TV Advice

[Jonny_Darko]

Dammit. I bought a Samsung 32" widescreen TV a couple of years back, against the advice of colleagues who said Samsung products were shite.

The last two years I've had it repaired 4 times, and now it's gone again, a different problem. The screen keeps going green - everything I watch looks like The Matrix! If I hit it enough times the colour eventually goes back to how it should be.

What I'm wondering is, has anyone else come across this problem? Does anyone know what's causing it? (I'm guessing the RGB in the tube is screwed). Is there any chance it's something ridiculously silly and fixable causing it?

And if the worst comes to the worst, can anyone recommend who I SHOULD be buying a new TV off? Samsung have had the last money they'll ever have out of me. £450 for a two-year lifetime, filled with problems is not amusing.

If you want to recommend me a TV I'm looking for something widescreen, a decent size, affordable, with the necessary features, and something that'll last! And I don't mind ordering online but I wouldn't know who's service is trustworthy in this area.

 

[ECA]

Those 42" plasma screens look nice

 

[WPKenny]

Unbeatable.co.uk have some good prices.

For "expert" advice checkout www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk and ask in thier hardware forums or just read some of the tons and tons of threads in there people have already made.

It was that lot that helped me purchase my current 32" tv. It's a Philips 32PW6006 and has got a built in FM radio....that I never use.

The picture's great, never had problems with the telly but the remote is on the way out. I've checked and when my remote's gone completely I can replace it for just 22 quid with the exact same model.

 

[Ash!]

We've always had Sony for TV's Video's & DVD's. Never had a problem with them. Dont know if you have got a place like Costco near you. It's like a great big American Wholesalers like Makro etc. They usually beat the high street prices by about 80-100 quid on most large tellys. So even when you pay the joining fee of £25.00 you are well in fron. Plus you get a 3 year on site warranty free of charge as standard on any product bought from them like that

 

[Rubber Bullets]

The Consumer Society, Which?, did widescreen TVs this month and this one came out best buy. It is a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for it seems.

I had never heard of the make before, it is pronounced ler-ver apparently, which should appeal to Leggy

RB

 

[Tom]

The tube will be fine, it will be the circuity that decodes the colour information that is at fault. You'll find that to repair it will most likely mean replacing the entire PCB upon which the fault is located. My advice is to sell it and buy a new TV.

Loewe are a good make, I have a Toshiba 32w/s and its been fine. I recommend you go to a good home theatre shop, find the TV you would like, and then shop around for the best deal. What I find is that on my TV, I have to turn the volume up to 70% (30% for normal telly) on my DVD, and I get crosstalk from the regular UHF channels (sounds like whispers in the background). You won't be able to detect this in Dixons, but in a proper shop with a listening room/theatre, it shouldn't be a problem.

Don't forget how important the remote control is. If it has 2.3 million buttons that can't be seen in the dark, forget it, but if it has a nice fat control with ergonomically shaped buttons, its going to be easy to operate.

 

[DaGaffer]

Loewe are sh*te - and the after sales is rubbish. Sony or Panasonic if you're going to stick to CRT. Wega and Tau 100MHz sets consistently get five stars in the likes of T3 and Stuff. The more expensive stuff like B&O is a waste of time because you're paying purely for style (which is fine if you have money to burn) - they generally have Philips internals.

I think its too early to call on Plasma or LCD - but two things are obvious, you get what you pay for (if its suspiciously cheap - its crap) and prices are dropping fast. Also be careful with Plasmas and LCDs if you're going to play a lot of games - test the TV with a console and a variety of games if you can because you can get a lot of smearing effects.

 

[Addlcove]

NAD 29" flatscreen ,all sorts of nice functions, mate of mine has one never had any trouble with it, if you can find one, they went out of production a few years back.

 

[Sibanac]

Loewe if ya got the dosh
Sony if you got a bit less dosh
panasonic is suposed to be pretty nice aswell and
philips is pretty sweet

 

[DaGaffer]

Originally posted by Sibanac
Loewe if ya got the dosh
Sony if you got a bit less dosh
panasonic is suposed to be pretty nice aswell and
philips is pretty sweet

I've never bought a single Philips product that didn't break/have something fall off after a few weeks/days. Always seem to have great product ideas badly executed.

 

[dysfunction]

These threads have some useful info with of course the usual friendly banter that goes on in these fine forums...


http://forums.barrysworld.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56953

http://forums.barrysworld.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63989

http://forums.barrysworld.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29164



Oh and I still very very happy with my Panasonic...

 

[Sibanac]

Originally posted by DaGaffer
I've never bought a single Philips product that didn't break/have something fall off after a few weeks/days. Always seem to have great product ideas badly executed.

well me and a friend each bought one of those big widescreen thingys on their own stand a year or two ago (we know sameone working for philips and got company price )
only thing that broke was my remote, and that involved some illegal substances, alot of beer and a microwave oven.

 

[leggy]

Originally posted by Rubber Bullets
I had never heard of the make before, it is pronounced ler-ver apparently, which should appeal to Leggy

RB

You referring to my 3 different dates but no sex?

:/

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Originally posted by DaGaffer
Loewe are sh*te - and the after sales is rubbish.

This may or may not be true, only reporting what Which? said

I have a Panasonic 28" widescreen 100Hz and I love it. The Panasonic video that I bought with it is shite tho.

Originally posted by Leggy
You referring to my 3 different dates but no sex?

:/

I know nothing of these dates.

Was thinking of your occasional in game name . Oh and your relationship with Trem

RB

 

[toneh]

I bought one of these about a month or two ago:

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/productdetails/PAN-TX32PS12C.htm

Was only £650 when i bought it though on special offer. Along with 9months 0% credit, its great.

32inch
100Mhz
3 scarts on back, sockets on the front
usual zoom shite.

divx and dvds look great on it.

/me hugs his TV.

 

[DaGaffer]

Originally posted by Sibanac
well me and a friend each bought one of those big widescreen thingys on their own stand a year or two ago (we know sameone working for philips and got company price )
only thing that broke was my remote, and that involved some illegal substances, alot of beer and a microwave oven.

Funnily enough a microwave oven was one of the many Philips products I've had that decided to part company with me piece by piece. Particularly spectacular was 'the flying start button -TM' which shot across the kitchen and out of the window.

 

[DaGaffer]

Originally posted by Rubber Bullets
This may or may not be true, only reporting what Which? said

I have a Panasonic 28" widescreen 100Hz and I love it. The Panasonic video that I bought with it is shite tho.

RB

I was warned away from Loewe by a mate who used to run a hi-fi shop, reckoned he had about three times the warranty problems with them compared to any of the Japanese makes. I didn't let that put me off and bought one anyway. Sure enough, back to the factory it went (and that's the problem - warranty repairs mean back to Germany).

Like you I now have a Panasonic 100MHz widescreen as well as a smaller 4:3 Wega and they're both top notch.

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Is HD TV over here yet? Is that ridiculously expensive? What about progressive scan (I don't even know what that means!)?

 

[SoWat]

Philips 'Pixel Plus' TVs are the DBs.

Progressive scan, as I understand it, is an enhanced method of building the picture on the screen. It uses more lines to build the picture. This supposedly gives you a clearer piccy.

The Philips Pixel Plus system does the same thing, except it does it selectively on parts of the picture that are moving fast, it also enhances other types of picture too.

I have progressive scan on my DVD player, though it doesn't work on my non-progressive scan TV

 

[pcg79]

progressive scan (i think this is right)

normal tvs show alternating lines (eg 1,3,5 etc) in one frame then the other set (2,4,6 etc) to build up a picture

progressive scan use all the lines. or something

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
Is HD TV over here yet? Is that ridiculously expensive? What about progressive scan (I don't even know what that means!)?

HDTV will never come over here.

Normal televisions are interlaced, basically, for the 1st 50th of a second, all the odd lines on a frame are scanned. Then for the 2nd 50th of that same second, all the even lines are scanned. As the eye cannot perceive motion faster than 25fps, this works fine, and besides, when they invented television, they didn't have the ability to make equipment that could scan images progressively.

Progressive scan just doesn't bother with interlacing, it scans the entire frame at once.

Read this if you need more, I couldn't be bothered tbh

http://www.progressivescan.co.uk/interlaced.php

/edit:

I should add that all modern broadcast video cameras use interlaced pictures, the only exception being the new HiDef camera that they shot SW Ep1 & 2 on.

 

[~Lazarus~]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
TV Advice

Get out more ffs!!!

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Hey, I'm exercising for ten two hour sessions a week at the moment. Which makes my time in front of the telly even more special.

 

[Cdr]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
Hey, I'm exercising for ten two hour sessions a week at the moment.

You poor soul, I feel for you

 

[CAC]

well if i were to buy a new tv and could afford it i would buy a bang and olufsen


you best bet would be to decide how much you want to spend and then see whats on offer for your money

 

[Clowneh!]

My widescreen goes green sometimes and then randomly switches itself off

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by CAC
well if i were to buy a new tv and could afford it i would buy a bang and olufsen

Overpriced cack all of it. Always has been, always will be.

Apart from their phones, now they're funky, and they sound very good too.

*strokes B&O phone*

 

[Clowneh!]

We have 4 B&O phones here, 500 quid each... what a waste.

 

[leggy]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
Hey, I'm exercising for ten two hour sessions a week at the moment. Which makes my time in front of the telly even more special.

You're doing too much stop being so silly.

 

[SoWat]

I've just spent a good few hours looking at replacements for my ageing Hitachi telly.

I've plumped for the Toshiba 36ZP38 jobby, mainly because of good reviews. I went to my local Comet to check it out first though (My local Currys had a terrible picture on all TVs on display... dunno what they use as a source). For a 36" TV it's a reasonable size, certainly no bigger than my current 32" (due to a small 'frame').

I was tempted by the new Panasonic 36" model, but there seems to be Quality Control problems with it. Philips Pixel Plus has been superceded by PixelPlus2 (and there's no models for sale yet as far as I can see), so I forgot about them.

Back to your original question, you really need to look at some forums dedicated to TV/Home Theatre, then read some magazine reviews, then go and actually look at the stuff in the flesh. Of course you then order online (I ordered from Comet).

If all else fails you can have my Hitachi 32" for £200