Lcd Televisions, Is Hd High Res Sometimes Overkill?

[MJo]

Yep it is. I have maybe high end tv, rest is not top notch but good for the mid range stuff and surely enough for the neighbors in my condo

Throw in good lazyboy chair and few beers and you save the price of the system by not going out for beer in a year or two. Or maybe three...

[jasreeve17]

I've never experienced Blue Ray - so to see it on a big TV with a good sound system would be interesting.

It is....................

Would you reccomend a player / set-up Astral? Do you reckon the video shop'll open up a Blue Ray section, any time soon?

I'm just selling my little condos to buy a much bigger house, and I might as well have a 'special' TV room where the missus isn't allowed (other than special occassions...).

[astral]

I am not in this league yet.

but my friend has 50" Panasonic plasma TV with PS3 as a DVD player.

He has Bluray disks from UK and China.

[Benjie]

I saw Blu Ray movies for sale at the B2S shop in Central here in Phuket the other day, They seemed sensibly priced as well from 999 Baht or so.

[astral]

I saw Blu Ray movies for sale at the B2S shop in Central here in Phuket the other day, They seemed sensibly priced as well from 999 Baht or so.

Check they are really BD.

I am told that some of the disk on sale in Penang are simply DVDs with BD cover.

Mind you at 999baht they should be real.

Also check the regon code, it is different from DVD.

[MJo]

You can get blue rays now almost everywhere. Selections is limited compared to dvd but there is enough to keep you going and all new movies are also released in BR and naturally you can download torrents in HD as well.

I went with Sony Z-series 46" and Onkyo amp which is regarded good value for the money. BR Player Pioneer, was looking for latest Panasonic or Sony as they were looking better and much cheaper but they were not yet in Thailand around a year ago when i was in the market. Probably the most important part, together with the tv is speakers. So spend on speakers even if it means you need to compromise with the amp or player a bit. I got AE Aegis speakers which they (the pros) claim fit well together with the Onkyo amp i got. But it is really up to you as there is so many systems around and options to choose from and it all depends as well how much you want to spend. I kept it relatively low cost compared what it would have been with top of the range amps and speakers. I also found couple of review sites in internet to be helpful as they list and rank the stuff based on price range. Makes it easier to get an idea which are the ones generally regarded as good value for the money.

Good place for sound system to start is piyanas dot com, i found their service to be top notch and delivered in fluent english and they deliver everything and install it without extra cost. I think they also have branches outside bangkok. If you get full system from them they can also do it all for you starting from design and selecting best system to fit your preferences, house and budget. Very helpful at least here in Bangkok.

Edited October 12, 2009 by MJo

[jasreeve17]

Astral, was a bit worried by your mates PS# as a source, especially regarding the sound, but a very quick browse suggests it's pretty good.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hd-dvd-bl...line-page3.html

MoJo, That's a horrible shop. It could horribly upset the missus, my wallet... In the UK I had a sound system that cost around three thousand pounds, and I loved it. I can't really justify those kind of expenses now I've commitments and stuff. I don't think I could trust myself to visit this shop...

[MJo]

Astral, was a bit worried by your mates PS# as a source, especially regarding the sound, but a very quick browse suggests it's pretty good.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hd-dvd-bl...line-page3.html

MoJo, That's a horrible shop. It could horribly upset the missus, my wallet... In the UK I had a sound system that cost around three thousand pounds, and I loved it. I can't really justify those kind of expenses now I've commitments and stuff. I don't think I could trust myself to visit this shop...

Sure i had my own problems and bit of explanation to do for the wife when they show up with the stuff the next day

[MJo]

On other note, nowadays you can get good enough sound systems and BR players without spending arm and a leg.

[astral]

Astral, was a bit worried by your mates PS3 as a source, especially regarding the sound, but a very quick browse suggests it's pretty good.

He feeds it through an AV amp and it sounds fabulous.

[Benjie]

I saw Blu Ray movies for sale at the B2S shop in Central here in Phuket the other day, They seemed sensibly priced as well from 999 Baht or so.

Check they are really BD.

I am told that some of the disk on sale in Penang are simply DVDs with BD cover.

Mind you at 999baht they should be real.

Also check the regon code, it is different from DVD.

They are real, Didn't check the region but there's only 3 and i think only 2 regions currently active.

Personally I have all my movies on my 3.5 Tb hard disks hooked up to my big screen with Vista Media Centre and streamed around through the house to my PS3 and Xbox 360 in Bedroom/Lounge using Tversity.

[seedy]

One thing to keep in mind re: Plasma v LCD. You will get much more reflection from objects in the room with a plasma screen than an lcd, so room will have to be darker - more theater-like than the average living room.

[Nordlys]

The reason for high specs is the future.

I agree. You may not have any full-HD source now but you might some day. I just bought a "32 LED TV (LED back light LCD TV) and saw the videos from my full-HD camcorder I have for almost two years (via HDMI)... and was stunned by its video picture quality. Besides, like somebody mentioned Blue Ray players are becoming so cheap so fast and BR discs about the same price as imported DVD. I was looking for a high end DVD player with HDMI out capable of upscaling but in the end decided there's little point buying expensive DVD player at this time (but to go for BR player).

Edited October 13, 2009 by Nordlys

[astral]

You will get much more reflection from objects in the room with a plasma screen than an lcd, so room will have to be darker - more theater-like than the average living room.

This is not just plasma, it is the "Crystal Bright" technology, also used in LCD.

My new Samsung LCD has the crystal bright screen and is pain with reflections.

The old set had the matt screen and was much better.

IMHO it is something to watch for when deciding which set to buy.

[seedy]

Thanks for the clarification. When purchasing my LCD the salesman warned me about this, and demonstrated. When I get my new house it will have a theatre room - then a plasma I think. Great colors and clarity. Take care.

[Benjie]

If you have a dedicated theatre room then Projection would be the way to go.

[astral]

Watch the cost of replacement bulbs for the projectors

and the fact that they may only have a 3 month guarantee.

Barry Fox, writing in the UK mag HiFi News has been highlighting this problem.

[Benjie]

The bulbs have never been an issue for me, We run a business installing home theaters amongst other things and have only ever had to replace a handful of bulbs.

[astral]

See here. http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-wor...ht-went-4383309

[seedy]

I was unaware that projection TV could transmit HD. I will have to look into this. All of the ones I have seen were quite fuzzy - altho it has been sometime since I checked them out. Thanks.

[nikster]

OP I think SD will definitely be fine. Plasma seem to do a better job in upscaling the garbage signal coming from the UBC TV box.

Also you can't really buy SD LCDs or Plasmas anyway - it's either going to be 720p (HD ready) or 1080p (full HD). And I don't think even for "future uses" there will be all that much difference between the two particularly if you have a smaller set. At 32", I don't think it matters at all.

As for the "hype". It's not hype. It just takes a lot of investment to go to HD and then it's great. You need a huge HD screen; a BluRay player; and a Blu Ray disk - and then, WOW. If you are getting a HD TV and watching a DVD - looks good but a different category.

A friend of mine in the US built his home theatre with a medium priced HD projector plus very good screen (expensive, and important!) and a PS3 for about $5k. I thought, meh, projectors suck compared to my LCD TV then went and watched "300" over there and was totally blown away. Turns out projector technology has come a long way. The image quality was unparalleled, looked way better than a movie theatre even. But it means you have to commit yourself to buying films on BluRay, or to download 20GB+ monsters...

[astral]

All the projectors I have seen in the work place are 1200 x 800

pulling my PC resolution down from its native 1680 x 1050.

Nikster is right.

High Def costs money, but is worth it if you have the cash to spare.

[basjke]

OP I think SD will definitely be fine. Plasma seem to do a better job in upscaling the garbage signal coming from the UBC TV box.

Also you can't really buy SD LCDs or Plasmas anyway - it's either going to be 720p (HD ready) or 1080p (full HD). And I don't think even for "future uses" there will be all that much difference between the two particularly if you have a smaller set. At 32", I don't think it matters at all.

As for the "hype". It's not hype. It just takes a lot of investment to go to HD and then it's great. You need a huge HD screen; a BluRay player; and a Blu Ray disk - and then, WOW. If you are getting a HD TV and watching a DVD - looks good but a different category.

A friend of mine in the US built his home theatre with a medium priced HD projector plus very good screen (expensive, and important!) and a PS3 for about $5k. I thought, meh, projectors suck compared to my LCD TV then went and watched "300" over there and was totally blown away. Turns out projector technology has come a long way. The image quality was unparalleled, looked way better than a movie theatre even. But it means you have to commit yourself to buying films on BluRay, or to download 20GB+ monsters...

Currently Optoma has the HD20 full hd 1080p projector which sells in US for 999 Usd and at a similar price in Europe,only in thailand it is priced at 85.000 baht.Also no need to download 20 Gb files,I download a lot of 1080p movies and they usually are about half that size with Dts sound and some subtitles.Resolution 1920 x 1080 or 1920 x 800.

[marshbags]

Earmarked a Sony 32" 550A model and wonder if anyone has any thoughts on it,s performance please ?

I have other Sony products, including an older T.V. that I bought some years ago and have always found them to be relaible.

I can utilise one remote which is nice and convenient.

marshbags

Edited November 5, 2009 by marshbags

[marshbags]

Earmarked a Sony 32" 550A model and wonder if anyone has any thoughts on it,s performance please ?

I have other Sony products, including an older T.V. that I bought some years ago and have always found them to be relaible.

I can utilise one remote which is nice and convenient.

marshbags

Purchase completed and yes it looks good to me, bearing in mind i,m not techy savvy or to fussed about the finer details re specs. ect.

Only ball ache, the instructions are in Thai and I,ve got to wait and see if / when, they can get me the English version.

Knowing the store who provided it, they will go the extra mile to get it for me, as they always do, service is always excellent

It was a bit of a challenge tuning it in and sossing out the remote control functions.

I,ve got the English language done now and can get the basics to do adjustments ect. so I,m happy for awhile until they bell me to say thev,ve got the book for me.

marshbags

[LivinLOS]

All the projectors I have seen in the work place are 1200 x 800

pulling my PC resolution down from its native 1680 x 1050.

Nikster is right.

High Def costs money, but is worth it if you have the cash to spare.

You need to look into HD projection a bit more..

Its not hard to find 1920x1080 panels now.. Mine is a couple of gen older at 720 but I find thats enough to hold off on an upgrade.

[Benjie]

Sanyo HD 1920x1080 projector is like 50,000 Baht in HK.

[Jingthing]

What I ended up buying:

A "lower end" HD (but not 1080) LG brand LCD tv. 42 inches. LH20. I am happy as a clam in a pigpen. Thanks for your input.

[craigt3365]

Man, this is depressing! Just moved here and had DirecTV HD satellite with an awesome Sony HD TV. It was fantastic! Now watching Sophon cable here in Pattaya...truly horrible picture. I am learning about downloading movies...guess you can get HD ones on there...just need to figure out how to get them to my TV. Watching them on the laptop is not that fun for wifey and me!

[Benjie]

A Media Centre PC on for example Windows 7 will give you a really nice interface and should play anything you can download.