back to article Ten... Monster tellies

Back in the day you had to resort to a cabinet-sized rear projection TV if you wanted to watch Dallas on anything larger than a 37in CRT. Thankfully times have changed. Technically advanced, visually stunning super-screens are now the order of the day from every major brand. You need only oust some living room essentials – sofa …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. AceRimmer
    Stop

    Stock photos! Why? Stop! Now!

    Please for the love of God stop using manufacturers stock photos for all your reviews.

    If these TV's were reviewed properly then they must have been set up in a room somewhere, possibly a room resembling a living room. Would it be too mush trouble to get a photo of each one. Then we could see what it looks like in an actual living room.

    This of course assumes that the review wasn't carried out by visiting a local branch of currys and hastily making some notes before being kicked out by the manager.

  2. Peter Bond
    WTF?

    You want an Ikea catalog, not Reg Hardware

    " Then we could see what it looks like in an actual living room."

    So, you want a panoramic view of a some journos sitting room with a TV in the corner? Maybe in a full review with space for multiple images but even then a shot of a telly in a lounge will give me no idea of what it will look like in my front room which will have different furniture, a different color scheme, different lighting sources, be a different size etc etc etc etc.

    Reg - please ignore this gimp and stick with the stock images. Some of us aren't just looking at the pictures.

    1. Citizen Kaned

      corner?

      what serious home cinema type has the TV in a corner?

      TV should be straight facing you on a wall, especially with a 5.1/7.1 setup

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Trollface

        TV?

        What serious home cinema type uses a TV?

        Home cinema is a front projection screen more then 80" or so, seating at 1.2x screen width, and with real surround sound, not that shit where the speakers come in the same box as the amplifier. Oh, and a pitch black room. Most theaters now seem to have 50 exit signs of street-light level brightness, but that sure as hell isn't in the specs. Neither is moonlight coming in your window! For christ's sake, people, it's just not the same when you see a reflection of your buddy opening the fridge, just as the joker is asking, "Why so serious?"! People, have some self-respect!

        A television for a home theater?! I mean, really, when was the last time you went to the movies and they had a light transmitting display? You want to watch a movie, fine... a tv will work. If you want to watch it like the director intended, you need front projection, big-ass sound, a totally isolated, dedicated environment, and the first two calibrated to perfection. This does -not- mean setting 'cinema 1' and calling it a day. It's wrong. Throw that shit out, get a colorimeter, and learn to do it yourself.

        See, that's "home theater enthusiast" - someone who wants to watch movies -right-. Having a kick-ass TV is just watching movies a bit less wrong.

        It's not like non-home-theater people are stupid for not doing all that stuff, it's just that something set up in your living room with a TV just ain't home theater, any more than putting your netbook on the coffee table is good television.

  3. Andy Farley

    Context is always important

    http://www.reghardware.com/2011/05/19/tv_sizes_deconstructed/

    http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Article/How-Far-Should-I-Sit.php

    BTW it's worth shopping round for the 5 year manufacturers guarantee on these things. My 50 inch Panasonic looks great but it's on it's 3rd panel.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Really

      I was considering the 55" VT30 plasma - now I'm worried !

  4. deanpm

    what size?

    whats the point in this when you dont even bother listing the screen size. out of all 10 only 1 mentioned size.. pointless, uesless and uniformative.. and yes how about putting them in real world environment... big sofa, pizza and 4 guys playing MW3 on em.

    1. Chris 244
      Facepalm

      Seriously?

      Except for the Philips, with every single one of the models here the screen size is the first two digits in the model name.

      (Nobody cares about Philips anyway. Not even Amazon.)

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        To me, the Philips is the only one that offers something interesting.

        There's a hell of a lot more content available in 2.35:1 than in 3D. I've seen the 50" of this, and it was very impressive. So, unfortunately, was the price.

        The screen diagonal is also the first two digits of the Philips model number, information that, one can only assume, was not on the press-pack. Anyway, for price hunters the 50" model is 50PFL7956. There's also a larger, higher spec model with a 58" diagonal, the 58PFL9956.

        The wide aspect makes the set a lot shorter from top to bottom than those numbers would suggest, though. The 50 is only as tall as a 40~42" set, but obviously is wider.

      2. Neil 7
        Devil

        @Nobody cares about Philips

        Once you've owned an Ambilight television, you'll never want to own another set without it.

        I've got the original Aurea by Philips, and while I don't dispute the better picture quality of more recent televisions from Philips and other manufacturers, the overall effect cannot be beaten (except by the Aurea II, of course).

    2. Bit Brain

      Not hard to figure out.

      Other than the 21:9 set the screen sizes of the other models are easy enough to figure out by reading the model numbers.

    3. Citizen Kaned

      erm..

      i guessed the *50* etc was the screen size. thats pretty standard

    4. cosymart
      Paris Hilton

      Size matters

      I agree, ok I can work it out but if you are doing a review on big tellys then size should be in there as part of the review...

      Size matters to Paris Hilton

      1. Mark 65

        Size not necessary

        Size in model number is pretty much standard these days and easy to discern.

        More important in these times would be the power rating and standby usage (which should be low in EU). Some of these TVs will be like storage heaters. The 65" VT65's figures are 311W and 0.30W respectively (454kWh annually - IEC 62087 Ed.2 measurement method). A 50" model in the same series has 190W, 0.3W (and 277kWh) respectively for comparison.

  5. Tom 38

    In the Toshiba review, does it actually have DVB-C2 (cable) tuners, or did you mean DVB-S2 (satellite) tuners?

  6. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    "Ambilight - aka mood lighting for blokes"?

    Bias lighting, surely.

  7. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    10-1

    No reception tests? Has the UK abandoned sending TV over the air? It was only a few years ago that most ATSC tuners were running buggy MPEG2 decoders downloaded off the 'net that would crash on a little multipath distortion.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not a review

    LCD panel uniformity issues abound. The Editor's pick 64 inch Plasma Sansung has Freesat + Freeview HD tuners, but you can't use them at the same time (i.e. with Picture in Picture - have to just use the one tuner). Also, the channel selection is slow.

    The Panny VT30 - though it has the best blacks is apparently so dim you should consider a GT30 unless you're going to dim the room (not ideal for watching a football match in the Summer). The Pannys also have a stupid advertising feature on the EPG (honestly, why ?)

  9. Craig Foster

    KDL-55NX720?

    It's a beautiful screen and apart from the lack of DD/DTS on the Toslink, it's a joy to watch.

    The complaints seem to stem from bad remote/menu UI, and 3D - but I still consider 3D a gimmick.

    Any word on what you though about it?

  10. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Blinding deal on the 60" Aquos

    Currys currently have the 60" Aquos on offer at £999. As our old 47" LG just died messily, this seems like a bit of a hint. Seems like an awful lot of television for the money.

    Quite amazing that something that size can run on 101w of power. I do so love the 21st century.

    GJC

  11. Geoff Campbell Silver badge

    That offer in full....

    It can be found here, by the way:

    http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/sharp-lc60le636e-60-full-hd-led-tv-11909226-pdt.html

    Apparently available for another four days.

    GJC

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Editor's choice - rip off Britain

    Your editor's choice of the Samsung PS64D8000 at 3000 pounds. Try circa $2,300 in the US so calculating FX at 1.5 + a 7% sales tax I guess this comes in at about 1800 pounds equivalent.

    I guess there must be a reason ho hum...

  13. This Side Up
    Stop

    FGS, What do they SOUND like?

    You've said nothing about the sound, which is generally pretty dire from these things.

    In any case why do we have to have everything in one package? It would be better just to have a screen to go onto the wall and the tuner and everything else (HDD, DVD/Blu-Ray, USB, etc.) in a separate box which can be connected to a sound system (surround if desired).

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like