Biber

I see that Series 2 is out on blu-ray here about 12 December.

Bought it at JB on Saturday and have already watched 3 discs. The picture is absolutely amazing and the sound seems fine too. Before each episode they have an old SD promo for the episode (you need to readjust aspect to 4:3 for this, otherwise it's all stretched) and the contrast between that and the HD that follows is just staggering. They are also promoting Season 3 Blu-ray heavily on the set as 'coming soon'. Oddly enough, I never really watched TNG consistently before and am enjoying getting into it in this sparkling format. A bit clunky so far and poor Wesley Crusher having to wear those jumpers (!) but I am really liking it and can't wait to meet the Borg next season.

On the OPPO 95 and Foxtel HD (wherever possible). Checked out "How the Earth Made Us" blu-ray only 1080i I think, but some amazing shots on the big Pana - the gypsum caves in the second episode have to be seen to be believed.

I was told by JB Hi Fi last week that all their copies of TNG Series One on blu-ray had been withdrawn by the distributor because of the audio problems. They expect it back it a few weeks.

My VT 50 65" turned up on Saturday and it's a beauty. Not too hard to assemble and pretty easy to set up - bit of trouble recognising my wireless LAN at first, but all fixed now. Pending full calibration (if I get round to it), I have found the THX Cinema the best setting at night and THX Bright Room during the day. Though in both cases, I had to turn the colour way down from 50 to about 32 to stop everyone looking orange. First thing I tried was the opening scenes from Cargo (a good Swiss sci fi film) which I had watched the night before on the D8000: not much difference in the bright outdoor opening scene, but as soon as it switched to black space with the amazing spiral city the superiority of the Pana was evident. The touch pad extra remote is quite sweet, but it is actually pretty easy to navigate around websites etc using the ordinary remote (much easier than with the Sammy). Can't wait for EPL to resume to put the telly through its paces.

Bing Lee at Hornsby NSW is selling it to me for $5,100. No doubt price will drop much further soon, but there is always a penalty to pay for being a (fairly) early adopter. I am passing on my 2011 D8000 Samsung to a friend. Great telly in many ways, but the vertical bands that were clearly visible in some programmes (notably HD EPL broadcasts on Foxtel) were too irritating.

Thanks for quick responses. Mine is the standard 95 region free - or was meant to be - installed before I bought it (at an up-market hi-fi retailer). The instructions say to put the disc in and then push the 5 buttons; but as this hasn't work, I'll try what you suggest. To clarify: I should have the Oppo on but empty, push the 5 buttons, turn it off, then restart and insert the disc. Is that right? Again, thanks.

Sorry if this has been canvassed before. I tried my first US region blu-ray on the 95 this weekend - followed the instructions to the letter on how to change region, pushing the five buttons in sequence with no result. Sometimes I tried turning the machine off and on again, but this made no difference either. Any ideas Oppo 95ers? Thanks.

Hi Oppo owners, I hope you can advise (and sorry if the topic's been addressed already). I own an 83 and a 95 and am very happy with them both. But one annoying aspect is that most of the time when I press 'stop' (only once) the disc does not remain at that position as the instructions say it should but I have to start the whole disc again and find the correct spot. Occasionally, I do the same thing and the disc resumes from that spot when I press 'play'. What am I doing wrong?

I never use any feature except the web browser (which I've reset to Google) any more. Quite enjoy checking my mail and reading the morning papers on the Samsung at breakfast time. I tried a few of the other features when I first got them (I bought two), but not any more - they all seem useless. Though internet radio was a bit interesting I now recall.

Picked up the 51" Samsung Plasma 8000 series yesterday as my bedroom set. I have the 55" LCD cousin in the living room. In both cases, I have carefully followed the calibration advice I have found here and elsewhere (as I did last year with my Sony 800 in the kitchen). In every case, the only departure I have made is in the colour setting. Every calibration I see has the colour way up too high for my liking. With the Plasma 8000 yesterday, I basically halved the recommended setting and got skin tones that were recognisably human. What do others think of this? Surely those high colour settings can't be right?

Thanks Diesel. In fact, quite a few retailers have them in their catalogues, but none, I think, have them in stock. The plot thickens on which remote is going to be available for this set. According to this review http://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php?sub...p;id=1304937593 The touch screen remote (as promoted at CES in January) is/will be available as an option.

Spoke to Samsung last Friday about when I could expect my LED 55" D8000 (now I've paid them, Harvey Norman aren't returning my calls) and was told that a delivery of 200 TVs was due in about two weeks, but that there were already over 700 orders in Australia. So who knows how they will be allocated. I asked about the status of the remote, as I had read in overseas reviews that the touch screen remote they made such a fuss over at the 2011 CES had been dropped for a two sided remote (conventional on one side, qwerty and web browser functions on the other) and, in the UK and Europe, even this wasn't included: just a bog standard remote. The Samsung bloke confirmed that Australian deliveries would only contain the basic remote. However, he assured me that the two sided one sold in the US would be delivered to purchasers at a later date. He agreed with me that without the qwerty remote, a TV web browser was pretty useless. I also asked about the 3D glasses included. Only one pair is included: and this seems to be the cheapest of the new blue-tooth models, but the Samsung man seemed to think others would be available for sale at some stage as accessories. I previously posed a question on this forum about converting optical audio output to RCA. An earlier Samsung rep suggested that there would a converter in the box, but this does not seem to be the case. So I'll buy the one recommended in response to my earlier post.

Thanks for your prompt advice everyone.

I have a Samsung 55" D8000 LED on order, but I notice from its specs that it has no RCA audio out capacity. My slightly older but still brilliant ARCAM amp does not have optical audio input, as Samsung seems to require. Do people have any suggestions? I believe there are optical audio to RCA adapters, but are they any good? Would I be better off plugging my OPPO, IQ2 etc directly into the amp with good old fashioned (but high quality) RCA cables. Thanks for any ideas or advice (not including cancelling the TV order).

The EPL Highlights Show was in rubbishy SD last Monday. Anyone know if this was a one-off or whether it too has joined the rush to abandon HD programming now that most have have sets to watch it on?

If you come across any other little features let us know (the instruction book is not great).

Thanks for spotting that, yes I do mean minutes not seconds.

Hi Baird, I was referring to the +60 sec button and another one I think is called Timeslip (or something similar). You press it once and a small screen appears with "0 seconds" and you use the centre arrows on the remote to select how far you want to jump forward.

Had the 480 for a few weeks now and am pretty pleased with it. I already own two 350s, so the counter-intuitive buttons on the remote are quite familiar to me (but drive my housemate crazy). I like the new ten second backward jump button and the two jump forward buttons are now probably a bit more useful. But the whole remote needs a complete redesign. The display of programmes recorded is excellent. Each mini screen and progamme details enlarge as you scroll over them, making them very easy to read. I found the EPG loads much faster than on the 350. I may be imagining it, but I think picture quality is slightly crisper too (I am running it through a DVDO). Haven't tried to dub a disc yet, which was always a bit of a palaver on the 350s, so can't comment if that's improved. Tried some editing out of adverts on the HDD (which is usually necessary prepatory to dubbing onto disc) and found it pretty easy - again once you work out what the counter-intuitive task labels mean. Timer recording is easy via the EPG, but of course if set for weekly recording it simply records the same time every week until you cancel it and gives the programme the same name even if a new series has replaced it. That is to say, don't expect it to do a series link style IQ2 operation that can recognise particular programmes. All in all happy with it and will probably buy another one for my brother's family for Christmas. (Poor chap is still using a VCR and STB.)

Hence the absurdity of ABC showing these stunners on low def. To return to the theme of this thread, I am increasingly asking myself: what is the point of FTA television at all for people who love quality shows with quality picture and sound? Much as I resent having to pay for television, it's the only way to enjoy shows such as True Blood, Damages, Dexter and Sons of Anarchy (unless you wait ages for the blu-ray sets to be released). Leave FTA to those who are content to watch endless cooking and renovation shows, or dross from the past like Magnum PI. Never thought I'd say it, but thank God for Foxtel HD!

Yes Phillips still have Ambilight. It sounds silly, but is really brilliant in reducing eye strain and making for a more immersive viewing experience. Much as I love my Cineos, when I read about the new full LED Phillips models with Ambilight I start to drool and pine for them to be imported here. I also own a Sharp full array LED and, despite some sneering remarks here, find it pretty damn good. Still not a patch on the Phillips though.

At least the EPL Highlights Show is in HD this year.

What about a DVDO? Mine takes six HDMI components and even sharpens up the picture on some of them.

Oops, I mean Philips not Phillips.