Choosing First HDTV

[Neelix682]

Hello all,

Our 23" analog set is dying, so we are looking for the best size HD TV, preferably around $400 US.

The TV is in a living room next to a sliding door window with blinds. The sofa is 9 ft (2.75 m) away from TV. It seems a 39" or 40" set would be the minimum needed size. Would there be a difference in resolution or viewing ratio between 39" and 40" sets? Also, I'm not sure if a plasma TV would get glare from the light or not.

Lastly, the cable provider charges more for HD channels. Would we need to upgrade? We watch just basic broadcast stations and old shows and cartoons. Do most new TVs come with a digital antenna too?

Thanks for your help.

Graham

 

[baijuxavior]

A 40" or 42" TV is good for your use. There is not much difference between a 39" and 40" in terms of viewing area. If you are upgrading from CRT TV, you will be be disappointed with the picture quality of SD channels in a big LED/plasma screen. It is worth upgrading to HD channels for a big flat TV.

 

[Neelix682]

Thanks for the reply. When you say a "big LCD/plasma screen", what size are you referring to? Would a 40" look blurry in SD?

 

[baijuxavior]

SD will look blurry in a 40" TV if you watch it from a close distance of say 4-5 feet. For 9 feet you may not feel it much though.

 

[Neelix682]

So if I get the HD upgrade it will upscale all SD programs in order to avoid the fuzziness in HD format?

I've heard some TV settings leave black bars on the side for SD shows. I've seen some people try to change settings to fill the whole screen, but that seemed to stretch the picture. Is there a way to avoid either of these situations?

 

[baijuxavior]

Upscaled SD content will never come close to the PQ of original HD content. Your TV will do a better upscaling than the HD box. If you watch SD contents at a sufficient distance from the screen, you will not notice the 'fuzziness' in SD channels.

This is one problem with widescreen TVs. Either you have to live with the black bars or be satisfied with the stretched image. HD channels will fill the entire screen without stretching the image.

 

[humveeguy]

Hi..

Why are u trying to find the difference between 39 and 40 size !!.
I was also in same boat. I took 42 inch 3D . But Now mainly watches HD content and really think that I had gone for 47 inch same price. I have an average room size only. I have watched 3D one time only !!.

When running SD from local file etc, by default the TV will show in smaller window. So no issues.

Soon the landscape will change. India will move to HD , full HD as common as the other world is slowly moving to 4K etc. Atleast it will be upscaled content.

Try getting bigger size panel, 3D not required as it is still is a flop globally.
Pany Plasma is good if u can take care of it and u need a less lit room. VERY good picture :yahoo:

Smart tv also not important as u get a good HD android stick for 5000 Rs.


hg

 

[baijuxavior]

^^ He is from the US.

 

[shrey7]

I agree with baijuxavior.. SD is no where near HD content.
SD is just not good.. in coming few years all SD channels will be replaced by HD channels..

Its like CD = SD vs DVD = HD vs BLURAY = 4k. Just like CD - SD channels will be forgotten soon.
Most of the people use DVD's these days and slowing moving towards BLURAY.

so its a wise to choose HD TV.

 

[asliarun]

Hello all,

Our 23" analog set is dying, so we are looking for the best size HD TV, preferably around $400 US.

The TV is in a living room next to a sliding door window with blinds. The sofa is 9 ft (2.75 m) away from TV. It seems a 39" or 40" set would be the minimum needed size. Would there be a difference in resolution or viewing ratio between 39" and 40" sets? Also, I'm not sure if a plasma TV would get glare from the light or not.

Lastly, the cable provider charges more for HD channels. Would we need to upgrade? We watch just basic broadcast stations and old shows and cartoons. Do most new TVs come with a digital antenna too?

Thanks for your help.

Graham

Hello Graham,

I made a similar upgrade a few years ago. My couch is the same distance as well away from the TV.

My observations

- 40"-42" would be the sweet spot for you in terms of price. If you get a larger panel (say, 47"), that is still very much okay for this viewing distance. In fact it will look better. However, 42" (what I have) looks quite good at this distance. I don't feel the need to upgrade.

- The single biggest improvement I felt was when I upgraded from SD to HD. Watching HD tv channels on Comcast and HD movies/TV series in Netflix and Amazon Prime via Roku is a huge huge improvement. For me, the improvement was like buying a new TV. In fact, I actually felt I had a new TV when I upgraded from SD to HD.

- I know this is an unpopular statement, but if you don't have a separate home theater or speaker system, do pay some attention to the sound quality of your TV speakers as well. While everyone (rightfully) focuses on picture quality, sound quality does a lot to the whole experience too.

I have a fairly standard inexpensive model - an LG. It does a reasonably good job with pictures. Sure, in really dark scenes, the picture quality takes a hit. However, it has really good sound - leagues better than most. To my wife and I, it did make a big impression and we still continue to enjoy the sound.

- I would completely ignore the "smart tv" features as others rightfully say. Just get a Roku. It is the single best device you can hook up to your TV, and is often available for $50 or so. You just need a reasonably fast internet connection. 3mbps or higher should do it.

- I can't make model recommendations but Vizio seems to have some good models that are also well priced.

Regards,
Arun