32" HD LCD TV £944

[rajagra]

What do you think of this from QVC ? (Today only price.)

553133 • £944.64 • Harwa 32" LCD Widescreen TV with Twin Tuner Picture in Picture & HD Ready
Features:
Technical specifications:
Resolution: 1280px x 768px
High contrast ratio: 800:1
Twin TV Tuner
Picture-in-picture Capture
14 Watt sound output
Custom/Live/Pop/Rock Sound Modes
Digital CombFilter
HDCP ( High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection )
Parental control
120 page Teletext
Ports, cables and accessories:
2 scart cables
1 RF cable
PC, DVI/DVI-D, s-video, audio and visual in ports
D-sub 15pin VGA, RCA and RCA-to-mini phone cables
Remote control
Swivel-base and wall mount stands

I've not really been following LCD TV prices recently, but this seems to be a bit of a bargain, and it does have the all important HDCP so should work with the upcoming Sky HDTV.
What do you reckon?

[5lab]

thats not *propper* hdtv ready - real (1080i) hdtv uses a res of something like 2000ishx1000ish

[rajagra]

From http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds19617.html

WHAT FORMAT WILL SKY'S HDTV SYSTEM USE?
· Sky 's HDTV broadcasting system and HDTV receiver will support two HDTV formats:

- 720 / P / 50 (Progressively Scanned picture)

- 1080 / I / 25 (Interlaced picture)

· Sky believes the progressively scanned picture format is better suited for the delivery and viewing of HD content on large screen, flat panel displays (mostly plasma or LCD) that are increasingly available in electrical and specialist retailers. However, Sky does accept that for some types of programming, the higher screen resolution offered by the 1080 Interlaced format may be preferable.

· Broadcasters planning on launching HD services on the digital satellite platform will be able to choose whether to broadcast content in 720 / P / 50 or 1080 / I / 25.

· Sky's HD service will also utilise the advanced compression technology MPEG4. MPEG4 is a more efficient means of compressing the data in a TV picture.

I think it's odds-on that most content will use the lowest common denominator - 720 P.

I'm not sure how I feel about interlaced 1080. Flicker won't so much be the problem (esp on TFTs), but I can't help think that interlacing is a redundant technique that causes more problems than it solves. Plain 1080 P 25Hz would make more sense to me. 25 full frames per second is surely better than 50 bastardised half frames per second?

[DaftpuNk]

If the acronym stands for "high definition" then that's what we're best receiving. None of this inferior broadcast-range saving lower resolution stuff. We owe it to modern LCD or Plasma technology based high-resolution capable displays to run stuff in their respective native resolutions, not have some interpolated and/or scaled down rubbish.

Higher resolution entertainment has been available for years on computers, finally it reaches the lounges/sitting rooms and will drive a faster-paced improvement in the experience we can expect from gaming consoles. Yes they've been plug-and-play for years in comparison to PC's, but our televisions have always been the limiting factor.

Oh and on the case of this display, I would not trust such an unknown brand. Regardless of the specifications it supplies.

[5lab]

actually, i dont think thats so true. i think the low res of tvs has been a booster to consoles - think about it - to get the ps2 to do 1080 rather than 640 at launch, and provide the same speed on the graphics would have cost a lot of extra money - as it is the low res helped consoled deliver low-price high-end graphics. now gfx components are cheaper, it will lead the way for better graphics on games.

even without high res, anti ailasing can remove the need for any res higher than 640x480 - think about it, dvds are approx this res, and they dont look blocky at all

[DaftpuNk]

No that's utterly not the issue. Play any racing game which is on PC and console, compare the two. Even the xbox's superior image quality (in fact, not opinion) on my TV at least, you can see corners earlier, far more detail in the distance. It matters not what they could have slowly introduced or expense wise, higher resolution capability will provide the ability to make a greater gaming experience, the end.

[rajagra]

I just hope they don't mess up HDTV in the UK the way they ruined DAB radio (with low bitrates.)

I gave this TV a miss. I can wait 6 months to see how HDTV develops.

[misae]

There is no such thing as 720i .. you get 480i 480p 576i 576p 720p 1080i and the latest standard (not released yet) 1080p.

All the next gen consoles are going to support at the lowest level 720p, you can expect most content to be displayed in 720p as well.

True HDTV however requires any device to support HDCP, this is essential, without HDCP support you will not be able to view HDTV content from Sky or NTL. DVI connections can sometimes have HDCP but not always, HDMI is a new standard socket that is digital live DVI but also carries the audio signal.

I'm sorry to say some of the info posted here by some people is simply incorrect and not properly researched. before offering advice please at least have the patience to learn about the topic in hand instead of spewing misleading advice.

Apologies in advance for causing offence

[rajagra]

There is no such thing as 720i

Yes there is. Although thankfully it seems unlikely to be used.
But thanks for pointing out my typo.

.. you get 480i 480p 576i 576p 720p 1080i and the latest standard (not released yet) 1080p.

1080P content is available here.

True HDTV however requires any device to support HDCP

No, HDCP is not a requirement for HDTV.

I'm sorry to say some of the info posted here by some people is simply incorrect and not properly researched. before offering advice please at least have the patience to learn about the topic in hand instead of spewing misleading advice.

Pot. Kettle. Black. Sorry.

[misae]

Funny I wasn't referring to you but you tried to make your point well. The amount of misinformation in this thread is mind boggling.

1080p content being available, I am aware of this fact. I did not state you cannot get 1080p content - you can get it from here too: www.wmvhd.com. You can even buy an LCD screen from Sharp that can do 1080p. However it is not widespread and will be the next HD standard. The industry expects the de-facto HDTV standard is first going to be 720p.

You state that HDCP is not a requirement for HDTV I state that HDCP is a requirement for NTL and Sky HDTV content. Massive difference? It is if you buy a TV and it doesn't have HDCP and you want to watch your footie next year on Sky/NTL at HD resolutions.

Technically you are correct HDCP is not a requirement to be HD ready, but without HDTV you are fubarred in many ways.

So how do you like your boiling water?

[rajagra]

So how do you like your boiling water?

In a cup, loaded with caffeine.
I think I was the only one who (mistakenly) mentioned 720i in this thread. Anyway, that's corrected now.
I wonder how long before somebody develops a dongle to bypass HDCP, and how cheap it could be. It'd be nice to use my Dell 2405 for HDTV.