TV - which is better.Sony Wega or Philips?

My 2 bit:

1. Use your eyes.

2. Crystalise your budget. If it is large, do you want a plasma or a CRT based TV ?

3. What does HDTV mean to you ?

There is ZERO HDTV software currently available in India, and HDTV DTH transmissions are also ATLEAST 2 years away.

Blue Ray and its competitors are just getting into the ring.

Do you want to pay 'First Adopter' premiums, without even being able to see / use HDTV ? Currently, your only practical NEAR HDTV source would be Upscaling DVD players, which are a stop gap arrangement.

4. HDTV will probably become mainstream with the 2008 Beijing olympics.

By then, HDTV Plasma / LCD panels will probably be 50% of their current price.

Maybe the rational decision would be to wait it out for 2 years, and buy a stop gap TV till then ?

Hi !

Do look for:

- Component Input for video
- Compatibility with progressive scan
- Aspect ratio 16:9 (Anamorphic)

besides other features.

Regards

Sanjay

Hey, you have not considered Panasonic?! I bought a Panasonic 29-inch two years ago and am very happy with it. It has 1 component input and 2 av inputs (no s-video). Fantastic picture quality, reasonable sound (which is not used anyway). At the showroom, Panasonic and Sony were the only two with outstanding picture quality but the Panasonic was priced almost 8,000 rupees lower so I went with that and have no regrets. So, I would highly recommend looking at it.

And as for Phillips I know a couple of relatives that have had to repair their TV sets frequently so I have stayed away from it -- perhaps they are making better quality stuff now? But the quality seemed pretty poor by comparison.

Yeah, HDTV is a factor to consider because while it isn't on the Indian horizon it might arrive suddenly just as DTH/set-top boxes did. Getting a plasma TV which supports the 720p standard would not be a bad thing I guess. As AmpNut said, software for it is lacking at present but you can get an upconverting DVD player which will give you somewhat improved quality until then. And yeah, games consoles like Xbox-360 will utilise these higher resolutions. As I don't own a plasma tv I can't speak about the brands involved.

Hi,

I got the panny home yesterday and I agree fully with what particleman has said.

cheers
shri

Thanx guyz.

srikarkav, which model Panny did u buy? how much did it cost?

does progressive scanning in TV make a big
difference?

Hi Juggy,

I got the Panasonic TC-29FJ20C. This model is without a woofer.The one with (TC-29FJ70C) it costs almost 3000 bucks more.Since I have an amp i didnt bother about the sound on the telly.

It cost me Rs 17100 with free delivery.

As per proggressive scanning goes this tv doesent have it.
If u want one with it i think it will cost u around Rs 30000. Philips has one and it has got stunning picture quality. So even if ur DVP has proggrssive scanning u need to have a tv with this option to use it.All depends on the strength of ur purse.

If ur budget is not 30000 and if u r not too bothered about the tv sound I recommend u go for the panny.It beats
samsung.LG, Philips or even sony at this price level.
cheers,
shri

do you connect the cable TV channels thru the speakers and woofer? how does it sound?

u said Philips has a TV with stunning picture quality and progressive scanning. howz that model?
(can it compete with the panny in picture quality?)

Hi juggy,

I have only a Marantz stereo amp and I hear both the channel sound and DVD sound thro it.so its only a two channel sound.Since i stay in Chennai and got a digital set top box, I get the channel sound in stereo.So the tv prog sound is pretty decent and the sound from DVD's especially with DTS are awesome.

As for the philips goes I think the model is PT7325. It costs around Rs29000 here in chennai.I have watched only tv prog on it in the showroom.I think Panny equals it.But the DVD's u can get to watch with the proggressive scan on with this Philips.Since i havent watched DVD on philips i cant comment on it.
CHEERS
shri

have any of u tried/bought/seen this

http://www1.ap.dell....p_in?c=in&l=en&s=bsd

this can be used as a tv but no onboard sound i guess

Does anyone know of a widescreen crt? I don't want to splurge on a LCD right (can't afford it anyways :P). But I didn't see any widescreen crt in the showrooms

I have been going through a peculiar experience. Currently I am using a 17" Compaq monitor as a TV. As usual I am using a internal TV tuner card (Pinnacle) within my CPU. The monitor is really good and about 85% flat. The color contrast and depth that I get while using normal Windows application is superb but while watching TV, the color depth and contrast I get is no where close to an actual CRT TV
I really dont know where is the problem ??

Are there special circuitries inside a CRT TV that enhance the resolution ? Why does an actual CRT TV does it better with normal Cable Connection signal ??

I am using a internal TV tuner card (Pinnacle)

Abhi I have used TV tuners earlier and somehow they just can't match TV's dedicated tuner circuit, televisions have a superior picture filters..it does it's job but not great... just like your CPU plays MP3 but not as good as audio CD..

abhi.pani schrieb:

Are there special circuitries inside a CRT TV that enhance the resolution ? Why does an actual CRT TV does it better with normal Cable Connection signal ?? :?

from what i have understood the resolution in a computer monitor is much better than the posiible signal for a TV. hence it results in noise pixels in between the actual pixels !

Hi Arj,
Do you think reducing the resolution of the monitor through windows display settings help in anyway ?

SUB_BOSS schrieb:

I am using a internal TV tuner card (Pinnacle) Abhi I have used TV tuners earlier and somehow they just can't match TV's dedicated tuner circuit, televisions have a superior picture filters..it does it's job but not great... just like your CPU plays MP3 but not as good as audio CD.. ;)

Heehee looks like you haven't seen the latest breed of ATI theater 550 Pro/650 Pro TV tuners :). Coupled with an AVIVO supporting ATI video card that does hardware deinterlacing and a decent quality LCD, they absolutely kill any analog TV at any price ;).

Heehee looks like you haven't seen the latest breed of ATI theater 550 Pro/650 Pro TV tuners . Coupled with an AVIVO supporting ATI video card that does hardware deinterlacing and a decent quality LCD, they absolutely kill any analog TV at any price .

And a decent quality LCD costs more than a TV..not considering the rest of gadgetary... so Abhi you are better off with a TV..

SUB_BOSS schrieb:

Heehee looks like you haven't seen the latest breed of ATI theater 550 Pro/650 Pro TV tuners . Coupled with an AVIVO supporting ATI video card that does hardware deinterlacing and a decent quality LCD, they absolutely kill any analog TV at any price . And a decent quality LCD costs more than a TV..not considering the rest of gadgetary... so Abhi you are better off with a TV.. ;)

Very true :). I was just saying that TV Tuners have come a long way compared to the 1000 rupee box thats available everywhere

gbharani schrieb:

have any of u tried/bought/seen this http://www1.ap.dell....p_in?c=in&l=en&s=bsd this can be used as a tv but no onboard sound i guess

I have an older 2005FPW as my primary display at home. Awesome monitor. The newer 2407/2007 seemingly had banding issues in the initial batch. If you are getting it now, make sure you get the a02 revision and you won't have any issues.

abhi.pani schrieb:

Hi Arj, Do you think reducing the resolution of the monitor through windows display settings help in anyway ?

i really dont think so since i presume the PIxel desity is lower in a TV .. changeing resolution will only change the way it is displayed..

but you should really ask this question in one of teh harware forums..there are much more knowledgeable folks there !

Hey Chaos..
Are you saying these components when installed in our CPU can give better TV viewing experience even with normal CRT monitor ??
How much do they cost ??

Abhi Pani wrote :

when installed in our CPU can give better TV viewing experience even with normal CRT monitor ??

reignofchoas wrote :

Coupled with an AVIVO supporting ATI video card that does hardware deinterlacing and a decent quality LCD,

I wrote :

And a decent quality LCD costs more than a TV..not considering the rest of gadgetary

So instead of going the LCD monitor way.. it's just 18k for a good philips flat 29" tV.. gun it dude.

Ya I understand that..but just for curosity..

abhi.pani schrieb:

Hey Chaos.. Are you saying these components when installed in our CPU can give better TV viewing experience even with normal CRT monitor ?? How much do they cost ??

Yes... thats exactly the case. An 18K TV in any case won't look very good. You need a 100Hz scan TV like the philips pixel plus 2 series(arnd 40K for 34") to get close to that sort of quality. The Theater 650 Pro has a 12bit video decoder with a vector adaptive 3D comb filter. I've seen a standard 3D comb filter in TVs but never seen a vector adaptive one. Neither have I seen a 12bit decoder in any TV... the highest I remember was in the erstwhile philips matchline/current pixel plus 2 at 10bits. Most low end TVs use a 9bit decoder(including that Pinnacle you have) and hence will give really bad color purity. I'm stuck with a shitty pinnacle as well and really looking forward to getting one of these 650 Pro tuners :). The pinnacle looks pretty ugly when stretched on my LCD.

The point is still there chaos...do we need better monitors or a normal CRT monitor does the job ?

And how much those Tuner cards cost ??

abhi.pani schrieb:

The point is still there chaos...do we need better monitors or a normal CRT monitor does the job ? And how much those Tuner cards cost ??

Any display will do the job but better = better quality... The theater 550 tuners are around 4.5K with the 650 tuners still to hit the market in India.

^^ PQ will also depend on the software you use. Using DScaler + FFDShow should make a drastic improvement.

with the diwali sales starting ... wanted to buy a 29'inch..

checked the panny/sony/philips.

Panny and Philips are both good. Sony dropped because its pricey for what it offers.

Srikarv/particleman - how do you find it ? Any good dealer in chennai

^^Look at philips pixel plus 2 TVs real closely. Technologically, there's nothing better out there. Philips has a whole truckload of patents in 100Hz scan TVs to improve IQ.

HI bharani,

The philips pixel plus tv is pricey too.I think it costs around 30000 bucks for a 29 incher. It has progressive scan and can take real advantage of any prog scan DVD player. But if ur budget is not that high u can go for the Panasonic Tau. It is better than samsung, LG, and sony at this price range. Go to Geebal at Nandanam to get a good price.
cheers
shri

thanks shri...

i was thinking the same. In a few years, would love to move to LCD. Do not want to invest in a pixel plus for the sake of it now and then upgrading to LCD.