In an attempt to clear some space between my speakers I wish to replace my 32" Thompson CRT. A 32" panel will be fine max width 80(ish) cm not looking to get HD box yet (if at all) internal freeview and or HD if possible.
Does any one make/model fit this bill?
How good are these things on "ordinary" Sky+ box?

TIA

Howard

Hi Howard,

I've just replaced my moribund 32" Panasonic CRT set with this Panasonic 32" LCD model.



It has received some very good reviews of late (836mm wide BTW) and I'm using it with a PACE Freeview tuner/hard drive recorder - so standard definition only.

Picture quality in SD is very good. Images are sharp, colours are vibrant, but ........ there's still something about my old CRT set (working properly) which I preferred.

A good CRT set now looks 'soft-focus' by comparison, but seems to portray a better sense of image depth. My new LCD picture looks two-dimensional by comparison.

For me there's a weird vinyl vs CD analogy. The LCD picture is more sharply etched and better defined, but there's something more organic about a good CRT picture in standard definition.

You're probably aware that picture quality in shops tells you nothing useful. I bought my Panasonic model on specs and reviews. The picture I get at home is vastly superior to what I saw in my local John Lewis store where I bought the TV.

I hope that helps.

John.

Very nice, John.

I have been interested in the Panny's and considered the very same model myself, but coincidentally I actually ended up ordering my own new 32" LCD TV yesterday. It's not a Panny though! Hopefully when it arrives next weekend I'll post a pic.

OK, as my promised, my new TV:-






Sony KDL-32D3000.

It's very nice...

Howard
Both the guys have made good suggestions but when you see a Panasonic and a Sony side by side you'll be amazed at just how different the picture looks on each. To my eyes the current Pannys have a more realsitic clour palette but that's probably as much to do with set-up as anything. They are the two class leaders for sure.

That looks a very nice set Jon,

regards

PB

Thanks, PB

BigH,

I think you'll be initially disappointed by the image on a digital plasma/lcd. The image displayed by a crt, generated from a sky or terrestrial signal, is on the face of it, better.
Plasma HD really shines when one plays a dvd/Blueray/HDdvd through it (or Sky HD). The image then becomes superb.

If I were you, I would consider a 42" Plasma, which is only a little larger. The manufacturers seem to only put their full effort in obtaining quality from this size screen and above.

Pioneer are in a league of their own.

Thanks every one some good advice.
count.d again thanks my main problem is space and any thing much bigger than 80-82cm 32" wide will prevent us using our only door to the back garden. The only other choice is to view the TV from a different chair to the one I listen from.

I thought I had a result CRT keeps shutting down and going into a sort of standby mode with the red led flashing. Switching off,waiting and switching on again seems to keep it going for a while.
Goody thinks I new telly for christmas.Sally (misses) comes into room "we have a maintenance contract for the TV" DOH!

Damn - foiled again!

quote:

Goody thinks I new telly for christmas.Sally (misses) comes into room "we have a maintenance contract for the TV" DOH!

TV repair man and Domestic and General have written the CRT off. Now remains the task of see what I can get out of them (if anything) and how quick. May be a TV free Christmas, no great loss admittedly but hopefully I can get the TV on long enough to programme the SKY+ box.
Looked again I might be able to squeeze a 37" model in.

D & G have offered a LG32LC56 which looks OK on screen we will have to see what it is like in real life. Seems to have most things except 1080P but thats a lot more money as is the 37" version +£200 in Comet where I think we will have to shop.
Story and pictures at 10.

Actually D & G have only offered us £208 towards this TV because it is between 5-6 years old. They even wanted the remainder of the years (6 months) of the insurance premium.
I think we will use a local shop (Euronics center) but was an independent until recently.
Great time of year to be buying electricals.

Well we did it a JVC 32 from our local TV shop although an Euronics shop now. £599 with a 5 years warranty. Delivery due this PM. At the moment as long as it hows TV and DVD pictures I really don't care.

One of the problems I discovered is that it seems to be difficult to get a meaningful 'dem' in a shop.

My Panny LCD set is most definitely producing a better picture at home than I saw on it in my local John Lewis store. Settings in shops are often cranked up to compensate for harsh in-store lighting, and any TV looks so much better in low ambient light (with the appropriate settings).

The other thing to bear in mind is that there does seem to be an element of runnng-in involved. My new set looked a bit 'soft-focus' from the off, and has improved with use.

Surprisingly though, I reckon I get a better picture from my Pace digital tuner/recorder (via a QED Squart Scart lead) than from the Panny's internal tuner.

John.

The JVC seems to be doing OK,overall I don't like the picture as much as the old Thomson CRT. DVD via component is good (my 656DVD player doesn't have HDMI). DTV seems to get a good signal and a reasonable picture. From the SKY+ box mainly good+ but a few woobly eyebrows on some channels Virgin mainly on DS9.
What is most annoying is that we could have fitted a 37" in the available space I think, next time.

Howard