New Telly for the living room ......help
 

The 19" CRT sat in the corner of the room is getting to the end of it's sell by date and it's been suggested that we get a new telly mounted flat on the wall.

I've measured the distance from the wall to the sofa and it's a max of 13 feet.

A quick look on google says a 50" would be the weapon of choice.........blimey !!

I've looked on google, Amazon, John Lewis etc and I'm none the wiser, I'm sat looking at the wall now and just wonder how the cables and the Wii bar thingy will end up sat on top?

I'm tempted just to drop into my local Peter Tyson...... the 01228 is a dead giveaway and get it sorted. :)

http://petertyson.co.uk/

I've looked at Samsung LED's and they look nice but do I need a Plasma when they get this size ?

Cheers

Shaun

http://petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz...xp65vt20.shtml


Should fit just fine :D

Plasma would be your best choice, making it a panny will
Be better

Cost is your key here; what do you want to pay?

I've recent been browsing TVs alot in aid to help my mum and her partner get the right TV. So alot of teh current stuff is still fairly fresh in my head. After looking at many TVs on display, I ruled out LCDs due to annoying edge backlight/colour banding and black issues and the inability to tell if a TV is a TN (cheap panel) or superior IPS or MVA/PVA type panel without going on to a website and digging through detailed specs.

I ruled out Edge-lit LEDs for the similar reasons as they gain little in adavantage other than being thinner and using less power, but they do seem to give a brighter picture.

This leaves matrix LED LCDs and Plasma. Of which the matrix LEDs are megabucks and only seen in the high end models out of our budget (£900).

In the store (Media Markt - it was in Spain) after much (hours!!) playing with the settings on various TVs all showing Alice in Wonderland on Blueray. It was eventually wittled down to a 42" Panasonic Plasma G20 series (TX-P42G20 IIRC) and a 50" LG PK250 plasma (same as the PK350 but with the USB disabled). Do not confuse the PK models with the PJ ones ( PJ250 or PJ350 etc) as these are only 720p not 1080p and look identical barring the pixel size is huge on the 50" PJ350 (Samsung are also dishing out 720p plasmas on the cheap - so beware).

We also looked at the Panny TX-P42S20 which was on par with the LG PK250's picture but it was smaller and the same price and hence ruled out. As for the Sharp Aquos; I'll be damned if I can tell if that extra yellow pixel makes a difference or not. :wonder:

Sadly, the LG PK250 won on the simple price + size argument. it was €699 which eqautes to under £600. My personal choice was the Panny G20 as it was a much superior TV; better image motion and much better contrast+brightness but this was €820 and the Spanish model doesn't have the built in freesat (boo - UK ones do).

Both are good sets, but the Panny G20 has far better contrast and half decent motion interpolation (intelligent frame creation pro), The LG just repeats the same frames, but its effective enough to be accpetable, although it took some fiddling to get the picture "right" especially the black level/contrast. The Panny V20 is another superior model and is a step from the G20 but was out of our price range.

Also I personally think the LG is too big...the room is 4m x 5m with a 12ft viewing distance. On SD televison the increased size just amplifies the lack of clarity from normal Sky non-HD channels. This would not be noticable on a 40" or 42" set IMO. HD looks superb though.

In terms of LED, the only ones I truely liked and worth opting over the Panny V20 and G20 TVs are the Philips 9000 LED series (such as the 46PFL9705 or 40PFL9705 ) . The motion interpolation is one of the few that work very well, built-in sound isn't bad either for a flat panel. The matrix-lit Samsung looked good as well but I can't remember which specific models.

Decent picture motion is something that many flat TVs have often lacked and even my old Natural motion Philips CRT bettered IMO. Many peopel don't notice it, or have come from inferior TVs so are used to it, but it annoys the hell out of me when I do notice it (hence why I can't use a PC monitor to watch videos - due to the lack of motion processing).


Sound quality - forget any TV if your into decent Hi-Fi, and be very wary of "home cinema in a box" AV systems. Most of these come supplied with one-way speakers on the front channels, and sound dire because of it, and the amps are sometimes too weedy to drive aftermarket speakers properly. Even so these are often superior to the TV's built in speakers.

Sorry for the waffle, but I thought it may help. But to sum up: Ali's choice is a Panny TX-P42V20 or a Philips 40PFL9705. If you want bigger there are 46" versions of both models, if that's too expensive; try a Panny TX-P42G20 :)

My Wii bar is stuck under the wall mounted TV. It comes with adhesive pads for that reason.
Can't really offer too much advice on the TV, as now I'm watching a lot more BluRays, my 40 inch Samsung doesn't seem like a good choice. It is 3 years old though.

Panasonic Viera plasma FTW. Best thing I`ve ever bought :-)

Ali-B

Thank you very much for taking the time to help out.........you are either a very good touch typist or have discovered the Dragon Dictate app for the I-Phone !!

I'm sorry not to type 15 screen inches of text but I'm looking at the panasonic V20 jobbies and taking it from there :)

Just don't know what to do about fitting it as it seems to me there is a need to cut some form of channel into the wall to get the cables from the floor upwards

Thanks to all

Shaun

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-TX...5713582&sr=8-2

Ok Guys........ how about this model ??

Shaun

Hi Shaun Panasonic TX-P42S20B(Dixons have this TV for 553£) and here is review http://www.techradar.com/reviews/aud...-680433/review or this http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/tvs/panaso...view-49305641/

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/panason...567&xtor=AL-72

:D

deffo a huge thumbs up for panasonic viera plasma mate.
I have the Panansonic TX-P42G10 fantastic bit of kit.

However just to throw this in the works, if you have a bright room LCD's are better to view due to the reflections on screen etc.....plasma's prefer a slightly darker room & this will show the superior colours & depth of blacks especially on blu-rays

but the panny plasma's are great :notworthy

I'll have to quickly chip in; Saying Panny Viera is not enough as that cover all their TVs. Their Neo-PDP rage is the ones to opt for, as there is a noticable difference in picture quality and motion to the non-neoPDP models (X10 and X20).

Whilst on my nausiating tour of TVs, There were several Panny Vieras that IMO were'nt up to the job. One was a 400hz plasma, dull picture, and it juddered quite badly on blue-ray. I belive it was a U20 (tx-p46u20 IIRC ). This is one Panasonic plasma I would avoid - it was cheap though (I think its discontinued or a non-UK model anyway, thankfully).

The S20 on the otherhand (carbon fibre effect bezel) was ok, a nice TV, but the picture on that was no better than the LG PK350, although it did have slightly better picture motion, however it was outshone by the G20 sat next to it which has far better contrast and brightness and silky motion. Plus it has freesat HD (just add a dish).

Just done a quick look and Tesco do a 42" S20 for £599 (http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-4170.aspx)

Larksys and Dixons do a 42" G20 for £724 including delivery (http://www.laskys.com/tv_and_dvd/pla...42+Inches+%2F+ and http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/panason...867&xtor=AL-78 )

Personally I think its worth the extra £125, but best you go and see them for yourself if you can. See if you like the Remotes+Menu system if can.

And yes, I touch type whilst I'm waiting on hold on the phone (hence lots of errors and edits :D ).

I've been looking at TVs lately as well. Just have to convince the other half that it's a much needed accessory ... Anyhow, the favourite if I bought tomorrow would be the LG PK350. Go over to avforums to get more info. The Pannies get lots of good press BUT they also get lots of bad press with all sorts of problems that can crop up.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/...350/lg-50pk350 ... and get the 5 year guarantee. By that time there'll be something better along and maybe Panasonic will have merged in all that Pioneer (Kuro) technology they bought recently ...

Dave

Thanks all................Just couldn't see the wood for the trees as they say. Now I've got a few I can identify and look at and ignore the others :D

Cheers



Shaun

Ali-B

Just double checking before Saturdays trawl around the Shops in Carlisle....and this has jumped to £649 !!

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-4170.aspx

Shaun

I got my pany from here, comes with free 5 year guarantee!

http://www.marksandspencer.com/40-47...d_s=left-nav-3

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Panas...anasonic&page=

This one??

Shaun

just to throw a spanner in the works , i havent heard a bad thing said about the pannies especially the higher ranges but how about 3d, i know its not something you use everyday but it looks like there are going to be alot of 3d programming in the future

e.g f1 or motogp - in car/on bike in 3d cant wait

You'll be waiting a while the can't even be arsed to do it in HD yet.

Well I got my 42" Panny from M&S and it has been superb, only had it since Jan-10.

Remember that you are only 13foot away.I would go 40"max.Also plasmas are better but led weigh alot less so you dont have to spend loads on a bracket.
When i bought mine i was told that only a couple of companys make the screens and the others just add thier bits to them,so you are better off spending the money on some decent cabling.
As for the wii bar you can get a wireless one now

Actually ... You end up paying more for the led brackets as there is only few makers that will fit them.

Any bracket for any tv up to 50" should be no more then £50

Go read avforums then. LOTS of bad words about Panasonics!

Dave

PS: just saying. Not bothered one way or the other myself.

Ok ............been shopping today :D

Looked at size first, stood 13 feet away from a 50" and it just looked way too big and if the picture was a bit flakey then it would just be pants.

Plumped for 42" as that seemed best for my "midlife" eyes. Looked at LCD, LED and plasma, in pretty much average daylight in the showrooms and the plasma image seemed better with less "smearing" than the LED/ LCD.

I did look on some AV Forums and they do have a number of reported problems at times but the flip side is that the Plasma image did look nice.

Ordered the Panasonic TX-P42S20B, the shop "price matched" the internet price and comes with 5 year guarantee. Wall bracket was pretty cheap too.

Fingers crossed :D :D

Cheers



Shaun

don't forget - strictly speaking, tv's should be mounted on exterior walls or walls dividing semi's for strength, and away from heat sources underneath

That said, I've seen a lot of people mount them above radiators and fireplaces... Also to be said, many of those have had to have their's repaired or replaced within a year...

Ah ! :(


Shaun

Depends what your interior walls are made of; The above is true if its a modern house where many have plasterbaord partitioning to divide rooms - these won't support the weight of a large plasma unless directly bolted to the uprights of the frame work.

Older houses have dividing wall made of brick or concrete blocks. If so, it'll be fine.

Give the wall a knock, if it sounds hollow...find another wall!

I've mounted my mum's partner's 50" LG onto on a hollow red terracotta brick wall (its basically the same stuff used to make terracotta pots) - the substrate is only 1/2" thick. The bracket is rated at 75kg. I proved this by doing 20 pull-ups supporting my entire body weight (70kg) before mounting the TV (which was 30kg). That TV ain't going anywhere :D ;)

Just had a tap of all the walls..........they all sound hollow even the external walls !!

The wall I have in mind basically separates the house into two, I guess it's made of breezeblock or similar as it would have to support the upstairs floor. The other side of the wall is the kitchen and the wall supports a whole row of kitchen cabinets.

I'll see what the fitting guy says :D

Shaun

could be that you simply need some specialised fittings or some beastie long screws/wall plugs that burrow through the plasterboard into the breezeblocks...