Is HD a rip off or is it worth splashing out for. My 'normal' tv has packed up and i'm looking to buy HD

Question

Is HD a rip off or is it worth splashing out for. My 'normal' tv has packed up and i'm looking to buy HD

Answer 1

it not rip off it pretty good deal

Answer 2

well um its hard two say,in a scale from one you really do want it or ten you could wait.

Answer 3

Buy HD since is will be the "normal" TV in less than a year. All local stations are required to begin HD broadcasts in February 2009. You can save a few dollars now and buy a SDTV (normal), but you will have to upgrade in 6 mos.

Answer 4

if you're gonna buy a new one anyway you may as well get the best I suppose but quite frankly I can't see what all the fuss is about.xx

Answer 5

It's academic, you won't be able to buy a decent non HD-Ready tv these days unless you find someone flogging off old stock.

HD televisions are much more expensive than their predecessors of a few years ago for three sound commercial reasons:

1) They are slightly more complex. Most have built in digital tuners as well as analogue tuners.  The HDTV standards are more rigorous than the previous scanning standards and so the circuits are more complex. The sets have to electronically optimise themselves to show conventional 625 line pictures because that is not a 'native' resolution for flat panel screens.

2) They use LCD or Plasma screens which are relatively new inventions (compared to CRTs) and the development cost (£billions) has to be recovered. None are UK made (many are Czech made)  we are suffering from the effects of a poor exchange rate to almost everyone except the US dollar.

3) Ever since it became possible and trendy  to own the biggest "plasma" possible (about 5 years ago) there have been mugs willing to chuck out perfectly serviceable CRT sets because they're "old fashioned" (rather than buy a cheap Freeview box). In these circumstances retailers do what they always do - keep prices high.

That's why they're still expensive.

As for HD source material; well, you have three choices: Freesat, SkyHD, Blu-ray.

99% of all broadcast material was (and much still is) made in "standard definition". So even if it's broadcast on an "HD" channel you can't guarantee that it's true HD. Sky 1 is quite bad at this.

No broadcast material AT ALL will be in the 1080p standard so that facility on your tv will be used only for some games or Blu-ray discs.

Don't buy just on price or screen size. Bigger may seem impressive in the shop but it might overwhelm many modern living rooms and look stupid (even if it's on the wall). Cheaper may mean that the model has been superceded, in which case you can get a bargain; or it may just mean that the set is c**p and unreliable (as is the case for most supermarket 'own brands').

Remember to look at the power consumption label too and compare them. Some of these sets use 50-100% more than others and will really whop up your electricity bill. Most people don't think about that until the bill arrives.

Answer 6

If you're old tv has packed up then you may as well buy an HD TV. If you aren't going to be watching HD content for a while then contrary to what others say DON'T get a full HD tv. This is for those with HD content, especially Blu-ray. Instead get an HD ready tv, which has a slightly lower HD resolution, which is a good compromise for those who don't watch HD yet but may do in the next couple of years.

I've also seen a later question you've asked about the importance of Contrast ratio. Yes it very important, one of the most important aspects apart from the make. Have a look at this site:

http://plasmaorlcd.co.uk

it's great for those who are new to HD and what to buy an HDTV without being ripped off. They also highlight some good deals and reviews of them.

Hope that helps!

Answer 7

not a rip off at all. just dont go for a HD ready tv - its not true HD.

go for a large 1080p tv, and you will also need some sort of HD input ie sky HD, HD freeview, blu ray player or ps3.

i wouldnt bother buying another bog standard tv now. HD is on the rise!