Pinoeer isa good choice and if one feels its way better than the BV4 then you must get the Pioneer! no further debate required!

Replying late to this thread because a new computer I bought recently hasn't been working but I have ditched it now and back up and running again on my old machine. So, on with the thread... Just wanted to say that I am waiting for a new BV 7-40 Mark III to be delivered next Friday but in the neamtime the dealer has given me a Mark II to use. I have been extremely impressed with this television and believe me I really didn't like the 7-40 at all beforehand for several reasons mentioned in this post so far. It is a matter of fact that when you put the right source and high quality signal through these TVs then you see what they are truly capable of. I am simply using Sky non-HD (but digital) and playing my Region 2 DVDs, nothing more. The picture quality is superb. I can't see motion problems on any channel which is broadcast digitally, only when I look at standard broadcasts and then it is bad. I may subscirbe to HD with Sky I am not decided yet. But suffice to say this TV has truly exceeded my expectations. I don't think you should go by the pictures you see in dealers, I did, but it is completly different when you get it up and running back home. The Mark III is supposed to be a lot better because of the BS3 chassis. It has to be said that I can't wait to see what this set delivers. Buy one, believe me. I did and I have no regrets, and that's with a Mark II ... so far!

Simon.

Danny:

a wide selection of different sized LCD and plasma screens to connect to the BS3 would be my favourite - and easily (and relatively cheap) to upgrade!

That's an excellent solution, and one I really wanted to work, but the BS3 isn't quite there for me, and I've heard so many horror stories about non-B&O panels not working with it. A selection (not necessarily a large selection, but at least including a 40" plasma HD Ready and a 50" Full HD) of B&O panels would solve that problem, assuming they're good enough (i.e. much better than the original BV4!).

Also, if the BS3 were 'modular' and could be configured to order... 

Could we make this suggestion to B&O?? 

The question is why on earth would B&O shoot themselves in the foot and offer full support for panels that are not their own and technically the time and effort required to make the BS3 perform properly with many third party brands is not worth the effort.

They know full well that if an individual can spend £5500 on BS3 then he can spend £4-5K on the screen.

The Bs3 is matched to the BV4- its been calibrated for it- hence the reason why it does very little to enhance the quality of third party products

Looking at this thread, I realize how much the world, B&O, and myself have changed..

When I discovered B&O almost 20 years ago, they had 2 types of TVs: the MX and the LX range, both in 2 different sizes..that made 4 TV sets, and I wanted one of each!!

Now, 20 years later, I realize the B&O TV range has never been so wide, and yet, as others, I can't find something to replace my BV3-32.

Obvious replacement would be the BV7-32, but the TV is becoming obsolete everyday, without B&O doing anything to fit the right/updated connections & panels to it, as well as the DVD player. The press is giving excellent reviews of the BV7-40, but not much has been improved on the 32 version since it came out.

Another option is now BV8-32, but I doubt it can offer the same picture quality as BV3's. And it has no Dolby Digital option.

With CRT, B&O was the leader in terms of design & sound/picture quality, but nowadays almost all flat TVs look nice, and B&O seem to focus too much on the great sound to compensate for their "no more perfect" pictures; unless you're ready to buy something big & expensive: I mean, with BV7-40, BV4 and 9,  you get outstanding performance, but the lower range is quite disappointing in terms of picture, don't you think?Especially when you're sending a prehistorical composite signal to a link TV..

And I'm not even talking about connectivity..BV4/9 are fantastic TVs, but having watched Star Wars on BV4-65 played on a BeoCenter 2 via SCART , I was frankly disappointed by the poor picture with an RGB signal.Please B&O, go digital all the way!!Digital TVs require digital signals!

what i DO find utterly mad is the bv8 sold as a cutting edge tv , then not having built in dtv

in fact it looks like it's an option all bno tvs unless you spend £15k

and sony's new lcd's aren't as bad as has been made out , i've had one a year and it's excellent , my brother bought the 32sd3000 a few months ago and it's amazing - £700 on line too !

slightly better value than a bv8 32 for £3k without a dtv option i would say.. 

so how did they win what hi fi tv of the year then and become the number one selling lcd tv ?

my tv has a stunning pic quality and cost less than half the equivalent bno

maybe you should demo one with a decent souce ? > i have blu ray and hd dvd players and they both look staggeringly good on a 1080p screen