We are thinking of getting a BV8 32". Carol wants us to have a flatscreen TV to create more space in the Lounge. This means going from a BV3 which I think has a superb picture to the BV8. If I was going for a BV8 I would upgrade to Sky HD. Although there are still some SD channels. This is where I have concerns. Am I going to see a drastic drop in picture quality?

 

 

Craig

As long as your STB has an option for RGB-signal out, then you'll be very satisfied with the SD image. I can choose between composite, which looks bad, and RGB which is excellent on my BV8.

Thanks Soundproof for the reply, As I have only seen the one at my dealers with an HD picture which was very good. We are going to go and have a proper look at one sometime in the next week or so. I will want to see what the SD channels from a Sky HD box look like. How do you rate the spekers of the BV8 as I don't have any external speakers, my BS3000 is masterlinked to the BV3 and uses the internal speakers. Also I do know I will need to have a Masterlink Module added to the BV8 for me to use it this way.

 

 

Craig

 

 

 

 

Craig, or others, do you know how much the additional Masterlink module for BV 8 costs? I will need it in my set and was just wondering. Will probably be going to the store in the next few weeks to look about getting one.

 The speakers in BV 8 are rather good, my parents have one wall mounted in the kitchen, and the sound is fine in what is quite a large, open space. Similar to a BS1 in sound, with the extra subwoofer drive. It also excels with spoken word. They don't have a SKY box connected directly, but the analogue channels and SKY over coaxial are good, when viewed at a reasonable distance. Things such as fast moving sports, football, tennis, rugby, can appear abit pixelated up close, but are ok when a metre or two back.

Slightly OT, but have you seen my thread about connecting a DVD player to BV 8 Craig? I was wondering if you have a DVD 1, or how you plan to view DVD's on your BV 8? 

Robert. 

I can confirm the same. It is definitely not on BL3 level for music, but never the less a very good sounding speaker.

 I have yet to watch standard content, but DVD and Apple TV is fine.

 

JK 

My dealer quoted me 350 USD for the ML option.

Stan

I put in the ML for about that price in USD, works perfectly together with my Beosystem 6500.

Excellent sound from the speakers - there's a fun BV8 aural phenomenon, the music appears to be coming from somewhere well above the speaker bar, and actually also well to the sides of the tv. Not all kinds of music, but some. And it's perfect for voices. I had it connected with a pair of BL3s for a while, but am now using it with the built-in speakers only.

There shouldn't be any pixels, even up close, with RGB. With the standard composite the pixellation is evident on my set, but with RGB you get liquid transparency in the image. 

Craig:

Thanks Soundproof for the reply, As I have only seen the one at my dealers with an HD picture which was very good. We are going to go and have a proper look at one sometime in the next week or so. I will want to see what the SD channels from a Sky HD box look like. How do you rate the spekers of the BV8 as I don't have any external speakers, my BS3000 is masterlinked to the BV3 and uses the internal speakers. Also I do know I will need to have a Masterlink Module added to the BV8 for me to use it this way.

 

 

Craig

 

 

 

 

Craig - you won't be dissapointed with SD - unless you sit closer than about 6 feet.   The BV 8 is a fine set - HD brings it up a notch, as you would expect/have seen, but even on SD it has a very watchable image.  The sound is also very good, particularly for the size of the set.

Regards

David
 

Thanks for all the replies. As I say I will be going to my dealers and spending a good amount of time watching the TV before I make my final decision. As for a DVD player at the moment I have a Phillips DVD recorder, but I can see this been replaced with a PS3. Seems like a good excuse to get one.

 

Craig

I wouldn't recommend the whole televisions at all. Saw the white and the balck models on the Beo rivershow, and the image is very poor . I would wait a bit longer for a proper Beocenter 6, or spent my money on a Loewe Individual or Connect if I was you....

 Like Kingstreet says, the image of the 8 is watchable, but that's all .
 

Beobird:

I wouldn't recommend the whole televisions at all. Saw the white and the balck models on the Beo rivershow, and the image is very poor . I would wait a bit longer for a proper Beocenter 6, or spent my money on a Loewe Individual or Connect if I was you....

 Like Kingstreet says, the image of the 8 is watchable, but that's all .
 

Well as I say I will be going to my dealer for a good look. As for buying a Loewe this is not an option as I need a Beovision to act as the speakers for BS3000. When you saw the BV8 what was the source of the picture SD or HD?

 

 

Craig

Beobird:

I wouldn't recommend the whole televisions at all. Saw the white and the balck models on the Beo rivershow, and the image is very poor . I would wait a bit longer for a proper Beocenter 6, or spent my money on a Loewe Individual or Connect if I was you....

 Like Kingstreet says, the image of the 8 is watchable, but that's all .
 

 

If you're speaking of the BV8, then this is nonsense. I am extremely critical of the image quality whenever I watch anything, and my BV8 has a fantastic image, when fed a proper signal. With HD it is excellent -- with 576i fed as component, through RGB-scart, the image is likewise excellent -- in fact almost liquid. Very - very nice.

HOWEVER - as I have also pointed out in a separate thread: the image quality that results when it is fed a composite SD signal (not RGB) is average, in fact such that I wouldn't have bought the set if that was all I got. As I work with a/v my STB was set to RGB out as default, and I didn't notice this until I played around with the composite setting one day.

Therefore - if you're connecting an AppleTV through HDMI, a Mac mini through DVI-HDMI, an STB or DVD-player through HDMI or RGB scart/rca -- you are set for a very satisfying viewing experience.

If your signal is composite only, then you should expect picture artifacts and pixellation.
 

There were 6 or 7 Beovisions 8 on the boat, and 2 of them were conntected true SD and the others with a HD signal (they showed mr. Bean ). You should expect the best picture possible with a HD signal, and the best of the Beovision 8 is not that good..... (atleast not on that show)

But why not buy a Loewe or Pioneer tv (600/1000 euro's less than a bv8) and a pair of second life Beolabs 4000/6000 or whatever for you BS3000 ? 

 @ Soundproof

 Maybe you're right and the Beovisions on the boat were not calibrated well. I can only tell you that I could see the pixels very good on a distange from about 3 feeds and that it was a big disappointment compared to the other models on the boat. Even the 65" bv4 looked better on 3 feed distance .

The only good thing was that the telly itself looked better than on the site.
 

Well if I am not happy with the image quality when I go and have a look then I will stick with my BV3. One problem with having a pair of Beolabs is SHMBO will want all the wiring hidden. Our Landlord will not let me chase out the walls to do so.

 

Craig

 

The word nonsense was a little strong, but I do think that often dealers and people in charge of shows do themselves a disservice with bad signals. Maybe there were too many televisions connected to the feed? Just speculating.

I have a 50" Kuro in one room, and you'd think that when moving from that to my much smaller and simpler spec'd BV8 I would get very dissatisfied. But no - while the image does not have the killer resolution and detail of my Kuro, it is very good. One thing, though - as with most LCDs, you really have to be looking at it straight on and on the level of the set -- if not then the image loses saturation and contrast quickly as you are off on the side. And it must be an RGB signal - the difference is truly staggering between that and the composite.

soundproof:

you really have to be looking at it straight on and on the level of the set -- if not then the image loses saturation and contrast quickly as you are off on the side.

How much to the side are we talking, as this may be a problem. In our Lounge we two, two seater sofas. The TV is opposite exactly in the middle of the two. It will be about 3 metres away. It is on the same level so that should not be a problem. What I might do is borrow the 32" Samsung from our son's Bedroom, as I would imagine that will do the same if it is going to be a problem.

 

 

Craig

 

Craig

This is slightly off-topic, but seems like as good a place as any to share a recent observation of mine.  My 40-in Mitsu tube just died, and I bought a ~$800.00 37-in Toshiba LCD.  I actually bought it for my bedroom so price was far more important than picture quality, but when the big tube died, I thought I'd give it a try.  It's in a large room.  Viewing distance is 16-20 ft. I cannot really go any bigger (maybe 40-42) because this is all that fits on the shelf, and there are built-in book cases all around that block a wall mount or stand alone without major remodeling.

Anyway, now for the observation...  I was fully expecting that I would have to return this TV for something better.  Up close, SD looks horrible.  Pixilation.  Artifacts.  You name it.  However, I've been truly amazed at the magic of distance.  When I sit in my main viewing chair ~20ft away, the blemishes all but disappear, and the picture looks as good or better than my old tube (which was one of the best (not including B&O) 10 years ago).  It's not that I'm blind either.  I was at the eye doctor recently and, at distance, I'm close to 20-20 (close-up, not so good; hence the visit to the eye doctor).  I'm even putting off the upgrade to HD because 1) I don't want a cable box which is required and 2) the picture is fine, and I'd rather spend the money on other things.  I'm also not crazy because I do have a 52in DLP in the basement that absolutely requires HD to not be annoying to watch.

I realize that this has nothing to do with the BV8, but I do have a point:  Don't judge it (or any TV) from 2 feet away unless you plan to watch it from 2 feet away.  Distance, especially with a smaller TV, can do magic.

Stan

[Edited to reflect actual size of the room - I guessed a bit small when I wrote the original post]

How much to the side are we talking?

The viewing distance you describe will not present a problem. You notice it when you're standing above the BV8 on its floor stand, or when you're off to either side, walking past. But sitting as you describe, 3m away, won't be a problem.
 

soundproof:

How much to the side are we talking?

The viewing distance you describe will not present a problem. You notice it when you're standing above the BV8 on its floor stand, or when you're off to either side, walking past. But sitting as you describe, 3m away, won't be a problem.
 

Thanks for the reply Soundproof, that has put my mind a rest.

 

Craig

Stan:

My dealer quoted me 350 USD for the ML option.

Stan

I was on the phone to my dealer today, and he quoted me £475 for the ML module, and a total price of £2850 for a BV 8-32 w/ ML, without a remote. The price of the ML module seems rather steep compared to your values Stan and Soundproof... Has anyone in the UK had a quote for it, and if so how does it compare to mine?

Robert. 

Think I was told somewhere around the £285 mark when I spoke to my dealer last week.

 

 

Craig

I have just had a system priced up for a project & the system module aka masterlink was £325, but do bear in mind that if you are spending a fair amount then value added extras come into it & you may find that you get the module for free, normally this would be around 5% of the system price so if you were spending £10000 then your value added extras would be worth £500 Easier for B&O to swallow rather than discounting I suspect.

Hi beolife,

I'll only be purchasing the TV, so I won't be getting any value added extras. It's quite interesting to see hwta prices other dealers are charging for it. Mine seems to be abit higher than most. Not much I can do about that I suppose, seeing as the individual dealers set their own prices.

Robert. 

>>If your signal is composite only, then you should expect picture artifacts and pixellation<<

 the only SD source that I have connected is a Wii through the composite. Not artifacts or picellation, the picture is just slightly unsharp compared to DVD or Apple TV. 

>>Maybe you're right and the Beovisions on the boat were not calibrated well.<<

 

It's not about calibration.  I think what they very often do is, split a single signal source for multiple screens. My dealer had a Video Server as a shared source for all his TVs through CAT 5 connection. The picture was horrible as there were significant distortion in the picture that came clearly from the cabling / sharing the source.

 

I remember that when I was a youngster and I worked in a TV store for a few month, they had a single antenna but as much as we fiddled we could never get a picture as good as at customers home as we had to split the signal for 20 or so TVs.

 

JK