Advice on Tele/DVD purchase

hi folks,

i am looking to buy a new tele in the next week or so and need some advice on what specs/technical details to look out for when looking in shops. i am thinking of getting a 40" LCD with dvd player. the tele being full HD and the dvd possibly blu-ray.

so what specs/components should i be looking for in the LCD TV when looking?

if i get a hd ready tv and a blu-ray dvd can the tv display the clarity of the dvd through a HDMI cable/connection?

i have read some reviews of LCD tv's and they go on about the 'black'ness of the tv not being great, what does this mean? also the contrast ratio being 50000:1 or 30000:1 again absolutely lost on this one.

i wont be using the tv for anything special just normal tv viewing with sky digital, will be watching footie games on it too.

thanks

burger.

At 40" you should be looking at a 'Full HD' TV.

burger1979 said:

if i get a hd ready tv and a blu-ray dvd can the tv display the clarity of the dvd through a HDMI cable/connection?

Click to expand...

Should do.

i have read some reviews of LCD tv's and they go on about the 'black'ness of the tv not being great, what does this mean? also the contrast ratio being 50000:1 or 30000:1 again absolutely lost on this one.

Click to expand...

This is the number of shades of gray between black and white. Chances are you will not notice any difference between 50000:1 and 30000:1. As this number goes lower, you 'may' notice a difference. This figure was more important in older generations of LCD screen. If watching in the dark most LCDs will not have a 'totaly' black screen. eg when watching the likes of Aliens etc

i wont be using the tv for anything special just normal tv viewing with sky digital, will be watching footie games on it too.

Click to expand...

Refresh/redraw (ghosting) speed is important for watching sports, again not much of a problem for the the current generation, unless you are going for a cheapy.
Just be carefull with model numbers. A 40" Samsung Series 4 in Tescos for 700-800 etc and Series 6 for €1350 are not the same!

You also have to remember that we (Ireland) are changing over to MPEG4 with HD support, in the next couple of years. None of the current range support this. With the exception of some of top of the range Sonys. But even they would require a firmware upgrade, do don't count on them.