My current Samsung TV is working fine.
But one of these days, I think I’ll replace it with the gorgeous Sony Bravia KDL-32S3000 LCD TV pictured above.
It’s beautiful, it’s feature complete (HDMI, 720p and Widescreen) and is currently being sold at around $900 in the US.
The only slight issue is the lack of high definition content in Mauritius. As indicated in the TV’s manual (which I’ve, of course, downloaded and read cover to cover), the TV accepts the following HD signals:
- Over-the-air broadcasting via HD-quality antenna. MBC broadcasting HD signals?!? Forget it.
- HD cable subscription. Not available here.
- HD satellite subscription. I am not too sure that this is a priority either from Parabole Océan Indien or Canal Satellite. I have a Parabole Maurice subscription and I don’t have access to films in English. I am forced to watch (mostly) everything in French which is crap as I tend to watch a lot of American and English movies. So if they don’t feel that having two audio streams is important I doubt they’ll bother with an HD video stream which is bound to use a much higher amount of bandwidth. My guess is that we won’t have HD satellite programs here for at least 2-3 years.
- Blu-ray Disc player or other external equipment. I don’t think I’ll buy a Blu-ray or a HD-DVD player soon (but who knows?). I don’t also intend to buy a PS3 or an XBOX 360. So there is only the Apple TV left. I am thinking of getting one to host all my media files (audio, photos, videos of the family and some movies) but I’ll have to convert all my video files to H264 first… which I’ll have to do as I fear that the (cheap) DVD-R I used to store my home videos won’t last for ever.
Seem a little bit limited for the time being, isn’t it?
Yep this LCD is definitely great. However learn the difference between composite cable, component cable and s-video. Component cable is the one that gives the best image for non-HD video, it is the only one that is able to render on progressive-scan (480 p)
Yes, I already know a lot about the connections and their respective qualities. But it seems to be a pity to buy such a great TV and only feed it 576p content (I am in a country where PAL is used instead of NTSC) which my DVD player and my HD recorder can both do.
Is there a big difference in perception between 576p and 720p?
a good possible alternative which you could consider is a projector to get a nice big screen with a little more of money
only problem is the room to accommodate it and the cooling time of the lamp/price of the lamp but quality/size wise, i would recommend
naturally a big screen is good as well
as for the resolution ^^, http://www.projectorcentral.com/choosing_resolution.htm
we might not have quality broadcast here, but we can always buy the DVDs (lol @ the price though) or download high definition protected content….if i had the choice, i think i would go for blueray (as if we didnt have enough headache to chose between 2 formats) simply because i tend to like sony products, and the real question is, what to buy :/
blueray,HDDVD or both
bah given your situation, i think first of all,look what type of source you have and what type it supports… and life has proven to us that in this technological world, the moment you blink your eyes,something new and most of the time better come out ^_^
yay, increase the headache for us lol
Thanks for the info.
A projector is surely a good alternative but it requires a dedicated room (isn’t it?) and is more complicated to set-up and use (it seems to me).
I would rather get a nice 32″ like the Sony I mention. Especially that I have two small kids (aged 5 and 3) and I don’t really see them operating a projector to watch their cartoons ;-)
But it’s true that by the time I decide to upgrade, I’ll have to evaluate some projectors too. Thanks again.
The other option is to stick to your current TV set until HD becomes available in Mauritius.
But, if that helps, I have friends who report the satellite TV quality to be high enough as to be decent on an HD TV set as long as you use either component cables or the HDMI output (if the decoder has that).
–Eddy
Hi Eddy,
Thanks for the info. I know my Parabole Maurice decoder has a Scart (aka Peritel) connector. Maybe this has a component signal. I’ll have to check.
good that you posted this, i was asking myself a questions regarding LCD the other day,
I read that LCD and plasma are the brightest during the first hours of usage, then gradually diminish (plasma), now, i have been seeing in large stores that products such as those are placed on display to the public and played for everyone to see the quality, but doesn’t the customer lose in terms of life expectation of the screen???
anywayz, LCD tv rulez, and good for the brain :p
+$3|v3n
yeah must have parabole or canal satellite otherwise “gaspillaz” with our local channels dont u think o.O?
well yes you need a dedicated room for sure but its not difficult to set up at all… i have a viewsonic LCD projector and i can easily get a 100″ (hope the calculation from last time is okie) on the wall ,yeps on the wall and that does the job quite good
as for kids using it,well i dnt think they would get problem, you just need to have a permanent place for the projector,a dark room ,set the input on auto like our lecture projector and its as simple as that. only downside is that you will need a ups for the lifetime of the lamp (shutting down without proper cooling halves the lamp life :/, like a power failure) and when you press power, there is a little waiting time before you can securely take out the plug.
and if im not that mistaken, we get some nice DLP (better than LCD for viewing films) projectors in the range of Rs25~35k
p.s. i used to watch cartoon network some years ago and the quality was ok (canat sat)
Hi Eddy,
I’ve checked the satellite decoder I have (a Sagem 3100). It can output RGB through its scart (Peritel) connector. I guess they are using a RGB compatible TV or a RGB to Component converter which is around £60.
The signal is still 576i though.
The TV must have a deinterlacer which converts this signal to 576p which is bound to be nicer to watch.
Selven,
Shops are not supposed to sell the goods that are on display. If they do, it must be at a discount.
At least, that’s how it works over here.
—Eddy
Avinash,
This sucks. There are still very few HD channels over here because HDTVs are not mainstream yet. However, all of us who have either Sky or Virgin Media — the two main TV service providers — receive digital signals and have set-top boxes with HDMI. So, even if we are not getting HD content, there is no degradation of the signal as we can maintain the digital “flow” from end to end.
Could you not ask for a decoder that has a digital output?
—Eddy
If the content can be displayed in 720p,that is no resizing required, there will be some difference. In the case of video games there are differences when using composite/s-video against component cables:-
http://www.mywii.com.au/NewsDetail.aspx?id=118
well i was thinking on that and i remembered there was something for that specific problem of resolution bt its not that cheap to be honest
http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Videoprojecteurs/27399-Scaler_HD3000_.html
(p.s. its a french site),but its a possible solution
You might need that HDTV after all. See:
http://www.lexpress.mu/display_article.php?news_id=97036
—Eddy
Yep.
Christina has just shown me that article. And, for once, it’s an interesting article. Raj JUGERNAUTH has done a good job.
Incidentally, the most interesting part (IMHO) is not really about the Olympics or the World Cup but this:
“Mais il faudrait un autre téléviseur si on veut profiter des images HD qui arrivent bientôt sur la TNT et les chaînes satellitaires.”
If this is true, then I am (already) in nirvana ;-)
Abt the dual audio stream,if you had Canal Sat,movies on Canal+ and Canal + Cinema are embedded with dual audio for those who like to watch the VO’s instead of the french dub.I only know Canal+ in Canal Sat bunch who’s got this functionality of dual-audio streaming and subtitling.If this can help ;)
Abt the dual audio stream,if you had Canal Sat,movies on Canal+ and Canal + Cinema are embedded with dual audio for those who like to watch the VO’s instead of the french dub.I only know Canal+ in Canal Sat bunch who’s got this functionality of dual-audio streaming and subtitling.If this can help.
Thanks. I’ll try this when I’m in MU in November.
E.
I somewhat agree, I didnt like it as much though
Hi Avinash,
I intend to buy an LG LCD TV 42″ from UK. Should I look for one mentioning things like ‘PAL/SECAM/NTSC” or anyone would do?
Please advise.
Forget to tell you, I’m bringing the TV to Mauritius, which one is compatible.
Hi Anwar,
If you are buying one from the UK, it’s bound to work well here in Mauritius. By the way, we don’t use Scart (Péritel) a lot here, so look for a TV with a decent amount HDMI, Component and, specially, Composite connections (which is, by far, the most common type of connection used in Mauritius — yeah, I know, it’s crap compared to the rest.)