

 

[wco81]

I'll surely be getting a HDTV for my PS3 and HDDVD player and i'm happy to see things are moving faster than i expected.

Ooh thats looking very nice. I've been looking around for a decent priced one. Wonder how much they will go down in the Janruary sales.

What, no X360?

You guys aren't going to jump in when it hits in December?

The way things are going these days, Blu-Ray is looking more like a sure thing. So you may want to see what kind of release HD-DVD has, especially in terms of software support (Paramount, Universal and even Warners seemed to have pulled back from launching all those HD-DVD titles by this Xmas).

And you may want to get a recorder, not just a player.

 

[Lord Darkblade]

No it was actually capable of 1080p, its being sold as a TV/Monitor and can support the proper res as a monitor at least.

 

[Guden Oden]

i see "Resolution: 1366 x 768" alot actually. why is this?
is this an EU standard ?

Why? Because 1366*768 is 16:9 ratio... And 768 is as you know a common vertical rez in the PC world, which is likely why it's that number of lines.

You often see 1280*768 too, but that's only 15:9, not that anyone's likely to really notice the difference I suppose...