New TV- what to buy ?

[tegwini]

Our aged TV is dying noisily - and will have to be replaced - ASAP.  Within the next few days.

Any suggestions as to a make/model that will work here for a while and then work in France without problems as we are not at all technically minded.   

 Not wanting a giant sized one, and presumably one of the thin ones, although here recently plasma screens have been criticised, as 'ungreen', and might have EU controls on their manufacture soon. Although I hear of thin ones, but not plasma ...

Very confused -     Please help ! 

Thanks in advance

Tegwini

[Clair]

WoolyB's brother was asking the same questiona while back...

Start here: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1297084/ShowPost.aspx

[Clarkkent]

Almost any modern LCD flat screen model will contain a digital tuner and the capacity for dealing with PAL/SECAM analogue signals. The only significant difference between TVs sold in Britain and in France is the plug on the end of the power lead. If you don't want a very large screen, plasma is not an issue.

Go to Currys (or wherever) and pick the one you like best. Or go to dabs.com where you can read the specs for each model.

[Martin963]

As has been said,  very modern TV's are likely to cope with any transmission system (analogue being the main problem here).

However,  to be absolutely sure,  ask to see the manual and head for the specification page.

The British analogue system is "I" with PAL colour.   Often sloppily referred to as PAL/I.

The French analogue system is "L" with SECAM colour.  (ditto SECAM/L).

So look for the I bit and then see if there's mention of an L bit.   If there is then you won't go wrong for bog standard analoge French TV.  If that doesn't interest you then read the next bit!.

For digital the tuners in both countries for Standard Definition are similar.  However,   French TV's are often already incorporating an High Definition terrestrial tuner,  and as the coverage is rolled out in France it's probably sensible to consider that option as well,  even if you don't yet have a signal in your area.

Many British sets are labelled HD READY,  which does NOT mean that you can get them out of the box and watch HD straight away - you often will need to buy ANOTHER box to do the HD decoding.

Things move so fast that whatever you buy may suddenly look as though it came out of the Ark!

[tuppence]

Hi,

I decided to purchase my TV here in France, mainly because my big Samsung TV was too big to fit the room (non LCD). I went to Darty in my nearest town. Purchased an LCD 26" for , what was then the equivalent of £350. Two years guarantee here in France which is a big plus. All set up for me by their delivery staff. But since then the prices in the UK have tumbled and you can get them cheaper there. However, you won't get the 2 year guarantee and if its to be used in France, you won't get far on a UK guarantee should you have a problem.

tuppence

[Callie]

Are all modern TVs sold in the UK really set up for SECAM as well as PAL ?

[Dog]

Make sure it's 100 megahertz or text is fuzzy. Get the highest contrast and refresh rate you can afford.  I recently had to buy one of the new fangled thin tellies as they no longer sell larger big tube versions.

You may notice that they sell cinema sound systems separately which are not cheap.

They sell these as far as I can tell because the sound is so bad on these thin Tvs. There is no room to fit big speakers in the casing.

I have had a Hercules amplifier with two speakers and a bass unit on my Mac to play music it is 80 watts peak power and costs around 30 euros. The sound is good and is very reasonably priced. I bought another for the TV.

I was advised to buy a Samsung because they have an advantage in cost as they make the screens for the majority of the other suppliers. I shopped around her in France and managed to get some discounts offered from a couple of independent shops. Refuse so called free delivery and set up and they would drop the price. But none of the prices was as cheap as Currys in UK and when I tried to negotiate a similar price in France the vendors were close to tears and reckoned they couldn't buy at the UK price. There's a business idea...

I finally did a deal on a display Samsung in Auchan were I have a good relationship with the white goods manager and have bought cookers, dishwashers etc from him. It was 200 discount and I managed to get him down another 200 euros with no free delivery and set up. Still not quite as cheap as UK but no shipping costs and Auchan after sales service is very good.

Good luck!

[tegwini]

Thanks all!

Martin - our aged one does look like something out of the ark ! and the sound has gone - sadly not worth repairing no doubt, and it's too deep and bulky - average sized screen, over 20 years old I think, so it's done quite well.

I have been looking on the net and have discovered that nearly all are HD ready & France is to change here too I think ? and

many are FREEVIEW- something we will want in France - so the question now is will this work in France - with the addition of a dish of course ?

Regards

Tegwini

 

 

[tegwini]

I forgot to mention we have to buy it here - in the UK.  France is at present  a 'TVfree zone'.  It will end up there - eventually.

Are there any make to avoid ?

Prices here are from about   £130 - 999 for LCD & plasma.  Sounds like LCD runs more economically.  19" LCD/HD/Freeview/DVD player for about £160.  We don't want larger - we have a room off the kitchen which we use as a TV room.  The armchairs are about 8 ft from the screen, so we can't put in a larger screen, even if we wanted to.    Being 'peasants' we hardly use the sitting room.

Regards

Tegwini

 

 

 

[Martin963]

I can't give you much help on the HD features,  but straight away you need to distinguish between FREEVIEW and satellite.  The nomenclature is NOT I admit helpful.

A Freeview TV in Britain picks up BBC/ITV/ch 4/another 20 channels via an aerial (often on the roof,  a bit like a toast rack,  or rake).

When you take said TV to France it will stop getting British channels and instead will get French channels (known as TNT,  television numerique terrestre).

You can't plug a dish into a Freeview TV,  but you can either buy a sat receiver (Sky,  freesat,  or just a free to air box) to plug into the TV,  or buy one of the newly appeared "integrated freesat" TV's,  which really will pick up British TV in France using a dish.

But Freeview ONLY works in Britain,  and becomes TNT in France.  

Sorry it's so stupidly named,   I didn't choose the titles! 

As to HD ready,   this simply means that the TV can "display" an HD signal,  it doesn't mean that it can actually receive one direct.    Often (and mostly in Britain at the moment) to watch HD TV you need an HD freesat box,  or an HD Sky box;   HD on Freeview is still a couple of years away (at least nationally).

That's why the French are ahead of us,   they already have TNT HD (for French channels of course) with integrated HD TNT TV's available.  No good for you if you can't buy there.

In answer to an earlier point,   I believe MOST sets sold in Britain now probably will handle SECAM,  but this is relatively recent.   For example,  Panasonic DVD recorders only a couple of years old WON'T do SECAM,  whereas Philips and Samsung handle it beautifully.   Hence the advice I gave to CHECK the SPEC!  And as I have said many time before,  being able to handle SECAM doesn't necessarily mean that the TV will work on analogue via an aerial,   that's where the vital "L" comes in.  Not all SECAM is L,   and some sets will transcode SECAM fed at baseband but are stuck when it comes to RF.

[tegwini]

Many thanks Martin

We have been out cleaning gutters (surrounded by trees here) and I realised that the last time I looked we could not get Freeview here!  I hope I don't completely sound like a total twit on these matters.  Clearly Freeview is not much use here- Wilts/Hants border/New  Forest areas.

Interesting that France is ahead of the UK in this, but that is not a surprise.

We will be looking at them today and I am sure your advice will be very useful - in fact I shall be taking it with me. I will report back any news.

Keep well & best wishes

Tegwini

ps sunshine here in Wilts - for a change!

[pachapapa]

Another factor in the decision; there is also TNTSAT; this will have HD transmission from 15th February 2009.

TNTSAT is for locations in france that will not receive TNT from a terrestrial transmitter.

The Secam compatibility is of minimal importance as analogue transmissions are being phased out as they are replaced by TNT.

The TNT is digital in MPEG 2 or MPEG 4.

[DerekJ]

[quote user="tegwini"]

I realised that the last time I looked we could not get Freeview here!  I hope I don't completely sound like a total twit on these matters.  Clearly Freeview is not much use here- Wilts/Hants border/New  Forest areas.

[/quote]

Don't take that as necessarily being correct.  For years we used the Post Code checker to see if we could receive Freeview.  Then, a few weeks ago I thought I'd shell out the princely sum of £25 and bought a box to see if we could get it despite the Postcode checker saying NO.

Guess what... we receive it wit no problem.

[Martin963]

It (analogue compatibility) may be of minimal importance to some people,   but for those of us who will not get TNT until the moment of switch over (which could be as late as Nov 30th 2011) that's nearly three years without French TV.   All because of not checking the spec and seeing if it says L/SECAM!

In our particular case (Limoges Les Cars) there is only one frequency available for TNT until DSO,  and no decision has yet been taken as to whether it's even worth firing up that single frequency before analogue switch off.   And there are countless relays (well about 2500 out of the 3500 or so) that won't go digital until the analogue switch off happens.

So unless the OP is certain that they can get TNT right now,  it seems sensible to buy a set with L tuning capabilities.

I agree that TNTparSat makes a good alternative (I have two SD boxes here in Devon) but it is quite expensive.   And it may be that something cheaper is forced into the equation later this year by the government,  using AB3.   Although I'll believe it when I see it.   The last planned "free" offer there was scuppered by TNTparSat winning the race.

[Maricopa]

Two weeks ago bought a Toshiba REGZA 32AV565DG and am delighted.  HDTV with TNT and analog PAL-I (as described by the manual!), PAL-B/G, SECAM-L & SECAM-D/K, so could be used in France or UK.  Arte HD is a revelation.  Great picture quality.  Very, very happy.[:D]

[Martin963]

I've seen precious little HD for real,  but your experience with Arte HD confirms that once people see how good HD is they may end up being disappointed with SD quality,  given how it's been reduced over the years on many channels (ITV sat,  BBC on most sources).

SD can work really well if it's properly engineered,  but once the bean counters get involved.......

Thankfully French TV generally does well on SD,  although the TNTparSat feeds of the main channels are poorer than what was available via TPS.

[tegwini]

Thanks all

Well,  we bought a Toshiba 22 inch LCD/DVD combi. V555DB   £349.99 (could have spent a lot less for unknown brand)

From Comet (parking easy) and we gave up on another shop - too busy.  We got little help from the spotty yoof, we just hope that the make and 'newness' of it means it will work over Europe.  The yoof said it would, but could produce no evidence and was very down on some makes, it really did seem that it was possible the 'Damager'/manager that morning had offered extra dosh for selling certain models !!

Husband spent hours sorting it - not fully sorted as yet, but strangely we got extra channels - don't know why !

Could it be the HD  ? We still have the old aerial on the roof as well as the Sky dish, and you can use either as they are both wired into the TV room.   Perhaps Derek is correct !

Picture  better, sound a little too low on max - need speakers I believe.

So far quite pleased - and nifty box, could use it in France when en vacances- with DVDs. (presumably it will be happy to travel ?)

Thanks again gentlemen, very civilised and helpful part of the forum.

Regards

Tegwini

[Kate]

"Things move so fast that whatever you buy may suddenly look as though it came out of the Ark!"

As the last post I can find on this subject was in Jan, I'd like some really up-to-date info, please! (If the original info still stands, fair enough).

I need to get a TV which I can use here in the UK until I move to France- probably next year. I don't need all the bells-and-whistles, just a useful digital HDTV which I can take with me when I go. And a reasonable budget, too. All help much appreciated!

[Maricopa]

Still very happy with my TV as posted above.[:D]

[Martin963]

[quote user="Kate"]"Things move so fast that whatever you buy may suddenly look as though it came out of the Ark!"

As the last post I can find on this subject was in Jan, I'd like some really up-to-date info, please! (If the original info still stands, fair enough).

I need to get a TV which I can use here in the UK until I move to France- probably next year. I don't need all the bells-and-whistles, just a useful digital HDTV which I can take with me when I go. And a reasonable budget, too. All help much appreciated![/quote]

Things do move quickly,  but AFAIK an integrated true HD DTT TV is still not available in Britain.   Sorry for the abbreviations,  what I am describing is a high definition TV with an on board high definition ditital terrestrial tuner.   However,  I believe these are now fully available in France,  and they should soon appear in Britain as the first terrestrial HD broadcasts are due to start in Granada-land in December,  with some other parts of the country following in the early part of 2010..

If you are not bothered about watching French terrestrial HD once in France you can go ahead now and buy an "HD ready" TV in Britain and use it with a sat receiver (HD or standard) once you get to France.   In addition you can always buy an HD TNT box over here,  integrated TV's are not necessarily the best option for a number of reasons,  although they are of course the tidiest!

I'd try and wait a bit longer and see what if anything turns up around Christmas with regard to integrated HD TV's

As I've said before,  I'm not the most up to date person on this (TV) front as it's the transmission technology that interests me rather than the end result,   so I hope other people (eg pachapapa seems to buy absolutely everything even before it's in the shops) will add their thoughts.

[Kate]

Thanks for that. I'll certainly hang on. I'd like to be able to watch (in France) as much as possible - choice, not quantity - of both UK and French TV, but if France is going digital as we are, I imagine their terrestrial TV will vanish as ours will, so I could get an HD ready TV here, if I've read your post correctly. I now know more than I did before, so ta again.

[Martin963]

A little update on HD TV via Freeview in Britain:

The first HD terrestrial transmissions are imminent in Granada-land  (Winter Hill and relays).  That's the good news.

The bad news is that boxes or TV's with High Definition tuners designed for the British market (ie DVBT-2 and MPEG 4) will NOT be in the shops in time for Christmas,  according to the industry!

Several other main transmitters in Britain (Crystal Palace,   Lichfield,  Blackhill,  Pontop Pike) will carry temporary HD transmissions at low power while their areas await full digital switch over.

So the wait for a Freeview  (DTT)  HD TV or set top box in Britain continues......

For completeness the French HD TNT system uses MPEG 4 with DVB-T  (as opposed to T2) and sets are already widely available.

So for Kate a British-purchased "true" HD integrated TV (when they arrive!) should work in France but will be over-specified  (as it would cope with DVB-T2 as well as DVB-T).

[Kate]

More useful info, ta again. I've decided to hang on until I need one in France, and get it there. That way, at least if it goes wrong I can go back to the shop!

[CeeJay]

The bad news is that boxes or TV's with High Definition tuners designed for the British market (ie DVBT-2 and MPEG 4) will NOT be in the shops in time for Christmas,  according to the industry!

Martin

Sorry to be pedantic, but I am confused about this HD built in receiver business, I also have been looking for another TV and have found this Panasonic on offer and in stock at Amazon:-

Panasonic TX-P46G15B 46-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p Plasma TV with Freesat HD

Is there a reason why this one may not fit the bill?

[Quillan]

[quote user="Ceejay"]The bad news is that boxes or TV's with High Definition tuners designed for the British market (ie DVBT-2 and MPEG 4) will NOT be in the shops in time for Christmas,  according to the industry!

Martin
Sorry to be pedantic, but I am confused about this HD built in receiver business, I also have been looking for another TV and have found this Panasonic on offer and in stock at Amazon:-

Panasonic TX-P46G15B 46-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p Plasma TV with Freesat HD

Is there a reason why this one may not fit the bill?
[/quote]

I think what he is saying is that TV's in the UK that are capable of receiving HD via a normal TV aerial will not be available till after Christmas. You are looking at a set that receives HD via a satellite which is different. I believe after reading this that HD in the UK via satellite is already available. I don't know what the situation is in France (re free HD satellite) as I am not particularly interested at the moment so have not bothered to look.