pippyrips

I'm after a nice LCD telly to be wall mounted in my lounge. I've been holding off for a while for the new generation to come along with free-sat HD built in. So far only panasonic have released one - does anyone know when Sony/samsung etc will be joining the party?

Also, what is the best 42"ish telly about at the moment?

And finally how do you go about confirming a wall is capable of holding a telly?!

Thanks

rr_ww

I havent any first hand experience of FreeSat. But Im told you still need a dish on the side of your house. Quite how you'd get one without being on Sky (and presuambly their HD service too!) I know not.

As for LCDs. The crucial thng to look for is the Hz. Older (and still availaible) models run at less than 100hz. Normally 50hz. This is what makes fast moving things. Football, F1 etc blurry round the edges. Panansonic are pushing this 100hz and is available on most of their newer range. I belive some Samsungs do too.

The next generation equipment will be 200hz. But I'll assume you arent looking to spend £2K+ on a Sony. Also look for "true" HD in terms of 1080. Most HD ready TVs are only 720 (vertical pixels IIRC) and will "probably" be outgunned in a few years. Something to bear in mind in terms of future proofing yourself.

AVForums.com Home is a good source of info.

Im sure someone will be along extoling the virtues of Plasmas in a bit. They are good, but theres a long winded running in procedure to follow if you want it to last without problems.

pippyrips

thanks mate, I do have the full sky package, so as a result refuse to pay anymore for just a handful of hd channels (this is the same reason why I won't be watching the boxing tonight )

I am sure I want an LCD over a plasma, and know whatever I buy it will be old news in a dew months. However I've been lead to believe freesat hd is worth getting, and that freesat hd2 is just around the corner?!

logiclee

Sony W4000 and W4500 models currently seem to be the LCD of choice in the AV press.
No Freesat as yet though.

Sky HD does an excellent job of upscaling SD channels as well and there's currently 28 HD channels and rising. Worth a tenner a month if you ask me.

Cheers
Lee