[mythtv-users] OT: Advice on choosing a TV

[Paul Gardiner]

Thanks guys for all the advice.

Ed W wrote:
> On 05/05/2010 13:58, Paul Gardiner wrote:
>>
>> Interesting. TX-P50G20B might be what I'm looking for.
> 
> I think as a general rule, a large proportion of at least the higher end 
> brands will suit your needs very nicely.  I bought a Sharp 46" a year or 
> so back and my criteria then were:
> 
> - Could accept 24/50Hz pixel perfect from the PC (over 
> DVI/HDMI/Displayport)
> - 1080p (almost guaranteed on a big modern set)
> - DVB-T builtin (probably you would spec DVB-T2 and/or Freesat tuners 
> today?) - good for letting the babysitter watch tv without mastering 
> Mythtv...
> - Good selection of inputs including DVI/HDMI/VGA/Displayport
> - Serial input
> 
> The last was because I had a mad idea about getting mythtv to turn the 
> TV on and off as needed - It's not happened yet, but rather nicely the 
> TV DOES turn off when the normal X screensaver kicks in, so at least 
> when the kids walk off, the TV turns off after about 5 mins
> 
> I believe the Panasonic's and Pioneers are all very good in general.  
> Back when I bought mine I had some worries about pixel perfect output, 
> but I would have expected this to be more widely available now?

Pioneer? Are they still around? I read so many reviews of other makes,
which say something along the lines of "This has a really stunning 
picture but still has a way to go to match the kuro", but else where I
see reports of Pioneer getting out of the market.

> Oh, the other thing I observed is that TVs as supplied have all the 
> contrast, sharpness, etc pushed up to the max and whilst it will 
> initially look worse, I would encourage you to spend a little while 
> trying to turn down the controls (especially sharpness) to get the 
> display fairly balanced.  The initial impression is that it's got less 
> punch, but after you watch the new settings for a while and swap back 
> you will feel like the alternative is cartoon style over-vibrant colours!

Yeah I've noticed that with even with my CRT. I used to accept the
overblown colours, but over the years I've slowly adjusted it back to
a natural look. It's a different type of "striking": strikingly real
rather than strikingly standing out.

> 
> It's quite hard to get TVs looking perfectly neutral in general, but on 
> my nvidia card I applied a gamma ramp to overcome the change in PC 
> output levels to consumer output levels + I tweaked the red gamma levels 
> to slightly reduce the red push that you tend to get on all consumer tvs 
> (google for why).  Obviously you can also use a monitor calibration 
> device to get the colour ramps perfect if you so desire (another benefit 
> of PC based tv source...)

Is THX liklely to be a help on this?

Paul.