Page 1 of 100 Hz v 50 Hz

I know this probably belongs on the Hardware Forum, but what is the general opinion of 100 Hz TVs within this forum.

The reason I ask is that I had been thinking of changing from my present 50 Hz Toshiba 32 inch to a flat screen set, probably another Toshiba. Having gone into my local dealer I looked at the Toshiba and one of the new JVC 100 Hz sets and was mightily disappointed. Admittedly all were showing good old fashioned analogue TV, but neither of these sets looked as good as the 50 Hz Sony and Panasonic models they had on. Even a cheapo 50 Hz Grundig looked better!!!!

Certainly, on a quick look the 100 Hz sets seemed vibrant, sharp, etc. But, when examined a bit more closely, there was a total lack of detail in the image. Being Saturday lunchtime, there was football, golf and horse racing on the four channels and both the 100 Hz sets displayed noise where colours divided, e.g. between greens and bunkers on the golf, and both made grass smoothed out as though it were an artificial surface. Despite all the tweaks that we tried, while there was some improvement, neither set came across as in any way as looking as natural as the 50 Hz sets.

So, it seems to me, that I now need a 50 Hz, flat screen, 32 inch set with at least four AV inputs, though more would be welcome. In an ideal world it would also have at least two RGB capable Scarts, but as long as at least two of the inputs are S-Video capable, I could cope. Personally, I don`t think such a beast exists, but if anyone knows of one, do let me know.

Comments, opinions and advice, gentleman, please

The only problems I know of are to do with games consoles (Playstation, Dreamcast etc). Lightguns won`t work on a 100hz screen and you often see ghosting and extreme blurring on regular games as well.

For what its worth, i have had a phillips 32inch wide screen for a couple of years and that has 100hz - havn`t noticed any probs with using playstation games colourwise - pin sharp in fact - as far as i know the 100hz bit is mainly to lower the flicker you see (like in a fluro tube) and be less tiring on the eyes - like the refresh rate on your monitor i guess but i will stand corrected...

The main benefits of 100Hz is that the old flickering screen effect more or less vanishes. Similarly, colours appear to be, well, more colourful !

The downside is that you can get picture smearing (eg trails behind fast moving objects, softer edges, less definition of colours).

It is widely acknowledged that Sony and Philips are probably the best for this type of telly, but it`s pretty much personal taste at the end of the day.

I too have had a 100hz Phillips TV for the last couple of years and I would *NEVER* go back to a 50hz model again.

The picture is so much easier on the eye and is a real pleasure to watch.

I have ran games consoles and also the TV out from my laptop with no problems.

I know it`s down to personal preference but I had a Sony first and two sets went wrong within a year so I changed to the Phillips and have never looked back....

FINALLY!
A post I can use my vast and wide retail selling knowledge on! lol

You probably dropped into a branch of the company I work for, but 100hz TV`s are made to be "Flicker Free" whereas standard 50hz TV`s are not.

If your Tosh 32 is a 4:3 set, then it will have been built at a time when Toshiba were putting "noise reduction" into their sets, resulting in a far suprerior picture than normal.

Widescreen sets, however, have an inherrant flaw of which nothing can be done about. They bend the picture, and this is why you may not have liked what you seen.
However if you Tosh is a widescreen, then it`s probably that you`ve got used to their Invar Mask tube technology, which is their direct answer to Sony`s black trinitron.
Two RGB scarts?
Sony is the answer for that one, however, most TV`s from the big brands now have the capability to have S-Video from Scart 2, and RGB from Scart 1, therefore, run your DVD on AV2 with SVideo enabled for better results.

Going back to the first point though, it`s generally accepted in the trade that if your eye can`t pick up the flicker on a 50hz set, then it`s usually not worth paying £200+ extra for a 100hz model.

(hope this helps)

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen.

Jimbo.

The Tosh is a 32 inch Widescreen, one of their Pro-Logic models. I don`t have a problem with the actual 100 Hz widescreen sets, I was just surprised at the actual lack of detail in the picture. Simple things like grass on a golf course looking like a painted backdrop, very smoothed out, lines on people`s faces not being as clearly defined as on the 50 Hz sets I was comparing with, etc. My wife noticed it too. Maybe its the trade off one pays for the flicker reduction. As am seldom aware of it, then you are probably right and I might as well stick to 50 Hz.

My need for two RGB scarts is driven by the fact that I have two Satellite Receivers, both RGB and S-Video capable (neither of which belong to Mr. Murdoch) as well as my DVD player. The Tosh does RGB on Scart 1 and S-Video on Scarts 2 and 3. At the moment, both receivers are connected via S-Video to my Yamaha processor and that is connected via S-Video to Scart 3 on the Tosh. The DVD is on Scart 1.

Picture quality is fine and I actually prefer S-Video to RGB which I find to be over colourful sometimes. The problem is more to do with recording to video from the Receivers. I have to switch the Satellite Receivers to composite or RGB to record properly on my VHS recorders, and then switch them back to S-Video once they have finished recording. Ideally, I`d like the Satellite Receivers to be on RGB as it makes recording to video simpler. If I could connect the recivers to the TV via RGB and not through the Yamaha, that would cure the problem.

Then the answer is a Sony.
The scarts allow you to switch between RGB Composite, Y/C amd on certain scarts (usually AV1 or AV2) S-video.

However...remember my comment about picture bend on widescreens?
Before you buy...put the set onto 4:3 mode, and find something bright or an OSD (like Sky Digital`s search and scan banner) and look at the outside edges for straightness.
Also try teletext... this shows it up well too...(maybe `cause it`s a type of OSD?)
Sony is one of the sets that can show the bend on one model, and seem to hide it on another.
Although I personally don`t like them, I have to say that one company who`s TV`s rarely show the bending much is Philips (match-line sets and above) and they have a nice little facility of storing teletext sub pages (you know..like the multi pages for Shares and Holidays?)
I`ll check out the scart options on them when I get back to work on Saturday. if you wanna give me a price range I`ll try to reply with specific models. :)

And as I sed, I`d check it at work today...
and found something interesting for ya...how about THREE S-enabled AV`s?

Panasonic Flat sets have S capabilty on AV 2 3 & 4.

Might be worth a look...picture and sound are good... casings are sooo plasticky though... very cheap outer build quality



AIWA 370 ROCKS!!!!!!!!

Jimbo.

Oddly enough, the one 100 Hz TV I have seen that did look pretty good was a Panasonic. One of the Tau sets. Problem is it was the 36 inch model and I can`t afford that, but boy, did it look good :-(

From reviews, I gather the new Philips sets have to two RGB scarts, but, typical manufacturers corner cutting, only one S-Video whjch just happens to be the second RGB one. Doh!!!! Still, it does have S-Video on the front AV, so might solve the problem provided I can get a look at one.

My local TV shop does Sony and Panasonic so I can check them out there. I`ll have to find a Philips stockist, though.

Thanks for all the info.