New LCD TV

[Phil Conners]

During a move I accidentally knocked over and broke my Phillips 42" HD-ready LCD. The nice guys at Numchai laughingly told me, yes they can repair, for 40,000 baht. Now a new 42" Full-HD LCD can be had for less than that so the question now is only, which TV.

I found a JVC 42" Full-HD, apparently a new model, reduced from 49,999 to 29,999. Any good reason not to buy that?

Any better ideas? (except Sony, I have promised myself never to buy another Sony product again after the stunt they pulled with putting malware on their music CD's)

I read somewhere on TV that Powerbuy offer 15% discount when paid with credit card - but apparently some limitations on which card. Is that only for Thai bank issued cards or only VISA or MC or what is the limitation?

[GungaDin]

Hi Phil.

What's the full model number of the JVC on Special offer?

It could have a lousy contrast spec.

[Phil Conners]

LT-42Z48. Dynamic contrast 30,000:1 ...

[neverdie]

I saw the worlds thinest one the other day....WOW, it was really thin, but I think expensive too.

What I couldnt work out is that there were no airvents on the back of the thin one and I didnt see the topbox that goes with it, maybe thats huge.

[GungaDin]

I reckon you've found a bargain!

One review.

Google results

[Valentine]

There are all sorts of bargains & deals just now. A couple of days ago I was offered a 50" plasma at Power Buy, cost came in about 35,000 after two discounts one of which involved using a credit card & then getting 0% interest with payments over 10 months but only certain credit cards are allowed & they must be issued by a Thai bank. I did not buy the plasma but used my card to purchase a new refrigerator on 0% & 6 months.

Check the refresh rate, contrast ratio, does it have ultra clear panel, 1080p, HDMI, USB connections? These are important if you watch a lot of DVDs but for general use with cable or True Visions I don't think the specs make much difference although a good idea is to check the TV while watching True. However I have yet to find a shop which is connected to True.

The thin ones Neverdie mentions are LED & supposedly have good energy saving features but are quite expensive although given time they should decrease considerably as did the LCDs. I don't understand the topbox he is talking about as I have never seen them connected to anything other than a home theatre system. My preferences are Samsung for looks & innovation or Philips which have some good deals on offer right now.

[namoo]

Samsung 42" series 8 is available in that big electronic store/tv store on silom road. Not Led but last time i was there it was on sale for 60000.

[sibeymai]

LCDs and plasmas will continue to drop in price as they are now superseded/obsolete technology. LED is now the current technology for flat screens.

(I have a 36" wide screen HD 1080i Panasonic CRT which I bought about 7-8 years ago. Haven't traded up since it still works perfectly and at 66kg nobody is likely to steal it).

[Rinrada]

Just bought a new (sorry) Sony 32 in ...1080 HD flat jobby for £500 quid ...incl 5 year guarantee ...(wots that about 27k Bt)

Wife will not consider any other brand and hates ..LG- Sammy Sung etc..typ Thai...MKJai..will it work in CM....again MKjai...yes of course it will...prices in Blighty ..ok..init...

also last week picked up a portable sat set in Lidl (in a little suitcase) which is good for 5000 free channels...dish,tunerand cable and all that ..£60....almost hand luggage ... ...some advantages over "ere in the credit crunch crises...

[namoo]

Wife will not consider any other brand and hates ..LG- Sammy Sung etc

Samsung supply there screens to sony

[Rinrada]

Wife dont know that..shussh

[Phil Conners]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't have a Thai credit card so Powerbuy not interesting. Seems the JVC I was offered is a pretty good deal so will probably buy that.

[basjke]

I saw a 50" Samsung plasma series 4 at homepro bangkok at 29.000 baht yesterday.Thought it was a good deal if I needed one at the moment.

[GungaDin]

I have an LG lcd, if I trade up, it will be to a Samsung.

[raro]

Go for the JVC, Phil!

One thing, take your laptop down to the store and hook it up to the TV. Then see what resolution you get. There was somewhere in this forum also a jpg posted for testing.

When I was in the market for an LCD flatscreen, they offered me a full HD (i.e. 1920 x 1080 res) set at dirt cheap and even though the labels on the TV said full HD it was not able to display the resolution! The staff and Managers at Numchai were also thunderstruck so I don't think they tried to scam me but it was straight wrong from manufacturer's side!

[meadish_sweetball]

If you watch lots of sports or fast-paced action movies, keep in mind LCD screens are still inferior to plasma technology in representing motion and accurate black levels. I spent months last year researching flat screen TVs - both LCDs and plasmas before buying the 50" plasma I have now.

Another important thing to consider is that what looks good in the shop won't necessarily look good at home, in fact often the opposite is true.

The shops will display slow moving or still picture content on their flat screens, which means LCDs will often look better, but ask them to put on an ice hockey game, rugby game, american football game, formula one race or soccer game and compare a plasma and an LCD screen next to each other...

LCDs will look great in a brightly lit shop with the contrast level cranked up to the max - but at home where the light is lower, you will have a different experience. Another thing that you may experience with some LCD screens is backlight bleeding that comes out from the edges of the screen during viewing in a dimly lit room. If you watch most of your TV in the evening, this is crucial.

If on the other hand you have a very high level of ambient light at home (huge windows or glass panels) an LCD could be a better choice because plasmas do not look as good for daytime viewing.

raro's advice is good, if you're going to be playing content from your laptop you should bring it to the store and make sure that the screen is compatible with it. The reason the TV did not display his content could be either a DRM issue that prevents non-DRM material from being displayed, or some type of HDMI handshake problem. The TV probably does support 1080p just fine, but it is picky with the source.

Panasonic plasmas around 40" - 42" tend to deliver excellent value for the money. Samsung's plasmas are also decent.

[Phil Conners]

Go for the JVC, Phil!

One thing, take your laptop down to the store and hook it up to the TV. Then see what resolution you get. There was somewhere in this forum also a jpg posted for testing.

When I was in the market for an LCD flatscreen, they offered me a full HD (i.e. 1920 x 1080 res) set at dirt cheap and even though the labels on the TV said full HD it was not able to display the resolution! The staff and Managers at Numchai were also thunderstruck so I don't think they tried to scam me but it was straight wrong from manufacturer's side!

According to the writeup that was posted as a link earlier, LCD DV's only accept up to XGA resolution (around 1200x1000) with the VGA interface. If you want to view the HDMI resolution of 1980x1020 apparently you need to use a HDMI cable. That may be the reason you couldn't get it to show the full resolution.

[stumonster]

yes - you do need to look at the vga input resolution

if you want a comp to drive 1080p you will need it via HDMI

[meadish_sweetball]

lol, I didn't even consider that he might have tried to connect via VGA. You're both right of course. Still, not all HDMI devices want to talk to each other either.

[Phil Conners]

How do you connect the HDMI cable to your PC though? I only know of VGA and (what's the new thing called with even more pins?)

[stumonster]

there are adapters DVI to HDMI but the prices are not reasonable

for desktops many video cards are out with HDMI output and a few motherboards have onboard HDMI.

for laptops some have a mini HDMI output but soon many of the laptops based on the Nvidia Ion platform will have HDMI out - but I would expect that mini HDMI will be standard output on a laptop soon.

many nettops as they are calling them will have HDMI or mini HDMI.

[Fatfrank]

there are adapters DVI to HDMI but the prices are not reasonable

for desktops many video cards are out with HDMI output and a few motherboards have onboard HDMI.

for laptops some have a mini HDMI output but soon many of the laptops based on the Nvidia Ion platform will have HDMI out - but I would expect that mini HDMI will be standard output on a laptop soon.

many nettops as they are calling them will have HDMI or mini HDMI.

I was just recently at the Samsung shop at Siam Paragon this weekend, those new LED TVs are super thin and supposedly use alot less electricity than LED/Plasma models. I see this as the next phase in flat panels, hopefully the prices will begin to drop soon as other TV makers get on the bandwagon.

[Plus]

Unless you have a steady supply of full HD media, 720p is enough, which could be 1068x720 on some plasma sets. It's 4:3 resolution, but their pixels are not square. Better sets will be 1366x720, straight 16:9 aspect ratio.

If playing 4:3 plasma off a notebook, you'll need to tamper with your player's settings to get full screen, non-stretched picture.

Practically all HD videos on torrents are 720p.

I bet all cheaper plasma 50'' sets in Thailand are in 720p, too.

LCD will give you bigger resolution, but is it really necessary? Especially when "upscaling" regular TV/UBC signal.

In my experience, when watching TV, 32'' LCD with higher resolution looks worse than 40'' plasma with regular 720p which is "crisp clear" by comparison.

[GungaDin]

If you watch lots of sports or fast-paced action movies, keep in mind LCD screens are still inferior to plasma technology in representing motion and accurate black levels. I spent months last year researching flat screen TVs - both LCDs and plasmas before buying the 50" plasma I have now. Etc... <snip>

That's info I haven't seen before!

Cheers

[Phil Conners]

Most of my usage is connected to my mediacenter (PC) for playback of MP4/AVI files so I think I need a LED to be able to use the screen as a PC display.

[raro]

Go for the JVC, Phil!

One thing, take your laptop down to the store and hook it up to the TV. Then see what resolution you get. There was somewhere in this forum also a jpg posted for testing.

When I was in the market for an LCD flatscreen, they offered me a full HD (i.e. 1920 x 1080 res) set at dirt cheap and even though the labels on the TV said full HD it was not able to display the resolution! The staff and Managers at Numchai were also thunderstruck so I don't think they tried to scam me but it was straight wrong from manufacturer's side!

According to the writeup that was posted as a link earlier, LCD DV's only accept up to XGA resolution (around 1200x1000) with the VGA interface. If you want to view the HDMI resolution of 1980x1020 apparently you need to use a HDMI cable. That may be the reason you couldn't get it to show the full resolution.

the 1920 x 1080 res worked on other screens, including the one that I bought (40' Samsung).

I use it exclusively as computer monitor with that res.

@meadish: no worries....Phil won't expose himself to any fast moving action...

[stumonster]

the 1920 x 1080 res worked on other screens, including the one that I bought (40' Samsung).

I use it exclusively as computer monitor with that res.

is this via the VGA out port on your laptop ? if so what model is your samsung ?

[tutsiwarrior]

anyone have any suggestions regarding the specs. for a unit that will be used exclusively to watch DVDs when hooked up to a (cheap) multi-format DVD player?

[meadish_sweetball]

Got an approximate budget tutsi?

[tutsiwarrior]

Got an approximate budget tutsi?

gosh...dunno what these things cost; say thb20K or less. Just wonderin' what design would be best for for strictly DVD (movie) watching purposes as opposed to a live broadcast with sports, etc...