[Closed] Choosing a 32" TV

I have a huge, free from a mate, Sony mahoooosive old fashioned thing. I have nothing to offer in advice, other than I don't get spending lots of cash on a new one.

I have first hand experience of one of these. I initially bought a Samsung UE32H5000, and it was awful - shocking blue ghosting on any kind of motion. So bad I thought it was faulty. That went straight back for another of the same - which was just as bad. So that went back as well.

I changed it for a Panasonic TXL32E6B which was a few quid more expensive, but has been bob on. Great picture and quite a nice looking box too. I don't think you could do much better for the money.

That said, I've heard very good things about the Sonys though I'm not sure exactly what model, and the more expensive Samsung may have a better panel.

There are 3 makes to choose from, LG, Sony & Samsung. I prefer Samsung LCD's, go and look at them in a shop and see which one you prefer.

I was reasonably impressed with the picture on that Panasonic when I saw it...

How many HD channels will you have available - as Samsungs seem particularly pants at upscaling SD pictures. I also don't like their skin tones.

I've got a Sony and it is pretty good, although strangely (for a company that makes broadcast equipment) their colors are often a bit too rich and it is worth looking on the web for someone that has calibrated the set you buy so you can crib the settings.

I have also seen a number of Sharps that I think have decent pictures, although some of that is because their colors seem to be reasonable from the start.

Also consider that glossy cases can look bad if they get finger marks on and glossy 'anti-glare' screens are poor if you have a light source behind them (I think that Panny is a matt screen).

I also have a Virgin Tivo but note that sometimes I get better definition from Netflix if I pull it over the net rather than through the Tivo, and also some Freeview HD channels are also 1080P whereas the Tivo box might pump them out at 720P.

I also seem to get slightly better results using the smart apps on the Sony than if I pump the pictures in through a computer, which is probably a refresh rate thing.

Thanks for these comments so far.

It seems like I have hit the point where all the models are in a state of changing which is not helping, along with the random string of letters and numbers.

I have been to John Lewis and looked at the pictures but the issue was that they were all showing different things and I think that was distracting. The Samsung had a Samsung video emphasising the picture quality, the Sony a similar promo video (football focussed) and the Panasonic just had the news on (presumably non HD).

Not all of my channels or watching will be SD so the upscaling (I am guessing that means stretching SD to fit on an HD screen?) is a valid point.

The upscaling is basically the computer processing i the TV to try to convert the PAL picture which is 576 lines (roughly) and interlaced to a progressive 720 lines or 1080 lines.

To do this it analyses each frame and tries to 'invent' the detail that is not there.

This can be particularly hard with moving images, and you can get motion artifacts which can be quite distasteful.

In my opinion Samsungs are pretty useless at anything involving upscaling and motion enhancement, although nearly all of the manufacturers aren't great.

I saw a Sony demo where image enhancement was turned up the max and it made Judi Dench look like The Thing from the fantastic four, quite ridiculous.

I recommended a Samsung to my sister once and it just about lasted a year before the screen developed faulty areas, and I since seen a few Samsungs that were similar.

Personal opinion is always go Panasonic, I have a 37" e5b (couple of years older model than the one you are looking at) and it's the best picture of any of mine or my friends TV's.

Samsung look nice for HD, Sony I have a massive loathing of in general. LG also worth a look, but do you really want a TV where the loading screen tells you "Life's Good" everyday? It might end up with a shoe through it in my house!

And LG doesn't even stand for that, or didn't - it was Lucky Goldstar - which I always though meant that your were lucky if it kept working for long...

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Yes, don't discount the Panny - decent colors and I don't think it was a glossy screen on the one I saw.

It would have to be very small room to require 32" instead of 40" - 42".

OK, this is good. My preference before posting was:

1. Panasonic
2. Sony
3. Samsungs

My last TV was probably 20", the room has not grown so I figure 32" will be fine. I would rather have good quality 32" than a lesser 40" that dominates the room.

I quite like our Samsung. The Smart TV bit works well (all the usual media player and on demand stuff and Eurosport too) and it has built in wifi, which is handy.

Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG - all good. At the relatively small size you are looking at IMO the relative differences are small. I am a Sony fan personally but have had Panasonic and Samsung too. I would agree that just buying the best tv is the way to go, the typical buyer changes their tv every 10 years so best to keep the smart technology outside (apple TV £100, Chromecast £30, who know what will be developed a few years from now, easy/cheap to change the box outside).

John Lewis only sell decent stuff and with great warranty's so a good place to purchase

Be careful about be wow'ed in the shop as they feed in very specific images to make the tvs look as good as possible, this is especially true on the big HD tv's and often the detail is a total waste if all you do is watch regular tv.

If you like watching sport, on a big tv you do need the hd feeds otherwise it can look very grainy

As for size, I would err toward larger. 40 may look big now but it doesn't take long to get used to it, also latest TV's don't have the large bezel around the outside so are smaller in size than older sets for a given screen size.

Happy hunting.

When I bought our tv I got to stand in John Lewis and play with a bout 4 tvs all showing the same thing.

They all started off looking quite different but a quick play with the remotes had them all looking the same. I was changing saturation brightness etc. If using the TIVO you on't be using the in tv upscaling

So I think it doesn't matter that much

If it helps I bought a SAMSUNG and the picture is good from our youview box or Apple tv

I don't think a lack of 1080 will matter much on a 32 inch set

And edge-lighting is not a feature, so don't let the sales guy try to tell you so - it just keeps the tv thin at the expense of uniformity of backlighting.

I've had the Sony for a few months, small room too, and its great. However it doesn't have ITV player or 4OD - which Samsungs do - so bear this in mind.

Sorry, but I can't understand why anyone would buy such a small screen nowadays, except maybe for the kitchen. Most modern 55/60" TVs are wafer thin and if you hang them on the wall are completely unobtrusive when turned off, and the picture quality in HD is sensational. Of course, if your house is full of antiques and the sort of junk they sell on the Antiques Road Show you might have a problem with my comments!

I found Richer Sounds particularly helpful when TV shopping.

I (and my parents) bought a Sony, but as that was a couple of years ago I doubt the models are even remotely comparable.

One thing I've been disappointed by is the lack of updates on the "smart" side of things. In future I'd prefer to go for a regular TV, or even a computer monitor with decent input selection and use an external media device, which would be far easier to upgrade.

Samsung led hd. I don't think Sony even make there own screens anymore. We have two Samsung's both led, both been very good.

How can a black rectangle measuring five foot across the diagonal be 'unobtrusive' no matter how thin it is?

wafer thin doesn't really matter much unless you sit and watch the tv from the side.

If you get too big a screen for your viewing distance then all you will see is scaling artifacts unless you feed it with good quality HD all the time.

So how far do you sit from where the screen is going to be ?

I sit about 10 feet from a 40 inch screen and when it shows SD it is OK, a bit fuzzy but at that distance the edge enhancement can make the picture look like it has more contrast than it really has, but if you sit much closer you can start to see all the pixelation mess than it creates.

So for 7 or 8 feet viewing distance and some SD channels then a 32 inch set is a reasonable choice.

Samsung led hd. I don't think Sony even make there own screens anymore. We have two Samsung's both led, both been very good.

The panel is a small part of a modern TV so it doesn't really matter who they buy there panels from.

see http://www.displaysearchblog.com/2011/12/samsung-and-sony-close-the-s-lcd-joint-venture-what-next/

for instance Sony has Tri-Luminous so why don't the other manufacturers than Sony buy their panels from?

and why is the picture processing so gash on Samsungs but a lot better on Sony's - it's in the electronics and nothing to do with the panel.

We've had a Samsung which went bang after 4 years and my brother has a 2 nor three year old Samsung - only the 4OD and iPlayer are any good, the rest of the 'smart' stuff is utter rubbish (ITV player may work but I've never tried it) and the picture tries too hard to look fake 3d.... very annoying.

We replaced our Samsung with a Panasonic which is great and we need to buy a TV for another house and will be getting the Sony KDL42W7 (bigger version of the one your after) which looks good, gets great reviews but only has 2 x hdmi ports which may be an issue for you. Price at Costco is £470 inc 5 year warranty.

Ignore the 'smart' features as they'll prob not work in a few years. Go for a good picture and use a chromecast/AppleTV/Raspberry Pi/something else to supply the smart stuff - you'll be much better off.

Whatever you buy it's as much the source as the size of the room that matters. A 102cm Samsung with an HD fibre source or DVD looks fine standing only 2m away, but an 82cm Samsung fed from a non-HD sat channel isn't great at 2m. I use a 94cm Samsung TV as a computer screen which is currently about 80cm in front of me, tis great, though I do sit back a bit when watching Youtubes full screen.

It would make sense to consider the number of HDMI ports the TV has for plugging in media devices - my Panasonic has four which is just enough.

Also think about whether you want things like USB or SD slots to allow cards from cameras to be inserted (also check image format support).

Finally also make sure that you like the remote and find it easy to use - Panasonic are the best and Samsung the worst in my experience.

The recent Sony screens are really good, good colour and motion.
Sound is useless on almost all new TV's these days because they are so thin.

I recently got a 32" toshiba smart tv full hd with built in wifi and five year guarantee for 320. Was at costco but wasn't much cheaper than the normal shops

The recent Sony screens are really good, good colour and motion.

yes, the only thing that seems iffy about my W9 40 inch is the edge lighting isn't brilliantly uniform when the screen is showing black, i.e. it is not completely black all over the screen. And the W9 has all the local dimming gubbins that means it is supposed to overcome the edge-lit problems.

Spent ages comparing it to a pany plasma in the shop, with both the screens properly set up, and decided there was nothing much in it so I would avoid the danger of screen image burn and get the LCD.

Sorry, but I can't understand why anyone would buy such a small screen nowadays, except maybe for the kitchen

And the W9 has all the local dimming gubbins that means it is supposed to overcome the edge-lit problems.

Last month I bought a 32" Sony for the front room, Full HD, Smart, 200hz and a 5 year waranty for £349 fom my local indie electrical shop. I'm very happy with it.

"Sorry, but I can't understand why anyone would buy such a small screen nowadays, except maybe for the kitchen"

I loooked (briefly) in CurrysPCWorld for a bit of research and the yoof that was showing me what their options were basically said this. He took the hump when I pointed out that some people actually get off their ar5es every now and again and don't perpetually worship at the alter of telly in their leisure time.....he was about 5'6" tall an must have weighed 18stone

EDIT: We don't tend to watch sport or films at home so don't feel the need for a bigger screen

We have that Panasonic. Side by side in comparison with the Samsung, it was just better. The thin bezel helps it to be slightly less obtrusive. The Sony was good but has a proprietary stand/mount, which isn't as versatile as the VESA system.

Sorry, but I can't understand why anyone would buy such a small screen nowadays, except maybe for the kitchen

+1 for get a bigger screen

very happy with our Panasonic e6b in terms of picture quality but ui is a tad slow and only "catchup" service available is iPlayer. Also there's a minor but annoying bug on the Netflix ap where you have to reconfigure the digital out (sound) with each new program, grrrr.

Go too big and it's like sitting on the front row at the cinema.

except that the picture at the cinema doesn't have the possibility of upscaling nasties...

I have an older Panasonic 32", it was about the best of a similar range of options when I bought it about 6 years ago.

Go back to the shop and ask them to put the same channel on, also be aware that they use some special setting in the shop to make everything look richer (shop mode or something). Maybe ask them to turn that off and put on a standard TV feed so you can compare properly. Any decent TV shop should be able to do that for you.

Any decent TV shop should be able to do that for you.

that's Currys out, Richer Sounds and many others.

Sevenoaks in Weybridge had all their sets configured with decent, non-shop mode pictures.

when i bought our current tv, i had a fixed £500 budget in my pocket, and went along to our local curries store.
i decided that i would buy the one that looked best within my budget, regardless of brand.
ended up with a 32" lg, and £200 change.
had it 3 years now, still working perfectly.

I'm fairly sure that the W7 is actually back lit which is partly why the picture is supposedly so good.

I think it has edge backlighting - as it is so thin.

Someone in the industry told me those razor-sharp images you see on TV's on store might not be the same in your home....due to some stores having a satelitte ariel/boosted thing to make it all look great.

My TV looked great instore at Richersounds- it looks average at home.

I had this exact problem last year. I picked the 32 Sony since it was the nicest looking out of the lot.

All the rest looked like scaled up computer monitors, but the sony has a small bezel, a good remote and the metal frame base looks great. Richer Sounds for less than £325ish IIRC

I'd look for a sound bar though. I regarded my TV speakers as "average" before we got one. Now I would grade them as "shi...

Someone in the industry told me those razor-sharp images you see on TV's on store might not be the same in your home....due to some stores having a satelitte ariel/boosted thing to make it all look great

Not sure about that but they do leave all the picture processing on which give it that super sharp "popped" look, ultimately though this isn't really a good/realistic picture and quickly becomes tiring to watch. Mate of mine bought a top end Samsung a couple of years ago, hasn't touched any of the image processing, can barely watch it, horrific although on first glance it totally has the wow factor. You can find a sets of "recommended" settings at places like AV Forums.

Mine has a "Shop" and "Home" modes. The Shop one turns everything up to 11 and it's designed to look good under the bright lights in a showroom. It's unwatchable at home like that.

I read this

http://www.whathifi.com/review/panasonic-tx-l32e6b

then compared it in shops with the equivalent Sony and Samsung. Bought the Panasonic and it's bl**dy brilliant - love it. Sound's not amazing but it's good enough, and we have it through the hi-fi for films anyway. John Lewis, 5-year warranty, paid around £360 delivered.

Someone in the industry told me those razor-sharp images you see on TV's on store might not be the same in your home....due to some stores having a satelitte ariel/boosted thing to make it all look great.

yes, that's because they correctly deduced that you are gullible...

They have it in shop mode and then feed it material that won't suffer too much from the processing - so nothing much that moves quickly, etc.

In the local Richer Sounds they were feeding all their HD tvs some action from the latest Batman and you could see them all breaking up on the motion, so they choose the wrong material there.

But most buyers aren't particularly smart so it doesn't matter.

I remember a few years ago where everyone was rushing out to buy new HD-ready LCD TVs in time for the world cup football - only problem was that there was no HD sources for the football, or much else at the time.

I read this

http://www.whathifi.com/review/panasonic-tx-l32e6b

then compared it in shops with the equivalent Sony and Samsung. Bought the Panasonic and it's bl**dy brilliant - love it. Sound's not amazing but it's good enough, and we have it through the hi-fi for films anyway. John Lewis, 5-year warranty, paid around £360 delivered.

that's several mentions for how good that panny is, so I would get it.

I believe Currys/PC World have their own version of the E6 range, that is where I saw it and was quite impressed, one of the few impressive pictures in the store - and not a glossy screen either.

Rule of thumb for screen diagonal size always used to be to divide the distance you were sitting from the screen by 3, and that was the biggest diagonal screen you should get - your eyes have a limited width vision "sweet spot" and if you're too close to a big screen your brain/eyes can't process quickly enough what's happening at the edges of the screen - your eyes then have to "hunt" side-to-side to see everything, which can be mentally tiring and lead to headaches.

Rule of thumb for screen diagonal size always used to be to divide the distance you were sitting from the screen by 3, and that was the biggest diagonal screen you should get - your eyes have a limited width vision "sweet spot" and if you're too close to a big screen your brain/eyes can't process quickly enough what's happening at the edges of the screen - your eyes then have to "hunt" side-to-side to see everything, which can be mentally tiring and lead to headaches.

how's that work with those awesome iMax cinemas ?

This could be a problem with flourescent lighting though, as that can make your eyes hunt during the dark bits of the 50Hz flicker.

On an iMax you'll only see real sharp detail over a pretty small area - to see what I mean look at anything which is about an arm's length away - you'll "see" a central area about the size of a newspaper in sharp detail, but everything else around it will be lacking detail until you actually LOOK at it. . . move further out to the sides and you'll again see something, but not in any great detail. Move right to the extremes of your peripheral vision and you'll only really be aware of stuff that moves in that area - you won't know what it is that you've seen moving, but you will see something - this is a hang-over from history where your peripheral vision kept you from being eaten by wild beasts creeping up on your from the sides/rear.

Is it not also to do with your color receptors only covering a small area?

so at night if you are looking for movement you look to the side of the area you are scanning.

Anyway - ideally you want as big a screen as you can get to get the most immersive experience - particularly important if you insist on using surround sound otherwise the two experiences are a bit divorced.

but with a TV you are stymied by the quality of the source and the (lack-of) quality of the upscaling, and also the wife...

TurnerGuy - Member

but with a TV you are stymied by the quality of the source and the(lack-of) quality of the upscaling, and also the wife...

Oh yes the "I doesn't need to be any bigger than the old one" line.

We have reached the giddy heights of 40" now though!

That was via 21" - 28" & 32" bearing in mind the closest you can sit in our lounge layout is 4 meters away :/

Thanks all. Perhaps the most commented on thread I have ever started 😮

I am going to go for the Panasonic as TurnerGuy observes it seems to be getting good comments in the round and on viewing the same channel on all three in John Lewis last night the picture looked as good if not marginally better than the other two.

The Panasonic is £20 cheaper at Richer Sounds than John Lewis, both have 5 year guarantees. Any reason not to save £20?

Oh and the room is pretty small, the most sat in sofa can't be much more than 8ft away. It's going to be 32".

I got a 'free' 32" Sony beast as part of my new phone deal...felt a bit done with it though as the phone does some real fancy stuff, but none of it works on the tv.

Anyway, it appears to be ok, but given I'm staying in a 160 year old house with 2" thick walls, it doesn't pick up any aerial tv...so I've no idea how the picture looks, but when I do get my phone connected, I can share a film from it and the picture looks good and sound is fine.

Unsure why you'd need to go above 32" for a tv but I guess it depends on how much tv you watch - I don't watch much so have no need to sit for hours looking at it.

The tv I have in the living room has a built-in dvd player and gets used more often, so I'm going to be boxing the Sony back up and probably selling it.

Has built-in wifi but it won't actually connect to my hub, so I'm unsure what the wifi part of it is actually for. A real shame as I was hoping to get the benefits the phone gives me on the free tv but with a bigger screen (32" instead of 5")...it'll just go back in the box until I get round to selling it.

The Panasonic is £20 cheaper at Richer Sounds than John Lewis, both have 5 year guarantees. Any reason not to save £20?

I would pay the £20 just to not buy from Richer Sounds !

You had the demo in JL so I would probably buy there. JL will probable price match against RS anyway.

Could Richer Sounds even do an equivalent demo with normal material being shown on the TV?

And there is also the possibility that they would deliver to your local Waitrose so making picking it up easier and cheaper.

Are the warranties equivalent?

The JL ones used to be domestic and general and would cover accidental damage, which is worth it with an LCD and the panel is fragile (don't go near it with cables or take care that the cable end doesn't 'swing' into the screen).

I have used a Richer Sounds warranty before and it went OK.

Also look to see if the Richer Souonds one does a buy back scheme as they used to do that, or maybe it was for an extra small fee.

I'd definitely buy it in JL, they will match the price too I suspect. The 5yr guaranty comes from who, if it's from Richer Sounds they are more likely to go bust than JL.

if it's from Richer Sounds they are more likely to go bust than JL.

same group as Jessops, although I note that Jessops are now very competitive on price on the web.

I also note that their London Bridge store, which was an iconic location for them and where I bought my 'managers choice' Uzi submachine water pistol years ago, has moved away to a much less convenient location on Tooley street.

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Got a Sony KDL32W653 which is probably one iteration behind your Sony option.

As an infrequent viewer, i think it's brilliant. Size is about right for the room. Picture quality on HD channels is brilliant and the Smart features are pretty cool - can control it all from my phone. Youtube apps on both devices pair over wifi so you can make a playlist on the phone and play it over the TV with the sound through a soundbar or stereo. Netflix playback is also excellent.

Very pleased.

Got a Sony KDL32W653 which is probably one iteration behind your Sony option

Earlier this year, I bought the 42" version of the Panasonic up there ^, from John Lewis. I can't fault the telly or the service we got from JL.
I paid £480 delivered. Cock on.

house with [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch ]2"[/url] thick walls