Which TV to go with Humax 9200T?

Dr Zoidberg wrote:
"Roger Wilmut" wrote in message
. ..
In article , Guy Snape
wrote:

I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we
were watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the tube
went so I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know
it's a very cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture is
just atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

A bit of googling suggests that this is a widespread problem when
watching SD broadcast on an HD set, so I guess I need a set that
produces a decent SD picture.

Given that I'm not interested in forking out lots of money for HD, and I
want to keep the Humax, can anyone recommend a reasonable sized TV with
a good SD picture? LCD would be nice if possible, the big CRT sets just
take up so much room.

Thanks in advance,

- guy
The latest Sony Bravia range (W4000 series) works excellently in both
HD and SD. I have the 40 inch model and it makes SD look amazingly
good. Sony isn't cheap: but cheap LCDs tend to be crappy.


Don't suppose you know how well it compares to the previous W3000s?
I've seen one of them and liked it



I can confirm that Freeview SD looks amazing on the Sony 40W4000 (ie the
40" model) - often looks like the HD equivalent: I have FreeSat BBC HD
so can make a direct comparison. Sony SD processing has obviously
improved enormously over the last few years. Contrast is also
excellent. All round it is better AND cheaper than the W3000 series it
replaced. A few facilities such as a white balance control for
greyscale calibration have been dropped, but how many people would have
used this anyway. There is an excellent review at
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Sony-KDL40W4000/

The list price is £1299, but discounts of over £300 are available from
John Lewis etc: see www.avforums.com

"Dennis Becker" wrote in message
...
Dr Zoidberg wrote:
"Roger Wilmut" wrote in message
. ..
In article , Guy Snape
wrote:

I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we
were watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the
tube
went so I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know
it's a very cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture
is
just atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

A bit of googling suggests that this is a widespread problem when
watching SD broadcast on an HD set, so I guess I need a set that
produces a decent SD picture.

Given that I'm not interested in forking out lots of money for HD, and
I
want to keep the Humax, can anyone recommend a reasonable sized TV with
a good SD picture? LCD would be nice if possible, the big CRT sets just
take up so much room.

Thanks in advance,

- guy
The latest Sony Bravia range (W4000 series) works excellently in both
HD and SD. I have the 40 inch model and it makes SD look amazingly
good. Sony isn't cheap: but cheap LCDs tend to be crappy.


Don't suppose you know how well it compares to the previous W3000s?
I've seen one of them and liked it



I can confirm that Freeview SD looks amazing on the Sony 40W4000 (ie the
40" model) - often looks like the HD equivalent: I have FreeSat BBC HD so
can make a direct comparison. Sony SD processing has obviously improved
enormously over the last few years. Contrast is also excellent. All
round it is better AND cheaper than the W3000 series it replaced. A few
facilities such as a white balance control for greyscale calibration have
been dropped, but how many people would have used this anyway. There is an
excellent review at http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Sony-KDL40W4000/

Cool.
That looks like the TV for me.

The list price is £1299, but discounts of over £300 are available from
John Lewis etc: see www.avforums.com

I have a friend who works for Sony , so I can get discounts :0)

--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger , then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

Mike Henry wrote:
, Dennis Becker
wrote:
I can confirm that Freeview SD looks amazing on the Sony 40W4000 (ie the
40" model) - often looks like the HD equivalent: I have FreeSat BBC HD
so can make a direct comparison. Sony SD processing has obviously
improved enormously over the last few years. Contrast is also
excellent. All round it is better AND cheaper than the W3000 series it
replaced. A few facilities such as a white balance control for
greyscale calibration have been dropped, but how many people would have
used this anyway.

Anyone who wanted accurate greys would have used it? ;-)



Quite. So we're not talking millions then.

"Guy Snape" wrote in message
news
I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we were
watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the tube went so
I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know it's a very
cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture is just
atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

A bit of googling suggests that this is a widespread problem when watching
SD broadcast on an HD set, so I guess I need a set that produces a decent
SD picture.

Given that I'm not interested in forking out lots of money for HD, and I
want to keep the Humax, can anyone recommend a reasonable sized TV with a
good SD picture? LCD would be nice if possible, the big CRT sets just take
up so much room.

Thanks in advance,

- guy

The issue being "upscaling".
SD transmissions are not suited to "HDTV" screens so OEM's incorporate
a feature known as upscaling whereby the the actual flatscreen TV
interpolates
and upscales SD resolution to the native HD resolution of the screen.
This can be a hit and miss result, and even with the ranges of some
mainstream
manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung, Panny and LG, the result can vary from
one model to another within a range. And there are some known issues.
Primarily when tested the best results for upscaling are when the source
component
such as an upscaling DVD player perform the interpolation etc, and the
output signal
is via HDMI rather than SD SCART. The iffiest results are when the
LCD/Plasma
screen performs the upscaling and the source SD signal is via SCART as is
the case
with your Humax 9200T (it only has SCART output) and many LCD's though
offering
upscaling of an SD source will not do so via scart, only upscale a SD signal
if fed
via DVI or HDMI. Have a read of these:
http://www.burnyourbonus.info/hdtv-faq/faq3.html

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/revi...?category=LCDs
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/revi...tegory=Plasmas

http://www.hdtvorg.co.uk/guide/hdtv/buy_guide_hdtv.htm

This is an example of a superb Plasma, with exquisite HD and ability
to upscale SD to be almost indiscernable from true HD, But.....
It can only upscale SD via the HDMI and/or DVI, not via scart.
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/p_repr/P.../36740904.html

Read through the professional reviews of tested LCD and Plasma displays,
narrow your choice to screens that can upscale via SCART (as your Humax)
But then go and test it in a store!
In London, both John Lewis and Selfridges have a Humax connected to
such upscaling-via-scart compliant LCD's and Plasma's, it's not impressive.
I suggest if for viewing from the Humax+SCART you should stick with CRT
for the time being until the SCART upscaling issues are sorted out. .

Convicted wrote:

The issue being "upscaling".

snip

Extremely thorough and helpful, many thanks.

- guy

"Convicted" wrote in message
...
The issue being "upscaling".

V good post. Thanks.

Bill

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:29:57 GMT, Guy Snape
wrote:

I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we
were watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the tube
went so I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know
it's a very cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture is
just atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

Have you set the Humax to widescreen? Mine looked terrible when I got
it, turns out the Humax box was putting out a 4:3 picture which was
being stretched to widescreen by the LCD. Doh!

Ivan wrote:
Roderick Stewart wrote:

|| Hungarian accent "I will not buy this tobacconists - it is
|| scratched".

Hungarian accent "please, I, would, like to fon-dle, your butt-ocks"..

"Ah, yes, the Post Office; down the high street, first turning on the left."

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

wrote:
On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:29:57 GMT, Guy Snape
wrote:

I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we
were watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the tube
went so I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know
it's a very cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture is
just atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

Have you set the Humax to widescreen? Mine looked terrible when I got
it, turns out the Humax box was putting out a 4:3 picture which was
being stretched to widescreen by the LCD. Doh!

Yes, tried every conceivable setting on both pvr and tv. TV is going
back to Argos today.

Thanks,

- guy

"Guy Snape" wrote in message
om...
wrote:
On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:29:57 GMT, Guy Snape
wrote:

I have a Humax 9200T PVR which I'm very happy with. Until recently, we
were watching it through a hitachi CRT, and it looked fine, but the tube
went so I bought an Acoustic Solutions 26" LCD from Argos. Yes, I know
it's a very cheap TV and you get what you pay for ... but the picture is
just atrocious - very grainy and unclear.

Have you set the Humax to widescreen? Mine looked terrible when I got
it, turns out the Humax box was putting out a 4:3 picture which was
being stretched to widescreen by the LCD. Doh!

Yes, tried every conceivable setting on both pvr and tv. TV is going back
to Argos today.

There's an enormous difference in prices of 26" LCD TVs there, from £230 to
£645.

I notice they are selling the Panasonic TX-26LXD70 for £400, down from £650.

Personally I'm going to hold off until the prices drop. If my 25" CRT
Panasonic gives up the ghost before this happens I'll just get a cheapy 21"
CRT for under £100 as a stopgap.

--
Max Demian