What featurs to look for in a new TV
#1
I'm in the market for a new TV. I am looking at the new 2011 series Samsung SmartTV, but would look at any make really.

I will be usin the TV in a large lounge, with a Harman Kardon receiver plugged in via HDMI and 5.1 speaker setup. I have a TV settop box also pluggeg into the receiver, and a Revo 3610.

My question is, what are the features in a TV which I must have to make this this will give me good, smooth and colour accurate picture on the TV? Refresh rate? Colour modes? Overscan? If you can even recommend a model that has worked well for you recently, please let me know.

The reason I ask is that I have had problems with this before. The model I will be replacing is one of those 1360x768 "HD ready" LCD jobs that were all the rage a few years ago. I have had problems with:
- no feature for turning of overscan except when the TV recognises a computer plugged in with an exact resolution of 1360x768@60Hz
- also it doesn't allow you to change colour mode to support studio colours / 0-255 colours, except when it recognises a computer plugged in with an exact resolution of 1360x768@60Hz
- No 100Hz or 24fps refresh rates
- No discrete remote codes for the HDMI channels which means my Harmony Remote doesn't always change channels correctly (it tries to cycle through but sometimes misses)

I know I am missing out on some things - I just want to make sure I get exactly what is needed to fix all of this up.

One of the most annoying things is the Revo only really looks good when it is pugged into the TV directly. The TV turns on overscan and studio colours when I have it plugged into the receiver because it tries to upscale to 1920x1080, but turns those off when plugged into the TV. I want a setup where I can plug both the Revo and TV box directly into the receiver and have a single HDMI to the TV, but I am not sure how overscan and colour mode will work in this case. Is it possible for the TV to tell the difference and switch automatically, even though you aren't changing channels on the TV?

Also, HD movies aren't really smooth particularly with panning scenes. I think 24fps refresh rate will fix this??

Hope this makes sense, and a few of me give your recommendations.
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#2
Just make sure you download the manual first and see what refresh rates and resolutions it accepts over its different input types

If you want smooth playback your need a screen that does 24Hz at the screens native resolution over the connection type you want to use, you always get overscan when not using the screens native resolution

Ideally you would want 1920x1080p@24Hz over HDMI on a 1080p screen

Normally if you use an amp and you want the picture untouched you need to have everything running at your screens native resolution so into the amp at 1360x768 and out of the amp at 1360x768 you would probably need pass through for this ? use a different resolution in any of the devices and your get some kind of scaling and processing

So ideally for smooth playback on a 1080p screen that supports 1080p@24Hz your amp would need to accept 1920x1080@24Hz and output at 1920x1080@24Hz
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#3
I bought a Panasonic TX-P50G20B a couple weeks back. Still in the 'bedding in' phase as its a plamsa, the picture, colour and contrast will improve over the first 100-200 hrs use, but it is already amazing.

It has all the features every top end TV could have, add a HDD and its also a PVR, Freesat HD, Freeview HD, 24p, 600hz, THX, ISF...

I paid £650 from Dixons but seems its gone UP! Quick google says £717 online.

HIGHLY recommended, fabulous TV, never seen black depth and picture quality like this on my old Hitachi Plasma.
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#4
>>X<<' Wrote:Ideally you would want 1920x1080p@24Hz over HDMI on a 1080p screen

wait, sorry to jump but,
what exactly needs to be set at 1920x1080p@24Hz??

Both my GPU and HDTV have to be set this way??

Or only my GPU?

Because my HDTV is at 1920x1080p@60Hz

thanks
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#5
Personally I'm an input lag nazi. I'm an avid gamer and a bit of an obsessive compulsive. Any delay between button presses and the screen just makes me crazy (especially w/ mouse movement in fpss).

Unfortunately, this sort of thing is not clearly advertized when it comes to TVs. Some info Here and here
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#6
eskro Wrote:wait, sorry to jump but,
what exactly needs to be set at 1920x1080p@24Hz??

To the best of my knowledge (and I need the TV first to test it) your TV needs to correctly report that it supports 1920x1080@24Hz, then you need to configure XBMC to switch refresh rates to match the source material. XBMC will take care of the rest - switch to 60Hz for menus, and 24Hz for 24fps source content (as well as other refresh rates for other material like PAL).

Can anyone else confirm that this is how it works?
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#7
t2ffn Wrote:I bought a Panasonic TX-P50G20B a couple weeks back.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it. Does it meet my three main criteria?

1. Can you switch off overscan when on the XBMC input?
2. Does it display colours in full 0-255 range, not just studio colours (16-235)?
3. Does it have discrete chanell remote codes for the HDMI channels?

Also, curious why you went for Plasma. I looked into this a couple of years ago when I bought my current LCD, but haven't revisited it since. I was keen on an LED this time round - any compelling reason for looking at Plasma?
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#8
AaronD Wrote:To the best of my knowledge (and I need the TV first to test it) your TV needs to correctly report that it supports 1920x1080@24Hz, then you need to configure XBMC to switch refresh rates to match the source material. XBMC will take care of the rest - switch to 60Hz for menus, and 24Hz for 24fps source content (as well as other refresh rates for other material like PAL).

Can anyone else confirm that this is how it works?

actually yes, it works like that!
but i cant use this feature because some movies wont play...
my tv will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."
thats weird, i know it can support 24Hz...
some of my movies are that way and they play...
but the moment i enable that refresh rate feature,
my 24Hz movies arent viewable anymore...
like i said, TV will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."
isnt that weirdHuh
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#9
@eskro: Just because some movies with 24hz work doesn't mean your TV supports 24hz. Try pressing the INFO button when watching a 24fps movie. My TV for example shows something like 1920x1080@24p then. You have to enable 24p (24hz) support in the xorg.conf and you have to enable "Sync playback to display" in the XBMC options. Then it will automatically adjust the screen settings to the content you are watching.
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#10
giving advice on a specific tv is quite difficult, since today's maket is quite flooded and different countries may have different models.

My advice would be to buy some LG, Samsung or Sharp (which I've read are really good), LED backlit and, very important, not the cheapest one. Here in Spain I can find LED tvs for under 400€; I'd rather spend at least 600€ (talking about 32" tv's).

Now, which exact model? No idea. In Europe and the USA (I believe), it's very usual that those big stores let you try what you buy for a week or two: that way, I can buy any tv I want, try it out, and if it misses something or the picture quality isn't as good as expected, I can return it or exchange it and try another TV. If you have that possibility, use it!

Good luck finding a tv that suits you Smile

EDIT: by the way, I've got a samsung lcd 32" tv, which I had quite good luck with. I didn't know anything about 24Hz, color mode or pixel mapping 1:1 when I bought it, but it supports all of them. Pixel mapping is problematic, since there's only one entry supporting it. I have to name the source PC or DVI/PC and then set the input to 1920x1080@60Hz, then it looks perfect. When watching movies and switching to 24Hz mode, the tv loses pixel mapping, but there's an option to show the entire image, so it fits the tv and doesn't overscan. However, the image isn't as good as in 60Hz mode.. I don't notice it in movies, but if I set the XMBC interface to display at 24Hz, the text lacks definition, like if the font wasn't aliased.
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#11
Choque Wrote:@eskro: Just because some movies with 24hz work doesn't mean your TV supports 24hz. Try pressing the INFO button when watching a 24fps movie. My TV for example shows something like 1920x1080@24p then. You have to enable 24p (24hz) support in the xorg.conf and you have to enable "Sync playback to display" in the XBMC options. Then it will automatically adjust the screen settings to the content you are watching.

my TV says 1920x1080@24Hz when pressing the INFO button!

im under windows so, whats my equivalent to enable 24p (24Hz) in xorg.conf?

and yes, Adjust display to match frame rate is enabled and appears working...
when playing a 24p movie, my TV displays 1920x1080@24Hz but XBMC's menu stays at 60Hz!
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#12
eskro Wrote:my TV says 1920x1080@24Hz when pressing the INFO button!

im under windows so, whats my equivalent to enable 24p (24Hz) in xorg.conf?

and yes, Adjust display to match frame rate is enabled and appears working...
when playing a 24p movie, my TV displays 1920x1080@24Hz but XBMC's menu stays at 60Hz!
then it's all ok, you want it that way Smile
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#13
PatrickVogeli Wrote:then it's all ok, you want it that way Smile

well it doesnt solve the issue i have,,,
because some movies wont play this way...
my TV will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."

thats weird, i know it can support 24Hz...
some of my movies are that way and they play fine..
but the moment i enable the 'Adjust display to match frame rate' feature,
some movies aren't viewable anymore...
like i said, TV will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."

isnt that weird O.O

but if i set windows to 24Hz, using my Nvidia control panel,
and the in XBMC i disable 'Adjust display to match frame rate' ,
the movies that were not playable before are viewable now!!
my TV doesnt say "screen resolution not supported" anymore!!

confused Huh
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#14
AaronD Wrote:To the best of my knowledge (and I need the TV first to test it) your TV needs to correctly report that it supports 1920x1080@24Hz, then you need to configure XBMC to switch refresh rates to match the source material. XBMC will take care of the rest - switch to 60Hz for menus, and 24Hz for 24fps source content (as well as other refresh rates for other material like PAL).

Can anyone else confirm that this is how it works?

Yes that's how it works

AaronD Wrote:1. Can you switch off overscan when on the XBMC input?

Most of the newer screens wont have overscan when you send the native resolution, you will always have overscan if you send anything other than its native resolution no matter what screen you have because it has to scale the image again which is exactly what you want to avoid

If you want smooth play back for 24fps content your screen needs to accept 24Hz and most screens will only do 24Hz when they receive 1920x1080 no matter what their native resolution is so if you want to avoid overscan and have smooth playback of 24fps content your likely only going to get this on a screen with a resolution of 1920x1080

Always check the manual first because what refresh rates a screen supports at different resolutions over different input types varies widely
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#15
eskro Wrote:well it doesnt solve the issue i have,,,
because some movies wont play this way...
my TV will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."

thats weird, i know it can support 24Hz...
some of my movies are that way and they play fine..
but the moment i enable the 'Adjust display to match frame rate' feature,
some movies aren't viewable anymore...
like i said, TV will say "screen resolution not supported, change..."

isnt that weird O.O

but if i set windows to 24Hz, using my Nvidia control panel,
and the in XBMC i disable 'Adjust display to match frame rate' ,
the movies that were not playable before are viewable now!!
my TV doesnt say "screen resolution not supported" anymore!!

confused Huh

I recently had this same issue. I have a Samsung LN52B630. I connect my HTPC to my tv with HDMI. I had the 'Adjust display to match frame rate' enabled and it would work for a lot of movies and my display would report 1920x1080 @ 24p but then one day my tv gave me an error that said 'Mode not supported'. I think this is because some movies are not 1920x1080 but maybe 1920x816. And at that resolution 24p is not supported on HDMI on my tv. This is just my theory but it's the only logical explanation I've come up with so far. I've looked in my manual and I would get better support (i.e. more resolutions @ 24p) if i was using the VGA input instead of the HDMI but I don't have a spare optical cable to try it out now. If I disable the 'Adjust display to match frame rate' option then the movie plays fine.
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