Beovision 5 in 2020

Can anyone testify as to the picture quality of the Beovision 5? I'm not too concerned with resolution, as I'm mostly going to be using it with older, natively analog devices. What really matters to me are black levels, colour accuracy, and style. I've got an opportunity to by one at a pretty good price, so any opinions would be appreciated :)

Chickene:

Can anyone testify as to the picture quality of the Beovision 5? I'm not too concerned with resolution, as I'm mostly going to be using it with older, natively analog devices. What really matters to me are black levels, colour accuracy, and style. I've got an opportunity to by one at a pretty good price, so any opinions would be appreciated :)

It’s pretty much rubbish. And probably after these years washed out light levels, black levels more or less gray in a lit room.

And resolution as low as a regular old CRT TV. Avoid if you haven’t been thinking of modifying it and even then, it’s super fat and really aging. Cool design and speakers but really deserves to be recycled into new devices. Even though it’s a classic :). I’d rather suggest you go for a more modern approach with the frame design such as beovision 11.

Not sure I can agree with this.

Yes, you will see grey areas in a low lit room for sure, much the same as the BV9 that I owned a few years later. I don’t think they would be that more noticeable on the BV5 which was the predecessor.

These TVs used Panasonic plasma screens. I know my version of the BV9 (Mark 3) had a D9 panel and I think from memory the BV5 sets had D4 through to D7/D8 (HD) screens. The BV5 you are considering may be the later 720p HD DVI version and if it is, this is a great set, but if before then SD only. Either way, I think you will be happy with the quality because the screen size was 42” so for most content you’re not really going to notice much of a difference in quality. HD and now 4K only come into their own on larger screens.

I do agree with Michael that sadly due to the age of these sets now, which dates back to around 2005, the chances of finding one with little use is challenging to say the least. However, Panasonic plasma screens around that time were generally quoted as lasting 30,000 hours or more before degradation, which is a long time. So have a think about that, do some calculations and look at the picture quality for yourself and decide if you’ll be happy with it. I think there may still be some good examples around with little use. The BV5 was always one of my favourite TVs from B&O. It’s big, and needs room to shine, but what a unique statement piece if ever I saw one. All the best, Simon.

That's a beautiful TV indeed but have you seen it in real? I'm saying that because of other considerations:

- First each time I was close to get one and go to see it, it finally looks so big in real I couldn't put it in my interior.
- Second, you also have to think to power consumption, those set are not efficient at all. Something to consider if you plan to run it a lot.