Buying a LCD TV

[navin]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Nice choice with M81. But do you have a HD content? That Samsung HD DVD player is also a good one. It was free as an offer sometime back. I believe it costs Rs.7990.

The dealer told us the DVD player was worth Rs 6K but is also had an HDMI cable in the box. We have a Panasonic DVD recorder (200GB hard disk) that we have connceted via Svideo (the Panny does not have component out) and the output of the Samsung via HDMI is nicer than the output of the Panny via Svideo. My wife and son have some HD DVDs (Priates of the Caribean etc...). I dont watch much TV not even F1 races.

BTW does anyone have any information of Set top boxes (we have Tata Sky) that allow all channels to be sent to the DVD recorder via the RF cable. Right now the only way we can record a program is via the AV cables and that limits us to the channel tuned on the set top box.

[rangaraj]

Originally Posted by navin

The dealer told us the DVD player was worth Rs 6K but is also had an HDMI cable in the box. We have a Panasonic DVD recorder (200GB hard disk) that we have connceted via Svideo (the Panny does not have component out) and the output of the Samsung via HDMI is nicer than the output of the Panny via Svideo. My wife and son have some HD DVDs (Priates of the Caribean etc...). I dont watch much TV not even F1 races..

The chain is as strong as the weakest link. Connectivity (connectors and cables) is vital to quality. Some of these DVD players with HDMI have an up-converter to HD - meaning you can play standard def DVD's and it will upconvert to 480p or a similar format. There are no HD-DVD or Blu Ray players sold in the Indian market, so they will not play these disks.

Originally Posted by navin

BTW does anyone have any information of Set top boxes (we have Tata Sky) that allow all channels to be sent to the DVD recorder via the RF cable. Right now the only way we can record a program is via the AV cables and that limits us to the channel tuned on the set top box.

The signals are all scrambled and the CA system is required to decrypt the signal. Outputs of the STB are a single channel that is tuned by selection and only that channel will be available in the clear (unscrambled).

[xbox360]

There are some 16 pages of opinions on this thread. Can someone who has skimmed through this post the gist touching upon --
1) If possible comparison of plasma/LCD
2) Best products in the Plasma range and best Value for money options
3) Same for LCD

Thanks

[greatDrive]

Yes Sharp is good but cost 2.5 times more than their competitors.

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by greatDrive

Yes Sharp is good but cost 2.5 times more than their competitors.

Not really. It's actually cheaper than Sony/LG/Hitachi. The only one cheaper is Samsung, but I am not a fan of the lower priced Samsung LCD's. Their picture quality is really behind the others.

[navin]

Originally Posted by rangaraj

Some of these DVD players with HDMI have an up-converter to HD. There are no HD-DVD or Blu Ray players sold in the Indian market, so they will not play these disks.

The signals are all scrambled and the CA system is required to decrypt the signal. Outputs of the STB are a single channel that is tuned by selection and only that channel will be available in the clear (unscrambled).

The disks (Pirates etc..) my wife got says "HD DVD" on the box. It played on the Samsung and the Panasonic (which is not HD). But you are right if it payed on the Panasonic it cant be HD DVD can it?

There are set top boxes that allow one to record the program on a DVD recorder usaully via SCART etc... You dont need to have Free view for this.

Tata Sky which uses Thomson should have offered something like the Thomson 6300, Hathaway the Humax F2-Fox and Dish TV, the Inverto 7000.

http://www.auscap.com.au/Aurum/docs/DSTB2006.doc

[navin]

Originally Posted by xbox360

1) If possible comparison of plasma/LCD
2) Best products in the Plasma range and best Value for money options
3) Same for LCD

What little I know:
Plasma: better blacks, faster refresh rate
LCD: lighter and consumes less power
Best VFM Plasmas: Hitachi
Best VFM LCD: Samsung Mosel Blaque (the others like Rtech said are not acceptable video quality)
Best Plasma: Pioneer
Best LCD in India: Sony (the full HD models)

Warning: I am no TV expert but am told that the viewing angle and life of both (LCD and Plasma) are so good that it does not warrant being considered.

My Story.
When I was lookng at a TV my choice was between a 50" Plasma and a 46" LCD. They both cost about 2-2.5L. I chose LCD only because it could be hung on a flimsy wall as it was half the weight of a Plasma. Sony's LCD cost 2.65 + 15K for wall hanging, Samsung Mosel cost 2.10 and the dealer threw in wall hanging and a DVD player. Besides I am not a TV watcher so really I did not split hairs over this.

Wife wanted TV. I had a 2L budget for this. End of story. Took me 10 min. to decide. Samsung installed it in 30 mins.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by navin

What little I know:
Plasma: better blacks, faster refresh rate
LCD: lighter and consumes less power
Best VFM Plasmas: Hitachi
Best VFM LCD: Samsung Mosel Blaque (the others like Rtech said are not acceptable video quality)
Best Plasma: Pioneer
Best LCD in India: Sony (the full HD models)

Warning: I am no TV expert but am told that the viewing angle and life of both (LCD and Plasma) are so good that it does not warrant being considered.

lets not standardize that

[mobike008]

Recently in lot of fairs, saw Videocon aggressively branding their Plasmas and LCD's. I saw their 40" for as low as 77K ( expo offer) and their plasma 42" for 57K. Features for LCD are 5000:1 contrast ratio, 178 viewing angle, 1368X760 resolution, 6ms response time etc. Whereas, plasma was 10000:1 contrast ratio and everything else pretty much the same.

My question, is it worth going for a brand like Videocon? the pricing which will certainly plunge by diwali looks mouth watering

[akshay1234]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Recently in lot of fairs, saw Videocon aggressively branding their Plasmas and LCD's. I saw their 40" for as low as 77K ( expo offer) and their plasma 42" for 57K. Features for LCD are 5000:1 contrast ratio, 178 viewing angle, 1368X760 resolution, 6ms response time etc. Whereas, plasma was 10000:1 contrast ratio and everything else pretty much the same.

My question, is it worth going for a brand like Videocon? the pricing which will certainly plunge by diwali looks mouth watering

nope.. a 40" samsung bordeaux is about the same price and the art a little bit more expensive. i would pick those over videocon.


OT - i happened to see a 100" panasonic plasma and it was rally clear. i was very surprised.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by mobike008

My question, is it worth going for a brand like Videocon? the pricing which will certainly plunge by diwali looks mouth watering

Thomson technology? As Videocon bought that company last year. ( or was it Grundig? )

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Thomson technology? As Videocon bought that company last year. ( or was it Grundig? )

Hmm. Not aware which company they bought over. Clarity looked kind of good to me except the design isn't as good as the samsung black beauty. I have decided to go for a 40" tv during Diwali, will explore a bit more to understand which one to pick up.

[megger]

Originally Posted by csentil

Check out LCD's from Sharp. They are expensive but supposed to be one of the best. Check out Sharp's website for more details.

After lot of R&D I finally went in for Sharp couple of months ago. I found it much better than Sony and Samsung (Samsung R8 better than Sony to my eyes).

Check out Sharp India Limited

Their panels are made in Japan and the unit I got was assembled in Malaysia.

If you are planning a home theater, minimum recommended size is 37". You will be able to get it for 85-90k all inclusive. Consumes around 170W power.

Be careful with the dealer at Brigade road who tried to sell me older model at higher than MRP!

Sharp has much natural skin-tone and even quality of Cable TV (DTH) is good enough.

Now 2 MP LCD panels are available, but DTH won;t look any better on those.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by navin

Wife wanted TV. I had a 2L budget for this. End of story. Took me 10 min. to decide. Samsung installed it in 30 mins.

Mine took less than 15 mins today. TH-42PV70H Panasonic plasma. I'm happy with it's quality.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by navin

BTW does anyone have any information of Set top boxes (we have Tata Sky) that allow all channels to be sent to the DVD recorder via the RF cable. Right now the only way we can record a program is via the AV cables and that limits us to the channel tuned on the set top box.

Navin, Dish TV has a decoder with a HDD which can work like our good old VCRs. Costs around 10-15k, not sure. Other than that i do not see any other option other than AV recordings. I have a Kaon STB which has a scart interface, but still your DVD recorder should have the capacity to tune into satellite channels to capture anything.