What the hell does contrast ratio and resolution and all that bollox mean on new tellys?

If I was buying one what is the stuff to look out for? Don't wanna pay silly money for the latest version and all that but don't mind paying a few quid if what I get is worth it.

It may be worth hanging on another 6 months or so as they will soon have freeview+ built in (like sky+ but only freview channels) so your telly will do its own recording for you.

That sounds good but would probably be too complicated for me anyways.

Plus the telly in the bedroom is on the blink now, sometimes when you turn it on the colours make you think you're on acid. No matter how hard I hit it to try and get the guns working properly the only thing that puts it right is turning it off and back on again. I reckon I might get til the Christmas sales out of it if I'm lucky.

Contrast Ratio is a way of judging the quality of the colours that the TV will show. The higher the contrast ratio, the better quality the colour of the picture will be.

Resolution is the quality of the picture - the higher the resolution - the higher the quality of picture.

So if they both relate to picture quality which is more important?

Gives a whole new meaning to "Turn on, Tune in, Drop out".

Resolution is the number of pixels (picture dots) that make up the picture, the higher the number the greatrer the resolution and better picture definition (as in High Definition).

The contrast relates to the depth in colour contrast between the colours and white or black I think, again the greater the number the best chance of a good picture.

Hope this makes things clearer

But the resolution is given as a ratio, e.g. 1000:1, so is it just the first part of it that is relevant?

And what does 1080p mean? And how is that different to 1080i?

!080i and 1080p are high definition versions of a picture you would watch on a tv. The easiest way to describe this is.. More is packed into the picture you watch, I.e more pixels compressed, more colour which gives you a much sharper image.

With new Tv's you can get an HDMI cable which will produce HD quality pictures from example a DVD player which is HD. Higher the number the better quality, but not all tv's are capable of showing this "nativly" so which stretch the image.

hope this helps.. tried to re word it best i could

Go for quality of resolution (1080p) then chose the one with the highest Contrast ratio (2000:1 is better than 1000:1).

in my day it were rediffusion, 4 channels dead simple - none of this pixies lark

So which would be better, option 1 where you get about 700ish on the resolution but 10000:1 contrast, or option 2 with 1080 resolution but only 1000:1 contrast?

I've got a HDMI cable connecting my dvd player to my telly (not the telly that's on the blink) and I can't say that I notice the difference in the picture from when it was connected with a scart. Should I be able to?

Option 2. The contrast would not be that low, and would probably be higher than the contrast in option 1, in all honesty.

1080p is the best avaiable picture quality, so manufactures won't scrimp on contrast.

Yeah, in 1080p you can see the horses cock better.

So are these rubbish?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 199306.htm


http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 199306.htm

As ann 'expert' told me, apart from HD, if you draw a paicture with a pen on a deflated balloon and blow it up, the previously sharp image goes all blurry and fluffy...and that's what those big TV's do... the controls as such are there to give you false hope.... sorry.

but it looks alright at the pictures and their screen is hyowge.

There isn't half some shite posted in this thread!

The contrast ratio is a measurement of how BLACK the blank screen is. With a really high contrast ratio the black will be proper black and the white proper white - it makes a big difference to quality if you have significant ambient light, but if you black your room out like a cinema it won't make much difference.

You need 1080p resolution (or definition, same difference) if you want to make the most of true high definition broadcasts.
"HD ready" tellies are able to process true HD images but they can't restore them in their full high definition glory. Orn'ry tellies can't process HD images at all.

As for your (expensive) HDMI cable not making a difference, I've no doubt you're right if your TV set is already at its limits. It will make a difference with HD though.

To save time, just buy a Panasonic. They consistently receive the highest ratings and it's for a good reason.

For that sort of size, reasonable prices - but quality not the greatest with those contrast ratio's.

You'd be best going to Richer Sounds in Middlesbrough on Borough Road, and talking to them. They have good prices, you can see the quality of the pictures your getting and the assistants know what they are talking about.

I just clicked your Argos link Ripper. It says this:

"A different brand named item may be received of similar specification."



Keep well away from them man. Once you're satisified a TV has all the capabilities you need, the ONLY way to judge it is by using your own eyes. You can only judge the actual model you receive though! I've seen tellies of different makes with the same specs but you'd never believe it when comparing the visual quality.

Pay 100 quid more and get a good one, please.

Go to http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk and go for the JVC 42DV8. You won't be disappointed.
I bought one from there earlier this year and it's the absolute dogs danglers.
£850 when I bought it and it's £700 now including stand.

Savalas

who loves ya baby

I reckon we've stumbled into the secret telly talk room where consenting males can talk one to one on telly technical stuff..I'M

Has the telly got Mullard valves in it and is it one of those new fangled ones with a 9 inch screen? Does it get ITV without the converter box?

Seriously, we have one of these in our house - unfortunately it cannot pick up any stations as they've stopped transmitting on 405 lines.

it has Arthur Mullard inside it?

It always surprises me when you go in the supermarket, and they have all the tellies tuned to the same channel. The picture quality on some of them is absolutely shite. You'd think they'd have different channels tuned in so you can't tell which tellies are the crap ones.

yus

It always surprises me when you go in the supermarket, and they have all the tellies tuned to the same channel. The picture quality on some of them is absolutely shite. You'd think they'd have different channels tuned in so you can't tell which tellies are the crap ones.

Or do you think they adjust the contrast, brightness, colour buttons to leave the the one they make most profit on looking best.

The supermarkets wouldn't resort to those types of tactics would they?

You can get silly about this and spend thousands of moolahs on a telly. To be honest, if you aren't sitting a precise distance from the tv its unlikely you would notice the difference between 1080p and 1080i.

Set your budget and buy the best resolution and contrast ratio that you can find for the money. Yes it will be superceded by something but if you bought the absolute best on the market it would be considered crap within 12 months.

Five years ago I paid £2500 for my tv. It's a 42 inch plasma. Today a new one of comparable standards would be £500.

Excuse me Mr I but that's exactly the same reasoning as buying a 10 gazillon megapixel camera without considering the lens.
A 768p (or whatever the standard is) image on a top quality LCD panel will be much, much easier on the eye than a 1080p image on the LCD panel of an own-brand cheapo.

The way to go is compare images subjectively, then if you can't decide between two of them, prefer the one with the higher resolution. Because the chances are in the shop they won't be using a HD signal input.

If however you have decided that 1080p is a minimum requirement 'cos you have access to HD broadcasts, pick the best image and be prepared to stump up the price.

You know an awful lot about TV's for a man without a TV licence!!

That was before I bought a telly.

You have too good a memory for comfort, BP!

Strange isn't it, my perception is that I have a very poor memory, and I usually blame it for my lack of success in life.

But that might be because you remember all the occasions when you've forgotten something. People with bad memories can't do that, and so they imagine their recall is good