Best 55inch tv for about 1100 quid (FALC)

[graeme]

AV receivers are almost essential in my opinion, regardless of how many speakers you have. I only have 2.0 stereo, and have no plans to add more speakers, but still find the AVR indispensable as a source selector/HDMI switch type thingy. Peppa Pig never sounded so good!

[Scuffers]

AV receivers are almost essential in my opinion, regardless of how many speakers you have. I only have 2.0 stereo, and have no plans to add more speakers, but still find the AVR indispensable as a source selector/HDMI switch type thingy. Peppa Pig never sounded so good!

100% with you.

Big problem with TV now is that so much HD stuff is in 5.1 and you need a AV processor to get it back to 2 channel without simply missing stuff out.

[graeme]

You don't really *need* an AVR for that. The specifications dictate that any player is capable of downmixing 5.1 to 2.0. The vast majority of TV is still DD2.0 anyway; even HD channels are mostly DD2.0 audio, with only BBC HD and a couple of others ever doing any DD5.1, and even then only for selected programs, although I agree it will only ever increase.

So, most of the time with TV watching, there's no work to do. Then consider many DVDs and Blurays contain a 2.0 stereo track using the unused channels from the 5.1 audio track, so there's no work to do there either. The occasions when you've only got a 7.1 or 5.1 source and need to downmix, well, if you're watching through the TV anyway, you're not that bothered about sound quality, so a sub-optimal downmix isn't going to bother most users. The algorithms used are fairly basic, simply combining the front and rear channels for each side, then overlaying the center on both, so I'm not sure a fancy-shmancy AVR is really adding any intelligence, and any claimed improvement in downmixing to stereo is probably snake-oil.

I still say AVRs are great for convenience, but a basic AVR is probably no better than outputting downmixed analogue stereo from the TV to a hi-fi amp.

[BigD]

There is NO reason at all for a TV to be curved it's just another gimmick/ sh*t way to get people to throw away perfectly good 2 year old TVs to buy a new one.

So should I be throwing away my perfectly good 8 year old telly?

I'm so out of touch!

[rawsco]

The TiVo box and the PS4 both if I recall correctly have options to downmix the 5.1 to 2ch.

[graeme]

Yup, they will.

The alternative is to leave all your devices on 5.1 and let the TV do the down-mix for the hifi output. Try both ways and see if you can hear any difference.

There's massive variation in quality between devices when it comes to upscaling (e.g. making more channels of audio out of fewer, or making a HD picture out of a SD source) but with downmixing audio, the standards are the standards, and the downmixing information is encoded into the 5.1 stream by the studio (although these are only hints.. the decoder can ignore some of them, but then wouldn't be DTS certified or whatever), so chances are whether the PS4 or the TV does the work, it'll sound much the same. It'll be interesting to try though. I might have a go myself on mine some time. I've never experimented.

[tonyg]

Yup, they will.

The alternative is to leave all your devices on 5.1 and let the TV do the down-mix for the hifi output. Try both ways and see if you can hear any difference.

There's massive variation in quality between devices when it comes to upscaling (e.g. making more channels of audio out of fewer, or making a HD picture out of a SD source) but with downmixing audio, the standards are the standards, and the downmixing information is encoded into the 5.1 stream by the studio (although these are only hints.. the decoder can ignore some of them, but then wouldn't be DTS certified or whatever), so chances are whether the PS4 or the TV does the work, it'll sound much the same. It'll be interesting to try though. I might have a go myself on mine some time. I've never experimented.

DAC in your AV amp is going to be a lot better than a DAC in a TV.

[DDtB]

Plenty white papers out there to contradict you about curved being just a gimmick Tony


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

[graeme]

Not talking about DAC here. Downmixing to stereo digital doesn't touch the DAC. Ross is still going to use the DAC in the TV for output regardless of where the downmixing takes place.

[tut]

Plenty white papers out there to contradict you about curved being just a gimmick Tony

Absolutely agree, as per Tony I can compare them alongside although not as many as he can, and it was probably marketed as an income generator, but the bottom line for me is that works, it looks better physically especially with its minuscule chrome border and almost edge to edge picture, it suits OLED and it just looks better and more immersive than a flat screen, especially in 3D.

Just my opinion of course, but that is what always counts in your own context.

tut

ps:- I have not been to the cinema since Roger Moore was JB, but are not all these MAXX screens now curved?

[Andy G]

Guys check out the TV stuff at CES this week.

Certainly don't buy anything labelled 4k that isn't HDR. (the industry 4k standard just agreed and launched).

[tut]

King of the TV show, one up on mine regarding the 4K HDR, but as I am not going have that as a source I have not been outdated. Lord knows what price it is going to come in at though as it has a range of OLED and LCD models below it. Half the thickness of an iPhone 6 is just plain silly.

"That said, the LG Signature models’ exclusive design is truly amazing. Combined with a mesmerising picture and surprisingly good sound quality, the Signature G6's are arguably the single most all-round impressive TVs that 2016 CES has to offer.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/lg-65g6-s ... gieSDXw.99

tut

[tonyg]

ps:- I have not been to the cinema since Roger Moore was JB, but are not all these MAXX screens now curved?

All cinema screens are curved and they have to be -

The Distance from the projector to the middle of the screen is different from the distance to the edge which causes errors and the anamorphic lens used to create the 2:35-1 ratio also creates problems.
These are relieved by the curved screen

None of these apply to TVs

[mwmackenzie]

You don't really *need* an AVR for that. The specifications dictate that any player is capable of downmixing 5.1 to 2.0. The vast majority of TV is still DD2.0 anyway; even HD channels are mostly DD2.0 audio, with only BBC HD and a couple of others ever doing any DD5.1, and even then only for selected programs, although I agree it will only ever increase.

So, most of the time with TV watching, there's no work to do. Then consider many DVDs and Blurays contain a 2.0 stereo track using the unused channels from the 5.1 audio track, so there's no work to do there either. The occasions when you've only got a 7.1 or 5.1 source and need to downmix, well, if you're watching through the TV anyway, you're not that bothered about sound quality, so a sub-optimal downmix isn't going to bother most users. The algorithms used are fairly basic, simply combining the front and rear channels for each side, then overlaying the center on both, so I'm not sure a fancy-shmancy AVR is really adding any intelligence, and any claimed improvement in downmixing to stereo is probably snake-oil.

I still say AVRs are great for convenience, but a basic AVR is probably no better than outputting downmixed analogue stereo from the TV to a hi-fi amp.

GEEK!

[robin]

ps:- I have not been to the cinema since Roger Moore was JB, but are not all these MAXX screens now curved?

All cinema screens are curved and they have to be -

The Distance from the projector to the middle of the screen is different from the distance to the edge which causes errors and the anamorphic lens used to create the 2:35-1 ratio also creates problems.
These are relieved by the curved screen

None of these apply to TVs

I am not convinced that anamorphic lenses are the issue in the cinema - films can be shot with spherical lenses and are projected onto the same screen, after all.

Cheers,
Robin