Alternatively, try 'Swiss TV' app. (Samsung) - they're giving away 10 chufs of free credit, if nothing else.
The old 'Your Videos" has been replaced, but doesn't seem particularly current.
Not the best advice.
Shop conditions are the worst conditions for viewing a telly, because the light is harsh and artificial. It is common for a TV in your room to look nothing like it looked like in the store. I won't waste time explaining, just read this pro article here http://hdguru.com/how-retailers-use-...e-hdtv-buyers/
Long and short of it is, do your research WELL before you go to the shop. Reputable HDTV websites, and of course Amazon, are very reliable sources of info.
General rule is: you cannot really go wrong with a Panasonic Plasma or a Samsung LED, depending on which technology you prefer.
Your videos? Who's videos? No idea what that means.
We used to have Acetrax but I think Sky TV bought it for the technology and then promptly shut it down. On our TV we have no other movie rental apps. It's not a Samsung.
Yep, wrongly made the assumption you were referring to Samsung.
'Your Videos' was how Acetrax was referred to on Samsung Smart Hub, but has now been replaced by another provider.
Here is the Swiss TV web site - but maybe it is only available as a Sumsung app.
If you have iPhone or iPad ( may also be available on android ....... yep, confirmed) and a wifi enabled TV, you could consider Wibi on the IMediaShare app. (I use the free Lite version of IMediaShare).
Unlimited movie playback from their library (relatively current) for €7 per month, or €60 p.a.
Select a film from iPad, and then choose to play either on iPad or your TV.
There is a free version with about 9 films if you want to try it out - Hollywood Wibi Free.
And on top of that happens the shop to use some super high definition blue ray disk with demo content specifically made by the tvs manufacturer to look good...
I am in the market myself right now and am looking at the Samsung series 6. The lower end of this mid-range as the F6300 seems to be the best LED TV where I don't have to pay extra for getting some 3d stuff I never ever gonna use... 55 inch.
Panasonic plasma every single time.
You cant tell by looking in the shop as they have them all pumped up to max, this means the Samsungs (LED) will 'out perform' all the plasmas as they can go brighter, and so have a larger impact in the shop.
However when you get home and set it to a more realistic setting the plasmas will have the most realistic colours, and a much more cinema feel to it than the LED TV's, it has something to do with the way the interlacing works or something.
However as mentioned before, do research on the dedicated home cinema sites if you want to know more detail.
Of course the Samsungs look better off due to the tiny frame, but, ifs its about the picture quality alone, then nothing touches the new Panasonic Plasmas!
There seems to be a clear split between folks who love plasma vs. LED. Can those of you in each camp give a quick summary of why one is superior over the other (in your opinion, without getting nasty with each other)? Can the plasma lovers talk about the fragility or whatever about plasma I hear so much about?
We don't have a streaming movie service but maybe with a larger and better TV it would be worth it. Our current TV is not that big and frankly not that amazeballs for watching movies, so we haven't bothered to look much into movie services. Perhaps a thread for the future...
Looks like the weather is going to suck Saturday across pretty much the whole country. So that's definitely shopping day. Appreciate any and all advice before then.
As a person in between (I used both Plasma and LEDs), my personal experience is summarized as below:
Select plasma if you:
- are very much into movies
- like to watch them in the dark
- do not watch the same channel for over 2-3 hours (I hated the burn-in in my plasma although it was not permanent)
- not really into games
- price / performance ratio is very important to you (even the 600 CHF 55" plasmas are very good in the market today)
Select LED if you:
- care about how nice your TV looks, how light it is etc...etc..
- you watch movies but in the light
- you are into games
- you mostly watch HD content (I don't see to much difference between plasma and LED in HD content, but if you are watching non-HD staff, plasma is way better)
- you don't care about the budget that much (A good LED TV is at least 1200-1300 for a 55" screen)
I had a Samsung Plasma which I really enjoyed until it broke down (repair cost was more than the TV itself so they told me to buy a new one), this year I bought a Samsung LED TV which I enjoy as well
One important thing which nobody refers is 3D content:
If you like to watch 3D movies, definitely try the glasses before buying the TV. For example Panasonic glasses were very uncomfortable for me, that was one of the reasons why I avoided Panasonic when buying my Samsung Plasma.
The big thing that put us off plasma was the amount of heat they emitted. They may be much better now though I guess.
Apart from that I'm probably not the best person to ask. We do watch some movies but not loads and primarily watch the TV if there's an interesting programme on ( or if i'm ironing in which case i'll watch anything that helps pass the time).We didn't really need an all singing all dancing one but it is cool to have the Internet access via the TV. Ours is a Samsung 7 series LED and we're very happy with it.
I don't think you're trying to find a perfect TV. In fact, I'm sure that all TVs have issues, and you're only trying to find the one that sucks least :-) At least that was my goal when I had to choose a TV. I ended up getting a Panasonic VT50 plasma, which was at the time (1 year ago) their best offering.
The picture quality is great, especially in a fairly dark room, however, it does have issues which I noticed after buying it and watching it for a few months.
Most serious issues for me are the fans, image retention, horizontal line bleed and daylight brightness.
Fans: only an issue if you watch tv late at night with the volume down or on mute. You can hear the fans in the back of the TV. This is not audible when you watch under normal conditions.
Image retention: Only an issue when watching snooker, and it's temporary :-) The image of the table on the same place of the screen leaves lines after a while but they go away on their own after watching something else.
Horizontal line bleed:
see this image: http://www.tweakguides.com/images/HDTV_24.jpg This is only a problem on occasion, as these sorts of scenes aren't too common. It's quite easy to notice it though and it can be annoying.
Daylight brightness: When the room is bright, it seems that the screen, even when off, is a kind of gray. It never gets black, and this kind of makes everything look washed out. I think this is due to an air gap between some glass panels inside the TV, and the light bounces around in there. This should be better on the VT60 series but I'm not really sure - I'd have to see one to compare.
The other issues, like always having to keep it upright, the weight, and the power consumption, are not real problems for me. Also, the bezel width and TV thickness are not much different than modern LED TVs in my opinion.
So having said all that, if I had to make a decision again between plasma and LED, I would choose plasma again :-) I've never watched an LED TV and thought to myself "damn, this looks good...." like I did watching my first movie on the VT50.
Bit of self-research before spending a lot of money works wonders... http://lmgtfy.com/?q=plasma+vs+led
Richdog - I appreciate the link, it was more about personal experiences and loves/hates with either style. Which again I suppose is the length of string question...I guess I want a TV that will make me happy with picture quality, sound, features, etc. and that I'll feel like I got good value for money. But maybe reality is like someone else posted on here - after I get it home I'll still wish I'd gone for bigger or different.
You can't go wrong with Pana plasma / Samu LCD. (it's called LCD with LED background light there is no LED tv yet on the market):
One of my friend bought VT-60 Pana. It has nice picture but the burn in thingy is irritating him. after looking one channel for 20mins/ it takes 2-3 secs before the logo disappears.
I know this thread is not plasma VS LCD, so I won't compare them.
Another friend bougt Samu 6xxx serie:
Clouding. It's so irritating that is unbelievable... It's really bad.
Also it takes ages to start a smart app. (youtube or whatever you want) and that is irritating as well.
If you really hardcore, you don't go to media markt... I told you that because it's good for comparing. If you hardcore, you won't buy edge lit LCD LED.
My self I have a samu full-LED LCD. (an old one A956) It's black is blacker than the black whole
And when you go home, you call professionals, pack up your tv, and ask them to calibrate it for you. I did. It does huge difference.
But I have a feeling not many of us do that.
So in general:
If you an average TV viewer just go with LG 6xx (or above) series or Samu 6xxx or above.
I wouldn't care about plasma.. The above mentioned has it's glitches but overall they considered as a good all-around TV.
If you into 3D, you should try our one Samu and on LG their 3d technology are totally different. (wouldnt go into that)
Just try it out (at MM )
See which gives you less head-ace and more calm picture.
When choosing the size bear in mind the size of the room you'll be watching it in and how far away you'll be when viewing.
There are recommended distances I believe and a salesman who knows his stuff will be able to advise you on that. There's no point going for a huge screen if you are going be be sitting only a couple of metres away from it.
TBH the difference between all the models is very little, the flat panels come from the same supplier & are just put in a case by the manufacturer.
4k sets are now available, the goal posts are always moving fast.
As films are generally shot at either 24/25 fps, you want to turn off 100Hz / 200 / 400 HZ settings , if you want the film to look as was intended.
If the resolution is high enough, being close is not an issue it's only if you looking at PAL with 576 lines or worse NTSC.
Bit of a generalisation, as the panels are not all from the same supplier/manufacturer, there are two or three big players depending on panel sizes.
I chose my Samsung telly because of its external design, i.e. it's white. Great picture quality and so far so good. Got it at digitec.
There are currently 3 common display technologies LCD / Plasma / LED , so if you buy the same technology screen in the same size there is a pretty good chance the screen came from the same place. Even high end professional monitors costing 10k plus use the panels from the domestic manufactures, difference is more down to panel selection, software & driver electronics
You can also take claimed contrast ratios with a huge pinch of salt, as black is measured with the TV turned off & white is measured with the TV set to the brightest white. Whats important is minimum & maximum that can be displayed together. If you display a Chess board pattern then read the black & white with a spot meter you will always see less than 1000:1, usually considerably less. To put this in perspective, Film displayed at the cinema used to have a maximum of 7 stops (128:1) CRT TV's a little less. Film negative can hold about 13 stops (8192:1) however it's a low contrast image which is not something you actually want to look at
4K TV's start at $699 on Amazon, a full HD set will look like old technology quite soon. Also great for a computer display.