TiVo and LCD TVs

[deshepherd]

Been thinking about getting a new TV (current one is getting a bit blurry!) and as the CRT seems to be an endangered species I've been looking at what's available in LCDs. N.b. we're not int huge TVs so I'm looking at 26"-ish screens.

Are there any issues in using an LCD with a TiVo (e.g. does the extra step of compression/decompression look much worse than on a CRT) etc.

Another factor is that TW TVDrive is an option at some point (though from what I've read I'm not ready to take that step yet!)

Any thoughts ... or should I be searching out a CRT?

[b166er]

Been thinking about getting a new TV (current one is getting a bit blurry!) and as the CRT seems to be an endangered species I've been looking at what's available in LCDs. N.b. we're not int huge TVs so I'm looking at 26"-ish screens.

Are there any issues in using an LCD with a TiVo (e.g. does the extra step of compression/decompression look much worse than on a CRT) etc.

Any thoughts ... or should I be searching out a CRT?I bought a Sharp Aquos 26" LCD about 6 months ago. The main reason I went for that over other models is because Sharp make the best LCD's (it's because of their research/development that TFT became as good as it is now) and because it has a PC-input.

For the first few weeks using it, all TV shows and films suddenly had a kind of 3D effect. It takes a little getting used to. I don't think it's related to TiVo, I think it's just the way LCD screens work when it comes to TV signals. They're slow to react to change and it leads to this odd 3D effect. It looks kind of cool really. It has the effect though of making DVD films look like they were shot on video. Some things that should look super high quality end up looking like they're filmed as fly on the wall documentaries. It's hard to describe. You DEFINITELY want to spend some time in Comet/Dixons watching stuff on them.

Since I got it, I've been wondering whether I should have gone for a plasma instead. Not completely sure. Since my local Aldi though (here in Germany) is now selling 42" Plasma TV's for only a thousand quid, it's definitely tempting.

Not sure if that helps, or if it answers any of your questions, but that's my experience of switching to LCD and coincidentally the same size you're thinking of

[amjustice]

I use Tivo on my Sony Bravia 40" and think it looks fine. I assume you are speaking of standard definition television. With this you have to have the expectation that its not going to look perfect. The Tivo menus and other solid colors get upresd very nicely and the TV is watchable. Personally I am just waiting for the S3 which make have some other features for upresing SD tv. Pretty much you are going to see similar results with a plasma as you will with an LCD SD tv does not look perfect on either. The Sony Bravia's all have good image processing that will make it look better then most. I would highly reccomend this line of TVs, PM me if you have any questions.

[sanderton]

I'd say the Mode 0 hack is near essential to output to an LCD. But with one that small to be honest you're unlikely to get much in the way of visiable artifacting from a normal cross living room distance anyway.

[Tivo_noob]

I bought a Sharp Aquos 26" LCD about 6 months ago. The main reason I went for that over other models is because Sharp make the best LCD's (it's because of their research/development that TFT became as good as it is now) and because it has a PC-input.

For the first few weeks using it, all TV shows and films suddenly had a kind of 3D effect. It takes a little getting used to. I don't think it's related to TiVo, I think it's just the way LCD screens work when it comes to TV signals. They're slow to react to change and it leads to this odd 3D effect. It looks kind of cool really. It has the effect though of making DVD films look like they were shot on video. Some things that should look super high quality end up looking like they're filmed as fly on the wall documentaries. It's hard to describe. You DEFINITELY want to spend some time in Comet/Dixons watching stuff on them.

Since I got it, I've been wondering whether I should have gone for a plasma instead. Not completely sure. Since my local Aldi though (here in Germany) is now selling 42" Plasma TV's for only a thousand quid, it's definitely tempting.

Not sure if that helps, or if it answers any of your questions, but that's my experience of switching to LCD and coincidentally the same size you're thinking of


Thats interesting, i have the same TV (i presume you have a LC26GA4/3E) and i think its absolutley stunning, i take it you've tweaked the colour settings on it as when it comes from factory they are all over the place and looked really crap :eek:

[pauljs]

I have a Bravia 40" looks fine from 10 feet away :D

[b166er]

Thats interesting, i have the same TV (i presume you have a LC26GA4/3E) and i think its absolutley stunning, i take it you've tweaked the colour settings on it as when it comes from factory they are all over the place and looked really crap :eek:Mine's a LC26GA5E (perhaps the difference comes from it being a model for the German market). Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy with it, the picture quality is fantastic. I love watching TV shows I've downloaded (from the PC) too.

Didn't you notice though that slightly strange 3D effect that comes from the pixel reaction delay?

[Tivo_noob]

Mine's a LC26GA5E (perhaps the difference comes from it being a model for the German market). Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy with it, the picture quality is fantastic. I love watching TV shows I've downloaded (from the PC) too.

Didn't you notice though that slightly strange 3D effect that comes from the pixel reaction delay?

Ahhh right yours is the GA5E, that was the later model which (apparently) wasn't as good as the earlier GA4E, don't ask me why but i did a lot of research before buying this TV and i didn't know if to wait for the 5E or pick up one of the (very hard to find at the time) 4E's, everyone advised me if i could find an earlier model then buy that rather than wait for the newer model, as for the pixel reaction delay, i don't know what you mean and there is no 3D effect on my TV, have you got the sports shoot mode switched on in the menu options? This corrects the screen for fast moving images (football, motor racing etc etc) might help with the 3d effect?

[b166er]

Ahhh right yours is the GA5E, that was the later model which (apparently) wasn't as good as the earlier GA4E, don't ask me why but i did a lot of research before buying this TV and i didn't know if to wait for the 5E or pick up one of the (very hard to find at the time) 4E's, everyone advised me if i could find an earlier model then buy that rather than wait for the newer model, as for the pixel reaction delay, i don't know what you mean and there is no 3D effect on my TV, have you got the sports shoot mode switched on in the menu options? This corrects the screen for fast moving images (football, motor racing etc etc) might help with the 3d effect?I don't see the 3D effect now. Either I got used to it or it went away. Not sure which. I didn't see a sports shoot mode in the menus but I do see a Mov. Comp. in the Menu->picture->advanced menu that's set to On. That sounds like Moving compensation. If I ever notice the 3D effect again I'll try turning that off. I also see in Menu->picture->levels->picture mode I have it set to Auto(OPC).

btw, the reaction time is a common issue with ALL LCD's. It's the time a pixel takes to change from one state to another. When I was buying mine, every one in the store had it in on their little info card. They can range from 5ms to 25ms. You really notice how bad the ones with slow reaction time look when comparing them in the store (if they're showing the same feed on all TV's).

[deesee]

I have bought a panasonic tx32llxd500 32in, i think it is excelent, i have read the instructions several times as i always do and tweaked everything that can be tweaked. The picture is great on Tivo Sky+ and even better on the inbuilt Freeserve, and component video from my dvdr is stunning, i think its a great buy, but maybe i am easily pleased.

[Mike Jones]

Sony Bravia 40" works for me to!

Only problem is I really want Sky HD now :)

[Major dude]

I have a Toshiba 32WLT58 feed by a videosender from my TiVos & it looks fine :D . I might be spoilt once I have sky HD installed though :confused: .

[Trevor73]

Desheperd,
if 26" is your thing I can recommend a Philips 26PF5521D. Great quality, HD ready, freeview integrated, good but not stunning sound quality (but with a surround sound system, who cares about quality of built-in speakers), and has all the ports you need. Set-up and UI is simple. It should hit the UK market anytime soon, RRP around GBP500. To enjoy widescreen, your Tivo needs mode 0 and many MBs HDD.
T73